Who doesn't love Dr. Seuss?

In preparation for Read Across America, we are having a contest. Students are to write a verse or two in the style of Dr. Seuss. They are to also draw a character to go along with the verse. The drawing and verse are due by Tuesday, February 23rd. We are looking forward to seeing the creativity that our students have and look forward to posting the winner.

Google-free research projects

Since the start of the new year, the DRMS media program is transitioning from a 100% accessible web for student research projects to a focused collection of research-appropriate electronic resources for student use. For years, we have encouraged students to use a variety of resources when completing their research projects. These include books, encyclopedias, online databases, and websites. Students have always searched for books within a pre-selected, educationally appropriate collection of research tools available in the DRMS media center. These resources are selected per the media program's Collection Development Plan, which focuses on updating resources to support the middle school Standard Course of Study and student recreational reading interests. Why would this be any different for our "online collection?" Well it has been. Historically, we have allowed students a fairly liberal access to computer resources. Students enter search terms into a Google search box and the result is often 100,000s of thousands of "hits," which include various types of search results, for students to choose from. Most students simply select from the first few hits that are found on the first page of results, regardless of the quality of these resources and if they actually provide the best information to support their research. Who is the creator of the site? When was it last updated? What organization sponsors the site? These are the evaluative skills we want students to gain while completing their middle school research projects.

So, the DRMS media specialists are trying a different approach. Since we selected EVERY book that's added to the physical print collection housed in the media center, why don't we select electronic resources, too? If we flood students with quality resources at the middle school level, including lessons on WHY these are research-appropriate sites, then students will "know what this looks like" when they get to high school and beyond.

We have worked with several classes who are utilizing pre-selected online encyclopedias and hand-picked website lists provided by the media specialist or classroom teacher. Students have been more focused on their research, less frustrated with their research findings, fewer student discipline issues, and greater teacher satisfaction with the quality of student research findings. Students are more focused on reading the text and answering their questions, than combing through the 100,000s of results they would encounter in an open-ended searching environment.

We are continuing to learn new things about the way students search for information and use resources to answer their questions. As with the research process, this is an evolving approach and we look forward to working with DRMS students on their information literacy journey.

-Ms. Z

2-Sentence Reviews

Our new group of Dolphin Readers began meeting a few weeks ago. This week, students worked on advertisements for this year's NCSLMA YA Book Award vote, which will occur during the month of March. Students were challenged to write a 2-sentence review of one of their favorite books from the list. Below are their efforts . . .

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
"When challenge comes, only the most resourceful and bright kids will complete the mystery. Can friendships survive the stress and complications of solving a mystery?" - Delia

"This is an adventurous tale about 4 kids with large brains that go on an adventure to stop a computerized chair. Can they stop the chair and it's creator?" - Amanda

"This is an exciting novel of kid power and how much children can do. Four gifted children go on a quest of friendship, danger, and bravery as they struggle to prevent an evil genius from unleashing his wrath upon the world." - Kelly

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: 8th Grade Bites by Heather Brewer
"Tod gets a new teachers and his teacher knows that Tod is a vampire. It turns out that this teacher changes his life." - Elsa

"This book captures the imagination and makes you wonder about the differences, if any, between fact and fiction. This book is stellar." - Casey

Tunnels by Brian Williams and Roderick Gordon
"Tunnels is one of the best mystery books you'll ever read! The authors are marvelous writers that will keep you on the edge of your seat from first word to last." - Caroline

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
"This book is for students who like comedy and romance. It would be great for people who like books about boys, societies, and such!" - Tamaara

Battle of the Books Team

I would like to proudly announce the Battle of the Books team members for the school year 09-10.

Benie 2/8
Sam 1/8
Kevin 2/7
Jo 2/8
Charlotte 1/8
Thembi 4/7
Glorian 8/1

They have been working very hard and I am looking forward to working with them in preparing for the competition in March.

Top Newbery votes

Our 7th and 8th grade Newbery book clubs met last week to vote on which 2009 books they think should win the Newbery award and honor designations for the year. Students began meeting in August and have been busy reading a variety of fiction titles over the past few months. Several favorites began to surface during that time and students' preference were made official through our voting process last week. Included below are the results from student voting:

7th grade winners:

Newbery Club winner ~

The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry

Honor titles ~

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

If the Witness Lied by Caroline Cooney

September Sisters by Jillian Cantor

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

8th grade winners:

Newbery Club winner ~

Wild Things by Clay Carmichael

Honor titles ~

Fortune's Folly by Deva Fagan

The Plague by Joanne Dahme

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

The actual Newbery medal and honor titles will be announced during the American Library Association's Mid-Winter Conference on Monday, January 18. Later that week, our Newbery Club will gather to discuss their choices and compare them to the winners. January is an exciting month for reading!

-Ms. Z

The importance of setting goals

There are so many exciting things happening in the DRMS media center! Many of these successful programs and activities are a direct result of the program goal planning the library media staff completed at the beginning of this school year. We created a timeline of various projects and tasks to complete, then regularly followed up on our progress on these goals during our weekly PLT meetings. We are thrilled with the many program accomplishments during the first half of this school year. Summer and fall 2009 highlights include:

· Implementing a meaningful and active student media center orientation, including gathering data from a student reading survey given to all 7th and 8th graders.
· Creation of the Dolphin Readers Book Club. Students helped with program planning, wrote book reviews, and shared media center information with their classmates.
· Ms. BC and I began a professional book study to stay current with library media trends and improve processes in the DRMS media program.
· Creation of a media center data wall.
· A trial period of extended media center hours one day a week to gauge the need for this type of service.
· Internet Safety parent program during fall school dance.
· Reconfigure library shelving for teachers to have easier access to materials.
· Interfiled the North Carolina collection into nonfiction so students will have greater access to resources.
· Full book inventory and AV equipment inventory of the school.

The remainder of this school year includes additional program goals to accomplish. A sample of winter and spring 2010 goals include:

· Regularly posting to this blog! We see this as a wonderfully accessible communication tool for students, staff, and parents to highlight how the library media program impacts learning and teaching.
· The implementation of a Google-Free Media Center has already taken place, although information regarding this change will continue through the rest of this school year. Look for articles specifically related to this idea in future blog posts!
· Continuing to shift shelving and move library materials to allow students and teachers easier access to resources. It’s important for students to find books for research projects more efficiently, so they can spend more time accessing the text, instead of physically hunting for resources.
· Read Across America, National Library Week, and Poetry Month will be co-planned by our Dolphin Reader group.
· The 2010-2011 Newbery Club will begin in April.

Happy New Year to you all!
-Ms. Z

Teen Read Week planners

We have a group of enthusiastic reading aficionados who meet once a week during Dolphin Wednesdays. These students were chosen by their teachers because of their love of reading and leadership qualities to be advocates for the library media center throughout the school. Their most recent project has been to plan activities and a timeline for Teen Read Week, which runs October 18 through 24. This national program, sponsored by the American Library Association, encourages reading through motivating programs and activities. Our Dolphin Readers brainstormed daily and weekly activities and came up with three original ideas: a bookmark contest, a costume contest, and a scavenger hunt. Students separated into three small groups and are busy fine-tuning the planning of these events. They're realizing that there are a lot of small details that need to occur before implementation! All activities center around the theme "Beyond Reality @ Your Library." More details (and photos) will be posted in the coming weeks . . . .

-Ms. Z