More Wondering . . .

The deer antlers have been very popular. Most children could guess what they were, but our wondering was about how and why the antlers were different. Even our youngest students observed:

• one was larger than the other
• they were slightly different colors
• one was smooth, one was rough

Why the difference between two antlers, both from whitetail deer? Well, these wondrous objects were found near a pond where we walk our dog. My husband found the larger one several years ago and it was already beginning to show signs of decay. The years of being "displayed" on our deck railing have added many more patches of moss and lichens. The smaller set of antlers was found a couple of years ago and has been inside our house, with much less decay.

Some of our students had good observations and showed background knowledge, including:
natural objects will eventually decompose; antlers may be eaten by termites, other insects, and rodents; and "one deer had larger antlers than the other". I love to hear the students' responses and ideas as they wonder - higher order thinking and critical thinking in the real world!

I've learned much after reading some of our library books shown in the photo. Did you know of these differences between antlers and horns? ( I didn't!) -

• antlers are temporary, growing each spring and being shed each fall/winter
• horns grow from year to year and are permanent (except for Pronghorn antelopes)
• horns are made of hard skin and are hollow
• antlers are made of solid bone and are not hollow

All of this information came form the book, All About Deer by Jim Arnosky. As our library poster says, "Books Open the Doors to Discovery"!

Book Fair!

This year is flying and now it's time for our annual Book Fair, October 31-November 5. This fundraiser brings in more than $1,000 and helps fund more library resources for students and faculty. It's also fun!
FYI:

• Grades 1-4 shop during their Library Class. Kindergarten students are encouraged to come with their families.



• The Book Fair is opens each day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.



• Two Family Events: Thursday, Nov. 3 from 3:30-7 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 5, 9-12.



• Wish Lists for Classrooms are a great way to buy a nice, useful gift for a teacher.



• PTO and other volunteers make it happen - thanks!

See you at Book Fair!

The Wonder Table

One goal of educators is to help and encourage lifelong learning. I know I am essentially a curious person and love to see and learn all sorts of things. We all know that children are born curious about the world around them.

This year the library will have "The Wonder Table" which I hope our students (and teachers - Ms. Miceli!) will enjoy. It will feature something - maybe from the natural world, maybe not - that students may look at and gently touch. The first week will simply be the display; the second week will have the name of the object and a few facts. I introduced it this week (see photo above) and next week we'll find out what it is. Note: some students (and Ms. Miceli!) already knew - that's fine. This isn't a contest or a competition to get the correct answer, but simply a chance to enjoy something we don't always get to experience.

I've wanted to do this for awhile and it all came together when Mrs. Poore managed to get some nice round tables from CHS and have them brought to our school. One table came to the Library and provides a good center for this space. What a great place for The Wonder Table!

The photo features two students from Ms. Miceli's 4th graders who were Friday afternoon Library Helpers. In addition to making deliveries, shutting down computers, and stacking chairs, they got the job of posing for this picture. Thanks, Andrew and Ryan!

Come to Open House. (No spiders allowed!)

First, I want to issue an invitation for students and families to visit the Library during Open House. I love meeting everyone, new and "old", including "alums" who have a younger sibling at our school. Usually there are a few old books for giveaways and this year won't be any different - so come on down!

One visitor who was not welcome was the Wolf Spider shown in the photo to the left. Some 4th grade boys saw this big creature in the hallway and watched as I gently caught it. Before setting it free in the woods, I snapped the picture with the adult hand showing you just how large it was. Glad that one didn't show up during a Library class!

This week all Grade 1-4 students borrowed a book or two and I hope they're enjoying them (Kindergarten begins borrowing mid-October). In fact, you might recognize the pink paper in the spider photo. That was the important information paper that went home with every student. I encouraged students to have an adult read it because it explains our library program and how to reach me. Even if you didn't read it, I hope to see you at Open House!

September 2011

Welcome back to all returning students and a hearty Welcome! to all new students from your librarian, Mrs. Reiser-Jones. This is my weekly blog about what's going on in the Library and I hope you like it. Our first week of school went fine; I look forward to Monday when I get to meet the rest of my library classes - Mrs. St. Clair's 1st Grade, Ms. Tetreault's students, and all the Kindergarteners. Only 4th graders checked out books this week; next week Grades 1-3 will be bringing home a library book. Kindergarten students should begin borrowing books in October after we learn all about the library and library class routines.

On a somber note, if your child is asking questions about all the media coverage of September 11th, here are some books I recommend (available here and other libraries) -

• A Nation Challenged: A Visual History of 9/11 and Its Aftermath - Young Reader's Edition from The New York Times.

• Heroes of 9/11: Ten True Tales by Allan Zullo - chapter book

• The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein. This winner of the 2004 Caldecott Medal tells the true tale of Philippe Petit who wire-walked between the two towers in 1974. It is an amazing, inspiring story that, at the end, sensitively states, "Now the towers are gone. But in memory, as if imprinted on the sky, the towers are still there . . ."

For now, on this sunny Friday afternoon, let's lift the mood and look forward to a good weekend. More next week!

Visual Literacy

I hope that author/illustrator David Shannon and Blue Sky Press (c2002) don't mind if I post this photo of the title page of one of my all-time favorite books, Duck on a Bike. Not only is this book great fun, but it's also a perfect example of Visual Literacy. This means the ability to figure out (comprehend) what is going on in a picture. It's an important skill to develop in young children and research shows that being able to understand pictures leads to better text comprehension.

This is a skill that comes easier for some students than others and our instruction promotes "learning to read pictures". In Library, using Duck on a Bike with Kindergarten classes leads the way to Grade 1 library classes when we really concentrate on 3 elements of Visual Thinking Strategies, a questioning strategy developed around art museums but widely used in education. My wording of the 3 questions of VTS to students goes like this:

#1 What's going on in this picture?
#2 What's the evidence for your idea?
#3 Do you see anything else that you notice in the picture?

This seems like a wordy way to read a book but with lots of practice I've learned to seamlessly (I hope!) work it into our enjoyment of a good read-aloud book. In Grade 1 we share many Caldecott Award books and the criteria for the award is "do the pictures help tell the story?" and how illustrations and text work together to tell the story. Visual Literacy - what a fun way to improve comprehension among young children!

For some reason, Duck on a Bike did not win a Caldecott - a grave injustice to me! If you don't know the book, find it at your public library and Enjoy!

Another Beanbag Photo

As I wrote last week, I can't get too many cute pictures of cute kids on the beanbags with their books. This group is from Mrs. Terluk's p.m. class and they all had big smiles for the camera.

Next week I'll try for a little more "substance", but it's a Friday afternoon in May and the sun came out for the first time this week. Delightful!

Happiness is a warm beanbag and a book!

I would be content to post photos of kids on the beanbag chairs every week. There's nothing quite like children nestled on the beanbags as they look at their library books. These boys are in Mrs. Terluk's morning Kindergarten class.

There's not much else to say about such happy faces enjoying their BookLook time in the library. Enjoy!

More Than Just Reading

Joshua A. is busy at work writing in the library this afternoon. He's using his creative ideas to write a sequel to a favorite library book and he found a quiet place to work. I should say, a temporarily quiet place because often we have so many activities going on that it's not-so-quiet!

Many of us have memories of the "shushing" librarian who cautioned against any type of talking. Those days are gone in most libraries, especially school libraries, and I think it's an improvement over the olden days of silence. Our students know that during BookLook time they can use their quiet voices to share thoughts and ideas about books. Sometimes it gets a little too loud but a reminder usually does the trick. I believe that a library should be a place where you can enjoy yourself but still respect others in helping maintain an enjoyable space.

Lately I've been thinking that although the silent library is pretty much "history" that sometimes it would be nice to have a quiet sanctuary in public libraries. I know that some libraries manage to have that separate space for quiet reading, but that's not possible at many. Oh well, if it's a choice between a busy active library and a silent space, I'll take the busy library anytime!

Fun and Fitness

Who are these royal ladies? See below for the answer!

It's nearly May which means it's time for wwwCharlestownFit program. If you click on the link above, you can go directly to the blog created for this month-long program. Dr. Cathy Moffitt and I have set up the blog to be interactive so families can participate. This means you are very much encouraged to write Comments on how your family is enjoying extra activities - both physical and mental. The Comments will be moderated each day before being posted to the blog so keep checking to see when your comment joins the blog.

The worksheet for recording activities will go home with students on Monday, May 2nd. We meant to send it home today but a snafu means a slight delay. If you have any comments or questions about wwwCharlestownFit, please contact me or Dr. Moffitt (the blog is a great place to do it!)

Speaking of fun, Ms. Miceli, 4th grade teacher, decided to celebrate today's royal wedding with a flair. Not only did she wear a stunning hat, but she brought hats for other colleagues. Check out the photo at the top of our very fancy, very royal teachers!

All Sorts of Books!

The display shown in the photo is one designed to
help 4th graders who have been assigned to read a
historical fiction book. Even though a library online
catalog is invaluable, sometimes a display or spine
stickers makes browsing and finding much easier.

An important part of being a Library Media Specialist is building and maintaining a collection that supports the many, varying needs of a school. That means books for every reading level as well as books to support all curricula. It means having a Professional Collection for teachers and staff (and parents if they ask!). Of course we must also include audiovisual resources and try to keep up with newer technologies.

Not mentioned above is the ever-important pleasure reading - graphic novels (newer term for comic book novels), magazines, and nonfiction books that cover favorite topics of students. Below you will find my recall of favorite subjects at Charlestown School (listed in Dewey Decimal order!)

Bigfoot, Greek mythology, the Titanic, space, dinosaurs, sharks, snakes, dolphins, wolves, military weapons, dirt bikes/4-wheelers/monster trucks, horses, dogs, cats, Garfield and other comics, arts & crafts, skateboarding, the Red Sox (and a few Yankee fans!), WWII, and Native Americans.

That list made me realize how many favorite topics I did not list, but you get the idea - our kids love to read for pleasure and love to learn!

Reading Week Activities

It's been a busy Reading Week 2011. Today we had Chariho High School athletes come to read to classes. This has been a favorite since Mrs. Wright arranged the first visit three years ago. Now we hear that all the Chariho elementary schools like the idea and CHS students are kept very busy. The photos above show Mrs. St. Clair's 1st graders listening to Cody Rathbun read a funny story to them. It looks like Cody is having as much fun as the 1st graders!

That storytime also featured Sarah, another CHS student, but my camera decided not to cooperate for more photos. In fact, it even failed when the 1st graders posed with Cody, Sarah, and the Chariho Charger mascot - what a great shot that would have been.

Sometimes we have tech misses and sometimes we get "hits". This week I was able to share a video with a class by using some tricky maneuvering of tech tools. The video was on YouTube - not available at our schools. With the help of Michelle Steever, CMS librarian, I was able to do a file conversion, have the converted file emailed to me, use the VLC software to open it, and finally play the video for the class. It took several tries, but success is sweet!The class was able to enjoy a video version of the book, How My Parents Learned to Eat, by Ina R. Friedman. The story correlated to this class' study of Japan.

It's been fun to see all the different countries studied by various classes. Our library "took on" the entire world with flags and books about geography. Happy Reading Week to all!

Centering

It's Friday afternoon, soon to be evening. I found myself wondering what to tackle next before going home. No idea for this week's blog had come to me; rather, many ideas had come to me, but which to choose? Current library classes? Two days training on technology? Upcoming Reading Week? (April 4-8th). Even if I chose a topic, what photo can be used this week?

Feeling quite scattered, I looked up and saw the beautiful Clivia flowering on the library windowsill. I inherited this plant when I came to Charlestown in 1998. For years, it just sat by the window, surviving with a little watering, no flowers. I didn't even know what it was, just a bunch of strappy leaves. Finally, I figured out it was a Clivia, read a little, and decided to force the issue. I brought it home and took a kitchen knife to the tangled mass of tuberous roots, cutting away much of the rootball. It went into a new pot with new soil, then back to the library. It has flowered every year since that drastic change, sometimes even twice!

The moral? Change is good? Grow or stagnate? Or maybe it's about deserting the scattered piles of work around me for a few minutes. It wasn't "wake up and smell the flowers", but "wake up, center yourself, and enjoy the beautiful flowers". I hope you enjoy the photo and have a good weekend to center, relax, and regroup.

We're All Winners!

Kindergarten student, Emma, and her mother joined me this week to celebrate our prizes won at the March 5th Warwick Mall event, NEA Read Across America Day that celebrated the birthday of Dr. Seuss.

That day I was volunteering at the school librarians' table, RIEMA (Rhode Island Educational Media Association). It was a fun time that featured a table for children to make bookmarks plus a raffle. Emma's mother spotted me, came over, and they entered the raffle. The raffle price was two $25 Gift Cards to Barnes & Noble bookstore - one for the student, one for their school library. Raffle entries went into two large Cat in the Hat hats.

At the end of the day there were three entries drawn out of hundreds and guess who won! It was quite a stroke of good luck because Emma was the only Charlestown student I saw that afternoon who entered the raffle. I figured we had little chance with all the Warwick and local students who came by and entered the raffle. What a great surprise to hear that Emma's entry was a winner!

The photo was taken by Bianca, a student in Mrs. Mcgill's 3rd grade - a future photographer? In the photo, Emma's mother is holding the letter announcing our win. I hold the two hardcover books purchased for our library and Emma holds the Cat in the Hat. I heard that Emma bought several books great for kindergarteners and her mother was as thrilled as I was. And . . . because the books may be borrowed by all students and teachers at Charlestown School, we all win!

Current Events-Iditarod and more

This week Mrs. McGill's class has a special assignment every morning.
They come right to the library to check their musher's current place in the Iditarod sled dog race. Because Mrs. McGill set up a subscription to the Iditarod Insider GPS, they are able to get up-to-date information on the progress of the race. They locate their race team on the map or list, then take turns writing down the mileage. The next step is when they go on to class and do the math to find how many more miles their team has to go until the finish. It's fun, it's interactive, and it's learning.

Regarding another too-current event, as I write this blog entry on Friday afternoon, my heart is saddened by the horrific news coming from Japan and other places devastated by the earthquake and tsunami that struck yesterday. Our technology enables us to be in touch with the rest of the world. I'm sure many share my thoughts and prayers that go the many victims of this terrible disaster.

Wacky Wednesday Pictures

Not much to say with these photos from our fun and Wacky Wednesday on March 2nd to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss. The pictures tell the story - Enjoy!

Learning is Fun!

Today I tried a different activity with Mrs. Rathbone's 3rd grade class and we had such a good time. I was thrilled with the way they worked with others at the library computers. They were excited about how well they did on the activity - a win/win situation!

The students had experience with the website on which they "shelve" books according to alphabetical order. We had done the activity using the SMART Board a few weeks ago; at that time they took turns coming up to move the virtual book to the correct alphabetical place on the shelf. Their familiarity with the website and activity made it an easy transition to going to computers on their own, finding the website, and taking turns with a partner. Some of the students even earned the Certificate of Library Assistant printout!

The first photo shows the students busy at work. The second photo features two students, J and E, doing their work with the SMART board computer. They used the touch screen; others used their computer mouse to move the book to the correct place.

Again, besides the academic value of alphabetizing, I was most impressed with their ability to work together. Being able to share computer time, decide on names and levels for the game, and collaborate to figure out the problems - to me that's a goal I hope all our young learners can achieve.

If you're interested in the website, it may be found by googling order in the library or through the URL:
http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~valmstrum/s2s/utopia/library4/src/library4.html

Have a great vacation!

Lifelong Learning

Okay, so what does a dinosaur fossil have to do with lifelong learning? Well, today when I was working with students I realized I was not sure about how to cite images from the Internet. I know how I think we should do it, but wanted a refresher course. Rather than Google, I turned to the Chariho Middle School website. The Library Media Center link on the CMS homepage is a wealth of information. Not only does it have links to many important resources, but when I know "the way they do it at CMS" then I can hope to help prepare students when they move on to middle school. In fact, I hope to add a link to the CMS Library website onto this blog to give readers a quick way to access those resources.

Well, the dinosaur fossil photo was found using www.pics4learning.com, a good place to begin a search for Internet images. I think the correct way to cite the source is:

http://www.pics4learning.com/details.php?img=monclonius_nasicornis.jpg, Feb. 11, 2011.

The citation shows the URL (website address) of the photo and the date indicates when I copied the image. I hope I got it right! The main message to our elementary students at Charlestown is that they must give credit to others' work. Lessons on copyright and giving credit begin in 2nd grade and the idea is mentioned in 1st grade. To young children, being "fair" and not taking from someone else is a very concrete idea.

The website, pics4learning, did not have my favorite dinosaur, a Triceratops, so I went with a similar herbivore, Monoclonius. If you have a dinosaur fan at home, they may even recognize that one-horned head!

Snow, IPEVO, and PTO: O-O-Oh!

The photo above was taken with one of our new IPEVO document cameras during yesterday's surprise snow. Of course, I could just snap a photo with the digital camera and save it to my files. However, this is how it happened with the IPEVO -

1. IPEVO was used for a lesson with Ms. Parker's 4th graders to display images from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg.
2. After the lesson, I pointed the IPEVO at the window to capture the image we were seeing - gently falling snowflakes with the woods as a background.
3. The image was displayed on the SMART Board which made it easy to see the snow crystals and clumps as they fell.
4. We turned off the lights to enjoy the beautiful scene displayed on the SMART Board. One student said it was like having another window - a big window!
5. I clicked the Enter key and bingo! - the picture was saved to a folder created by the IPEVO and placed into my U drive. Now that's service!

As you can see, I'm really excited about the IPEVO which is a cheaper version of other document cameras (for more details & a photo, see my blog from Dec. 10th). Our generous PTO bought six (6!) IPEVO cameras for our school. Four of them went to classrooms with SMART Boards, one to the Library, and the other one is available for teachers to borrow and use with the school LCD projector. Thanks, PTO!

Think + Snow

Teaching often involves trying to engage students' deeper thinking, or Higher Order Thinking skills. This means going beyond restating or memorizing facts and teaching or questioning to promote an increased level of thinking processes.

The current library bulletin board in the hallway features some information on Wilson Bentley, better known as "Snowflake" Bentley. A Caldecott-winning book, Snowflake Bentley, was written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and illustrated by Mary Azarian a few years ago; it's still a favorite. The display shows copies of the snowflake photographs made over 100 years ago by Bentley, a remarkable farmer-naturalist who changed the way the world looked at snowflakes. The library display also has newer photos taken more recently and displayed on the website, www.snowcrystals.com.

The first photo is a closer look at part of the display with a question that may encourage deeper thinking. Comparing and contrasting are skills designed to engage thinking. Have a close look at the magnification of the penny and it will help you realize the size of an individual snowflake (the blue insert). I don't know if I even want to think about how many we shoveled at our house this week!

BTW, the official Snowflake Bentley website is a great place to spend some time. Have a look at
www.snowflakebentley.com and enjoy!