École South Sahali Library Report
2012-13 School Year
School Library Goals
Our school library goals are the following:
- to encourage and foster the love of reading in both English and French
- to assist students in finding the resources they need for their school assignments
- to help students find information on the internet, evaluate it and use it for assignments
- to teach students how to take notes, put together assignments and cite sources, be they print or visual
- to foster an enthusiasm for the love of learning and inquiry
- to introduce students to use new ways of represent their learning
- to provide a space for students to work on assignments, with support, and read during lunch hour
Library Staffing
Teacher-Librarian: Melisa Hunter
Library Assistant: Andrea Shafthuizen
Library Staffing Numbers for our school with a population of 325 students or 13 divisions:
Library Assistant: Andrea Shafthuizen
Library Staffing Numbers for our school with a population of 325 students or 13 divisions:
- 0.40 FTE teacher-librarian (12 periods or 2 days a week)
- 12 hours/week library assistant (2 days a week)
Statistics
Budget
School Board Funding: $5542.00
Book Fair Revenue: $1386.18
PAC Grant: $500.00
Total: $7428.18
Book Fair Revenue: $1386.18
PAC Grant: $500.00
Total: $7428.18
Library Programs for 2012-2013
Kindergarten and Grade 1:
Grade 2/3:
- storytime in French
- instruction on how to use library
- helping students choose books
- book exchange
- research project on animals using books: discussing, wondering, looking for information, recording
Grade 2/3:
- instruction on how to use the library
- instruction on how to find information in non-fiction texts
- using WorldBook online in French
- research project on owls: discussing, wondering, looking for information, recording
- promoting French and English books
- book exchange
- researching and designing Canadian Heritage Stamps
Grade 4:
- instruction on how to use the library
- promoting French and English books
- book exchange
- writing book reviews
- researching and designing Canadian Heritage Stamps
- blogging on a variety of subjects
Grade 5:
- promoting French and English books
- book exchange
- writing book reviews
- research project on the history of Canadian immigration
- Passport to the Internet: internet safety, effective internet searches, evaluation of online sources
Grade 5/6:
- Passport to the Internet: internet safety, effective internet searches, evaluation of online sources
- creating a Glog for a research project on BC's natural resources
Grade 6/7:
- research project on Ancient Egypt: choosing a topic, looking for resources, taking notes, citing sources, composing paragraphs from notes, creating a Glog to represent learning
- research project on Modern Egypt: writing a travel blog to show learning, researching topics online, citing sources, uploading photos that are free to use under Creative Commons licenses, writing a bibliography
Grade 7:
- choosing, uploading and citing photos that are free to use under Creative Commons licenses
- creating an Animoto video that represents a personal timeline
- research project on Mesoamerica: choosing a topic, looking for resources, taking notes, citing sources, creating a Glog to represent learning, writing a bibliography
Grade 3 Heritage Stamp
Grade 3 Heritage Stamp
Grade 4 Heritage Stamp
Additional Programs for 2012-2013
Battle of the Books:
This is a reading competition for students in grades 3 to 7 where students work in teams of 3 and read a total of 10 - 12 books. When they have finished reading the books, in about January, they start practicing questions based on the books. The first stage of the competition is at the school level. Then there is the Zone level and finally the District level.
This year, we started off with 13 students in the Battle of the Books. When it came time for the school competition, two teams of Grade 5 students competed. The team that went on to represent our school at the Zone competition narrowly missed going on to the District Competition.
Red Cedar Book Award Club:
This club was run as a pull-out club that took place from January to April, every Tuesday afternoon from 1:50 to 2:30. A total of 35 intermediate students participated. There was a selection of 12 novels and 12 non-fiction books to read. If students read 5 books from a category they could vote on what they thought was the best book. Votes were cast by students all over BC to determine which books would win the Red Cedar Award this year.
At our meetings we discussed the books, wrote summaries and book reviews and even got to interview one of the authors via Google Chat. Everyone enjoyed themselves.
We are extremely grateful to our PAC who gave us a $500 grant to purchase the books for this program.
This is a reading competition for students in grades 3 to 7 where students work in teams of 3 and read a total of 10 - 12 books. When they have finished reading the books, in about January, they start practicing questions based on the books. The first stage of the competition is at the school level. Then there is the Zone level and finally the District level.
This year, we started off with 13 students in the Battle of the Books. When it came time for the school competition, two teams of Grade 5 students competed. The team that went on to represent our school at the Zone competition narrowly missed going on to the District Competition.
Red Cedar Book Award Club:
This club was run as a pull-out club that took place from January to April, every Tuesday afternoon from 1:50 to 2:30. A total of 35 intermediate students participated. There was a selection of 12 novels and 12 non-fiction books to read. If students read 5 books from a category they could vote on what they thought was the best book. Votes were cast by students all over BC to determine which books would win the Red Cedar Award this year.
At our meetings we discussed the books, wrote summaries and book reviews and even got to interview one of the authors via Google Chat. Everyone enjoyed themselves.
We are extremely grateful to our PAC who gave us a $500 grant to purchase the books for this program.
The Zone Battle of the Books
Our Team
Discussing an answer...
Red Cedar Bookshelf
Ways that I supported the school, as teacher-librarian
- purchased books and resources for the library with a budget of $7428.18
- maintained the library website to support students and staff
- searched out resources for teachers and students from our library, other libraries in the school district, the HGEC and online
- collaboratively planned with teachers
- troubleshot technology questions and issues
Professional Development Taken:
BC Teacher-Librarian Association Conference October 2013
Workshops attended:
Workshops attended:
- Battle of the Books programs
- Inquiry Based Learning in the Elementary School
- Learning Commons in the Elementary School
SD 73 Professional Book Club where we met on a monthly basis and discussed:
The New Learning Commons Where Learners Win! Reinventing School Libraries and Computer Labs by David Loertscher, Carol Koechlin, and Sandy Zwaan.
Working Committees
SD 73 Committee to Showcase Achievements and Use of Technology in French Immersion
- attended a number of working meetings
- culminated in a presentation made to the School Board in February
School Pro-D chair
- this position was taken on mid-year
- as a committee, we are looking at having our staff pursue self-guided professional development where we will work collaboratively and share our learning and successes
Secretary of the SD 73 Teacher-Librarian LSA
Library Goals for Next Year
- to continue with the programs that were in place this year
- to blog with two other classes in the school district about Red Cedar books
- to explore inquiry based learning with a number of teachers and students
- to promote recreational reading, in both French and English, to the upper intermediate students via book talks and book trailers
- to try out new digital storytelling tools with the students to give them more options to show their learning
- to offer mini-workshops to staff on the school district's digital resources (Canadian Points of View, NFB, Novelist etc), and topics of interest in technology
We have accomplished a lot this year, but with more TL time in the library we could:
- teach research skills and digital literacy on a more regular basis to all of the classes
- promote reading on a more regular basis to all of the classes
- work collaboratively on a more regular basis with more teachers: this results in better ideas for projects and more one-on-one time with the students
Melisa Hunter: Teacher-Librarian
I am a French Immersion elementary school teacher-librarian. I teach the equivalent of two days a week in the library and one day a week in the Grade 4 French Immersion class. I have very recently completed my Teacher-Librarian Diploma through UBC.
Email: mhunter@sd73.bc.ca
Website: http://ssesbiblio.blogspot.ca/
Location: 1585 Summit Drive, Kamloops, BC, Canada
Phone: 250-374-2451
Twitter: @mjHunterTL