The
Shelf Bits and Bytes from the Dickens Library Media Center
Vol. 1 Issue 2
October Issue 2009
A Quick Note from the SLMS We’ve hit the ground running at the Dickens LMC! It’s hard to believe that in the month or so since school started, we’ve managed to acquire more than 200 new books and resources for both students and teachers, funded a $24,000 technology grant half way, conducted our first Tech 2sday mini-workshop, circulated more than 5,500 books, implemented a number of programs for both students and classroom teachers, and more. And of course there’s teaching going on every hour of the school day, too. I am also pleased to announce that one of my first professional articles will be published in the November issue of a school library trade publication (The School Librarian’s Workshop). It focuses on the effective use of Flip video digital camcorders in the library media center and classroom. Another article I’m currently writing—on library media center gardens—will be published in the Spring. This staff newsletter, The Digital Shelf, will provide you with more details on recent accomplishments within the Dickens LMC, and of course, will offer you a look of what is to come. The bottom line is that the Dickens LMC is here for students and teachers. Our overarching goal is to provide a foundation for increased student achievement— we hope you and your students will take advantage of our services. Eva was caught reading and relaxing with her favorite stuffed animal.
Christina A. Bentheim, M.Ed. School Library Media Specialist
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D.L. “Dusty” Dickens Elementary School Library Media Center 5550 Milan Peak St. North Las Vegas, NV 89081 702.799.3878 – phone 702.799.3871 – fax www.MrsBentheim.com
What a school thinks about its library is a measure of what it feels about education. 111 ~ Harold Howe
Circulation Stats Since the beginning of the school year, more than 5,500 books have circulated through the Dickens LMC (600+ of those coming from classroom teachers)!!! With that said, our numbers of overdue/lost books are minimal considering the volume. We're averaging about one book missing per class--which is excellent!! Congrats to you and your kids for using and returning LMC materials!! There is still a list of more than 640 pages of books that have never been checked out, so PLEASE come and get them! They are here for you and the kids.
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Celebrate Reading with Our Mystery Readers!
Teacher Book Review Program As you may already know, the Library Services department provides school libraries with the opportunity to earn 10 new books per month through the writing of staff book reviews. These are books that are just being published—so new you won’t yet find them anywhere! If you would like to participate (you can include your class, too), please let Christina know. Reviews are due the 15th of each month—and the next batch will be available mid-October.
Several staff members have already come by to have some faculty photo fun! If you haven’t had a chance yet, it’s not too late to be part of our Mystery Reader contest! We’ll be showing mystery readers in the LMC hallway all year long and on our website beginning October 1. Students will have opportunities to guess who the mystery readers are!
The Dickens LMC Instructional Program
The Shelf Elf Award Each LMC lesson is structured according to CCSD’s Components of An Effective Lesson outline. The instructional standards addressed coordinate with grade-level content clusters, as well as the established library and information technology standards. We begin with the recitation of this year’s Dickens LMC theme (“Celebrate Reading at the Dickens LMC”), move into review of previous lessons, state the objective as a class, set the purpose for reading or listening, discuss our thoughts on the story(ies), tie those in to the objective for the day through various activities and groupings, quickly review, and then check out. In other words, every session is jam-packed with content to support your classroom efforts. The more knowledge Christina has about what your specific class/grade level is focusing on, the more lessons can be specifically tailored to supplement your teaching.
The Shelf Elf has made his way to two classrooms thus far (Williams and Hinz) and will continue to visit other classrooms that have students who keep the library media center's shelves looking the neatest and most organized each week! Every Monday the Shelf Elf blasts off to another classroom (or stays in the same one, if that class comes out on top again)! This is not a behavior award. It is solely for following library procedures during browsing. The class who earns the most visits by the Shelf Elf at the end of the year will earn a very special reward!
Technology Grant Last week Christina submitted a $24,000 proposal for new technology in our library media center--40 netbooks with wireless internet, a netbook cart, 6 iPod touches, an Elmo document camera, and 6 digital cameras. This week it was discovered that the Lincy Foundation gave more than $12,000!!! If you would like to see the proposal and share it with others (parents, students, community members, etc.) please go to: http://donorschoose.org/twt/318874. There's a long way to go, but this means wonderful things for YOU and our STUDENTS!
Birthday Book Club The BBC has pulled in more than $500 so far this year. These funds are used to purchase new materials beyond the scope of our districtallocated budget. We currently have 34 students in grades K-5 who have joined. New members are accepted all year long! Applications are available in the front office or from Dickens LMC staff.
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library. ~ Jorge Luis Borges
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Effective Use of AR in the School Library Media Center Research shows that students who enjoy what they are reading because they chose it, will rise to the occasion, regardless of level. (This means if a 1st grader wants to read Harry Potter in addition to his "leveled" selection, who is to say his parents won't read it to him? Or an older sibling? He has a right to that higher-level text under the ALA's Freedom to Read statement.)
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Please read the following excerpt from the Access to Resources and Services in the School Library Media Program document, which was written by the American Library Association and adopted by CCSD Library Services. Access to Resources and Services in the School Library Media Program Students and educators served by the school library media program have access to resources and services free of constraints resulting from personal, partisan, or doctrinal disapproval. School library media specialists resist efforts by individuals or groups to define what is appropriate for all students or teachers to read, view, hear, or access. Major barriers between students and resources include, but are not limited to, imposing age or grade level restrictions on the use of resources; limiting the use of interlibrary loan and access to electronic information; charging fees for information in specific formats; requiring permission from parents or teachers; establishing restricted shelves or closed collections; and labeling. Policies, procedures, and rules related to the use of resources and services support free and open access to information. Overall Message: We need to be very careful that when we level books, we do not end up leveling our kids!
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Upcoming Tech 2sdays and Web 2.0 Wednesdays •
New Arrivals 20 new big books for teacher use in the classroom (each has accompanying lesson idea booklets) 10 new lit circle sets of novels for teacher use in the classroom 15 new top-notch professional books for teachers about reading and writing instruction 40 new instructional DVDs for teacher checkout 100+ picture books and novels for the general fiction and nonfiction library media center collection 15 new picture books and non-fiction books from CCSD’s teacher book review program … and more
The Tech 2sday Mini Workshop the SECOND Tuesday of October will focus on Microsoft Office 2007 Tips and Tricks. The Web 2.0 Wednesday Mini Workshop the SECOND Wednesday of October will focus on Web 2.0 and how it can be effectively used in the elementary classroom.
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Destiny Quick Tips for Teachers If you missed the September Tech 2sday session, please stop by the Dickens LMC so we can show you how to use the Destiny Catalog. You can search for materials by specific Nevada CEFs/standards, place certain books on hold, renew the books you have checked out, recommend books to your kids, write reviews that are seen across the district, and more.
Recent Media Coverage There are two very well-respected library media experts (professors, researchers, writers) who FEATURED the Dickens Library Media Center's use of Web 2.0 technologies (http://www.MrsBentheim.com). Their coverage caused our website hits to soar to more than 110,000 visitors from around the world. •
You can see the coverage from Buffy J. Hamilton here: http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/element ary-library-2-0-inspiration/
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And from Polly Farrington http://blog.pafa.net/archives/837
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You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them. ~ Ray Bradbury
Month Day Year
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Vol. 1 Issue 1
Where can I learn more about the Dickens LMC? Here are the steps we recommend you take to keep current with our events, activities, learning experiences, and other goings-on: goings 1. Visit our website at www.MrsBentheim.com and explore each section. (The Links and Teachers sections specifically have some great stuff for you!) 2. Become a fan of the Dickens Elementary School Library Media Center on Facebook by searching for our name (Dickens Elementary Elementa School Library Media Center) at www.facebook.com www.facebook.com. 3. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com.. Our Twitter handle is DickensLMC. 4. Subscribe to our blog by visiting http://dickenslmc.blogspot.com or simply enter your email address into o the appropriate box on our home page at www.MrsBentheim.com.. Read previous postings and review the documents provided within the posts. 5. Join our Delicious network for social bookmarks by clicking on the link aat the right-hand side of our home page at www.MrsBentheim.com or by searching for the DickensLMC at www.delicious.com. 6. Take about 15 minutes to go through the Dickens LMC Teacher Orientation by visiting www.MrsBentheim.com and clicking on the Teachers section.
Mark Your Calendar ‌ Book Fair: 12/ 2 – 12/ 16 Find us on any of these social media websites. Add us to your contacts list so that you can stay updated daily on the goings-on on within the Dickens LMC! Twitter: Flickr: YouTube: Delicious: Blogger: Facebook:
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