Making Connections
The Rockwood Library Newsletter - May 2019
ENGAGE: AASL Shared Foundation #6
Students Create Websites About Modern U.S. History
Rockwood Summit librarian Elaine McKenna and social studies teacher Brent Batcheller collaborated on a project in that required students to research the policies of modern U.S. presidents and create a website to share their knowledge. The Engage Foundation was embedded into the project as students were required to cite the sources of the information and pictures they used, demonstrating their respect for the intellectual property of others.
Working in small groups, students were charged with researching eight policies and policy outcomes of a recent U.S. president. The policies areas, which Batcheller has discussed with students throughout the course, were trade, immigration, military conflict, civil liberties, crime, the environment, terrorism, and the economy. Information about each policy area had to appear on a separate page that was linked to a home page, meaning that each group created nine web pages as part of their website. McKenna showed students how to navigate the library databases to find information and taught them how to create an organized system for sharing research in Google Drive. When students were ready to create their websites, McKenna provided instruction on how to set up a Google Site and talked to the students about the elements of a good website. For instance, in addition to emphasizing the necessity of citations, she stressed the importance of including a caption with each picture, use of subheadings, and including an adequate amount of information.
The students did a great job and learned a lot about history, technology, and digital citizenship!
Engaging Stanton Fifth Graders
With the AASL Shared Foundation of Engage in mind, Stanton librarian Susan Bartlett challenged her 5th-grade students to make origami paper cranes after conducting research about them as an international symbol of peace and hope. The project required students to produce and share information and materials based on valid information and to extend their learning while ethically and responsibly personalizing their use of information.
Bartlett came up with the idea while observing student reading interests. She noted that many elementary students are curious about World War II, but have little understanding of relationships and actions between countries. In general, upper elementary students like to read books about military branches, weapons, vehicles, and noted battles such as Pearl Harbor but have yet to realize the need for a peacetime military and the impact of war on ordinary civilians. Sadako, age 12, of the book, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, was a character students could relate to as Sadako wished to be on her school’s track team just like many of Stanton's 5th graders.
To establish some background of peaceful relationships with Japan, students first listened to the story of Eliza’s Cherry Trees: Japan’s Gift to America by Andrea Zimmerman and illustrated by Ju-Hong Chen. They were surprised to learn that the cherry trees in the White House area of Washington D.C. had actually been a gift from Japan. This activity was followed by listening to the audiobook, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr. As the students became more interested in the story, they began to investigate the origins of the paper crane as part of folklore. Many students were curious about the radiation that caused Sadako’s leukemia and made a connection to Marie Curie’s scientific work. Some students made connections to other pieces of literature they had read such as Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky by Sandra Dallas.
Fast forward the research to the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks and the students discovered that paper cranes were left at Ground Zero in New York. After additional online research, students found pictures of Sadako, her family, her track team, and her original paper cranes.
For the culminating activity, the students made paper cranes and paper cherry trees. Needless to say, there was a lot of laughing, a lot of funny comments, and paper everywhere! Many of the students carried the activity further by giving their finished products to their Stanton buddies and their mothers for Mother’s Day. One 5th grader, Mikayla, made an entire bucket of cranes and shared them with many Stanton teachers and staff members. One of the students visits his family in Japan each summer and said that he hopes to see the Hiroshima Peace Park and Sadako statue one day in the future.
What Fourth Grade Champions Are Made Of
Clar then challenged the students to think about what they are made of and create self-portraits using Google Drawing and Google Images. In making their pictures, students used Google search tools to find images that met copyright standards for educational use. By discussing and practicing ethical image searches, students met the AASL Standard of Engage and demonstrated good digital citizenship.
EHS Students Drop Everything and Read
The Eureka High campus celebrated National Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) Day recently as a part of National Library Week.
The librarians added comfortable seating and provided light snacks each hour as students, teachers, and classes dropped in to focus on pleasure reading. At the end of the day, librarians estimated over 500 students, teachers, and administrators took time to come in, get comfortable, and spend time enjoying a good book.
The library staff also incorporated the Engage Foundation by modeling safe, legal, and ethical communication in an interconnected world by sharing information about the event on social media. The online posts resulted in 54 "likes" and several new followers.
Librarians Janie Pickett and Dawn Jerger were pleased, but not surprised, by the number of people who participated in the event. Pickett commented, "It's hard to beat a good book, a comfortable chair, and some popcorn on a Friday afternoon".
More Library Lessons and Activities
Rockwood's libraries have been busy places this month, and not all of the activities have involved AASL's Engage Foundation. Librarians have also been sharing books with students, promoting literacy activities, facilitating breakout boxes, creating maker opportunities, facilitating coding activities, and collaborating with teachers on projects.
Ridge Meadows Students Create Wishtree
Creative Kindergartners
Because the kindergarten students at Westridge were excited about hatching chicks in their classrooms, librarian Anne Reed created chick-themed lessons and activities for their library time.
Reed tapped into the students' excitement doing read alouds of books that focused on chickens: Whose Egg, Tough Chicks, and Chicken in Space. As a culminating activity, the kindergartners used recyclable materials to design and build a Chick City that included building and cars. Once the chicks in their classroom hatched, the students brought them to the Library to inhabit Chick City. The kindergarten students and the chicks loved it!
Breakout Boxes
Breakout boxes have been a popular end-of-the-year activity in the Ellisville Library. Librarian Toni Smith created a digital breakout activity on nonfiction text features for 4th graders, which the students took part in during their weekly library time. Similarly, Smith created a team-building breakout box for 5th graders that challenged them to use math skills, map skills, and problem-solving skills during one of their final library lessons.
Learning to Code With Cubetto
Problem-solving With Coding Mice
MHS Students Research Their Ancestry
Margaret Sullivan, Rockwood Lead Librarian
Email: sullivanmargaret@rsdmo.org
Website: https://tinyurl.com/yx8uuh6e
Phone: 636-891-6842
Twitter: @mm_sullivan