October 14-16: Laura, Stacy, and Courtney will be out of the office. Please email us as we will not be checking voice mail. If you have an emergency, contact Gwen Jackson at 402-557-2520, and she will contact with one of us.
October 16: First Quarter ends
October 22, 8:30-11:30 AM: Elementary Librarian Meeting at Joslyn Art Museum
New Annual Report Format! We loved your input and ideas for the annual report. Please see the "Annual Report Guidelines" tab above for your new requirements. We will take some time to discuss annual reports at your upcoming TEAM meetings.
Please bring your iPad Minis with you for the day. We will have access to wi-fi during our 10:00-11:30 session.
The teaching requirements for librarians for Common Sense Media Lessons are the same as last year. For more information visit: http://libguides.ops.org/commonsensemedialibrary
Grades K-8 should be teaching at least one of the lessons listed on the libguide to each grade level. The lesson plan is a guideline and can be adapted to suit your building needs. Contact your technology teacher, if you have one, to see if they are already covering this material.
This article appeared as part of a series on inquiry instruction in School Library Monthly. Here are just a few thought-provoking statements to whet your appetite. I highly recommend this article to any librarian.
For me, inquiry boils down to four major criteria: authentic student questions; the possibility of open-ended conclusions; critical thinking and active comprehension; and synthesis. Each of these could be woven into a research project in different ways, at different points.
Real inquiry saves room for students to both discover and synthesize their idiosyncratic journey without shoehorning the results into identical presentation templates.
Cutand-paste—even with rephrasing of content into one’s own words—brought efficiency, but it also brought an unintended consequence: we denied students the time to think, sort, ponder, and sequence.
Squeezed grapes make juice, but it takes time for juice to become wine. Fact-finding is juice, inquiry is wine.
Here are some examples of sample letters for librarians to share with parents. This would be great to send home in weekly folders, to share at open house and/or conferences, post on your website etc. One idea would be to have this letter on one side and the one page document with the database logins and passwords Stacy sent you on the other. Please feel free to share other ideas on communicating to parents with Courtney!
Source: http://librarysafari.blogspot.com/
Dear Parents,
The library program has some exciting opportunities in store for your child this year:
Your librarian
Source: http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2013/8/3/bftp-your-librarys-back-to-school-letter.html
Conferences are just a few short weeks away. Here are some tips on how to share the great things you do for students with the parents and family members visiting (even if they don't physically stop by the library).
Send out information to parents about visiting the school library prior to conferences (perhaps in the school newsletter the week before) or provide an information sheet that can be handed out with the information packet parents receive when they enter the building or visit classrooms.
Here are some excellent tips from the ALA Parent Advocate website:
And finally, check out the sample flyer attached below. If you have any great ideas on what you do during conferences, be sure to share them with us! We will post a follow-up box of suggestions in the next newsletter if needed!
Introducing "Epic! for Educators." Available for FREE to all U.S. and Canada-based elementary school teachers and librarians. Our mission, like yours is to foster a life-long love of reading. Help us ignite young minds for a bright future by sharing Epic!
We have posted this one before, but Anne Coffman at Ponca gave it a rave review, so we are sharing again!
Omaha Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, age, genetic information, citizenship status, or economic status in its programs, activities and employment and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following individual has been designated to address inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Superintendent of Schools, 3215 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE 68131 (402-557-2001).
Las Escuelas Públicas de Omaha no discriminan basados en la raza, color, origen nacional, religión, sexo, estado civil, orientación sexual, discapacidad , edad, información genética, estado de ciudadanía, o estado económico, en sus programas, actividades y empleo, y provee acceso equitativo a los “Boy Scouts” y a otros grupos juveniles designados. La siguiente persona ha sido designada para atender estas inquietudes referentes a las pólizas de no discriminación: El Superintendente de las Escuelas, 3215 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE 68131 (402-557-2001).