Making Connections
The Rockwood Library Newsletter - October 2019
CMS Students Use Virtual St. Louis County Library Cards
The Rockwood School District is now participating in the St. Louis County Library’s (SLCL) ConnectED Library Challenge. In September, all Rockwood students (except for those whose parents opted them out of the process) were issued virtual St. Louis County Library cards. With these cards, students can access electronic resources, including databases, ebooks, and audiobooks.
Crestview librarian Bridget DuMont has been collaborating with teachers at all grade levels to teach students about the new resources that are available to them through the St. Louis County Library. For example, she book talked several ebooks from the SLCL collection to 8th grade Language Arts classes and then taught the students how to access and checkout the ebooks. A total of 414 students checked out an SLCL ebook after taking part in the lesson!
When 7th Language Arts classes started their research unit, DuMont arranged for Rebecca Iglesias, a reference librarian from SLCL, to visit the CMS Library to show students how to navigate the many databases their virtual cards give them access to. Because the students were researching the accuracy of historical events depicted in historical fiction books they had read, they used databases such as Middle Search Plus, African American History Online, World Book Online, and The Historical New York Times.
Sixth grade Language Arts students will use their virtual cards for research when they start their research unit later this year. In the meantime, DuMont created a Screencastify tutorial for the students so they could learn how to checkout online resources using their new cards, which has created a great deal of interest. “It has been fun to see so many students excited about the many new resources they now have access to thanks to this partnership between Rockwood and the St. Louis County Library,” DuMont says.
DuMont also reports that the most exciting adventure with the new cards was a field trip a group of Read 180 students took to the Daniel Boone Branch of the St. Louis County Library. The field trip included a tour of the library and a lesson taught the branch manager, Laura Kasak, on how to use ebooks, audiobooks, and the many other SLCL resources that will help them be successful. After visiting the library, the group enjoyed lunch at Chick-Fil-A. “It was a great day and way to build enthusiasm around reading for our students!” DuMont said.
WMS Students Study the Works of Edgar Allan Poe
The normally light, bright and friendly library media center at Wildwood Middle School was temporarily transformed into a spooky, creepy place for the month of October to help support student learning. The eighth grade students at WMS have been reading suspense, horror, mystery and science fiction books throughout the month of October. Librarian Karen Brown and library assistant Angie Hummel created a variety of book displays to help students find the right-fit book for their level of scariness. In addition to the displays, both ladies offered book recommendations to many students to help them make their selections. Not only were students reading their own mystery, suspense, horror or sci-fi books, they were also reading short stories and essays of the same genres in class, including works by Edgar Allan Poe. As a culminating event, Anne Williams, a historic interpreter, recited several of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories for 8th grade students on October 21. Williams integrated her passion for history, literature and drama into her performances held in the library at Wildwood Middle School. Keira, a WMS student, said of Ms. Williams’ performance, “It was interesting because she recited the stories as if she was the character in it.” Another student at WMS, shared, “I’m not into poetry that much, but Ms. Williams made me feel like I was in the story. I enjoyed her presentation much more than the readings in class.” And finally, Vikunth had this to say about the presentation, “The Poe presenter used such vivid language and expression in her voice that I was on the edge of my seat. I enjoyed it a lot.”
Kellison Library Opens Quiet Cove
Geggie Students Become Inventors
Fourth and fifth grade students at Geggie recently completed a four-week project revolving around the Ferris Wheel and World's Fair. Students began by analyzing a primary source photograph of the first Ferris Wheel. The following week students listened to the story, Mr. Ferris and his Wheel. During week three, students read an article about the World's Fair and drew up blueprints for their own World's Fair inventions. During the final week of the project, students brought their blueprints to life using only paper, scissors, and glue. To share their inventions with their classmates, students made minute-long commercials promoting their inventions. Final products included flying cars, new foods, and amusement park rides. Students worked on the project during their library time with librarian Kristina Presley.
Ballwin Students Design Houses
Uthoff Valley Students Prepare For Veterans' Visit
LSMS Library Hosts Special Events During Parent-Teacher Conferences
Seasonal Creations On Display At Kehrs Mill, Geggie, Blevins, and Selvidge
The displays in Rockwood libraries make it clear that autumn has arrived. Kehrs Mill librarian Rhonda Reed, Geggie librarian Kristina Presley, and Blevins librarian Trish Lueken recently sponsored Book Character Pumpkin Contests. Students were invited to decorate pumpkins like book characters, and their families were encouraged to help them. Twenty-five Kehrs Mill students, forty-two Geggie students, and seventy Blevins students accepted the challenge. The results are creative, clever, and cute! The top row of pictures above features entries from Geggie and the bottom row features entries from Kehrs Mill.
Meanwhile, Selvidge librarian Jim Miller created a festive and frightening display featuring scary books. (See picture below.) Miller says the most popular book in the Selvidge Library during the month of October has been Fear Zone by K.R. Alexander.
Margaret Sullivan, Rockwood Lead Librarian
Email: sullivanmargaret@rsdmo.org
Website: https://curriculum.rsdmo.org/departments/library/Pages/default.aspx
Phone: 636-891-6842
Twitter: @mm_sullivan