Fiction Insects

Miss Hurley here again, and today I’d like to share with you a project that the second graders have been working on.  In library class, the students have been studying the differences between fiction and nonfiction books.  To practice this, the students created fiction insects!  Earlier this year they did research projects on insects with their classroom teachers that involved nonfiction information.  So in library, they were given the prompt:  “You’ll never see a…” and they had to finish the sentence by describing something that their insect would never do, making it fiction.  Once they had created their sentence they had to illustrate it.

This project was designed to help them remember that fiction is not real, as illustrated by the silly things that their fiction insects are doing.  After vacation, the final copies will be hanging up above the fiction section of the library to remind them where they can find fiction books. 

But there’s more!  Not only are the insects on display in the library, but we also created a Photo Story video for each class!  Each student got to record his/her own sentence for the video and the whole class worked together for the final slide.  This week the project was finally complete and both classes got to watch their videos.  The kids came up with super creative insects and it was so much fun watching the process.  If you would like to see these awesome insects you can watch the videos here:

Mrs. Gray's Class

Mrs. Pearce's Class

Oh my gosh!  I can’t believe how fast these six weeks have flown by!  Sadly, this is my last blog post as my time here at Ashaway has come to an end.  I have had such a wonderful experience at this school and I am sure going to miss all of my new friends! 

Penguin Pals

Hello! 

Miss Hurley here, and I'll be taking over the blog for a little while.  I have been student teaching in the library for the past three weeks and I've been working on some pretty cool projects with the students.  But, before I get to talking about the classes, I’d like to take some time to share some information about myself. 

As Mrs. Mann mentioned in her post a few weeks ago, she was my librarian when I attended Ashaway Elementary!  I loved my time at this school, especially in the library, and I am thrilled to be back.  For those interested in knowing a little more about me, I love to write (though I’ll try not to get carried away in my blog posts), read (of course), and run (so far I’ve raced one half marathon and I hope to do many more in the future).  I could go on and on about myself, but I’d much rather talk about what’s going on in class.  If anyone does have any questions for me, please post them in the comments and I’ll do my best to respond as soon as possible.

For the past three weeks, I have been working on a project with the third grade classes that involves one of my favorite creatures…penguins!   Mrs. Ward, the librarian over at Richmond Elementary, has been doing this project with her third graders for several years, and this year she introduced it to me so that I could give it a try (thanks Mrs. Ward!).  For the past few weeks, we have discussed how the Emperor Penguins live in a community called a rookery.  Just like people, the penguins each have their own roles and responsibilities in order to keep the rookery alive.  We’ve discussed proper note taking skills, and recently the students were able to begin their research on the computer.  

 Here are the websites that the students are using (they can also be found on the Ashaway School Library website):

• http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/03/crittercam/antarctica/  
• http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/emperor-penguin/

This eager beaver checked out the websites at home and started research on her own!

At the end of the project, students will be writing a journal entry from the perspective of the mother, the father, or the baby penguin, explaining the responsibilities it would have in a rookery.  The students have been very eager with their research and I can’t wait to see what they come up with in their journals!

"Are YOU the troll?"

A logic game in kindergarten based on The Three Billy Goats Gruff!

This week Miss Hurley read The Three Billy Goats Gruff to our kindergarten classes and then played a game with them that encouraged critical thinking.  This is how it worked:

• The students were shown a set of fours cards.  Each one features the picture of a character from the story (the small billy goat, the medium billy goat, the large billy goat, and the troll).
• Four students were invited to stand at the front of the room, facing the class.
• Each student was given a character card with the instructions to look at his/her own card, but not to show it to the class!
• Students in the class were challenged to figure out which child is which character by making guesses, such as, “Amanda, are you the smallest billy goat?” or “Alex, are you the troll?”  The students are reminded that they need to pay attention to the answers to their classmates’ questions so they can figure out the characters.
• The student holding the card who was addressed would deny the guess (“No, I’m not!”) or confirm the guess and turn the card around for the class to see. 
• The game continued until all four characters were identified! 

The children really enjoyed the game, and I was impressed by how well they listened to each other.  For example, if a student already denied being the smallest billy goat, the class knew they needed to ask a different student that question.  Or, they needed to ask the same student if she was a different character.  By listening to each other they were able to figure out which student was which character pretty quickly!

It's so much fun watching the students as they uncover the hidden characters.  They get so excited when they've guessed correctly, especially when they've found the troll.  Now I'm wishing I had video to show you, too!  

Welcome, Miss Hurley!

This week I've had the pleasure of introducing a new, friendly face to the students of Ashaway School!  Miss Hurley will be doing her student teaching with me in the library from now through February vacation.  She is working to get her master's degree at URI in library and information science (which I think is a fabulous idea)!



Today we visited Mrs. Young's class to help the students with their research on animal adaptations.

 

Miss Hurley is new to the students, but not to me.  Back when I started working at Ashaway School in 1996, she was one of my second grade students!  (Yes, I still have the yearbook from that year, so I can share her class picture with you.)  I'm so glad to have another opportunity to work with her, and I know the rest of our students will be glad too!

Peace is Kind

Mr. Morrone read this poem to all of us this morning and I'd like to share it with you!

Peace is Kind

Since the day of your birth,
We have hoped for peace on earth.
You can help, by doing your part,
We know you can, because you're smart.

For peace to happen, we cannot fight,
Help each other, and be polite.
When there's a problem, let's just talk,
Sometimes peace just needs a walk.

All you need to spread the word,
Get some help from your dog or bird.
Peace is something you will find,
Start with yourself, and be very kind. 

by AnitaPoems.com

I hope you'll all enjoy a peaceful winter break with lots of time 

(and books) to share with the people you love.

Is there a School Library Media Specialist in the house?

Dressed as a "librarian" for Halloween -
first year teaching, 1996










"Is there a school library media specialist in the house?" 

Yes...that would be me!  When people ask me what I do, I will usually say that I'm an elementary school librarian.  I know that will have them picturing me in the right place, but I realize that the image it conjures doesn't really paint a full picture.  Officially the term is "school library media specialist".  That's a lot to say, but it encompasses the broad range of responsibilities we fulfill in this role.  This week I'd like to give you a glimpse of what it means to be an "elementary school librarian"!

On Friday afternoon I was chatting with a kindergarten student who just started attending Ashaway School this month.  I asked her if she remembered who I was, and she happily responded, "You're the library teacher!"  I like that phrase, because it acknowledges that I'm a teacher as well as a librarian! All of the school librarians have a teaching curriculum to follow.  (You can see the Chariho Library Media curriculum by clicking here.)  Much of our time is spent on encouraging our students to become effective and critical users of information.  Outside of our own class time, however, we support our school communities in a number of ways:

• We strive to support our teachers by collaborating on research and other projects.  This might include team teaching, gathering appropriate print materials, creating a "webliography" (a list of online resources), generating an appropriate note sheet or rubric, assisting students with accessing appropriate resources, etc.  

 

• We are responsible for the maintenance of a resource collection that is used by the entire school.  We communicate with our SLMS colleagues when selecting materials (what's good/popular/useful) in order to offer the most engaging and effective materials that we can.  This is especially critical as we look ahead to integrating more technology (digital sound recordings, e-books, white board interactives, etc.) and updating our collections to reflect the integration of Common Core. Beyond selection, we must also catalog and process new acquisitions, maintain/repair items in the collection, and weed out outdated/unused materials.

• We have a mission to assist teachers with their own teaching by providing curriculum resources beyond the limits of what is housed in our collections.  One way we do this is by sharing library resources between buildings, but we don't limit ourselves to what can be found within our own walls.  By attending various trainings/conferences, interacting with our staffs, and conducting our own research, the librarians are exposed to a myriad of online resources and teaching strategies that we share with each other.  (This week I'll be showing a fourth grade class how to use and access World Book Online, and next week I'm presenting a workshop for my teachers on how to access and download videos from Discovery Education!)

• We are reading advocates!  Whether it's running a program like the Rooster Games, encouraging summer reading, engaging in a special program, giving a book talk to a class, creating a display, or simply conferencing with a student on what to read next, we are always trying out ways to motivate our students to read.  There is a special kind of joy that comes from creating - or feeding - a reader.

• We are the go-to people in our buildings for assistance with technology, not only for lesson integration but even for daily trouble-shooting, training, and general support. You could fill a closet with all the different "hats" we wear in a day!

Thanks so much for allowing me to share this with you.  If you're a follower of my blog, I'm guessing that even before you read this you didn't picture the school librarian as someone who stamps books all day.  Still, I've enjoyed taking the time to give a "shout out" to my favorite profession!


  

Fun with Phonics!

Our kindergarten students have been using a fun web site to practice their letter sounds: www.ABCya.com!  Last week we played Letter Sound Bingo on the SmartBoard.  Every student got the chance to come up to the board and press the letter that matched the sound they heard.  

 



The students at their seats colored in the letters that they identified from the given sound while they waited for their turns to come up to the board.  The first time a letter was used they colored in that letter.  If a letter was used twice they colored in the background as well!


 


This week the students each got to sit at a computer and play the game alone.  They were so excited when they won; the library was filled with their happy cries of "I got BINGO!"  



 

 

There are lots of free educational games on this site that students can use to practice their reading and math skills.  You can choose games for students in grades kindergarten through 5th grade, so older siblings can join in, too!  Have fun!

 www.ABCya.com