What an amazing week we had here in the Library. It's just wild to think that we've already been in school for one month and next week it's already October! EEK! Many new and exciting things are coming down the pike for our Washington Cougars and I'm looking forward to sharing with you as we learn.
4th/5th Grade:
This week was dedicated to signing our "pledge" of becoming Digital Citizens. Many students (and families, teachers, etc) may not realize that part of a Librarians job is to integrate, implement and teach technology. In order for our students to become active participants in 21st Century Learning, it is our honor and duty to assist students in learning what it looks like and sounds like to use the Internet, apps, tech and much more. This week we kicked off our work discussing the variety of ways we access technology and online resources; iReady, Destiny Quest, AR, and many other resources were brainstormed by kiddos. As a promise, we dedicate ourselves to be safe, kind, respectful and responsible in the Library as well as online. We signed a pledge to do the following:
- I promise to communicate in a responsible and kind way with others
- I pledge to protect my own and other's private information
- I will STAND UP to Cyberbullying
- I promise to give proper credit when using work other than my own
- I will report any inappropriate content or information that makes me feel uncomfortable to an adult
- I pledge to balance technology use with other activities
- I promise to be safe, kind, respectful and responsible when using technology
Related news, next week we begin our new program called Library Clerks. Students in 5th grade turned in applications sharing what virtues and characteristics they felt they would bring to this leadership position. Over a dozen students turned in applications and we will have our first meeting next Thursday! During our time together we will create a team of leaders that assist with Makerspace, mentoring younger students as well as helping with technology. One of the programs I absolutely loved and appreciated from my previous school was the "Tech Team" (shout out to the incredible teachers and leaders at Medina Elementary who implemented this impactful experience for kiddos)! My hope is for one day to have students creating, making, building and driving the technology experience in our building! Stay tuned for next week when these kiddos learn how to place a book on hold using our library catalog system!
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Grade:
Ask your child if they can remember the difference between a "book talk" and a "book trailer". All this week I've made an appearance on the morning announcements to give a quick 30 second book talk about the books that we would see at the Scholastic Book Fair. This week I wanted to create a learning objective in which students realized the power in sharing about books. Eventually (fingers crossed if we can get the right tech in our Library) students will be able to create their own book talks and book trailers. I modeled these with the Scholastic App that is FREE and you can scan a cover, bar code or even a QR code to read a book talk or even watch a short clip of the book. Students were enthralled and from what I understand, the book fair showed an increase in sales! Book Talks WORK! Here are some of the titles we shared:
Kindergarten:
This week we dug deeper into our author study of Mo Willems and voted on one special question to ask him in our "Dear Mr. Mo Willems" letter. It's amazing what these little minds are able to achieve, they loved writing a friendly letter to him and sang a song in the process! One Kindie class even got to preview a newer book called "Nanette's Baguettes"!
Note From Mrs. Bethel:
It was a fantastic and busy week! Looking forward to starting our Library Clerks next week, more work with the Lego Wall and starting Makerspace late October!
*Images from:
Tech Tips CCSD
Scholastic Book Fair
*Images from:
Tech Tips CCSD
Scholastic Book Fair
