LEARNING IS A SLMM DUNK @ YOUR MEDIA CENTER !

April is School Library Media Month.

Let's use this WIKI-to show what fun and exciting knowledge we are providing to our students in Broward County. Let’s try this new technology. A wiki allows us all to easily make additions and changes to this document easily-whenever we want to from wherever we are in the world. If you want to add an idea to share log in to edit this wiki. Let's see what this awesome team of media specialists can compile. --the School Library Media Month Committee 2006.

It’s a Team Effort

BROWARD COUNTY’S MEDIA MAVEN’S

• Let’s hear a cheer for all the areas in our county who are sharing great ideas that will rebound for success from the North to the South and East to West.

Scavenger Hunt-References

Materials needed:

copies of pretest/posttest

powerpoint

smartboard

2 copes of each reference book listed

stop watch

copies of scavenger hunt

table tents with numbers

Before coming to the media center, students complete the pre-test. We like to score the test before we see the class so we know which areas need to be stressed. Once students come to the media center, we seat them in groups of four. We begin with a powerpoint presentation on reference books (we use our smart board to make it interactive.) Once the powerpoint is finished, we have the students look over each question predicting which reference book they will use to find the answer for each particular question. We go over their predictions. Each table is given three minutes with the two copies of that particular reference book - that is why it is good to have predicted which source to use. (There are only two questions from each reference book.) At the end of the three minutes, time is called and the reference books are moved from table to table. The activity uses 6 different reference books, but if we have a small class with only 5 groups, we put the dictionary and thesaurus together as those questions tend to be easier. At the end, we go over the answers. This portion takes our entire 54 minute period. The students complete the posttest the next day in class. We have a spread sheet where we mark the questions and answers for each class and the number of questions missed.

There is a power point and activity sheets to share with the project above--email-d. haneski or m. rivera to get copies!!

During Story Time one of our read-alouds was Amaing Grace by Mary Hoffman using Cluster 4 (L.A.E. 2.1.1 and TH.D 1.1.5) students were able to select and relate characterization through a puppet show. They also learned the similarities, differnence between playacting, pretending and real life. I use stuffed animals and hand puppets as "Book Buddies" for Story Time. Students were asked to (1) Choose a book buddy (2) Choose another book buddy or audience to speak to (3) Write a script for their book buddy (4) Select and choose something for their book buddy to tell about (a) A place you like to visit (b) How to make something, example a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, a paper airplane. (C) Good news to share, example a birthday party, the birth of a new baby brother or sister. The children had a ball!!

The collabortive research was with a 4th grade class/teacher. The research was for a videoconference activity. A previous lesson was on fables and follow-up lesson on folktales. Students were asked to write original fables, be ready to explain them, and make a book of fables. I discussed with students the components of folktales. We compared several folktales then used Inspiration on the Refresh Units to make Vinn Diagrams showing the comparisons.

I become Rita Research to help promote the media center. I play a video of me as Rita on our morning announcements to explain the various types of printed reference resources. I provide each 1st hour teacher with a worksheet activity that supports each type of resource presented in the video. I give a pre-test along with a worksheet on using the encyclopedia to begin. At the end of the activities, I provide each 1st hour teacher with a post-test.

Using iMovie,I also produce a video entitled using the Atlas: A Cowboy's Tale. I create slides to explain what can be found in an atlas. The students from our morning announcement program are featured here. We meet on Wednesdays afterschool to film the use of various reference materials (Scripts were created to create the following videos: Almanac Jeopardy, CSI Dictionary,Using an Encyclopedia and more.) that prove entertaining and educational for our students.

For School Library Media Week, School Library Month, and Broward County’s Week of the Read-In, she plans so many events, take a look and pick one to make your own.

1. In honor of the 12th anniversary of TV-Turn- Off Week), the students will sign a pledge to “not watch TV that week.”

2. There will be a door decorating contest. Each grade will have a winner. The judging will be on Thursday, April 5th, 2006 at 3:00. The theme is your favorite book and author. Good luck to all of you. The prize will be a class book and ice pops.

3. The children’s librarian, from the Pompano Branch will visit and do story times with the Kindergarten classes, and possibly the pre-K. Each session will last 20-25 minutes. I will go on a cart for my scheduled classes.

4. On Wednesday, April 5th, I will have an ice cream voting social in the media center at 1:15 for 30 minutes to select the Sunshine State book from our school to be sent to the state. (Grades 3-5 and some 2nd.)

5. On Wednesday, April 5th, we will be having Career Day. The students are to look up and discuss various occupations.

6. All K-5 students will be given a symbol where they have to write_______@ your library. Ex: Learn about Florida @ your library, or Find your favorite book @ the library. Our theme is Reading Rocks @ your library, (what else happens @ your library).

7. I will have a contest during the week for 3rd-5th grade students to write about why they would like to be a media specialist and clerk for a day. The best ones will get to be those positions on Thursday an Friday, the 7th of April.

8. On morning announcements that week, clues will be given out about a Mystery Book, and the students will try and guess what it is. The answer will be given the next morning.

9. On Friday, will be reading under the Cypress Trees.

10. During media time for grades, Pre –K -2nd grade there will be an ice cream party while they vote on their favorite Florida Reading Association books (FRA).

11. Lastly, but my favorite, is to Dress Up as your favorite story – book character or original character trait character for pre-k-5th grade. If not, they can make a crown to wear of their favorite character. I will be the Cat in the Hat.

We have a Student/Parent/Teacher book club which is a great way to build a culture of reading in our school comunity. Each session of the book club consists of an evening where the teachers on the book club team reveal the books that club memebers can choose from, the one month later we gather again and have a discussion about the books. We spilt up by book read and a teacher leads the discussion. We serve refreshments, have a raffle for prizes(books) , we share websites that feature authors, we have even had parents take reading counts quizzes. It's been a great addition to our other reading motivation programs. Contact me for any help I can provide.

This is a board that is made for the book revealing, it can be moved around and used in the media center or the classroom.

Blending Achievement/Recognition with PR:

One of the things we showcase at our media center is the best practices of other teachers. We show it as a roll out, usually powerpoint, on our morning news. Students enjoy seeing their projects on the news show, and this inspires other teachers to do "newsworthy" projects.

To foster reading, We also have a dress down day where we use the proceeds to buy cool gifts to students who have had the highest amount of reading each quarter. The students who win get the gift, but also give a peer book talk on the news. I always see an check-out increase immediately after. If the books are already gone, I use that as an opportunity to give them some alternative choices.

Hope this Helps!

Here is information on a Battle of the Books competition and how to promote a battle competition for the Learning is a SL@MM Dunk at YOUR Media Center!. I have more information to help someone get started (see below) I videotaped one battle last year and I am putting it into an imovie too.

Here is last year's battle

We promote learning at our media center, in addition to the regular school day, by having one evening per week open to our families. We call the evening Tuesday Night Live and parents and children read, use computers, and interact with each other to promote learning.

I do a bookmark designing contest in grades 4 and 5. The winning bookmarks, three from each grade, are copied on colored cardstock and made into bookmarks to hand out to all the students. The 2nd and 3rd graders make 8 x 11 posters and i display the two best from each class. Each day for a week we do library trivia on the morning announcements and I put an article in the school newsletter. I also have some purchased posters and this year I bought Dewey Decimal and cute bookmarks to give out in April. Some years I have done an information hunt during April, sort of like Library Quest used to be.

We made our own bookmarks which list suggested authors by genre. Now, when the kids come into the center asking for a fiction book about sports, for example, we can hand them a list of names which they can then take to the shelves.

Take a look at the bookmarks

In an effort to introduce RPM to lower grades, I found out the K and some 1st needed clarification of question, answer, and statement... the ground work for essential questioning. So I made flipcharts with Q,A,and S. It was great fun to have the students create and then use as a flash card game with the flipcharts. I also developed a powerpoint presentation using the last half for upper grades and the need to create better questions and questioning techniques.