Thursday 24 March 2016
Easter Reading
Easter break is upon us at KCI and we will be enjoying family time for the next week. I am really looking forward to spending time with my sons! I am also looking forward to doing some reading! I visited the book fair that was taking place at my son's school and they had a YA section with buy 1 get 1 free. It was interesting to see a large YA section at this school as it is a K-4 school. Good for me though. I love deals! I picked up 2 books, The Hollow City (the second installment in Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children) and The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World's Most Notorious Nazi. I am currently working on the Culture of Literacy in our school and have been working with the grade 5-8 teachers to build their classroom collections. When purchasing these two titles I was thinking of my own grade 7 students and thought these would be a good addition to my own classroom library. My plan is to first read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (first installment) that I borrowed from the library so I can read the second during the break. This isn't a book I would normally choose (I love fantasy and post apocalyptic books) but I tell my students to try something new and feel like I should take my own advice. I will let you know what I think through my Twitter and Instagram account with the #kcireads.
Saturday 19 March 2016
Hanging Out With Our New Books!
I'm so excited with the 3 new book displays that went up yesterday! We did a huge order and bought a number of new titles from a variety of genres and formats. I was so excited to bring in all of these titles and to get them out on display. I wanted to do something a little different so I thought why not hang some books from the ceiling. With a little thought and testing I came up with a simple and cheap (who doesn't love when you can make stuff you already have?). Using binder clips and yarn I was able to hang 10 different graphic novels from the ceiling! When the vent is blowing just right the books start to rotate showing off both of their sides.
I was starting to create this new display while students were hanging out in the library during recess and I could see the excitement building for the books that were being put out. Their eyes lit up when they saw the library now housed the entire collection of Attack on Titans! For a type of book that seemed so foreign to me until I took a Graphic Novels class in my Masters the students at KCI love them. I had never heard of Manga until about a year and a half ago and the junior students love them so much that they are never on the shelves! This is such a great sight to see. The eagerness to get their hands on a book is one of the best feelings as a teacher and teacher-librarian. To know that I have selected titles that they want to read and sometimes fight over is so wonderful.
The next display I focused on was on for the older students in our school. These new titles have themes that include: loss, eating disorders in boys, addiction, single mother etc. I am hoping that by showcasing books with mature content it will entice older students to read. I did a simple display and labelled it "for the more mature reader". I had some funny comments from teachers saying that finally there was books for them because they are very mature;)
Lastly, I displayed the rest of our new books sorting them by genre. These books include mystery, adventure, fantasy, realistic and historical fiction.
I was starting to create this new display while students were hanging out in the library during recess and I could see the excitement building for the books that were being put out. Their eyes lit up when they saw the library now housed the entire collection of Attack on Titans! For a type of book that seemed so foreign to me until I took a Graphic Novels class in my Masters the students at KCI love them. I had never heard of Manga until about a year and a half ago and the junior students love them so much that they are never on the shelves! This is such a great sight to see. The eagerness to get their hands on a book is one of the best feelings as a teacher and teacher-librarian. To know that I have selected titles that they want to read and sometimes fight over is so wonderful.
The next display I focused on was on for the older students in our school. These new titles have themes that include: loss, eating disorders in boys, addiction, single mother etc. I am hoping that by showcasing books with mature content it will entice older students to read. I did a simple display and labelled it "for the more mature reader". I had some funny comments from teachers saying that finally there was books for them because they are very mature;)
Lastly, I displayed the rest of our new books sorting them by genre. These books include mystery, adventure, fantasy, realistic and historical fiction.
Last week I also decided to create an instagram account to share the goings on in the library. (I was told by a grade 10 student that teenagers use instagram more than twitter, so I took the plunge). Today after watching the grade 6 students so excited about the new books that I asked some of them if they wanted to share why they liked the new book they were reading. I shared their thoughts on my instagram feed with the new hashtag #kcireads. I started this hashtag in hopes of helping promote reading at KCI. It is so important to get students on board and hopefully by using a platform they all use I may be able to get them involved. To see the new tweets and instagram posts I share I have placed two feeds on the right side of the blog as an easy way to stay updated on #kcireads.
Friday 11 March 2016
Love 2 Read
It has been a while since I have sat down at the computer and typed out my thoughts for the library. Alas, life gets busy and finding balance between family, teaching grade 7 and being the teacher-librarian is always a struggle.
I do hope that I will be able to put some time aside every week or two to write a post. There has been a lot happening since my last post that was in October. Personally and professionally I have accomplished something I never thought I would. I finished my last class to complete my Masters in Education in Teacher-librarianship! It was very surreal to submit my last project and know that I am finally done. I was and am very proud of myself that I continued my education. I learned so much through that program, it was some of the best professional development I have ever done. To balance work, family and schooling was hard at times but in the end it was well worth it. Having my sons and my students see me go through school to continue my growth and understanding was an added bonus!
There has been a number of things that have gone on in the library since my last post. In December I hosted another Book Worm Cafe! I had elves help serve hot chocolate and cookies! It was a blast to have the library hopping with yummy treats and fantastic talent! We had a number of students entertain us with singing and guitar playing. When I watch these talented students I always wish I was born with some musical talent so I could join them.
After Christmas to ring in the New Year the library purchased a number of new books! I introduced students to the exciting world of manga. I found a great deal on part of the Attack on Titan series and the students ate it up! I loved seeing the excitement these students showed for this new medium of book. The library has never had any manga on the shelves so students were a buzz trying to get the next book in the series. Most students didn't even care about what number in the series they got. They just wanted to read one. There was such interest in this series that we purchased the rest of the series! In the next week or so the full series will be in circulation. To add to this exciting series the library purchased a number of new titles! We are continuing to grow our graphic novel section with titles like: Justice League United, Star Wars The Babysitters Club and Lumberjanes. I previewed the Lumberjanes the other night and I was pleasantly surprise with this series. This series has strong female characters with a mystery and fantasy twist. I really think that students will enjoy reading these books. I am also really excited to introduce the students to Justice League United, written by Canadian author Jeff Lemire! To have students identify with Canadian symbolism and culture will be neat to see, especially our First Nation students seeing a strong female First Nation hero Equinox a 16 year old Cree girl.
Along with the graphic novels purchased for the library we also have brought in books that speak of mature issues that include eating disorders, losing a parent from illness, racism and abduction. I am hoping that bringing more titles into the library with this type of content will help bring the older students into the library.
Another project I am working on is to help create a Culture of Literacy in the school. Upon reflection of how our school prompts literacy I have decided to start with a few projects. Currently I am working with our junior teachers to help support their classroom libraries. We are meeting and discussing what their and their student's needs are. In the next couple of weeks I will be putting together book lists for each classroom and ordering new shelving to help promote books with in the classroom. I can't wait to get these orders down and have the books in the classrooms! The last thing that I have been working on is creating a display at the front entrance of the school. Utilizing a trophy case I have come up with a display (that isn't quiet done, I'm still waiting for a lock so I can display books and photos the senior photography students are taking or other students reading). So far the display has books "coming soon" to the library, a new hashtag for Twitter and Instagram #kcireads, info-graphs showing the importance of reading, a spot for students caught reading and lastly my craftiness coming out. Large wood block letters decoupaged with pages of Shakespearean quotes.The end result of these letters look awesome and can be seen from the end of a very long hallway. I hope this display gets students interested in what is happening in the library and maybe entice students to come visit me in the library.
I do hope that I will be able to put some time aside every week or two to write a post. There has been a lot happening since my last post that was in October. Personally and professionally I have accomplished something I never thought I would. I finished my last class to complete my Masters in Education in Teacher-librarianship! It was very surreal to submit my last project and know that I am finally done. I was and am very proud of myself that I continued my education. I learned so much through that program, it was some of the best professional development I have ever done. To balance work, family and schooling was hard at times but in the end it was well worth it. Having my sons and my students see me go through school to continue my growth and understanding was an added bonus!
There has been a number of things that have gone on in the library since my last post. In December I hosted another Book Worm Cafe! I had elves help serve hot chocolate and cookies! It was a blast to have the library hopping with yummy treats and fantastic talent! We had a number of students entertain us with singing and guitar playing. When I watch these talented students I always wish I was born with some musical talent so I could join them.
Along with the graphic novels purchased for the library we also have brought in books that speak of mature issues that include eating disorders, losing a parent from illness, racism and abduction. I am hoping that bringing more titles into the library with this type of content will help bring the older students into the library.
Another project I am working on is to help create a Culture of Literacy in the school. Upon reflection of how our school prompts literacy I have decided to start with a few projects. Currently I am working with our junior teachers to help support their classroom libraries. We are meeting and discussing what their and their student's needs are. In the next couple of weeks I will be putting together book lists for each classroom and ordering new shelving to help promote books with in the classroom. I can't wait to get these orders down and have the books in the classrooms! The last thing that I have been working on is creating a display at the front entrance of the school. Utilizing a trophy case I have come up with a display (that isn't quiet done, I'm still waiting for a lock so I can display books and photos the senior photography students are taking or other students reading). So far the display has books "coming soon" to the library, a new hashtag for Twitter and Instagram #kcireads, info-graphs showing the importance of reading, a spot for students caught reading and lastly my craftiness coming out. Large wood block letters decoupaged with pages of Shakespearean quotes.The end result of these letters look awesome and can be seen from the end of a very long hallway. I hope this display gets students interested in what is happening in the library and maybe entice students to come visit me in the library.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)