This month, we are jumping in to digital publishing. Students in kindergarten and first grade will use Little Bird Tales to share their writing. This is our first time using this program, so it will be a learning experience for us all! Second and third grade students have begun their Mock Caldecott unit and will continue to read and evaluate a variety of picture books to determine which ones they think are award worthy. Interest is high, and opinions are strong! Fourth grade students will also experiment with digital publishing using Comic Creator to share information about character and theme. Fifth grade students are investigating biographies of notable African Americans. During library, they will use the library catalog to locate a biography, use digital resources such as Kids Info Bits to locate additional information, and cite their sources in a simple works cited.
Last month, second through fifth grade students were introduced to the Follett Destiny online library catalog and circulation system, which enables our library patrons (students, staff, and families) to search for books from any device with an internet connection. There is a link to Destiny from the library home page on the menu to the left. Many students have been able to use the library catalog and their knowledge of how the library is organized to successfully find materials they want. It is very exciting to see students independently meeting their information needs!
This month, we are jumping in to digital publishing. Students in kindergarten and first grade will use Little Bird Tales to share their writing. This is our first time using this program, so it will be a learning experience for us all! Second and third grade students have begun their Mock Caldecott unit and will continue to read and evaluate a variety of picture books to determine which ones they think are award worthy. Interest is high, and opinions are strong! Fourth grade students will also experiment with digital publishing using Comic Creator to share information about character and theme. Fifth grade students are investigating biographies of notable African Americans. During library, they will use the library catalog to locate a biography, use digital resources such as Kids Info Bits to locate additional information, and cite their sources in a simple works cited. There are some exciting changes coming to the library media center. We are now using Follett Destiny as our online library catalog and circulation system. This software system includes more graphics, is student-user friendly, and is accessible from any computer with an Internet connection. This program allows students to search for books independently. Third through fifth graders have been investigating Destiny to see what materials we have in our library and will learn how to search by keyword, title, and author. Learning how to search in Destiny creates a foundation for learning how to conduct searches during the research process.
Kindergarten students will read a variety of seasonal books and learn several songs and chants. First grade students are learning about teeth. Many students begin losing teeth in first grade, and students are very interested in this topic. After observing real animal teeth, they have generated a list of questions and will use different resources to find answers. It’s award season! In January, the American Library Association (ALA) announces the winners of book and media awards, such as the Caldecott and Newbury Medals. Second and third grade students will read and analyze different picture books and bestow their own award to a winner of their choice. During the Hour of Code, students will use critical thinking, logic, persistence, and creativity to complete a task or solve problems, which are all related to AASL Standards for 21st Century Learners. The activities provide an introduction to computer science. If you have a computer or tablet with an Internet connection, you can create accounts for them at home by visiting code.org. This is a very engaging educational activity, and I encourage you to check it out!
The Scholastic Book Fair will be held in the Lawrence School Library from December 1 through 5. There will be many great books available for purchase. Thanks to our wonderful PTA for organizing this important event! MHS's Pathways to Teaching Program, a teacher recruitment program for students from minority groups, will visit Lawrence School several times this year to participate in shared literacy activities with Lawrence students. During today's visit, MHS students helped Lawrence students set reading goals for themselves, such as reading a certain amount of time each day or reading all the books in a series. They also had a chance to read books together. Lawrence students are always very excited to work with this group from MHS.
There are some exciting changes coming to the library media center. We will begin using Follett Destiny as our online library catalog and circulation system. This software system includes more graphics, is student-user friendly, and will be accessible from any computer with an internet connection. This program will allow students to search for books independently. Second through fifth graders have been learning how the library is organized and how to read fiction and non-fiction call numbers so they may locate materials independently. We are all very eager for the conversion to the new system to take place!
The Connecticut Children’s Book Fair will be held at UConn on November 8 and 9. This is a great opportunity to meet many well-known children’s authors and illustrators, purchase books, and participate in other fun activities. http://bookfair.uconn.edu/ The Scholastic Book Fair will be held in the Lawrence School Library from December 1 through 5. There will be many great books available for purchase. Please support this event that has such wonderful benefits to our students! In October, kindergarten classes learn about community helpers. During library time, kindergarteners voted on which community helper they would like to learn more about. They chose the bus driver, crossing guard, and PE teacher. The kids came up with a list of questions for each. I interviewed each person and video-recorded the responses. The kindergarteners loved watching the videos. They finished by drawing a picture and telling what they had learned from their community helper.
In October, kindergarten students will read fiction and non-fiction books and learn some songs and rhymes about community helpers. Students in first through fourth grade will learn about how the library is organized, learn to understand call numbers, and learn about the Dewey Decimal System. Fifth graders are learning about being good digital citizens through the Digital Passport activities through Common Sense Media.
In The Day the Crayons Quit, Duncan’s crayons no longer want to work because of mistreatment. Second, third, and fourth graders wrote persuasive letters to the crayons to convince them to go back to work.
September 30 was National Quitting Day, and students were happy to learn that their letters worked. The crayons are back! There is a long list of students who requested to put a hold on this book. One student was inspired to create his own crayon box. The details were amazing!
Third grade classes participated in International Dot Day, a world-wide celebration of Peter H. Reynold's book The Dot, which tells the story of a frustrated young artist who is inspired by her art teacher to make her mark in the world. Click on the video (created using Animoto) to see the amazing things they did!
|
AuthorKerry Darby Archives
April 2019
Categories
All
|