Harrisburg Library Newsletter
February/March
News from the HEMS Library
We'll be covering a variety of topics and celebrating award nominated books in library classes in the months of February and March. Kindergarteners will continue to practice using shelf markers to select books from the nonfiction and fiction practice shelves and will enjoy read alouds including Goldisocks and the Three Libearians which introduces the concept of the five-finger rule in choosing a just right book.
1st-3rd graders will enjoy listening to the last of our Missouri Show Me Reader Award Nominees, The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig and The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleishman. Students in Harrisburg will join 1-3 graders across the state to vote for their favorite of the ten 2016 Show Me Reader nominees. The winning book will be announced in April. Students in 1st-3rd grade will also enjoy spending time in library centers in the months leading up to the end of the school year. Library centers are designed to focus on library and information literacy skills and, in February and March, will center around alphabetical order practice. Students will be exposed to a variety of different practice ranging from a cup stack activity to the always popular Shelver center where students will practice arranging virtual books on a library shelf using the library iPads.
Our 4th-6th grade students who have read four or more of the 2016 Missouri Mark Twain nominees will be voting for their favorite in March. The twelve books on this list are selected by committees consisting of students, parents, and librarians and feature a wide-range of genre. The winning book will be announced in April.
6th-8th grade students who have read four or more of the 2016 Missouri Truman nominees will vote for their favorite in March. Students who read and vote for the Missouri award books will attend a Reader's Award party in April where the winning books will be announced.
Students in grades 4-5 have been practicing several methods for finding a great book. Book talks, peer recommendations, book trailers, and web tools...we've used them all to find great book recommendations. Students have also learned how to access the online library catalog from anywhere (home, lab, from a Chromebook) in order to check the library collection and to make book recommendations for the library using a Google form that goes straight to Mrs. Simpson! The next step will be for students to make their own book trailers using library iPads and Animoto that can be linked to our online library catalog. Stay tuned for examples of student work in the months to come!!
Cup Stack Center
Coloring Center
Shelver Center
News from the HHS Library
We continue to be excited about the increased communication that student email accounts provides the library. With these accounts, we are able to let students know when new books have arrived, when holds or requests are available, and inform students of overdue books in an expeditious and confidential way.
In other exciting news, the HHS library now features coloring and gaming centers where students can grab a coloring page or a game and sit for a bit and enjoy a different type of brain activity in their library. Both have been pretty popular with the library regulars. The library is now serving as a tutoring center during advisory with A+ students available to assist with writing, math, study skills, and homework help. Our tutors are excited, organized, and ready to facilitate a positive experience for any students needing a bit of extra support during their advisory period.
Library displays this month will feature a bracket of winning books in the March Madness contest as well as books on planning for a future beyond high school. Books with information on vocational training, military enlistment, planning for college, and learning to budget will be showcased in the display. Books to help prep for ACT, SAT, and ASVAB testing will also be easily accessible this semester.
The Daniel Boone Library March Madness Contest continues this month. The contest includes five rounds of voting to determine the 2016 March Madness book champion. For each round Boone County students ages 12-18 will be entered into a drawing for prizes. Ballots are available in the middle school and high school libraries or you can visit teens.dbrl.org to vote online. A display of the books will be featured in the high school library until the winner is announced in April.
High school students who have read 3 or more of the 2016 Missouri Gateway Award nominees will also be voting in March for their favorite. The winning book will be announced in April.