Oak School Media Resource Center
2013-2014 Report: Here's what happened in the MRC!
Teaching
- We began the year with Library and technology orientation sessions and Internet Safety instruction.
- We continued to produce a live daily webcast called K-5 We're Live, staffed by 5th grade students.
- We collaborated with teaching staff to embed information literacy and technology instruction into classroom learning. Some examples are: created 30-second Chatterpix biographies with 3rd grade, created animal habitat iBooks with 2nd grade, created artist biography iBooks with 5th grade, introduced and used Starfall and Happy Numbers with kindergarten, developed a 4th grade 3D printing collaborative project with Hinsdale Public Library, and developed a 3rd grade Makey Makey collaborative project with our music teacher
- We actively participated in the launch of the 4th and 5th grade 1:1 iPad program.
- We continued to improve the general circulating collection to meet the needs of our students from Early Childhood Education program through 5th grade.
- We expanded the leveled instructional reading collection.
- We provided coaching and training for Oak School staff.
Reading Promotions
Encouraging a lifelong love of reading is a high priority for the school library program.
- We continued our participation in the Monarch and Bluestem Readers' Choice Award programs with great success.
- We had great fun with the Battle of the Books competition for 4th and 5th grade students.
- We continued to build our collection of book trailers in the library with student-written trailers for nonfiction books.
- We all read MVP by Douglas Evans for our 3rd annual One Book One School program. The book was well-loved and we all enjoyed meeting the author in February.
- New this year, we held a Literary Build a Potato contest during our fall Book Fair. 37 students submitted literary potatoes! Thanks to the Hinsdale Public Library for providing a guest judge. We couldn't have done it.
- Also new this year, we sent our Everybody book collection on spring vacation with students and staff! The Read a Bin Over Break program was wildly successful, with over 70 bins of books traveling the world with our readers. All of the books returned safely as well!
- And another new initiative this year is our Awesome Box. Students can recommend a book to others simply by returning it to the Awesome Box. We scan the book and it shows up on our "What's Awesome at Oak" web page.
Reaching Beyond the School Walls
- In May, we held a 2-day schoolwide Poetry Celebration that was broadcast to the world using Livestream. Friends and family from all over the world tuned in to watch, comment and Tweet about the work of our student poets.
- Over the course of the year, we were able to Skype and correspond with several people for research projects. Speaking live with these experts enhanced our students' learning experiences.
Community Support
- We formalized the Friends of the Library volunteer program this year, with great success. Volunteers donated over 180 hours of their time to keep the school library running smoothly. Thank you very much to Jenna Julian for coordinating all those volunteer activities!
- Thank you as well to the many parents who staffed and shopped at our two book fairs. The profits from those events go directly into improving the resources available to our students.
- Thank you to all members and contributors to the Oak School Parent Teacher Organization.
Oak School Media Resource Center
Email: mmorganryan@d181.org
Website: https://sites.google.com/a/d181.org/oakmrc/mrc-news-1
Location: 950 S Oak St, Hinsdale, IL, United States
Phone: 630-861-4300