GCS School Library Media News
May 2017
Holbrook Celebrates National Poetry Month
The Holbrook Lions have been busy reading, studying, creating, and performing their poetry in honor of National Poetry Month. Seventh grade held their First Annual Poetry Slam, in which over 50 students read classic or original poetry. Students also created Blackout Poetry during visits to the Media Center.
May Is Get Caught Reading Month!
Students in the Leadership in Media class at Stuart Cramer High School promoted Get Caught Reading month, a nationwide campaign to remind people of all ages how much fun it is to read. Students took pictures of themselves and teachers reading in their favorite places and filmed daily announcements on the benefits of reading to show on the daily broadcast. Some of their statements included:
“I forget how much I enjoy reading. It’s funny but I sometimes need to be reminded to read.”
“Reading can relax you! With all of the stress in high school and exams coming up, a book can take you to another place and give you a break from the present!”
“Books give me the inspiration to do more with my life.”
“A book can help me deal with a problem I’m having in my life. I gain perspective when I read about someone else going through the same thing.”
"I love when a friend or teacher recommends a book to me. That is usually a book I'll love."
Students also took the time to advertise some of our new titles on the announcements. This campaign is a great way to remind students to enjoy all that their media center has to offer!
Please Return Your Books!
It’s that DREADED time of year again when we have to beg and plead students to bring lost books back. That time when we hear, “But Ms. Liberry Teacher, I NEVER, EVER checked that book out...I promise.” Only to see that same student return moments later, book in hand, exclaiming “I found! I found it! It was in my desk.”
What to do? What to do?
Use Remind app. (www.remind.com) to send out a msg. to return books. A flier with the class code can easily be printed from Remind to let parents know how to get registered. Really simple to use and especially necessary for those students who have a chronic history of forgetting or losing books. Open House and Connect-Ed are great avenues to spread the word about the app and get parents signed up.
Create fugitive “Book Wanted” posters to place around the school. If you’re like me, you get art work all the time from students. These junior artists will probably be more than happy to assist with this project. List the title of the overdue/missing book and don’t forget the reward.
Create a rolling slideshow or other visual presentation of the books that are missing to display on an iPad/electronic device. Place it in a high-traffic area (i.e. near check-in/out desk) so that students get a constant reminder that they need to return their overdue book(s).
Students can do PSA’s to return library books. Nothing gets them more psyched than to see themselves on the “big screen.”
Send students (I use my student media assistants and responsible students in each class) on a “Recon. and Rescue Mission” to each class to look for/collect books.
Offer prizes to siblings who recover books.
Invite characters, like Viola Swamp (“Hey! Doesn’t she look like our librarian?”) to make a morning announcement to request the return of library books. Viola will tell students that she’ll be roaming the hallways and looking into classrooms for library books (idea found years ago on www.bookmoot.com).
Have leftover posters or popular paperbacks from the book fair? Put them on display and have a raffle for those students that bring their books back.
Get those teachers involved! In the past, they have challenged each other’s class to a “Book-off”. Who wouldn’t love a friendly competition to motivate students to bring back books? Have classes compete against each other and give an ice cream/pizza party to the class who is the first to get all of their books turned in. Make special announcements to keep everyone posted of who’s in the lead.
You can always go “old school” and give teachers sheets of Reminder Bracelets (here’s a free one on tPt http://bit.ly/2pGp6Z2 )
http://bit.ly/2pfbste). Students will be able to win a special prize if they pull a marked lollipop. You can also pull out your Scholastic Giving Tree and use it for the same purpose. For prizes, I usually try to rack up at the Scholastic Warehouse Sale for popular “junk” (i.e. Secret Ink pens, 3D book-marks, money erasers etc.) and discounted paperbacks just for this occasion.
Of course, if we celebrate responsible students who bring their books back throughout the year, we can always hope that their positive behavior will rub off on others.
Submitted by Sherry Adams-Wilson, SLMC Pinewood Elementary
Hungry for Summer Reading
Fourth and fifth grade students will wet their appetites with a book tasting this month at Lingerfeldt Media Center. Students will experience a diner themed restaurant atmosphere with tables set up according to genres. Students will explore 2-3 books in each genre before switching tables to sample something else. After students complete their rounds, students will reflect on what new genres (or authors) they might like to explore over the summer.
Submitted by Lisa Vaughn, SLMC Lingerfeldt Elementary
Through a Book Drive, held by the media center at PWE, over 350 books was donated by students to With Friends Youth Shelter in Gastonia, NC.
Submitted by Sherry Adams-Wilson, SLMC Pinewood Elem
Student Creators
The students at Pinewood Elementary are thrilled to have a new MakerSpace Activity Center. With funding from our school’s PTO and proceeds from our last book fair, the media center has been able to purchase Legos, K’nex Tinkertoys, littleBits, Stikbots Studio w/ Green Screen (Stop Motion Animation), and Rainbow Looms. Students will also have access to coding programs such as Tynker/Code.org and various craft, Origami and How-to books from the media center’s collection.
Submitted by Sherry Adams-Wilson, SLMC Pinewood Elementary
Primary Makerspaces
Having makerspace centers available provides a creative and collaborative outlet for our students to problem-solve as well as give them a brain-break during their day. As a side effect, it has helped cut down on some of the playing in the book shelves during book selection. While our media center is never a quiet place, it is an inviting place that encourages our students to explore, create, and innovate.
Makerspace in Our Curriculum
Considering National Board Certification?
Created by teachers, for teachers, National Board Certification is the profession’s mark of accomplished teaching. It is:
Built upon the National Board Standards and the Five Core Propositions
Rigorous and performance-based
Based on multiple measures
Peer-reviewed
Voluntary
Valid and reliable
2017 Teaching & Learning Conference
Theme: Innovate, Integrate, and Inspire
Save the dates! The 2017 Teaching & Learning Conference will be held on August 7 & 8 at Gaston College.
Here's how you can get involved
We've created a #TLC17GCS toolkit (Click Here) that includes social media content and graphics that you can share on your channels. Feel free to forward these along to anyone who would be interested in sharing good news about our district’s conference. Be sure to contact the Office of Professional Learning if you have questions or need additional information.
2017 Teaching & Learning Conference Planning Committee