March, 2011

Blog Bits and Interesting Links   

• Experts say E-Books and mobile devices are next for libraries
• Interested in more info about or for Third Culture Kids?
• TC Kid
• Families in Global Transition
• Global Education Explorer                                             

Library Unit Planners Posted by Story Room

Planners by grade for the library times within the current PYP unit are posted beside the Story Room door.  Please stop and take a look when you come over with your class.  I would appreciate any suggestions you can share about ways to connect library time to classroom by content or skill. 

  

  

New Quicklink for Primary School Library Resources

Many thanks to our webmaster Jay Denslow for creating a Quicklink from the homepage (www.aischool.org) for Primary School Library Resources!  A few more "clicks" eliminated for our younger students.  Please model use of this path to age-appropriate library resources with your students.  The library password key remains the same.

Donuts and Databases

It's time for Donuts and Databases!  I'll bring the donuts (or cookies or breads) and information about all the new online resources that we are considering for your grade for next year.  The more feedback we are given, the better the choices we can make for you and your students.  I will be contacting grade level leaders to find the best time for us to get together by grade.

Summer Reading

I need summer reading lists from each language group by the end of next week [April 1, 2011].  If you would like suggestions for new books from the library staff, please let us know.  Again this year, we will have our virtual summer reading book fair in May and we need to begin "stocking the stores" at Amazon by creating links to each of the books on the reading list.  Thanks for your help!

Accelerated Reader Team Finale 

Look for word soon on the Accelerated Reader team finale!  We plan to have a special activity for the students who are the top participants in their grade as well as a flag-signing event for the members of the team that comes out ahead.   Please encourage all your students to pass a quiz between now and the middle of May when the team competition will close.

 International Children's Book Day - April 2

International Children's Book Day is celebrated world-wide on April 2, 2011, the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen!  As it is on a Saturday, we will not be in session, but I encourage you to commemorate this day in some way on the following Monday, April 4.
 

Some suggestions include:

•    reading and promoting stories by Andersen
•    introducing folk tales from around the world

•    inviting parents from other cultures to share their childhood favourites and folk tales.

Here is a good book list for International Children's Book Day.  We have many of these books in our library.

February, 2011

Blog Bits and Interesting Links 

• Fascinating Article on the Way Language Shapes our Understandings
• International Children's Digital Library Accessible via IPhone, IPad
• What is a Learning Commons?

Library Unit Planners Posted by Story Room

Planners by grade for the library times within the current PYP unit are posted beside the Story Room door.  Please stop and take a look when you come over with your class.  I would appreciate any suggestions you can share about ways to connect library time to classroom by content or skill. 

  

  

Friday at the PS Faculty Lounge?

On Friday mornings in February, beginning February 11,  from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m., I will be available in the PS Faculty Lounge to answer any questions you may have about library resources, including databases, video streaming, Noodletools, Accelerated Reader, ebooks (including NetLibrary), the library website or others.  Please feel free to stop by if you have a break and ask any questions you may have or give me information on resources that you need. I'll be working on this and that but mainly I want to be accessible to help with account questions and questions about using these resources.  If there is enough interest, I'll continue beyond February.

Donuts and Databases

Beginning after spring break, I would like to share "donuts and databases"with each grade level.  I'll bring the donuts (or cookies or breads) and information about all the new online resources that we are considering for your grade for next year.  The more feedback we are given, the better the choices we can make for you and your students.  I will be contacting grade level leaders to find the best time for us to get together by grade.

Video Streaming

Several teachers have asked recently about video streaming accounts.  If you would like to create a personal account linked to the AIS school account, you will need the school password key.  You can obtain this password key from the library and then create your own account at http://www.unitedstreaming.com/.  Also, when you stream video, it is best to do it OUTSIDE of the Xen environment. 

Accelerated Reader Teams

Please continue to encourage your students to take AR quizzes.  If you have read a book together in class and would like all students to take a quiz, I can set that up for you and assist with log-in questions.  

Right now, the ROCKETS team is in the lead.  I will have a second round of recognitions [handout of team stickers] for participating students around the beginning of March (right before spring break).

How to Request New Books

To request books for your units or that you think the students would like, please go to the Primary School E Bulletin Board (via PS Library Moodle) or from the Primary School Library Resources page under Academics on the school website.  You will see a link for recommending new books in English, Spanish, French or German.  You will also see a separate link for recommending books in other mother tongues of  faculty or students.  These links open to a  form. Requests submitted via the form go directly to our purchasing lists so this is the best way to be sure we will receive and retain your request.

November, 2010

Library Moodle


The students in UPS are beginning to use the PS Library Moodle page for links to Noodletools and resources needed during library time.  Please take a minute to look at the PS Library Moodle -- you will find lots of content there related to the library program.  Also, if you would like to include links to POI websites, project rubrics, model documents, and so forth, I am happy to add them there for you.  Moodle is a great place for materials that the students might need to access from home because there is no password required.


Netbooks Available for Use in Library


The netbooks have been used by students in grades 2 through 5 this year. They are used quite frequently in the afternoons and throughout the day for AR quizzes, but often there are a good number available in the mornings, especially in the middle of the week.  Please feel free to make arrangements with me to use the netbooks in the library with your class during these times.  Prior notice is required, because the netbooks need to be set up in advance for you.
  
 Library Faculty Workshops


Parents learned about the library online resources, including our great new ones, and the catalog through the library workshops in October.  How comfortable are you with using these resources?  Would you like to know more yourself or to come in with your grade level team or language group to learn about resources particularly suited for your students?  Contact me to schedule a short workshop tailored just for you and your group. We can meet in the library or in a classroom either before or after school.


Stickers for Students - How to Access Library Resources from Home

At Luz Bella's suggestion, I made stickers listing step by step how to access library resources from home.  If you would like me to make stickers for your students, please let me know.  The sticker is about 3" by 3" and is perfect to place in the inside cover of the agenda where it will be handy.

Posters on Citation Format and Big6 TM

I have printed more posters of the grade level citation format that was agreed upon several years ago and more posters of the Big6 Research Process in the four languages of instruction.  Please let me know if you need any of these for your classroom.  Each classroom should have both of these posted where students can see them.

Accelerated Reader Teams

The students seem excited about reading for their teams and I am glad that teachers are interested in supporting AR through the classroom as well.  We have a list of each grade with all student user names at the circulation desk.  The passwords are the same as Xen this year to make it easier for students and us!  If you would like a report on participation by students in your class, please let me know.

How to Request New Books


To request books for your units or that you think the students would like, please go to the Primary School E Bulletin Board (via PS Library Moodle) or from the Primary School Library Resources page under Academics on the school website.  You will see a link for recommending new books in English, Spanish, French or German.  You will also see a separate link for recommending books in other mother tongues of  faculty or students.  These links open to a  form.  Requests submitted via the form go directly to our purchasing lists so this is the best way to be sure we will receive and retain your request.

September 2009

Library Schedule and Collaboration

Collaboration and coordination are going to be very important words this year as adjustments are made to the library schedule to see more students more frequently in the library. The goal? Enhancing student information and media literacies through instruction and practice. The method? Each student in grades 1 - 5 will come to the library once a week and participate in library programming and all classes will be on the same programming schedule. Together, let's build a stronger library program that results in higher student achievement.

Book Review Magazines in All Languages

For the second year, the library has subscribed to children's literature review magazines in French, Spanish and German and also in English from England and Australia. Find out what children are reading back home! Please stop by the library to read the current issue and recommend for purchase books that appeal to you.

Online Distance Learning for PD Credit

Professional development budgets are smaller in the current economic environment. What better time to try distance learning? You may be interested in professional and personal development through The Georgia Center for Continuing Education. Courses begin throughout the year and are offered on a wide variety of educational topics.

Blog Bit

Change is inevitable, but our approach to change may determine how successful we are in managing the process. Here are several “pivot points for change” from Seth Godin's list in his blog post "Pivot Points for Change":

Keep your customers, but change what you sell to them.
Keep your staff, but change what you do.
Keep your mission, but change your scale.
Keep your products, but change the way you market them.
Keep your technology, but use it to do something else.

To me this suggests that change doesn't necessarily mean giving up what is important, but rather adjusting your perspective. We are dealing with lots of change this year and maybe you will find the ideas in this post helpful too.

In the library, I'll be focusing on mission, products, technology. Advances in technology are moving libraries to change what they offer and how they offer it, but our mission is the same -- to support learning and we will continue to do so in many ways, large and small. Our marketing opportunities are quite different with the new website -- expect a new look and new "marketing" tools this year, all geared to help all our patrons better use the wonderful products that the school has purchased to support instruction through the library.

Recommending Books for Purchase by the Library
Recommending books for purchase by the library is now easier. All you need to do is go to the Primary School E-Bulletin Board on the Primary School Library webpage in the All-School Portal. At the E-Bulletin Board, you look for the link (on the right side of the screen) that says “Recommend Books for Library Purchase”. Open that screen, type in the information you have about the recommended book (title, author, publisher and so forth) and submit. To return to the E-Bulletin Board, simply hit the back arrow twice. Your request is automatically recorded on a purchasing list.

Tutorials on Library Electronic Resources
Here are links to online tutorials for a number of the different library electronic resources. You may want to bookmark these for future reference.

GALILEO

Britannica Elementary

Grolier Kids

BrainPOP

Bookflix

World Book Online


Teacher Book Cart
Please stop by the teacher cart in the library to see if any of the materials on the cart are useful for your classroom. Everything is free and everything must go! Many books are paperback or duplicates of titles that are already in the collection, but are otherwise great books. Check it out!

March 2009

Blog Bits

A few more interesting bits from the blogs:

a. Global Collaboration and Personal Learning Networks - detailed blog post by Julie Lindsay on "flattening" the classroom with global collaborations. Does this suggest a new concept of an "international school"?

b. New Fair Use Code of Practice - more on copyright for teachers by Wes Fryer, including a great Slideshare presentation.

c. Empty Praise - post by Kristin Fontichiaro features a video interview by Will Richardson with Carol Dweck on the danger of overpraising students as connected with the student's willingness to be a risk-taker. Gives examples of how to "praise the process" in a way that builds a growth mindset.

Stars and A Wish

Many thanks to all who shared suggestions for the library. Here is a summary of the suggestions that were made:

- more books in "diary" format
- more biographies
- more Eyewitness history books
- books addressing social and emotional needs of students
- more books in Portuguese
- more books about Native Americans
- more picture books about science
- more audio books
- more books from the countries of origin of our students

Another suggestion was to build more connections between the library and the arts.

I was delighted to receive these suggestions. Look for growth in these areas thanks to your thoughts.

Electronic Resources for Next Year

We will be renewing our library electronic resources subscriptions in April. As always, but especially in the current economic situation, we want to be sure to purchase resources that teachers and students like and will use. Many of our databases are purchased through our MISBO membership.

To see which databases MISBO is offering for next year and to access free trials of those resources, go to this MISBO webpage. Please let me know which MISBO databases you like the most.

We also subscribe to GALILEO for a number of our databases and buy several others, such as Bookwhere, Tumblebooks and World Book Online, separately. Any feedback on those resources would be much appreciated as well. We will also be looking at usage statistics to determine which resources are being utilized.

Thanks for your help in the selection process - this is your chance to speak up on what you like . . . and what you don't like.

PS Library Moodle

Some of you may not know that the PS Library has a Moodle page under "Library" (near the bottom of the list). There you will find electronic resources and citation information, as well as library lessons for particular units and links to resources. The PS Library E-Bulletin Board is also linked through the Moodle, so you can reach both areas from one portal.

If you have suggestions as to material to add to the PS Library Moodle, please let me know.

Visit by Paul Janeczko

Poet Paul Janeczko, award-winning poet and poetry anthologist, visited AIS on Thursday, March 5, and shared his books about poetry with our 4th graders. Students seemed particularly impressed with his concrete poems and with his strategies for journaling and idea generation. Visit the library to check out books by Paul Janeczko for this April, National Poetry Month!

Your Favorite Childhood Book or Poem?

What was your favorite childhood book or poem? I'd like to do a display of teacher favorites. Even better - please add several sentences about why you liked the book or poem. We did this a few years ago and the students really enjoyed seeing "who liked what".

January 2009

World Book Online

Check out the electronic resources page of the Primary School Library webpage. Do you see the new link to World Book Online? It is under the English, French and Spanish sections, because it offers online encyclopedia resources in each of these languages, as well as a wonderful visual dictionary in those languages (go to the World Book Discover section of the database). Please take time to explore this resource – you may find something you can use right away!

New Children's Literature Review Magazines in French, Spanish, German and English

New to the library this year - children's literature review magazines in French, Spanish and German and also in English from England and Australia. Find out what children are reading back home! Please stop by the library to read the current issues for the language you teach and highlight the featured books that you would like us to buy for the library. These magazines are written in your language of instruction by native speakers about books original to your language of instruction. Help us build strong collections in all languages by helping us choose from the best of the best in your language.

Library Catalog from Home

Did you know that you can access the library catalog from home? Need to know if we have a book you want to use the next day? No problem – log on through Citrix from the faculty online resources page and then go to Apps. You will see the OPAC (library catalog) icon and, when you click on it, the library catalog will open just as if you were at school.

Remember, you can search for items by subject, title or author in the basic search mode. A red square to the left of the title on the search results list indicates that that item is currently checked out. A green square to the left of the title on the search results list means the item should be available.

Recommending Books for Purchase by the Library

Recommending books for purchase by the library is now easier. All you need to do is go to the Primary School E-Bulletin Board on the Primary School Library webpage. At the E-Bulletin Board, you look for the link (on the right side of the screen) that says “Recommend Books for Library Purchase”. Open that screen, type in the information you have about the recommended book (title, author, publisher and so forth) and submit. To return to the E-Bulletin Board, simply hit the back arrow twice. Your request is automatically recorded on a purchasing list.

K12Learning2.0 Course

I have previously mentioned the online course offered by Shelley Paul on Web 2.0 tools that I took earlier this school year. Shelley is an IT guru at Woodward Academy who spoke to us last spring about various computer-based resources for the classroom.

This course presents a fantastic opportunity to learn about all those collaborative web-based resources you may be interested in – blogs, wikis, blog readers, nings, TeacherTube, social bookmarking, Flickr, and much more. In fact, the course is called “The 23 Things” and it is offered over a 10-week period in 23 modules that you can complete at your own pace.

I would be more than happy to tell you more about my own experience and to serve as a “coach” for any of you who are interested in taking the course. Registration for the spring 2009 session is open until January 16. For a course description and more information, visit the course web site at: http://k12learning20.wikispaces.com/ (you may have to check from home as on-campus access to Wikispaces may be restricted).

Summer Reading Lists

We will begin working on the summer reading list soon and I will ask language leaders to provide the library with updated lists. If you would like me to help identify new books for the list, please let me know. I would be more than happy to help you find books related to particular topics or new titles in popular series. I have kept a list of the students’ “favorite authors” as reflected in their votes for the Milner Award, so please let me know if you would like that information as you work on your lists.

November/December 2008

Read-It! Readers in English

Luz F. and Martha have enjoyed using the library's Read-It! Readers in Spanish set with their emerging readers by encouraging their students to take AR quizzes as they read through the various book levels. Now, students will be able to do the same in English. We have just acquired the Read-It! Readers in English and hopefully the students will be as enthusiastic about them in English as they have been in Spanish. The set, located in our ER (Easy Reader) section near the circulation desk, is entirely hardcover, is part of the AR program and is a significant update to our ER English collection. Lower Primary School teachers, please take a look next time you are in the library.

Audio Book Reviews

On the Primary School Library E-Bulletin Board, you will find a link to audio book reviews. Please take a minute to explore this link. You will see that we have a great need for more audio book reviews in French, Spanish and German. Would you be willing to record one or two for me? It only takes a few minutes and is a great investment in promoting reading in the language. I really need your help to give this project some momentum and, in the process, I will teach you some easy ways to create and use audio files and podcasts in your classroom and for professional development.

Request for Book Purchasing Suggestions
Please look ahead to units of inquiry that you will be teaching in spring, 2009, and let the library know of any purchasing requests for library materials to resource the units.

Also, as you reflect on completed units during the planning meetings, please send me an email with purchasing requests based on your experience with the unit and any special needs or weaknesses in the library collection with respect to that unit.

We are actively engaged in weeding out-dated materials and replacing them with current materials that better align with the curriculum. If you are interested in participating in the collection development planning for your language collection, please let me know. Our collection will be better if you help!


Primary School Library Moodle

The primary school library is in the process of developing a presence on the school Moodle. At present, entry to the space requires a password, which will change quarterly. The current password is posted on the IT/Library bulletin board in the primary school office and in the library. Please take a look -- you will find content such as the bibliographic formats by grade and links to library project materials. With this password, teachers and students can access library related information from home. If you have ideas about how Moodle could help the library work better for you, please let me know.

K12 Online Conference 2008

Have you heard of the annual K12 Online Conference? The third annual conference was held in October, 2008, and was "attended" by educators from around the world. The sessions are still accessible and the best things are . . . the conference is free, open all the time and has no dress code. So grab a cup of tea, put on your slippers and check it out from home tonight! Choose from forty great video sessions for educators interested in innovative ways that Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to improve learning.

October 2008

Reprise of BrainPop Instructions

BrainPOP has special password information and procedures and several teachers have asked me to republish this information. You will need a password for BrainPOP even at school. There is a special access point for teachers and an after hours password for teachers has been created so that teachers will be able to access the site after school hours from home. Students can only use BrainPOP from home until 5:00 p.m. BrainPOP is the only resource we have with this type of password arrangement. I will put the passwords on the Library and IT bulletin board in Ivana's office.

Update on Language Book Talks
We have now lined up presenters for the Spanish and German language book talks, so we will continue with our language book talks schedule and hopefully make up the missed weeks for those languages later in the year. I am delighted that Mayte S. has generously agreed to present new Spanish books and Astrid S., parent of students in the German track, has graciously agreed to be our German book talk presenter.

Here are the upcoming book talk weeks scheduled for each language:

Spanish
October 27 - October 31
French
November 10 - November 14
German
November 17 - November 21
English
December 1 - December 5

Remember that each language will be featured for an entire week. If you are interested in bringing your class, please let me know the day of the week that is best for you and we will try to work it out. We try to schedule book talks on the days of the week that are best for the greatest number of classes in light of the presenter's schedule.


Request for Book Purchasing Suggestions
Please look ahead to units of inquiry that you will be teaching in spring, 2009, and let the library know of any purchasing requests for library materials to resource the units.

Also, as you reflect on completed units during the planning meetings, please send me an email with purchasing requests based on your experience with the unit and any special needs or weaknesses in the library collection with respect to that unit.

We are actively engaged in weeding out-dated materials and replacing them with current materials that better align with the curriculum. If you are interested in participating in the collection development planning for your language collection, please let me know. Our collection will be better if you help!


The Book Club Blog

The primary school library e-bulletin board has a blog in place for The Book Club, a fledgling book club for 4th and 5th graders. It has been used in the past, but at present it is dormant and I'd love to get it going again. The students who participated previously were 4th graders and they really enjoyed posting their comments (moderated of course) on the selected books. This is a great way to encourage a variety of transdisciplinary skills and have fun too.

Is anyone interested in working with me to get this project going again? If so, please let me know.

Photos with Creative Commons License

Will your students need photographs for classroom projects? Talk with me about online sources for photos that are available for use under Creative Commons licenses. Creators of these photos have placed them them online with only some rights reserved, meaning that they have given advance permission to allow certain uses of the photos without copyright concerns. This makes these photos more desirable for school projects. Please ask me for information on Creative Commons resources if you are interested.

August 2008

New Online Resources

We have several fantastic new online resources this year! Bookflix is a library of fiction video paired with nonfiction ebooks in a variety of thematic areas, most of which correspond closely to our PYP units of inquiry and/or the organizing themes. We also have Brain Pop for younger students in English AND Spanish -- be sure to take a look! Finally, for the older students, we have a number of new reference materials including a Dorling Kindersley library of reference books by subject and a new Universalis in French. Check with Sharon in the library for more information!

Flexible Checkout

This year all students in Grades 2 - 5 will have the opportunity to come to the library on a flexible basis for book checkout. For second graders, this will be in addition to their regularly scheduled library visit. We hope you will create ways to use this time to support your classroom reading initiatives and that you will encourage all of your students to take advantage of this opportunity. This year, I will be sending you reports on which students are lagging behind in book checkout so that we can work together to keep students reading and practicing their library skills. More information on that coming soon!

Language Book Talk Weeks

Language book talk weeks are back this year. This month look for a schedule of the French, Spanish, English and German book talk weeks ahead. In connection with the language book talks, take a look at the Audio Book Reviews link on the E-Bulletin Board. I am building this section to provide audio information about books in all languages and many of the books from the language book talks will be featured in the audio book reviews.

Book Clubs

Stephen Krashen says that free voluntary reading is a key factor to increased student achievement. Last year, we introduced Accelerated Reader to make reading more fun for the students. This year, I would like to offer several book clubs as a way to involve more students in reading activities. Students engage with books in different ways. Those with strong orientation to the written word and traditional testing will enjoy Accelerated Reader. Students with strong listening skills may like to try a new Listening Book Club which will explore audiobooks and podcasting. For students who enjoy more interpersonal activities, I would like to offer a traditional book club to meet and discuss books one afternoon a week in the library as well as online. What do you think -- would anyone like to help with one of these clubs?