Read The Exquisite Corpse Online!

Follow the new writing venture from many of today's popular children's literature authors online.  Click on the link below and enjoy The Exquisite Corpse Adventure..."A very unusual and completely amazing story pieced together out of so many parts that it is not possible to describe them all here so go ahead and just start reading."

http://www.read.gov/exquisite-corpse/Book/

Heading for the Holidays

Things get a little wild around here just before the holiday break.  So many extra events to keep up with -- the choir program, the tea, the sing-along, all the extra practices -- and that doesn't include the crazy weather!  Still, it is one of my favorite times, as it seems everyone is open to wonder and surprise.  There is just an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation that is a little contagious.  In the LMC, we have put out all the Christmas picture books and shared a few of our favorites.  I am busily working on the book fair books -- many thanks to those of you who purchased during our fair!  If you are looking for that extra gift, here are a few of the favorite titles and series so far this year...based on how often they are requested and checked out!

Haunted Wisconsin by Michael Norman

The Haunting of Sparta by Joe Cook
Babymouse by Jennifer Holm

Bone: Dragonslayer  by Jeff Smith

Scary Stories 3 by Alvin Schwartz
2010 Guinness Book of World Records

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney

Dear Dumb Diary by Jim Benton

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls by Meg Cabot

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

Ripley's Believe it or Not

Have a wonderful vacation.  Feel free to stop in any time in 2010!

New Books for November!

The first shipment of new books for the year are ready for viewing. We have added numerous nonfiction titles of high interest, especially those about various monsters and vehicles of all makes and kinds. There should be something for everyone here.

The new books will be on display from Wednesday, Nov. 11 to Wednesday, Nov. 18. During this time, all classes will have a chance to view the books and use the computer catalog to make a reading list and put titles on hold. Those titles on hold will be pulled on Nov. 18 and checked out; the rest will be available for checkout.

A list of the new books can be accessed by clicking on the Destiny Library Catalog link to the right, choosing the Catalog tab, then clicking on Resource Lists from the left hand menu. Choose the Public tab and view the New Books list!

Need a "Just-Right" Book? Talk to the Hand!

We spend a lot of time at the beginning of 4th grade talking about finding books to read that are "just-right". Many students come from smaller schools where books were labeled with the reading level or the library collection was divided into sections based on the difficulty of the book. At Meadowview, we try to take a more real-world approach and provide many options while teaching students the skills necessary to make good choices. We start by giving them a 5-step approach to choosing a "just-right" book.

1. Read a page and make sure you can say and understand most of the words. (If you have trouble with more than 5 words, it may be too hard.)
2. Retell what you read to show your understanding. (Who or what is it about? What is happening?)
3. Make sure you are interested enough to read the whole thing.
4. Make sure it isn't too long or too short. (How many pages would you have to read each day to finish it in one week?)
5. Make sure it fits the assignment. (Did your teacher ask for fiction? Is there a certain type of book you need to read for class?)

To bring these points home, we use a hand as our graphic reminder and put a question on each finger. This is posted in the LMC all year long. Some teachers hand out smaller hand reminders for the students. When any student needs to decide if they can read a book by themselves, all they have to do is talk to their hand!

WELCOME BACK!

The start of a new school year always brings with it new ideas, new faces, and new challenges. With it comes a sense of excitement and energy that is so huge it can almost be felt as you walk down the sparkling halls. Hopefully, we can keep that energy going throughout the year. Towards that end, we are making some big changes in the LMC this year.

1. New catalog and circulation software! We have moved to Follett Destiny and are in the process of getting links installed on the computers. Right now, we have the checkout part working but no student access to the catalog. If you have used the links to InfoCentre in the past, they will no longer work. Keep reading this blog for updates on our progress.


2. Introducing Playaways! We have added a new form of audiobook to the collection called a Playaway. Basically, it is an entire book on an MP3 player. They run on batteries and come with earbuds. I will be introducing these to the students once the software issues are resolved.


3. Moving towards a project-driven schedule! All classes will have a 45 minute block of time for regular instruction and checkout for the 1st trimester. After that, we will keep a smaller weekly block for checkout and open up the schedule so classes can get in here 2, 3, or 4 days in a row to work on projects.

We are looking forward to a great year here at the Meadowview LMC!

The Woes of Overdues

We are rapidly approaching the end of the school year, so my attention must turn to those nasty overdue notices. Since we have summer school using this LMC soon after the year's end, it is important to get as many books returned as possible now. Towards that end, we have begun being more vigilant about student overdue books.

1. Any student with an overdue book will be allowed to check out only one additional book for reading until the overdue material is returned.


2. Students who have had materials overdue for more than 2 months will be receiving a letter requesting payment for the material. (We will accept a replacement copy provided it is the same title and in good condition.) No check outs (other than those required for class) will be allowed until the material is either returned or paid for.


3. Overdue notices are being printed on a weekly basis -- every Day 4. Ask your child if he or she has received an overdue note on that day.

Inevitably, someone will claim that they returned the material already or that they never checked it out. Errors do occur, especially when we have multiple people running the circulation desk, so we ask students to check their classroom shelves and at home again. In return, we will check the shelves for the missing material to make sure it has not been re-shelved without being checked in.

If this doesn't solve the dispute, things can get difficult. It is a very rare occurrence that a material gets checked out to the wrong person, so we will often let the overdue ride until the inventory has been completed. Letters and overdue notices will continue to be sent, however, as we struggle to come to some acceptable solution.

There are some parents who become agitated when letters are sent home, and I guess that is understandable; however, trying to retrieve lost or missing materials is simply part of the job. It is not a personal action against anyone and is not intended to be punitive. Those who cannot pay for a replacement can call the LMC and make some other arrangements. The main idea is to teach our students to be responsible for what they borrow. That's a priceless lesson to learn.

Sometimes, the Answer is No

I have two books that students have been requesting lately -- Twilight and A Child Named It. Usually, when I get a title that is frequently requested, I add that title to my purchasing list. It really helps students have ownership in their LMC if they also have some input into what is purchased for it. In the case of these two books, however, my answer has been, "No, I don't have that title. You will have to either get it from the public library or wait until middle school to check that out."

I worry about that answer. The rebel reader part of me remembers sneaking into the Junior Fiction section of the public library because I was tired of the books in the Children's Room, and so I tend to buy series that are popular and not pay a lot of attention to the recommended age groups. The manager of public funds part of me, however, is very aware of my responsibility to the taxpayers (i.e. parents) that entrust the selection of the books to me. It is my job to get kids interested in reading, but does that mean reading anything? I do have to consider literary quality and appropriate language and topics when I select materials, and I do have to work with a limited amount of funds.

This is a dilemma that I think all school librarians face. I do my best to be as liberal as I possibly can, but I cannot simply buy anything and everything. Am I being a censor by not purchasing these? I don't think so. I have read them both and would recommend them to students who are middle school or older. If parents get them for their younger students, I have no issue with that, so I am not (I think) trying to promote my personal beliefs. As much as it goes against my nature, sometimes, I guess, the answer to a request is, "No."

Judging Web Pages Part Two

Okay, so once we realize that everything on the Internet isn't true, how do we decide if a web site can be trusted or not? This is one of those times when what we learned using books can transfer to working with the Internet.

1. Look for a copyright date. These are usually found on the bottom of the web page and may include a date when the page was last updated. This can help determine how current the information is on the page.


2. Learn about the author. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and see if there is an author listed. This could be an individual person, or it could be an organization. Don't just stop with the name! If there is a link to more information about the person or the group, follow it. Are they really experts, or is this just someone's personal opinion disguised as fact?


3. Where is this page created and stored? This information is easy to find in a book, but it is not so easy on a web page. Start with the URL, or address, of the web page. Look for words that might indicate where this page is from (uk for United Kingdom, for example). Read the small print at the bottom of the page, too.


4. What is the purpose of this site? Each address also has a domain, which is usually a 3 letter abbreviation after a period (think .com, .org, or .edu). These domains are clues about the purpose; .com, for example, is a commercial enterprise, or a business site. It exists to make money. There is no hard and fast rule for which ones are more trustworthy; a business site is not always bad and an education site is not always good.


5. How accessible is the information? In a book, students look for indexes, headings, captions, tables, graphs...anything that makes the information easy to find. The same strategies can apply to a web site. Are there clear headings to help you pick out the information needed? Are there links to each section so you don't have to scroll through multiple pages? Organization can make all the difference when trying to find information.

Many students think that the Internet exists to share information, but this is only one of its uses. Mostly, the Internet exists for communication, business, and entertainment. Some of the best information on the Internet is actually hidden in private databases...but that is a topic for another day! Just remember, you can't trust everything you read, especially if you found it on the Internet.

I Found It On The Internet So It Must Be True!

Students these days are addicted to the Internet. They want answers to their questions now, and they want them to be provided easily and quickly. Many have fallen into the trap of thinking that the Internet is all about sharing information, but that is really only a small portion of what happens on the Internet.

I have to admit, I am fascinated by the online world, too; but let's face it, there is a lot of useless junk on the Internet. Some of it is even disguised as information. Even worse, from a research point of view, is the fact that no one is monitoring the quality of the information posted online. If you are not a discriminating reader, this can cause problems when doing research. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to teach our students how to look at a web site with a critical eye and decide for themselves whether they can trust what is being presented.

What Makes a Book "Good"?

Recently, many of my students have been struggling with this question. They are participating in the nomination process for the Golden Archer Award and have had to choose one book to nominate for this state honor. During the beginning of our discussion, many got caught up in the idea of good pictures, neat text, and accurate spelling. Perhaps they thought this was what I wanted to hear, because when I told them that the last thing I think about when reading a good book is neatness, the tone of their ideas began to change. Here are some of their better answers.

• Interesting characters that we can understand and connect with.
• A good "hook" in the beginning to make us keep reading.
• Some new ideas or a twist on an old idea.
• Interesting and exciting story lines.
• Descriptive words and phrases, so you can "see" what is written.
• Something organized well, that flows from one idea to the next.

So, we began talking about Organization, Fluency, Voice, Ideas, Word Choice, and even Presentation...which are the six traits of good writing that we use in each classroom. Good writing makes a good book, so that connection was made between what they are learning as writers and what they like as readers.

Now, we will see if they can take this connection a step further. They have been given the challenge to create an advertisement for the book they are nominating. Students are busily creating slogans and signs to persuade others to support their book. These will be posted in the cafeteria in a couple of weeks. I hope you have a chance to stop in and see some of them. Judging by what I am hearing during their planning sessions, we have some budding marketing professionals in our school!

That's A Good Question ...

I love questions. A sincere question is an expression of curiosity and thought, two of my favorite character traits. My best lessons are not the ones I plan, but the ones that evolve from a spontaneous question.

The best question I have handled lately came from one of my fourth grade students, who was struggling to research an explorer whose last name was Duluth (which is all the student knew at the time). After apologizing for maybe asking a "dumb question", the student said, "Does it matter where you start a search on the Internet, like is it different if you start at Google or Yahoo?" An excellent question -- truly stellar -- from a student whose shining moments are sometimes few and far between.

After reassuring him that the question was far from dumb, I explained that the answer was not a simple yes or no. Knowing where to start a search on the Internet can make a difference in the quality and amount of information found. Google and Yahoo are both search engines, but Google searches tend to include Yahoo, so it is a larger source of web sites. Also, not all search engines rank the results in the same order. In some cases, you are better off not using a search engine at all, but going to a web site that specializes in your topic area, such the Wisconsin Historical Society web site. We looked at a couple of examples to illustrate my point.

Then, I explained that it is even more important which terms you search with and how you arrange them. Just typing in Duluth, for example, brought up all sorts of sites on Duluth, Minnesota. When we typed in Duluth explorer, we actually found a site that had his entire name. When we typed in his entire name "Daniel Greysolon Duluth" and surrounded it with quotation marks to let the computer know we needed all those words together in that order, we were on a roll. Adding the word biography behind his name narrowed our choices even more and led to some useful information.

The best part of the lesson? After all those tries, we had what I call an "aha" moment -- a moment when something clicks, and a student makes a connection. These are the moments all teachers live for...and mine was particularly sweet, because the student looked at me and said, "Do you think I would have found his whole name if I had used the encyclopedia first?" This was something the classroom teacher and I had tried to get all the students to do, so being able to say, "Absolutely, that's why I suggested it," was a great end to a teachable moment.

Just What Does a School Librarian Do?

My students are often surprised to find out that there is more to being a librarian than reading and checking out books. This discussion usually arises when a new shipment of books arrives and they discover that I bought them. After dispelling the notion that I purchased them with my own money, we talk about what it takes to be a school librarian. I'll share some of the highlights of these discussions here.

1) First, I am a teacher. A properly certified school librarian must have a teaching degree and an up-to-date license. In my case, I was originally trained to be an English/Language Arts teacher with a Communications minor. The requirements for becoming a school librarian when I began that training included having at least 7 years of successful teaching experience; I taught in the regular classroom for 9 years. This experience has been invaluable to me, as it is my responsibility to teach Information Literacy Skills (finding and using information in all its possible formats) to students and to teach integration of these skills and technology to teachers. In an average week, I spend just over 50% of my time teaching students.

2) Second, I am a manager. It is my job to run the physical area that is the Library Media Center (LMC). This means that I organize, arrange, and inventory all the materials; that I select and purchase the materials; that I promote reading and research in all its forms; that I manage the budget and oversee any staff; and that I schedule the usage and plan for future growth. With two collections under my management that total over 20,000 materials, this could be a full time job itself!

3) Third, I am a curriculum partner. This means that part of my time needs to be spent working with teachers, assisting them with their planning, and providing them with resources and materials that support the instruction they do with students. This would include keeping current on new technology and supporting teachers as they try to use these new tools. Some times, this means being away from the LMC to help a teacher plan or to work with a class in a lab or a classroom. Some times, this means troubleshooting equipment.

4) Fourth, I am an information specialist. This means I need to keep current on web sites, educational trends, and search strategies and share this information with students and staff. Where is the best place to find historical photographs? What are some resources to use with small groups of readers? How can I motivate my students to do more independent research? Would it be better to have my students create a blog or a web page? These are just some of the types of questions that arise as I go through an ordinary day.

It sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but my days fly by. I am always busy and never bored, and I truly enjoy what I do. There is always work to be done, so if you are looking for a place to volunteer, feel free to stop by. I am sure there will be something you can do!

New Year, New Books!

Welcome to 2009! We are celebrating the new year in the Intermediate LMC with new books that arrived just before the Christmas break. Mrs. Berz and I are working very hard to get these processed and ready for students to check out. We will have multiple copies of all the Golden Archer nominated titles (mentioned in a previous post) plus many new fiction additions. Among the new titles are such long-awaited sequels as Brisingr by Christopher Paolini, Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer, and I am Not Joey Pigza by Jack Gantos. All new books can be found in our InfoCentre catalog by choosing Visual Search and clicking on the button labeled "New Books". The link to our catalog can be found in the column on the right side of this page. Parents are also welcome to stop in and check books out; it only takes a couple of minutes for us to enter your name into our database. Happy reading!