Become a Super Digital Citizen "Toolbox"

Safe! Kind! Responsible!

All of these are what we want our kids to demonstrate when using technology and online! Please take a few moments to sit down with your family and learn about what it looks like and sounds like to become a .... SUPER DIGITAL CITIZEN! 

As we fondly remember from one of our favorite superhero's Spiderman...

Over the next few weeks in the Library, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students will be learning how to become a responsible citizen while using online tools, apps and website.  One of the first lessons students will access to jump start their journey will be "Super Digital Citizen" Common Sense Media - Digital Citizenship(common sense media - digital citizenship).  In this lesson, students will explore what it means to be respectful and responsible while online and offline.  Your student will create their very own superhero identity as "digital heroes" who solve issues online responsibly.  

Families, check out this follow up video about Super Digital Citizens! 

Many school districts across the nation (including ours) have adopted this new philosophy and take on digital citizenship.  Inclusion of families and parents WITH teaching students the concepts is vital to a successful learning moment.  As this (independent) school in Texas reflects, "... means helping students, teachers, and parents to understand what is involved in being a responsible digital citizen, from promoting personal safety online to adhering to the district's acceptable use policies, from providing cyber-security training for district personnel to including cyber-security lessons for all students within the curriculum."  For more on this topic and learning about how this school creates an inclusion program regarding digital citizenship, click here:  Teaching Parents Digital Citizenship at Katy ISD

By now, your child should be fairly familiar with many terms and language used when discussing digital citizenship.  This might be a good opportunity to discuss your views on screen time at school and at home, any expectations you have and a conversation about online safety.  As a parent of two school aged children myself, I often find the online resources overwhelming and a little difficult to navigate.  If you're looking to learn some strategies of how to create parental controls on your iPad, useful digital citizenship websites for parents or just a 'walk-me-through-it" type of tutorial, check out this video:

As we continue with our skill building and education of safe, responsible and respectful digital citizenship your student will learn why it's vital to create a safe and strong password, how to manage and use strategies dealing with online bullying and much more.  If you're still curious and wanting to become more involved with the power of digital citizenship, take a look below at several helpful resources:

Empowering Parents

Become Involved Online

50 Apps ALL Kids Should Play

Schools Out For the Summer!

Congratulations everyone!  It's officially Summer!!!  (Well, at the end of this school day, it's really official).  It's hard to believe that we have arrived at the last day of school.  Where did the year go?  Today is bitter sweet as I close one chapter and open the next.  After twelve, yes 12 years of teaching (in the classroom and Library), I've decided to stay home with my young children full time.

As I look back and reflect on all the amazing learning and growth over the past year (and years past), I'm reminded that its not always about the end destination, but the journey.

Thank you to the students and families that have walked through the Library doors throughout the past two years.  Thank you to the parent volunteers who helped check in (and out) hundreds and thousands of books.  Thank you to my colleague who shared her love of literacy and learning and inspired me to strive for new challenges.  Thank you to the staff and teachers who supported the Library and helped kiddos return books.  Thank you to my family for putting up with my "addiction" of buying books.

I'm excited for this new adventure and wish everyone a happy and safe Summer!

-Mrs. Bethel

Teacher Appreciation

WOW!  How amazing it was to walk into a room full of beautiful fragrant flowers in our Library!  Teacher Appreciation week takes on an entirely new meaning when you have kiddos of your own...here's a SHOUT OUT to all the teachers this week who spend tireless hours helping our children succeed!  THANK YOU for what you do!  And THANK YOU to all the students who brought little treats and flowers this week!  We feel loved!

Library this week was full of inquiry and STEAM!  First graders listened to NOT A BOX by Antoinette Portis and created their own two dimensional (some three) box!  Creativity flowed as the students connected Reading to Art and continued the STEAM theme.

Third and Fourth graders dug deep to determine whether or not "Mighty Jackie" was fact or fiction.  Students were introduced to the amazing KCLS website where as BSD students they have access to thousands of ebooks, videos and databases.  Due to technical difficulties today (Flexibility was the virtue demonstrated here), we created one of a kind baseball cards of Jackie Mitchell.  Each card was full of "stats", her position and even who she played for.  Illustrations of the baseball cards were a hit!

Six weeks + 1 day and counting...it's crazy and wild to think we are already in the month of May!  Wishing a happy Teacher Appreciation week and Happy Mother's day to all you mama's out there!

-Mrs. Bethel

VOTE!

It's that time again, Voting week!  Not for elections...for BOOKS!  Grades 1st - 5th are voting this week for several different Book Awards:  Sasquatch, Washington Children's Choice Picture Books, OTTER (Our Time To Enjoy Reading) and Tournament of Books!  Thanks to all the amazing Librarians in BSD and my co-librarian Ms. Arika for designing the surveys and getting the ball rolling with voting!

OTTER Award:

Sasquatch Award:

Tournament of Books - Final TWO:  

Amulet vs. Mr. Lemoncello's Library

Votes will be tallied and we will share results by end of week!  Have fun and enjoy your VOTING! 

-Mrs. Bethel 

Fling Toward Spring

Well, this is a little embarrassing...

The weekly blog that I attempted to diligently update often...has fallen to the wayside.  Trying to balance a more hectic work schedule, more library classes, volunteering and beginning a Library Media Endorsement program meant something slipped through the cracks.  That something is this Blog.  So, in an attempt to start Spring Cleaning, I am also revamping and recommitting to blogging more often.  My goal is twice per month, in a perfect case scenario, once per week!

First Grade:

This week our friends enjoyed Catch That Cookie written by Hallie Durand, pictures by David Small.  Students reviewed the virtue DETERMINATION and how the main character Marshall demonstrated this trait throughout the story.  We then continued the work by creating our won WANTED posters of the gingerbread men!  This silly text that just happens to be a WCCPBA (Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award nominee) and our goal this year was to read as many of these titles as possible before voting the end of March.  Next week is our very last week to squeeze in as much of these amazing texts as we can.  Voting will commence on Friday, April 1st, we are very excited to see the results!  Ask your child which book is their favorite WCCPBA?

Third & Fourth Grade:
We don't often focus on the similar lessons or objectives for Third and Fourth Grade, but this week we lucked out and were able to work with both grade levels on a three week focus on fact finding, research and art!  This lesson has evolved over the past few weeks, and truly is a collaboration in progress.  Students begin the work by listening to a Read Aloud of CREATURE FEATURES, written by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page.  These amazing authors and artists took their 16 years of work
together and created a non-fiction text that also included beautiful, non traditional art.  Using textiles, paper scraps of collage and a really amazing publishing program called InDesign, our authors created profile pictures of 25 different animals and their special features.  This week, students began research, fact finding and vetting information they'd dug up.

Next week, we will finish our work with the databases and move toward the second step of sketching our creatures and creating the driving questions that will result in a fun fact!  I found some new interesting research sites for animal facts, "Animal Corner" and "ARKive" were two that we deemed most useful.  While Animal Corner was a quick way to identify animals and characters, one negative attraction is the presence of advertisements.  ARKive was the popular choice for most students with the best updated information AND video feed of the creatures!

Tournament of Books
We are down to the Final Four for our big Battle of the Books!  Amulet-  Book 1 vs. The Day the Crayons Quit are head to head this week!  Vying for the big showdown also is A Boy and A Jaguar vs. Mr. Lemoncello's Library!  Next week, we'll vote one more time and have a winner!  Don't forget to vote and to SAVE a title if you believe it should have made the last week's battle!

Up Next Week
Sasquatch, WCCPBA and Battle of the Books Voting!!  Last week before Spring Break, don't forget to return AAAAAALLLLLLLLLLl your Overdue books!

Have a great start to your week!

-Mrs. Bethel