What's Happening in the Library
Winter 2016
MyPath
You can find the link to Pebbles' blog here: http://lifeofpebbles.weebly.com/
2nd Grade
Among all of these stories, we are looking at complex characters. We started the year with tricksters, and have seen strong women, magical creatures, third children, and this week characters that are known as "little folk." This month, as we keep thinking about these characters, we will be taking a little break into the world of digital citizenship, and practice the art of writing tweets using the voice of one of these characters.
3rd Grade
Staying close to space, we learned about a special person that was a real-life space explorer: Buzz Aldrin. We read his autobiography, and used that book to research the important events from his life. We then examined the events to consider the essential questions of "What inspired Buzz to be a pioneer of space travel?" and "How did his life influence who he became?"
Next, students will be researching their own pioneer, and finding the important events, to then think about the essential questions.
After that, students will be paired up with pioneers that have similar achievements, to creatively think about what these two important people might have to say to each other.
4th Grade
We started the winter learning about website evaluation, and how we should think critically about the sources we are using. Next, we learned copyright, and how we must be ethical in how we use the work of other authors found online. This includes all creative and intellectual work, including images. There are many different terms for potentially using the work of others, and that includes: citing the source, looking for work that the author has given permission for others to use (known as the "creative commons"), and some work that is free to use because it has been filed under the "public domain."
We are currently learning about bias found on the internet, which students should be able to distinguish and be aware of, as the authors found all over the internet share their views and opinions easily and enthusiastically.
These important critical thinking skills and practices while using the internet will help to develop smart and ethical digital citizens in the 4th grade!
5th Grade
As 5th graders, students have different kinds of media everywhere they turn: texts, blogs, tweets, commercials, websites, pop-up ads--and it's important for students to be aware of the message that the media is hoping to communicate through these different forms. This can be achieved through the ability to consider the author's point of view, and to understand how different media forms attract different kinds of audiences for different reasons.
After exploring commercials and the work of the authors (through video production), we will be looking at the power of visuals, and how a picture, without text, can work to communicate a message.