JISD Library Services Newsletter

If you haven't voted on the Judson Bond Issue yet, please make sure to cast your vote on November 2nd! All Judson ISD campuses will benefit from the 302.5 million dollar bond.
Learn More about the Judson ISD Bond: www.judsonisd.org/bond2021

Students at Escondido Elementary will soon have new equipment to help them document and record the stories of their school, their community, and themselves thanks to the library recently receiving a JEF Innovative Teacher Grant. The funds will be used to purchase various microphones, cameras, and lighting equipment to assist students in creating newscasts, podcasts, and various written news formats.

Author Jeff Zentner will be visiting Veterans Memorial and Judson High Schools on Friday, December 17th to discuss his newest book, In the Wild Light. His previous books are The Serpent King, Goodbye Days, and Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee.

Please join us at 9:15 A.M. at Veterans and at 11:30 A.M. at Judson High School.

Ninety-four-year-old Holocaust survivor, Rose Sherman Williams will share excerpts from her memoir, LETTERS TO ROSE in Judson ISD. This event is free and open to all families, employees, and community members in each cluster.

Karen Wagner High School TBD

Veterans Memorial High School Tuesday, January 25, 2022, at 7:00 PM

Judson High School Thursday, February 3, 2022, at 6:30 PM

Ms. Williams will be joined by her co-authors, Rebecca Hoag, a retired Northside teacher and Robin Philbrick, a retired Johnson High School teacher. This free educational opportunity is especially significant because 2022 will be the 77th Anniversary of the end of WWII and the liberation of concentration camps across Europe and, sadly, there are so few surviving witnesses to the atrocity of The Holocaust.

Sponsored by the Friends of JISD Libraries, this initiative is in keeping with Senate Bill 1828, signed by Governor Greg Abbott in May of 2019, which established a Holocaust Remembrance Week in all public schools in Texas.

When Rose Sherman Williams was just twelve years old, the Nazis invaded her hometown in Poland. Subject to the ravages of World War II and the dehumanization of Polish Jews by the Nazis, each day was a fight for survival. Now in her nineties, this remarkable woman continues to share her story in hopes that it inspires courage and resilience, and touches the lives of those who hear it. For six years, the teenager whose childhood had been stolen from her fought both oppression and depression. She endured physical beatings, starvation, and transfers from one labor camp to another. In 1944, having been deported to the notorious Auschwitz extermination camp, she had a bizarre encounter with the Angel of Death, Dr. Josef Mengele, himself. A death march ultimately led her to one of the most despicable camps of all: Bergen-Belsen. But miraculously, she survived to be liberated. Now, her retelling vividly recalls one of the darkest moments in human history, but her message is as equally important as her tale. LETTERS TO ROSE goes beyond the conventional Holocaust memoir. It evidences her impact on the next generation by incorporating letters written by sixty of Robin Philbrick's former Johnson High School students throughout the text. Coupled with Rose's story, it provides a memorable read for all ages. Her resourcefulness, faith, and love for mankind fill her audiences with hope and inspiration.

Co-authors Philbrick and Hoag will provide introductory information, but the night will belong to Rose Williams. This is an opportunity not to be missed, as this generation will be the last to hear a Holocaust survivor tell her own story. Please join us for this night of incredible historical significance.

Before and after the presentation, the authors will have signed books available for purchase in paperback ($16.23) and hardcover ($27). Cash, check and credit cards will be accepted.

In honor of Indigenous People's Month in November, Jeff Glade, an instructional technology consultant, provided a list of Native American podcasts appropriate for K-12 instruction. Click on the images below to get to his Twitter post with more information.

Last spring, Escondido library media specialist, Ms. Simmons, was talking to Ms. Patience, a special education teacher on campus, about building a Little Free Library for the surrounding community. With many Little Free Libraries popping up throughout the world, the idea is a simple one-this is a “take a book, return a book” free book exchange. Ms. Patience mentioned the idea to her father, and over the summer her father and his best friend built a customized library which they donated to the campus at the beginning of the year. JISD maintenance installed the Little Free Library this month, and it is already a hit with students and families. If you are interested in bringing a Little Free Library to your community, you can find more information here https://littlefreelibrary.org/

Exciting times are happening at Woodlake Elementary! Our new library is open for our students to use! We are waiting for furniture, but we are using the space for our library lessons and checking out books. Eventually, Woodlake learners will not only have brand new furniture and bookshelves but a state-of-the-art makerspace area where students will be able to create and innovate new ideas! Students will have access to many STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) tools, such as Chromebooks, Legos, art supplies, magnet tiles, and even a 3D printer that will be housed in this amazing space! Keep looking out for updates from our fabulous new space as it unfolds within the next year!

Third, Fourth, and Fifth graders are invited to the Hopkins Elementary library every Wednesday during lunch to get a sneak peek at one of the 20 Bluebonnet Titles. They are then challenged to finish the book to make it onto the Bluebonnet Wall of Fame. Each student that reads 5 Bluebonnet Books will be invited to a Bluebonnet Breakfast in January to vote for their favorite Bluebonnet title.

Students in grades 3-5 at Masters Elementary enjoyed seasonal makerspace centers. The choices included an engineering challenge using toothpicks and pumpkin gumdrops, augmented reality using the Quiver app on Ipads, origami monster bookmarks, LEGO challenges, and sugar skull coloring! Everyone enjoyed the choices and the chance to be creative. We can't wait to do makerspaces again!

As part of our Hispanic Heritage celebration, the students responded to stories such as the Biblioburro, Waiting for the Biblioburro, and Green as a Chile Pepper. Our students learned about different cultures and traveling libraries across the globe including the Biblioburro in Columbia! They were excited to write and share their book reviews and suggestions on our Library's wall display.

The Salinas Storybook Pumpkin Patch was a sight to behold. Over 150 families participated in the pumpkin fun! It was no surprise that the most popular pumpkin designs were Pete the Cat and Dog Man (since our kiddos love the books too). It was so wonderful to showcase student work in the library, and we applaud the students' creativity. Pictures were posted on Class Dojo and the school's Facebook page along with a link for parents and community members to take a virtual tour of our pumpkin patch. We are already looking forward to our next library-sponsored family activity.

In October the students at Converse Elementary did various activities both at school and at home. There was the fall book fair, pumpkin decorating of their favorite book character, and after school book club for K-2nd.

We are all creatures of habit and our students are no different. In order to get the MPE students to explore areas of the library they are not as familiar with, Mrs. Martine, the library teacher, developed a scavenger hunt for students to complete. Seven different hunts were created so students would be able to explore on their own without others' influences. The hunt included finding a famous chef, a book about something that moves, and even instructions to explain the 4th word in the "N" section of an encyclopedia. They had to explore a famous author of picture books and describe their favorite book and author. Lots of questions, some frustrations, but more learning than could have ever been hoped for.

It's the most magical time of year!! Our Scholastic Book Fair was a huge success!! Students, teachers, and parents had so much fun shopping! We are so grateful for the support of our families, friends, and community for their generous donations, which helped provide books for students who might not have been able to participate. There were so many awesome books to choose from...we're already looking forward to our next one in February!

During the month of October, students have been learning about digital citizenship through lessons provided by Common Sense Media. Classes in grades K-5 learned about a variety of topics including balancing online and offline activities, using kindness online, creating strong passwords, and knowing what information is safe to share online. After each lesson, students were invited to show what they learned about good digital citizens by using pictures and/or words to display on the hallway bulletin board outside the library.

Students at Rolling Meadows Elementary learned about Dia De Los Muertos by making Calavera masks and reading Duncan Tonatiuh's Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras the creator of the famous Calaveras we see during Dia De Los Muertos.

Students at Kitty Hawk Middle School are delving deeper into genres. Some classes are kicking off with a discussion on the elements of mysteries. Teams of students sort through a wide variety of book title cards about mysteries in our own library, each card contains a few key words about the setting and main mystery. Students look for patterns and similarities as they group titles and discover books they want to check out. Did you know that you can find mysteries that take place in a wide variety of time periods and span from realistic crimes to fantastical adventures? Several other classes jump into an exploration of historical fiction. Student teams are given 3-4 book covers containing brief summaries with key historical terms highlighted. Students predict the order that the stories occur in history, then do quick research to confirm their predictions. After researching and labeling their title with the correct date, all covers are added to a large timeline placed around the library. Students end with a gallery walk down the timeline before checking out their own historical fiction titles.

This month, students were able to participate in several activities in the library to celebrate the fall season. Students used their math skills to estimate the number of googly eyes in a jar. Students got creative in writing and illustrating a hilarious story in our student-created Funny Ghost Comic Challenge. Our spooky book display was a huge hit, resulting in over 100 scary book checkouts!

During Hispanic Heritage Month, the Wildcat Library had a scavenger hunt across Latin America. While we didn't actually go there, students "traveled" throughout Latin America using books, charts, maps, and graphs to find interesting facts and trivia about these countries. Where did the bolero hat originate from? What South American country receives the most rainfall? Where can you see people dance the original merengue? This coincided with Spanish classes doing projects for Hispanic Heritage Month and sixth grade Social Studies studying South America.

This month has been full of MakerSpace activity in the Judson High School Library. We've hosted making events as PD, with after-school clubs, and even with our future Rocket journalists from Woodlake Middle School. On October 20th, the JHS Library partnered with Mr. Cabrera's Journalism classes and TheFuel to host our first annual NewsieCon. Journalism students from Woodlake Middle School spent the day in the JHS library learning all about yearbook design, journalistic culture, basic photography, and the editorial decision-making process. They even had a chance to get a taste of the Maker culture we nurture in the JHS Makerspace by creating their own buttons to commemorate the event. Next year, we hope to expand this event into a truly student-led conference where districts from around the area would bring their journalists to learn from our nationally-recognized Judson Journalism Program through a series of keynotes and plenary sessions.

Students at VMHS celebrated National Coming Out Day on Friday, October 8th by making pins and bracelets with their LGBTQIA+ flag colors. Allies were also invited to make an ally pin or bracelet to support their peers.

One student stated, "This makes my heart happy," reinforcing the importance of all of our students feeling supported and welcome in our school.

They were so excited and appreciative of the gesture that they asked to start a club at our school. The VMHS Pride Union is now an official club on our campus! Mrs. Thompson, the school librarian, is the sponsor.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for the JISD Library Services Department, please contact Lead Librarian, Pamela Thompson.

Email: parevalothompson@judsonisd.org
Website: https://www.judsonisd.org/Page/19070
Location: 7618 Evans Road, San Antonio, TX, USA
Phone: 210-619-0220