The Rockwood librarians are embracing the new American Association of School Librarians (AASL) National School Library Standards, which were released in November of 2017. These standards are built around six shared foundations: Inquire, Include, Collaborate, Curate, Explore, and Engage. In this month's Making Connections, we start by highlighting four examples of how Rockwood librarians implement the Inquire foundation into their every day practice. The standards define Inquire as "[building] new knowledge by inquiring, thinking critically, identifying problems, and developing strategies for solving problems." You can learn more about the AASL Standards by clicking here.

During a recent lesson with librarian Brooke Schaub, fourth and fifth grade students at Wild Horse investigated primary sources about Harry Houdini. After listening to The Houdini Box, a historical fiction book about the great magician, the students used their knowledge of the primary sources to figure out what information in the book was true. "Students had to develop a strategy for using the primary sources to check the information in the book, which meant thinking critically," Schaub said. She went on to say that many students were so excited about their new learning, they checked out biographies so they could learn even more.

Of course, many other activities took place in Rockwood libraries this month. They include high school art classes creating children's stories, Veterans Day lessons, a program to encourage fourth and fifth graders to love reading, and a Halloween-themed scavenger hunt. Read on for details.

Students in Art Fundamentals created clever tweet-sized children’s stories and illustrated them in detail using a medium of their choice. Lafayette librarian, Jane Lingafelter, collaborated with art teacher, Lyubov Briginets, to help students draft a story and then revise and edit it into a tweet-sized version. Students then studied the format of children’s book illustrations. After illustrating their own story, students inserted their image into a Google drawing, positioning the text and including a hashtag. Briginets said, “This was an excellent example of joining two different forms of communication: visual and written. Students were engaged and able to see their art project move further by including the story. We enjoyed working in the welcoming atmosphere of the library.”

The BookTalk program at Bowles Elementary is again running strong! BookTalk is a voluntary program for fourth and fifth grade students run by Lori Countryman, the librarian at Bowles.

BookTalk was developed over twenty years ago to help increase time spent reading for pleasure, increase reading achievement, build vocabulary, help children maintain their early interest in books by making a variety of books/genres available to them as they mature and their interests change. The program utilizes community resources including as parents, the public library, and community members to build a love of reading in students. Each BookTalk group consists of 5-8 students and 2-4 adult leaders (parents, grandparents, and staff members). The groups meet monthly during their lunch; they discuss a book from a different genre each month and enjoy a fast food lunch. BookTalk creates the opportunity for students to interact around books with their peers and adults in order for them to learn that reading can be entertaining, enjoyable, sociable, and a worthwhile activity.

Countryman is excited to report that they have sixty-nine students (78% of all fourth and fifth graders) and thirty adult leaders participating this year!

Classes at RSMS explored the Library and its resources by participating in a trick-or-treat scavenger hunt at the end of October. Students split into teams and used Destiny, the library catalog, to complete the assignment, which required them to collaborate to solve problems and find solutions. Librarian Rachel Rankins created the activity. She said it was a great way for students to learn how to work together, do research, and use Destiny.