Newbery Club Excitement!

Within the past week, there's been a lot of buzz about the Mock Newbery Book Club! Two weeks ago, I met with an enthusiastic group of 8th grade club members. I knew these strong readers would be the best advocates to "get the word out" and help recruit new members to the club. These students split up into pairs, wrote out a script, and visited 6th grade homeroom classes to get the kids excited about being part of the Newbery Club. I held several informational meetings for all students interested in finding out the details. In total, over 35 students attended these meetings, with many returning their club applications within a day or two after the meeting.

The Newbery Club will meet twice a month during their lunch period to discuss the 2010 books they're reading and review each title based on the Newbery Award criteria. For their first assignment, students are required to read an actual Newbery Award winner or honor book. They will go through the review process (by completing their green Reader Review sheet) to evaluate their book based on Newbery Award criteria to practice before reading and reviewing books from our club book collection.

Ms. PBC and I regularly read book review journals and indicate which titles would be appropriate "Newbery contenders." These titles are usually starred reviews, are written by authors who have already won awards or who are known for their quality children's literature, or are titles we have heard a "buzz" about. Yesterday, I picked up an order of 25 titles from our wonderful local independent bookstore, who were also kind enough to supply the club with advanced reader copies of upcoming titles for publication. What a treasure of wonderful titles to get the group started! I can't wait to share the collection with Newbery Club members next week at our first official meeting. The challenge will be in deciding which book to read first!

-Ms. Z

Earth Day

Today marked the 40th anniversary of Earth Day! In honor of this special event, teachers at our school were charged with going "paper free" for a whole day. Some teachers went all out by not using ANY paper, with students solely using overhead transparencies, computers for assignments, or activities outside that required them to move and learn. Others allowed students to use papers from recycling bins around the building or recycled newspapers for posters. The idea was to use no NEW paper all day today.

We had a paper-free day in the media center! Four 6th grade classes came through for book circulation. Since our card catalog is Internet-based, students look up books of interest online, then find them on the shelves. Our baskets of scrap paper and pencils located at each Search Station already met the requirements of the day, since we recycle extra worksheets and papers we don't need anymore to cut into scrap paper.

Mrs. C's classes used the computers all period and learned how to use NoodleTools, an online bibliography generator we subscribe to. Students already had their source information filled in on their Source Notes sheets from when they researched their Holocaust topic a few weeks ago. Today, they inputted their source information into NoodleTools and saved their entries as a bibliography in Microsoft Word. This program is amazing because it formats each student's entry with the correct MLA style, including correct placement of periods, commas, italicized words, etc. How I wish I had this resource when I was in school!

How did you celebrate Earth Day?

-Ms. Z

'Tis the Season!

'Tis the season for 8th grade research papers! Over the past month, I have collaborated with two 8th grade Language Arts teachers in the design and implementation of research paper projects for our students. Although the research process for each project was similar, the topics were very different.

Mrs. L's students each selected a "current issue" they did preliminary investigation on, chose a position, then found information from reliable resources that supported "their side." Student-selected topics included the death penalty, abortion, teen pregnancy, gun control, smoking laws, homeschooling, and eating disorders. During their first day of research in the media center, students wrote down several issues that peaked their interest, then browsed through library resources to "get to know" each issue better BEFORE committing to the one they found most intriguing. This proved to be a wonderful strategy, as students were truly researching something that interested them. Their research process was well-organized, as students used Source Notes sheets to gather bibliographic information, along with research notes from each source. Mrs. L and I required students to use a variety of source types - - 1 book, 1 encyclopedia, 1 Internet website, and 1 online encyclopedia database - - to ensure their research was well-rounded and they experienced researching in different source formats. After their media center research, students used their strongest research findings to organize their arguments into an argumentative research paper.

Mrs. C and I have worked together for the past several years each spring on a Holocaust research paper project, and refine the project each year to meet the needs of her current team of students. Each student selected a person, event, or place from the Holocaust and wrote an in-depth informational research paper on that topic. For this project, I taught a lesson on the day the project was introduced. Through my YOUR 8th Grade Research Project lesson, students learned how to evaluate websites, the specific resources to use for this project through their class Weebly (other wise known as "Project Central"), and a discussion and activity on parenthetical documentation. Students used these skills over the next 3 days as they utilized the entire class period to focus their research on a particular facet of the Holocaust and used print and electronic media center resources to paint a well-rounded picture of that topic.

Planning with teachers well before these projects began was the key to a successful research experience for our students. The teachers provided subject-area background information and project expectations in the classroom, while I provided the print and electronic tools students used to discover information on their topics that would support their research papers.

Classroom teachers + Library Media Specialists = powerful collaborative partnerships that enhance student learning!

-Ms. Z

Bookmark Contest a Big Hit! Two Winners!

Our student contest to design a bookmark for National Library Week was a big hit.

We had lots of entries and had a difficult time making a final selection. The Dolphin Readers

chose two wonderful entries to be used as bookmarks for NLW 2010. They are available for pick-up in the media center. Congratulations to the winners - Tierra and Jessilin in 7th grade.

The class that collects the most books WINS!

National Library Week runs April 12 – 16 and the DRMS media center is hosting a book drive to support the Literacy Council of Wake County. Students should start looking on their bookshelves, closets, attics, basements, etc. to gather books for donation. Here are the book drive details:

· Bring in books starting April 12 and ending on April 16.
· Place your donated books in the paper bag in your homeroom class.
· Bring in new or gently used books that are appropriate for children 5 & under.
· Books must meet the requirements to count toward your homeroom class total.
· The homeroom class that collects the most books wins a pizza party!

Help support this wonderful cause by sharing the love of reading with our community. We’ll see YOU in the media center!

-Ms. Z