Library Orientation Breakout EDU Planning (Kaitlyn & Stony) We actually started talking about this potential early in August. Tiffany Whitehead even brainstormed with us in a webcam session prior to school starting. She gave us many good pointers (she had done several last year with her students). Fast forward to the end of August. The Event (Kaitlyn & Stony) We brainstormed what the event would look like with classes of up to 28 students in each of our sessions. The Fiction Breakout Design (Kaitlyn) For the fiction side, I chose locks that made sense with what I wanted our students to learn about the library. The fun part of creating your own puzzle is that you can play to your strengths to make this a better experience for the students. I began the breakout with the small 3 digit lock box. After the students removed a lock, they were to send 1 team member to me to get the next clue. With the word lock off, I would give the students a note that sends them to find one of our library assistants. Improvements for Next Time
Fun Activities for Teaching Strangers on a Train Everyone is Innocent Study a crime from newspaper reports and write out a defense for the accused. Guy vs Bruno The students should divide into pairs. One member of the pair should play Guy and the other member of the pair should play Bruno. Players should role a dice to decide on the following factors; stamina, strength and skill. Guess the Character Unpretentious Librarian Search results for library Ahhhh!!! I just returned from a family vacation up in the mountains of New Hampshire. It was great and really helped me relax into summer... BUT JUST FOR A MINUTE!! Because our summer learning program started on Monday and so it was back to school for me!! We actually have a pretty interesting summer learning program in our district this year. I will also be sharing a bit about my big move to a new school for the 2015-16 school year! So, before I start up my summer-learning-posts and new-job-posts and back-to-school-posts, I wanted to properly recap the month of June because I had some pretty cool stuff going on in my classroom!! For the last few years, my ELA-partner-in-crime, along with our fabulous TLF (this stands for teaching and learning facilitator), have had our 6th graders conduct a trial simulation. We begin the unit usually around mid-May. This is the book that we use for the simulation. Here are some pictures from trial day (we hold our trial in the library): Happy Summer!!
Revamping your school library orientation Does your library orientation plan for next year’s students feel a bit stale? Have you been doing the same lesson for the last few years (or more)? Do you feel bored just thinking about what you have planned? Introducing the school library: Promo video: Have current students create a promo video about what they thought the library was going to be like, what it actually has to offer, and what they think the students will like about their library. Becoming familiar with the library: Prior knowledge: Ask the students what they already know about school libraries. Understanding Fiction and Non-Fiction shelving: The coded letter: An activity to get students used to where things are in the non-fiction section is a letter from someone on holiday with words left out and Dewey numbers in their places. Remember, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Image credit: Enokson on Flickr
Useful Expressions in English Check out IH Bristol’s extensive list of over 1000 of the most useful expressions in English, available for free for Beginner/Elementary students to Advanced speakers. Learning English is one of the best ways to improve your life and the prospects of getting a good job. English is used all over the world as the language of education and business and it is becoming normal to expect everybody to be able to speak it. However, not everybody can come to Bristol to learn in person. How to use the Useful Expressions 1. We’ve covered a wide range of everyday situations, and for each one there are 10 common phrases with explanations of how or when you would use each one. The more you use them, the more you will improve!
It’s In the Bag: Welcome Back to The Library Goodness! In May, I thought it would be fun to welcome the teachers back with a “goody bag” from the library. I have been wanting to do such a gesture of goodwill since I opened the library, but this is the first summer I’ve actually felt I had time to follow through on the goody bag idea. In May, I contacted my GALE representative who graciousy arranged for me to recieve a box of pens, assorted bookmarks, a tension-release “squeegie”, and a pad with sticky notes for bookmarking. For an easy library themed decor to the brown paper bags, I used my Demco book pockets with self-adhesive. Some homemade goodies for the bag include a wordle representing today’s 21st century librarian that I created with friends from my personal learning network on Twitter earlier this year. Last but not least in the goody bag is a sprinkling of Hersey’s milk chocolate kisses! I created 60 today and still have about 40 to go. 1. 2. 3. 4. Like this: Like Loading...
4 Free Web Tools for Student Portfolios I still have every single project I ever completed in preschool. My dad collected them and kept each one in a grocery bag that he tucked away in the back of his closet. Looking through his collection now, there's nothing incredibly prodigious about the work that I created as a four-year-old boy. I see doodles, collages, coloring pages and awkward attempts at writing my own name. Nevertheless, the story that it tells is special to me. This is the effect of good portfolios. Kidblog Kidblog is unique among the web tools featured here because it is built by teachers for teachers. Google Sites If your school is fueled by Google Apps for Education, then using Google Sites to create student portfolios, or "Googlios," makes perfect sense. Evernote For classrooms with BYOD or 1:1 initiatives in place, Evernote can serve as a viable option for creating student portfolios. Three Ring A mobile app with a desktop version, Three Ring is worthy of consideration as well.
Passive Programs and Other Experiential Library Doings | MLISsing in Action In the books I loved to read as a kid, libraries are crazy old buildings full of secrets. The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn sends Anthony Monday all over the library, following obscure clues to uncover something of great wealth. I vividly remember the scene from Yobgorgle: Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario where Eugene Winkleman visits the Rochester Public Library and the children’s librarian tells him there is a secret room – which he must find for himself. I think that it’s important that libraries find lots of different ways to interact with patrons. Below is a round-up of a few of the passive programs and experiential stations I’ve set up in the past few months: The Ball of String Started this size: And has grown to this size: The Ball of String idea is lifted from AnyThink libraries. The Mystery Mystery This was inspired by the “Blind Date with a Book” displays that were happening in libraries on Valentine’s day. Lucky Pick The Craft Station The Viewfinder Station Your Library Fortune
Writing a response - She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron - GCSE English Literature Revision - BBC Bitesize The Incredibly True Adventures of a School Librarian: Library Orientation Scavenger Hunt Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. – Benjamin Franklin Update for 2012-2013 School Year A new school year brings updates and changes to old ideas. The purpose of hosting a Library Orientation Scavenger Hunt is to orient new students to the different areas and services the high school library offers to students. To motivate students to work together and do their best I start a stopwatch when the first clue card is given to the first team that follows the "getting started" instructions. Here is a list of each clue card and what my goal with each card is: A-The A Clue Card has students using our periodical section of the library. Of course some very important aspects associated with all of the clue cards includes reading comprehension, following directions, and reading for detail. Here is the link to all of my files for the Library Orientation Scavenger Hunt: Here is a slideshow via Flickr of some of our Book Spine Poems from this year:
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Phase 1: You will already have read the entirety of Stevenson's novella. You will have worked in groups to discuss some of the tough issues with your peers. Phase 2: You will answer the following questions about your reading: Part of the implication of "Dr. Phase 3: You will write a 600-word (at least) short story about a time when you had a moral dilemma.