A few months ago our school was chosen to participate in BPS Technology’s Transforming Learning with Technology Initiative. Through this initiative we were the happy recipients of 90 Chromebooks. I am ecstatic to finally be achieving some equity in the access to technology. Students are now able to use technology in the library to access the resources they need to learn, explore, and engage in authentic learning opportunities. Here is an update on the learning taking place in the library! Kindergarten- We have continued to work on story comprehension and sequencing skills. We read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats and learned that visuals can be used as a retelling strategy. Students used pictures from the story and felt board pieces to put the story back in order. They did a great job talking with their partner to figure out what came next! They are getting more and more comfortable using expressive vocabulary. We also read A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle. Again, we used visuals to help us remember which item from the ocean was added to the hermit crab’s shell first, next, and last. We also used puppets and movements as additional ways to retell the story. We used our bodies to sway like sea anemones, swim like fish, crawl like snails, and walk like crabs. We even tasted real seaweed! The goals is for students to be able to share books, stories, and information with others. They will use these retelling skills throughout their entire lives. First Grade- We have been learning what makes a fairy tale a fairy tale. We learned that fairy tales have common features such as “once upon a time…”, royalty, magic, etc. These features stay consistent throughout different tales. We have also been learning about fractured fairy tales and how they are meant to make us laugh. We read The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka, then made graphic organizers to help us tell the main parts of the story. We also used a Venn diagram to compare and contrast it with The Gingerbread Man. They have been doing a great job noticing similarities and differences between stories. Second and Third Grade- I have started teaching the students about digital citizenship. I want them to be able to make safe, smart decisions online. Second graders went on a virtual field trip to the San Diego Zoo and learned rules for using the Internet safely. They discovered that the Internet can be used to visit far-away places. Third graders discussed their offline responsibilities (doing their homework, brushing their teeth, etc.) and then examined their online responsibilities (not giving out personal information, protecting their passwords, etc.) Having this technology in the library has allowed students to take control over their own learning, working at their own pace and at their own individual reading levels. The students have been so engaged in their learning and are always excited to use the devices. Last week I found out that I was chosen as one of this year’s recipients of the 2018 Massachusetts School Library Association (MSLA) President’s Award. This award honors someone that has made a significant impact on student learning through a quality school library program. I will receive the award on March 25th at the MSLA Awards Banquet at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was newsworthy enough for The Boston Globe's James Vaznis to tweet about it! I am so thankful to be recognized. It's hard to believe that just a few years ago we didn't have any books or shelves! The library space has certainly come a long way. I am so proud to be part of the P.A. Shaw School community and all of the incredible work that our students partake in each and every school day.
As the school librarian and someone who has a passion for literacy, I want my students to be inspired to read and write. Last week was one of those times where I was reminded exactly why I do what I do. Through Wondermore’s Authors-In-Schools Program, we were lucky enough to have Michelle Knudsen come and speak to our K1 and K2 classes. Michelle Knudsen is a New York Times best-selling author. Her picture book Library Lion was selected by Time Magazine as one of the Best 100 Children’s Books of All Time. Other books Michelle has written include Marilyn’s Monster, Big Mean Mike, and Argus. I start every school year off by reading Library Lion to the students, as it is great way to introduce students to the wonders of the library and library rules. Wondermore believes “powerful interactions between the creators of children’s books and underserved K-8 students in Boston motivate children to become better readers and writers.” I couldn’t agree more! Being able to put a face with the name really allowed the students to connect to the stories Michelle shared and stay engaged. Meeting authors like Michelle makes books accessible and real to students. Authors are real people that work through the writing process just like we do. Before the author visit, the students and I read many of Michelle’s books and brainstormed questions we wanted to ask during her visit (“What is your favorite book?” “How do you make a book?” “Why is Big Mean Mike so mean?”) The K1 and K2 teachers did a great job readying the students and familiarizing them with Michelle’s stories. Michelle even commented on how well-prepared our students were. Go Shaw students! The visit was incredible. All of the students loved Michelle and how friendly she was. They loved her props and the nonfiction facts she presented, as well as her picture books. At the end of the visit every student received their own personally autographed copy of Library Lion. I could tell this author visit will stay with the students for years to come. If the end goal was to get our Kindergarten students excited about reading, then it worked! Many of them are already asking when we can have another author come visit! Thanks to the winter break and snow days, we all had a VERY short first week back at school. But just because we aren't inside the Shaw doesn't mean learning has to stop! I thought I would share some of my favorite educational websites to keep our brains active during these cold days. And the best part about them... they are FREE! Highlights for Kids I remember reading this magazine as a kid, so it's great to see that Highlights now offers online ways for children to play and read. I love their Hidden Pictures puzzles! Put your brain to the test and see if you can find all of the hidden objects inside the pictures. They also have crafts, recipes, games, and jokes. Learning Games for Kids This site offers educational games to help build skills in literacy, math, science, and social studies. They also have some great games to get kids practicing and improving their typing skills. National Geographic for Kids I love NatGeo's mission stating, "We teach kids about the world and how it works, empowering them to succeed and to make it a better place." This site is filled will interesting facts about animals, nature, and different countries. You can watch animal cameras and try science experiments. There's also a "Little Kids" section for even the youngest adventurers in your house. PBS Kids Games and videos from educational shows like Curious George and Wild Kratts. Starfall This site aims to help preschoolers and kindergartners learn how to read. They do a great job of using games to teach letter recognition and phonics. I hope everyone stays safe and warm. Enjoy the snow days!
Is it really the end of December?! I feel like I've blinked and part of the school year is already over. The curiosity, thinking, and wondering that has happened in the library so far is truly incredible. Here is an update on the learning taking place in the library! Kindergarten and First Grade- The students have been learning about sequencing and cause-effect. They now know how to sort, think, and arrange stories into proper order. We read If You Give A Mouse A Cookie and If You Give A Dog A Donut by Laura Numeroff to practice predicting what comes next in a story. The students did an excellent job of putting the beginning, middle, and end parts into the correct story order. Students then had a chance to become their own storytellers! Using picture cards as clues, students made up their own story orders and told their own versions to each other. Second and Third Grade- I have been incorporating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) into the students' scheduled library time. They are reading, planning, and building as student-led teams. Some of the teams are following blueprints to build vehicles, robots, and spring boards. Others have been building things from their own imagination. They are having lots of fun along the way! I have noticed an increased inclination to build, fix, and experiment within our learning environment. I see my students taking things apart and seeing how the pieces fit together, making plans and a list of steps before building. They are building, inventing, and creating! The students are mastering early engineering concepts, becoming comfortable with hands-on problem solving, and building communication skills with one another. I hope everyone has a wonderful break and happy holidays!
On Monday I had the honor of being a guest speaker on Education Talk Radio, hosted by Larry Jacobs. Education Talk Radio gets around 60,000 listens a month, with listeners tuning in internationally. Talk about a large audience! I was able to speak about our active school library program at the Shaw and how we integrate access to resources with our students and families. The library truly is a place where students can read widely and think critically. I love that as a librarian I can present content in different ways and provide choices for students.
You can listen to it here! I like to think of our library as a safe space where even the Shaw's youngest learners can use their minds to figure out how to create things. This past week was all about showing the students that the library is the perfect place for them to explore and experiment! Here is an update on the learning taking place in the library! Kindergarten- The students and I looked at the Tumblebooks version of the story Mechanimals by Chris Tougas. When a tornado hits and a farmer loses all his animals, he refuses to give up. He gets organized and invents different animals out of scrap metal. This story was a fun way to introduce the engineering design process, showing students that they can follow steps to come up with a solution to a problem. We talked about the importance of gathering materials and drawing up a plan. Students sketched plans, then moved on to the creating phase. Legos were the material of choice. The students did an incredible job using their problem-solving skills to invent and build! First, Second, and Third Grade- To prepare for Computer Science Education Week, we began to develop the skills of a computer scientist. Students created algorithms (sets of instructions) to move a character through a maze using a single command. Students also practiced "programming" one another using a combination of hand gestures. They set up a grid on the floor made up of pieces of paper. One student was the Walking Machine and the others were the Controllers. The Controllers led their classmate step-by-step through the paper maze that they created, using the provided arm signals. When the Controllers gave the signal to "STOP", the Walking Machine flipped over the page they were on. If that page had a smiley face on it, then the maze was a success! I offer STEM in the library because children of all ages are curious about how things work, and I can help their curiosity grow. Women and men of color are grossly under-represented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers, so one of my goals in the library is to help Shaw students develop an interest in these fields. I hope to ignite passion in them so they become doctors, architects, scientists and astronomers. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to start this when they are young so they grow up believing that they can and that they have the ability to do so.
This month I was reminded to reflect on all the wonderful things my students do each and every day. So many of my students are eager to learn and share what they are learning with siblings and grandparents. Here is an update on the learning taking place in the library! Kindergarten- In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we read Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson. This book was a wonderful way to learn about giving thanks, showing gratitude, and appreciating others. We talked about people and things we are grateful for. The students have also been doing a fantastic job of memorizing and labeling the parts of a book. They love reminding each other that just like the spines in our bodies hold us together, a book has a spine that does the same thing! First and Second Grade- We have been exploring the difference between fiction and nonfiction. Students were given a stack of books and then had to determine which ones were fiction and which ones were nonfiction. They did a great job of using text features (table of contents, topic, and pictures) to be sure. They were really listening for evidence of understanding. The students and I also read two nonfiction books about cats, and then listed facts we had learned. We are cat experts! Third Grade- Many authors have a message that they want to convey or have the reader understand. The students have been learning how to identify the three different types of author's purpose. They were put into small groups and given a pile of books. They had to work together to sort the books into Persuade, Inform, or Entertain (PIE) categories. The third graders have also continued to do an excellent job of retelling stories. They worked on retelling their favorite story and sharing it with the class. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving break! I am so grateful for the entire P.A. Shaw community, for the power of education, and having access to so much information.
These past two weeks have been filled with hard work, but our efforts have paid off! We are becoming independent users of print resources in the library, and becoming more comfortable retelling stories. Here is an update on the learning taking place in the library! Kindergarten- Students have been learning how to be a good friend and problem solve in their classrooms. We continued this theme in the library by reading stories about friendship. The students love the Elephant and Piggie series, so this was a perfect time to introduce another one of their books. In Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems, Gerald the elephant struggles with sharing his ice cream. We talked about how friends share with and help one another. Then we made our own paper ice creams to share with friends! We used our handmade props to practice retelling the story to one another. This month we also kicked off our annual Raising A Reader program for K0/K1 students and their families! Each week, students get to take home a bag of books that can be read and shared over the weekend. This is a wonderful chance to share a love a reading and prepare our youngest students for success in kindergarten and beyond. First Grade- We have been working on story retelling and sharing details. This helps students recall what is happening in a story, develop story structure, and enhance reading comprehension. Students worked hard to retell two stories, filling out graphic organizers and drawing pictures of the parts they remembered. Second and Third Grade- We have been learning about how to find the main idea in a story. We read some short stories and highlighted the main idea. We also wrote about the main idea of a friend, listing important details about that friend and then describing the main idea of that particular person. We even had some people write about the main idea of our principal, Ms. Osei-Bobie!
This week marked the first time this year students were able to check out library books. For some, this was their first time EVER being able to borrow a book of their own! Every student received their own shelf marker and library card, and it was quite a momentous occasion. I loved being able to watch the students peruse the shelves for a book they were interested in purely for entertainment. I have found that when kids get to choose their own reading, they read more! I had so many students express their joy at being able to read their library books at home, on the bus, and during free time in their classrooms. Thursday I was lucky enough to present at the MassCUE Annual Technology Conference, held at Gillette Stadium. I was able to meet with educators from across New England to talk about new and exciting ways to enhance teaching and learning. I spoke on a panel titled "Social-Emotional Learning in the School Library: Serving the Invisibly Injured". Along with other librarians, I was able to share my experiences working in a school library and how schools can implement social-emotional strategies. Books can teach empathy, self-awareness, responsibility, and so much more. I was even able to mention our library pet and how he has been a calming presence in the library! I think this week we all were reminded of the pleasures of reading! "You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book." -Dr. Seuss |
AuthorMrs. Keohane is the School Librarian at the P.A. Shaw. She loves hockey, going to the beach, and reading (obviously!) Archives
March 2020
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