LibraryChats

Happy First Day of School!

What a joy to see all the smiling, happy faces on students and staff as they came into school this morning.  The beginning of school is such an exciting time, not only for your children, but the staff as well.  Many of us had ‘butterflies’ dancing in our stomachs this morning.

In this Information Age, information literacy has become the single common denominator required for success at any stage of life.  Our children, more than ever, ‘must be equipped to access, use and evaluate information competently in both print and electronic formats’ (School, 1).  The data shows, in 19 states and 1 Canadian province, that “An abundance of evidence strongly supports the connection between student achievement and the presence of school libraries with qualified school library media specialists.  When library media specialists work with teachers to support learning opportunities with books, computer resources, and more, students learn more, get better grades, and score higher on standardized test scores than their peers in schools without good libraries.” (School, 1)

As a result of this data, we changed our library program to reflect what is best for student learning.  I will be collaborating much more with classroom teachers, helping to teach and reinforce information literacy skills needed in ‘real world’ situations.  We all know that we don’t learn something if we learn it ‘out of context’.  We have some exciting projects scheduled for the students with more to come.

Students also know that the library is ‘their’ library.  Anytime they need materials, they may come to the library, with their teacher’s permission (not during a math lesson, for example, unless there is a math question to be answered), and obtain what they need.  The library is also open for them before class begins (8:15 – 8:30) to select materials.  To see what the program looks like for your child’s grade, please ‘click’ on the appropriate tab at the top of the page.  Please feel free to stop by during Open House on September 11th, to see our wonderful library.  I’m happy to show you around and answer any questions you may have.

I think Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) said it all … “Information is the currency of democracy.”  We want to ensure that each student has what they need to be successful in this Information Age.

School Libraries Work! Research Foundation Paper. New York: Scholastic, 2008.

After several days of off and on raining, I think summer has begun.  I hope everyone has chosen some wonderful books to explore during the summer.  Books are special in that they come in all media types, which make them easy to take anywhere; audiotape, CD, electronic, hardcover and paperback.

While traveling, by car, it is great to share an audio book.  It allows for wonderful conversations with all members of the family listening and the added benefit of keeping the driver awake and alert.  Please check out the book suggestions I have prepared to get you started on your summer reading adventures.  At the end of each book list, are ideas of books to read aloud to your children.  It is very important to read aloud to your children, even if they can read themselves.  You will be helping them build their listening vocabulary, which they use with their own reading.  A great resource for ideas of Read Alouds is Jim Trelease’s Read Aloud Handbook.

You will notice that the links to the Reader’s Theater have been removed, as requested by Mr. Eric Kimmel.  We thank him again for his generosity in letting us use his story and podcast our Readers’ Theater until the end of the school year.

I have so enjoyed sharing my love of reading and inquiry/research with your children this year.  I wish you all a happy and safe summer.

Happy Reading!
Mrs. Chase

Grade Two has been learning about Trickster Tales.  To celebrate this genre of story, they recorded their Readers’ Theater about the African Trickster, Anansi the Spider.  Mr. Eric A. Kimmel kindly allowed us to use his retelling of Anansi and the Talking Melon for our Readers’ Theater.  (The MP3 files will be kept on this Blog until June 30, 2008.)  The purpose of Reader’s Theater is to help the students develop their reading fluency and their reading comprehension.  You have probably heard the students talking about how one should ‘read like a river’, not like a ‘robot’ or like a ‘race car’.  In Readers’ Theater, we don’t use any props or costumes or memorize our lines but use our voices to act out the story, which demonstrates our comprehension.  The students have worked very hard and are excited about sharing their Readers’ Theater with their families and friends. 

Mrs. Bedell-Healy’s Class    

Mrs. Brannelley’s Class    

Mrs. Moran’s Class    

Ms Ulrich’s Class    

Mrs. Young’s Class    

I loved watching the students as we listened to our recordings to see what we had done well and if we needed to make any changes, such as … talk a little louder.  They were so cute when they would hear themselves read.  They couldn’t believe they sounded like that!  There were lots of wide smiles and giggles. 

Thank you to all the parents for giving permission for your children to participate, and a special thank you to one parent in particular.  A very special thank you to Eric A. Kimmel for being so generous in letting us use his book and sharing it with ‘the Chickering Community’.  We hope you enjoy these recordings as much as we loved performing our Readers’ Theater!

Happy Listening!

Mrs. Chase and all the 105 Second Grade students

Boy, have we been busy at Chickering School and in the library!  We have completed our FIT & LIT Incentive program … everyone worked so hard and accomplished so much.  We had three classroom winners … the object was to read and exercise a lot but to be more balanced between the reading and moving.  The First Place winners, Mr. Harte’s class, developed a strategy to help them.  Second and Third Place winners were Mrs. Wasik and Mrs. Moran’s classes, respectively.  All three classrooms enjoyed their prizes.  We had a wonderful assembly to celebrate our successes … the Chickering Pep Band played and we all did the Cha Cha Slide with Mrs. Gillis.  Thank you to our parents who helped our students keep track of their minutes and now, hopefully, will help them put their necklaces in a safe place until next year!

In the Library …

Fifth grade has just finished their Explorer Interviews.  We met some very interesting gentlemen: learned about who they sailed for, their reasons for their expeditions, what they found, and the impact their discoveries had on the indigenous people and the world.

Fourth grade are busy writing their scripts for our “Good Morning, North America” show, hopefully to record in May.

Third graders are learning about the important women in the world who have made a difference since this is Women’s History Month.

Second graders are working on our first recorded Reader’s Theater which should air on this site in a couple of weeks, thanks to the generous permission of the author Eric Kimmel, who is letting us share our Reader’s Theater Ananzi and the Talking Melon.

First graders are now analyzing several different versions of a fairy tale to determine how they are the same and different.

Kindergarten has begun their Reptile research and creating their Reptile Journals.  They are learning to make picture-notes and then turning them into diagrams with their words.  They should be arriving home in a couple of weeks.

A new business in town, owned by Diane Hughes called, ‘Back Room Gifts’, and an artist, Amy Citarell, have very nicely donated a wonderful painting of an alligator to our library.  It seems that one of our library aides was checking out the new store and commented on how our kindergarten students would love the alligator – our experts on reptiles.  As you can see, the alligator looks right at home amid our jungle plants.  If you happen to stop in, please thank them for us.                                                                                                                     

We had a wonderful assembly on Friday, January 4th, celebrating the start of our Third Annual FIT & LIT Incentive Program.  We want to encourage all who  attend and work at Chickering School to be FIT & LIT by exercising both their minds and bodies for the next 6 weeks.

We were priviledged to have a guest with us, Tacky the Penguin.  He came all the way from ‘Nice Icy Land’ to help us kick off our assembly.  We began our celebration of our movement and reading, so far this year, by viewing a slideshow of students and staff exercising and enjoying books while listening to Rob Thomas’ Streetcorner Symphony and Firefly by Lori McKenna.  Next Mrs. Gillis lead us all in a great stretching exercise to music.  We then settled ourselves down while Tacky read a story about himself and his 5 friends, called Tacky and the Winter Games.  Tacky then explained what we would be doing over the next 6 weeks.

A letter was sent home with each child and a FIT & LIT log on Friday.  Additional copies of these logs can be located on the main page for the school at http://www.doversherborn.org/doverelementary/. 

If your student has misplaced their ‘necklace’, string, yarn or gymp may be used.  All kindergarten and new students to the school will receive a ‘necklace’ when they earn their first charm.

Please help us by encouraging your students to be ‘balanced’ in both their reading and exercising.  Our goal this year is not to be lopsided in reading or exercising but to try to have an equal amount of minutes for both.

Happy Exercising and Reading!
Mrs. Chase