It's hard to believe it is here already, but we have only one month or so left in school. This means that library is winding down in order to prepare for the summer break. The last day to check out books will be Friday, May 4. The remainder of library times in May will be used to return books and discuss summer reading through books talks and, hopefully, a visit from one of our neighborhood DPL librarians to discuss their summer reading program.
As an incentive for the students to return their books on time, all students who return their books within two weeks of their class' last check out day will be entered into a drawing to win prizes! For instance, if a child's class has their last check out day on April 26 and they return all of their books and take care of any fines/lost books by May 10 they will be entered into a drawing to win a poster or some other similar prize. The details are still being hammered out.
Thanks to everyone for a wonderful school year!
The Oscars are this weekend and many of the nominated films, including two nominated for Best Picture, are based on great children's books!
Hugo is nominated for Best Picture, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Original Score and Adapted Screenplay. This film is based on the Caldecott Award winning book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.
War Horse, also nominated for Best Picture, is based on the stage play and children's book of the same name. The book was written by Michael Morpurgo.
The Adventures of Tintin, based on the popular comic series, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, of course based on the poular series by J.K. Rowling, are also both nominated for awards on Sunday night.
For the grown-ups, films based on the adult fiction books The Help, Jane Eyre, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, and The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo have been nominated as well.
I hope everyone's new year is off to a good start. Here at Carson have begun receiving our new books! Books purchased through the book fair and district book orders are filtering in and hitting the shelves. We have new almanacs for 2012, new Wimpy Kid books and so much more. I hope the kids will be as excited for these new books as I am!
The library schedule has also changed slightly for the remainder of the school year. The new hours in which I will be at Carson are:
Monday - 12:30-3:30pm
Thursday - 9:00am-4:00pm
Friday - 9:00am-4:00pm
Thank you so much to our parent volunteers for helping to man the library on the days I am absent and keeping it running smoothly!
Hello All! Happy December 1st!Thank you to everyone who contributed to this year's books fair. There were many donations to the classroom libraries of our teachers as well as raising a good deal of money to grow the school library! If you missed the book fair, or couldn't find a book you were looking for, you can still purchase books through our online book fair and proceeds will benefit the Carson Library. (Direct Link: http://www.scholastic.com/schoolbookfairs/2901537) Snow kicked off the month of December in a festive fashion. This month is of course home to Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and the Winter Solstice - and I have chosen some great books for the occasion on display in the library. If you are looking for a good winter or holiday book to share with your class or family swing on by and check out the selection! Hope everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving and has a wonderful holiday season as well!
Hello All, It is Week A again, and I am looking forward to seeing you in the library again this week! There are a couple interesting articles I wanted to share with you all regarding the work of a library in education. This first highlights the information literacy needs of "digital natives" now in college, and I believe highlights those 21st Century Skills we can begin to equip our students with long before they reach higher ed. The second highlights and effects of school libraries and librarians on test scores. It is a preliminary study based on 4th grade reading scores and compared to reports of lost or gained school librarians during the recession. A more in depth study looking right here in Colorado is in the works! What Students Don't Know - by Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed "'I think it really exploded this myth of the ‘digital native,’ ' Asher said. 'Just because you’ve grown up searching things in Google doesn’t mean you know how to use Google as a good research tool.' [. . .] "Another possible reason was that students seek help from sources they know and trust, and they do not know librarians. Many do not even know what the librarians are there for. 'I don't think I would see them and say, 'Well, this is my research, how can I do this and that?' ' one senior psychology major told the researchers. 'I don't see them that way. I see them more like, 'Where's the bathroom?' ' Other students imagined librarians to have more research-oriented knowledge of the library but still thought of them as glorified ushers." New Research Shows The More Librarians Means Higher Reading Scores - by Keith Curry Lance & Linda Hofschire, School Library Journal Our findings show that states that gained librarians from 2004–2005 to 2008–2009—such as New Jersey, Tennessee, and Wyoming—showed significantly greater improvements in fourth-grade reading scores than states that lost librarians, like Arizona, Massachusetts, and Michigan. Why did we examine fourth graders? They were the most widely reported scores available at the state level during 2004 to 2009 and anecdotal evidence shows that media specialists are being lost disproportionately at the elementary level. Both articles also highlight the importance of collaborative relationships between classroom teachers and the library staff. Something I hope to continue to build here at Carson! Teachers please let me know if there is anything specific you'd ever like to cover during your library time. I am happy to co-teach a lesson or lead an activity that will compliment your curriculum and learning objectives!
Happy Friday All!
It is the end of the August, start of September and school is now in full swing! The weather is cooling off, so it should begin to be quite comfortable in the library when you come by. I love autumn, so I am overjoyed at the changing weather.
The library schedule should be finalized soon, at least through winter break, and the schedule will be posted in the hallway and on this website. Keep an eye on your emails!
National Hispanic Heritage Month starts on September 15 and there is a display in the library with books relating to Hispanic heritage and culture.
"What Are You Reading?" slips are already coming in and I have posted them on the bulletin board and in books. I hope to read more about what staff and students are reading soon!
I hope you all have a wonderful long holiday weekend! Stay cool and be safe!
Hello Again! Can you believe the first full week of school is nearly over? Seems like the time is already flying by! Teachers, if you have a chance to double check the library visit schedule in the hall I would sure appreciate it. Let me know if I have the time wrong or if you need to change your scheduled time. If none of the open slots work for you and your class, let me know and we can try to work out a co-visit time or something to make sure everyone is getting a chance to come in to the library! With Hurrican Irene bearing down on the eastern seaboard some may be asking questions about severe weather, how it happens and what it does. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a great educational website for scientific meterologyand climatology resources for all grade levels. Be sure to check it out! You can also swing by the library to check out books on the subjet, they'll be found under the Dewy call number: 551.55. I am looking forward to meeting more of the students during Week B. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Hello All! I hope your school years are all off to a wonderful start! In the library things are gearing up, we will be starting scheduled library times this week with Week A. The schedules have been posted in the hall, but we can still change things around a bit if needed during these first couple of weeks. After that we'll finalize the schedule for the remainder of the semester and can revisit schedule changes for the spring semester. And of course, you are always welcome to come to the library during an open time! Before your first library visit, if you have a chance, I'd encourage you to check out the library FAQs and Rules (Behaviors and Procedures). Also, in an effort to support print motivation, reading for pleasure and writing skills I wanted to start a "What Are You Reading?" program. Staff, teachers and students are all invited to participate. I have put "What Are You Reading?" slips in each of the staff mailboxes, if you have a shared mailbox and need more slips feel free to come grab some at the library by the globe. If you'd like to share about a book you recently read and enjoyed, regardless of reading level (provided it is content appropriate), just fill out the slip and drop it off at the library at the end of the desk, by the globe. I will use the slips for the hall bulletin board and/or as bookmarks in the recommended books for display. Over the course of the year I hope all the students will be able to participate (though ECE and K might have to dictate their reviews). This is completely voluntary of course and I would not wish to take away any classtime from your busy days. If you want some ideas, swing by the library where we already have some "What Are You Reading?" titles on display. Thanks for stopping by and here is to a wonderful first full week of school!
Hello All! Thanks to all the staff at Carson Elementary for such a warm welcome! We are excited to be starting the 2011-2012 school year. Teachers, if you haven't signed up yet there are still slots available for reserved library time. You can sign up for weekly or bi-weekly times, or such schedule time with me as needed and as the schedule allows. We will start "Week A" next week during the first full week of school. If you are interested, there are a few great tools available online for organzing personal/classroom libraries I thought I might share. SHELFARI ( shelfari.com) - Shelfari is a great visual bookshelf tool that allows you to catalog your books. You can add reviews and/or plot synopsis, create personal tags for books based on reading level, content and usage (ie "Read Aloud Friendly", "Reluctant Readers", "Forest Animals", etc.) and also track who you lent the book to and when. GOODREADS ( goodreads.com) - Goodreads is linked to Amazon, Barnes and Noble as well as user-generated bibliographc records, so it is easy to find almost any book to add to your collection. Instead of tags Goodreads uses "shelves" to sort books, but you can books on multiple shelves and write reviews for books you have read. LIBRARYTHING ( librarything.com) - On library thing there is a limited number of books you can store without having to pay for a subscription, but subscriptions are affordable. This system was created by digital librarians so it is incredibely well cataloged, but is a little less user-friendly than the options above. Like Shelfari, it also allows you to track lending of your books. I have a Shelfari account and Goodreads and can help answer any questions about them if you are interested in giving them a try. You can check out my Shelfari bookshelf here: http://www.shelfari.com/kidsstacks. Looking forward to seeing all of the Carson community in the library this year!
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