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.