Through the month of October, Jeneen did an author study of Chris Van Allsburg with fourth through sixth grade students. She discussed his illustrative style with students, twists throughout his plots, inclusion of his childhood dog Fritz in each publication, and endings that keep the reader guessing. Amongst the read-alouds Ms. Irwin introduced were: The Sweetest Fig, Z was Zapped, The Wretched Stone, Ben's Dream, Two Bad Ants, Bad Day at Riverbend, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, and The Widow's Broom. Additionally, Jeneen previewed the book, The chronicles of Harris Burdick, a short story collection that accompanies Van Allsburg's, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.
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An extremely effective and gratifying system my mentor librarian, Jeneen Irwin, has in place in her library is her student shelf system. Each year, fourth through sixth grade students are allowed to claim a shelf with a sticky note that they will be in charge of for the year. Once students have selected shelves, Jeneen uses a label maker to identify each student's shelf. I am amazed each year at the sense of ownership and responsibility my students display over their shelf. They are instructed each year how the books on their shelf should look, alphabetically or numerically in order (depending on if their shelf is fiction or nonfiction) and each spine should be at the edge of their shelf to maintain a uniformed look. Students are given time at the beginning of their library time each week to check their shelves, and I find that my students voluntarily check on their shelves throughout the week before and after school. Each week, Jeneen posts "Neatest Shelf Awards" on a handful of shelves. Those students during their library time are allowed to choose a jolly rancher or hershey kiss as a prize.
This week during my students' library time, not only did Jeneen introduce her shelving system to my students, she also had them review how to find books in the library through the Dewey Decimal System for nonfiction, author's last name for fiction, and subject's name for biographies. After reviewing these shelving practices with students, students were then able to participate in a scavenger hunt to practice locating library resources. After receiving an index card with a book's shelving information, students were supposed to retrieve the book identified by their card and bring it to Ms. Irwin for a new card. Students were challenged to see how many cards they could do. The only two rules were that students must always walk and utilize their shelf markers so they knew where to return their book after showing it to Ms. Irwin. What a fantastic way to engage students in locating library books independently! During my students' library visit this week, Ms. Irwin (our fabulous school librarian), previewed The Storm Runner by J. C. Cervantes. This week, the author will be visiting to talk to third through sixth grade students about her novel centered around South American mythology. Students were entranced by the first chapter that was read to them. It should be an exciting author visit!
This week, Ms. Irwin additionally reviewed her Bluebonnet Book Award goals and folder system. Each year, she creates five question quizzes through Google Forms, for each of the year's selected Bluebonnet Books. Students are challenged to read at least five books and successfully complete their quizzes by January. Students' progress is tracked in their "Bluebonnet Folder". Ms. Irwin creates a document (housed in students' folders) that has the names and cover photos of each book, along with an area for students to have each book initialed by an adult who saw them read the book and a space for students to fill out when they completed the book. After students submit their folder in the library, Ms. Irwin stars the books students score a 3/5 or higher on or writes them a note to quiz again. If students reach their goal of reading 5 out of 20 award books, they are able to vote on their favorite book from that year's selections. The more books students read, the more prizes they are able to earn such as lunch in the library with Ms. Irwin, ability to choose books Ms. Irwin will order for the library, or their choice of book(s) to take home with them. I personally am extremely impressed by the system Ms. Irwin has set up for the Bluebonnet Book Awards. It not only motivates students to read, but additionally exposes them to a variety of genres and quality literature that they may not have tried otherwise. I plan to implement this system in my future library program! Week one, both 5208 and 5720 primarily focused on the typical beginning of the semester activities of going through syllabi and students providing brief introductions.
During my students’ weekly library visit, their lesson consisted of Jeneen reminding students of library behavior expectations and her reading aloud the book, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce. The storyline’s illustrations coupled with the detailed illustrations had students searching for deeper meaning within the text. Students made connections to hurricane Katrina, and how this disaster can be seen translated in the plot and pictures of this book. This was a fabulous read and students were elated to learn that they would be viewing the short, silent film made about this book during their next library visit. Some things I noticed from my seat were Jeneen’s poster detailing library expectations (detailed below), a small table behind her reading chair holding binders containing her lesson plans, and a magazine holder in the same area holding each grade level’s read aloud books for that week. At the end of the lesson, students were able to have time to peruse and check out books. Jeneen reminded students that she allows students to check out one more book than the grade level they are in. So my fourth graders were each able to check out up to five books. Library Expectations Poster: L–isten carefully I–nvolve yourself B–e respectful R–ead quietly A–lways walk R–eturn books on time Y–ou should be… |
AuthorMy name is Mackenzie Wright. I am currently a teacher in the Austin area, and am finishing my Master's in school librarianship through UNT. Categories
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