Happy Holidays Online

With the Christmas break and New Year fast approaching, people may be looking for some online activities to keep themselves -- and their families -- occupied.  Here are a few I have stumbled upon that I thought were worth sharing.


A little late with your Santa letter?  Email him here: http://www.emailsanta.com/
Create a personalized Santa story here: http://www.northpole.com/Den/PersonalizedStories/
Did you know that Santa is on Twitter?  Follow him here: http://twitter.com/noradsanta
Not going to have enough time to mail out Christmas cards?  Make some online here: http://www.presentationmagazine.com/online-christmas-card-maker.htm
Make your own snowflakes here: http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/index.html
Play with some pictures and elf yourself here: http://www.elfyourself.com/
Here's a personal favorite -- The Reindeer Orchestra.  Bop their noses to play a tune: http://dingo.care2.com/cards/new/0422/Do-a-rain-deer.swf
No snow?  Make a virtual snowman: http://think-bank.com/iwb/flash/snowman.html

There's lots more, and many of them are listed on this site, Ozge Karaoglu's Blog, one of the places where I get good ideas.  Have a great holiday and a wonderful New Year!

Reference Resources

Try these:

• Atlas
• Kids World Atlas
• FactMonster Encyclopedia
• Encyclopedia.com
• FactMonster Almanac
• InfoPlease Almanac
• World Almanac for Kids
• FactMonster Dictionary
• FactMonster Thesaurus
• S9 Biographical Dictionary
• Biography.com
• CIA World Fact Book

For more, go to BadgerLink

Welcome to a New School Year

A new school year always brings new challenges, and this year is no exception.  Due to budget cuts, we have moved from a 5 day cycle to a 6 day cycle.  We have also implemented a new reading series.  So, I have offered teachers the opportunity to schedule two LMC visits during each 6 day cycle:  one will be used to support reading and the other will be used for skills instruction.  I hope to see more learning and provide more reading opportunities through this schedule change.

Another potential change will be the addition of eBooks to the library collection.  We have added numerous audiobooks the last couple of years, and these have been very popular.  Now, I would like to add electronic books that will work with our interactive whiteboards so teachers can use them to enhance instruction.  Students will also be able to access them via the computer.  We have also added a number of iPads, and it will be interesting to see how these can be used in the LMC setting.

There's always some new challenge or opportunity in the library world.  That's just one of the reasons I think the LMC is the place to be!

Summer's Here!

So, the kids have left the building, and the teachers are finishing up in their rooms.  I have taken down all the decorations and cleaned off the circulation desk, but the LMC never really closes.  First of all, there are still students who have not returned books, which means I will have to mail letters home and hope for the best.  Secondly, I have reports to write and planning to do for the fall.  Finally, I have all those items in my office that I just didn't have the time to deal with during the last month.  Each summer, I promise myself that I will start in the fall with no backlog of work -- but it just doesn't ever work out that way.  If nothing else, the mail will continue to arrive, so I will always have that waiting for me!

On a more positive note, a number of students took advantage of the offer to check out up to 10 books for the summer.  Studies have shown that reading just 4 books over the summer can help a student maintain more of what they learned.  I am hoping that more students will make the commitment to read over vacation as we keep trying to eliminate that summer loss of learning.  If anyone is looking for some suggestions for good reads, here are the top 10 most checked out books in the Intermediate LMC this year.

1. Guinness World Records 2010
2. The Lightning Thief
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth
4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
5. The Invention of Hugo Cabret
6. Okay, So Maybe I Do Have Superpowers
7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal
8. Guinness World Records 2011
9. Ripley's Believe It Or Not
10. Walk Two Moons

It's That Time Again!

Well, we have nearly come full circle and completed another year in the Intermediate LMC.  The staff is busily working on inventory and repairs and all the other many chores associated with preparing a library for the summer respite.  Our biggest hurdle, though, is getting the materials back from all of our users!  I guess that is a good thing, but it does make me think it would be nice to have year-round school.  To help all of our users -- teachers, students, and parents -- I have listed a few deadlines and due dates here.

• Week of May 2:  Students limited to 4 materials.  No more Playaway audiobooks checked out.  No checkouts to those who owe fines or have overdue materials.
• Week of May 9:  Students limited to 2 materials.  Overdue and fine letters mailed.  First reading logs are due at the end of the week.
• May 20:  All student materials are due.  No additional checkouts unless authorized by classroom teacher.  Genre reading sheets are due.
• May 31:  Second reading logs are due.

Notices will be printed at the beginning of each week, so any student with an overdue or a fine will have been notified before any letters go home.  The LMC staff truly appreciates all those parents who work so hard to help our students be responsible users of our library materials.   Helping them find and return their overdue materials or pay for those that have been lost or damaged requires time and effort on your part, as well, and we thank you in advance for making the end of this school year as smooth as possible!

Read Every Day

     Many thanks to the 16 community volunteers who came and read to our classrooms on Wednesday, National Read Across America day.  Our students always enjoy a good read-aloud, and it means even more when it comes from someone who isn't one of their teachers!  The best way to "grow" readers is to motivate them to read every day, and that's what our volunteers did.  I will continue their work as I introduce new genres, authors and titles to all the students, hoping that I will manage to pique their interest and get them to try something new.
     I also am gearing up for the spring book fair.  With the help of more volunteers, the book fair will run during spring conferences on March 22 and 24.  I am always looking for more volunteers, so if you are interested in helping out, please contact me at school, and I will gladly add you to the schedule.  The addition of the cash machine to the book fair has made the money handling much easier!
     The book fair will be the beginning of our spring reading promotion.  I will use some of the profits from the fair to provide prizes for the students; the rest will be used for materials for the school, not just the library.  Our last two fairs provided us with enough money to buy a classroom set of whiteboard response systems, a tool which has made those wonderful SmartBoards even more useful.  Many, many thanks to all of the parents and students who help make these fairs so successful.

What's a Genre and Why Do So Many Teachers Assign Them?

     Genre is simply a word that means "type" or "kind".  Students are usually introduced to the concept of genre through their reading instruction when they start to realize that what they are reading is not always the same.  At first, it may be as simple as determining that there is fiction (made-up stories) and nonfiction (information).  As students become more adept at reading, they begin to break these large groups into smaller classes.  Fiction comes in many forms: historical fiction, fantasy, mystery, science fiction and realistic fiction, to name a few.  Nonfiction can be divided as well, either by subject (math, science, history) or by form (biography, autobiography, essay).  Each type provides the reader with something unique, and each type requires slightly different skills from the reader.
      Many teachers here at Meadowview Intermediate assign students to read one book from a certain genre each month as part of their independent reading program.  In the fourth grade, this is done so each student tries each genre.  By the end of the year, students should have enough experience to know which genres they like best and should be better able to choose books independently.  In the fifth grade, students are usually given at least two options for the genre they are assigned to read each month, so they can gain additional practice and experience while still being allowed some level of choice.
     The overall goal behind assigning genres is to develop life-long readers.  If, at some point in their reading development, we can get students into a series or a genre they enjoy, the chances of their continuing development in reading increase dramatically.  Hopefully, by continuing to expose them to all the possibilities, we can help all students make this very important step in their reading development.

What's Up in 2011

     The new year always forces me to look forward and realize that our current school year is almost half over!  There is so much left to be done, to be taught and to be learned, to read and to experience.  It is enough to raise my anxiety level!  That's what makes it the perfect time of year to change a few things about instruction in the LMC.
     Starting the second week of January, we will move to a more project-based approach to learning through the LMC.  I will be working directly with classroom teachers to create, schedule, and complete projects that support the classroom goals while allowing students to use research and technology to learn and communicate.  An example of this would be a project with Mr. Pederson where students will use LMC resources and the web to learn about the life and discoveries of important scientists.  They will then share this information through podcasts and PowerPoints.  To accomplish this, Mr. Pederson has scheduled time in the LMC and the labs for a number of consecutive days and will use his weekly LMC time for book checkout.  This way, the students will maximize their learning and research with both Mr. Pederson and me to assist but will not lose any time for exploring their own interests through their independent reading.  I hope to complete at least one such project with each class before spring.
     This means that the beginning schedule of weekly lessons will be compacted and changed.  Students will still come to the LMC weekly to exchange books but will not have a lesson planned and taught by me at that time.  If I am available at that time, I will share authors and series with them in an effort to motivate more independent reading.  Instruction in research and technology will occur through the projects.  This approach will actually result in more time with me and in the LMC and the labs than a weekly lesson provides.  The end result, we believe, will be students who are more independent and capable in their use of the LMC and its resources.