Making Connections
The Rockwood Library Newsletter - March/April 2019
Explore: AASL Shared Foundation #5
Elementary Librarians Sponsor Inaugural Battle of the Books
One hundred and forty-four excited 4th- and 5th-grade students competed in First Annual Mark Twain Battle of the Books on April 15. The trivia-style event consisted of eighteen teams of eight players each answering questions about the twelve books nominated for the 2019 Mark Twain Readers' Award. Superintendent Eric Knost served as master of ceremonies for the contest.
The Battle of the Books began with a Skype visit from author Melanie Conklin, the author of Counting Thyme, one of the books the students read for the contest. Conklin shared the students' enthusiasm for reading by talking about the books she's written and showing the students the books on her personal bookshelves. Natalie, a participant from Ballwin, said of the author, "She was very inspiring, and it was cool to see she reads a lot of the same books we do."
Following the author visit, the trivia competition began. Superintendent Eric Knost served as master of ceremonies. Team members eagerly conferred with each other to answer the questions. After eight rounds, the Babler team was victorious with a score of 73 out of 80. The Babler students said the event was fun but nerve-wracking. Owen commented, "When we got to the category 'Even Harder Questions,' I got nervous. But then it turned out to be easy because of Avery [the team member who came up with the hardest questions at practice]."
The Rockwood elementary librarians sponsored the Battle of the Books and began the planning process several months ago. Students had to take a quiz to qualify for their school's team. Once the teams were formed, members met to discuss the novels and to quiz each other over the books. The librarians worked together to write the trivia questions and to plan the logistics of the event.
Chesterfield librarian Steve Brim proposed the Battle of the Books idea to his colleagues at the beginning of the school year. Brim said, "I wanted to do Battle of the Books because many times, elementary students are being recognized for achievement in athletics. I wanted to give those students who read the Mark Twain books an opportunity to have a fun, challenging trivia-type contest."
The event was so successful that the librarians have already started planning next year's Battle of the Books. Brim says, "I already have numerous students who are reading the 2019-2020 Mark Twain nominees since they want to be part of the team for next year."
Author Soman Chainani Visits Selvidge Library
All of the sixth-grade students at Selvidge Middle School visited the library on March 11 to hear from a special guest: Soman Chainani, the author of the popular fantasy series The School for Good and Evil. The author was promoting the recently-published fifth book in the series, A Crystal of Time.
An engaging presenter, Mr. Chainani inspired and entertained the students with stories about his childhood, his path to becoming a writer, and background information about his popular series. As a result of the visit, many Selvidge students are reading The School for Good and Evil books for the first time while others are re-reading the series. Logan, one of the students who is a fan of Mr. Chainani's work, says he likes that "Mr. Chainani has created stories where you don't know who will win. Maybe the hero, maybe the villain, or maybe you don't really know which is which."
Teachers were also excited about the event. Sixth grade Language Arts teacher Leslie Thompson commented that Chainani "connected well with the students, involved them in the presentation, and entertained them with his personality, honesty, and funny approach to fantasy." Julie Buker, also a sixth grade Language Arts teacher, agreed and added, "Students and teachers were intrigued by [Chainani's] explanation of how his childhood shaped his ideas for The School of Good and Evil. He left the students eager to read his book."
Selvidge librarian Jim Miller is grateful to Emily Hall, the manager of Main Street Books in St. Charles for bringing Mr. Chainani to Selvidge. Miller says, "Author visits are a great way to encourage students to read outside of their comfort zone. Students who don't normally read fantasy novels checked out Chainani's book because they enjoyed his presentation so much."
And the Oscar Goes To...
Sixth-grade STRETCH students at LSMS completed their unit on conspiracy theories and unexplained phenomena by making documentaries about their individual topics. These young filmmakers were presented with mini-Oscar awards for their work in a red carpet ceremony in the LSMS library. Blake Forke, winner of the Most Powerful Information Supporting Theories Award, commented, “Research was very challenging until I found one great source with lots of facts about my topic!” He and his classmates used a variety of sources from the library to make their videos, including books, databases, and websites.
Alison Seitz, Compacted Language Arts teacher, said, “I love being able to give our librarian a topic and then discovering how many wonderful books we have in our collection that support it. Having these available allows students to each pick a book of their choice. Simply having options increases their motivation and engagement. Even better, there are always kids who want to read more because the book they picked intrigued them, and they want to learn more.”
LSMS librarian Carol Bauer said, "Expressing curiosity about and conducting research on self-selected topics is an example of the Explore foundation in action. The project encouraged students to discover and innovate."
Parents, teachers, administrators, and former students enjoyed the presentation of awards!
Babler Students Create Blackout Poetry
Starling says, "It was a fun use of old, obsoleted books, and the students were very creative in coming up with their original poems. This activity ties in perfectly with the Explore standard. Students had to problem-solve through cycles of design, implementation, and reflection as they read and reread their book pages to decide what to keep and what to save."
Young Researchers Use Library Resources for Informational Writing Assignment
Kehrs Mill librarian Rhonda Reed collaborated with the kindergarten teachers in her building to help their students explore self-selected topics through research. The teachers taught students about information writing in the classroom, while Reed used her teaching experience, knowledge of the students, and knowledge of the library collection to create a list of possible topics students might want to research. Each student selected a topic, and then the classes visited the library to do research. When the students saw the many books Reed had put on reserve for them, a number of students switched topics.
"Once students came to the library and saw the materials available to them, the most popular topics were animals, famous people, and sports," Reed said. "Students were excited about studying a topic they chose, which is what the Explore foundation is all about."
STEM Design Challenge
Owens said, "It was a pleasure to watch the students work through their challenge and encourage each other along the way."
Cheyenne, one of the students, agreed. "It was fun and challenging. It helped people learn that not everything is going to be easy in life. Some things will be challenging," she commented.
Margaret Sullivan, Rockwood Lead Librarian
Email: sullivanmargaret@rsdmo.org
Website: goo.gl/nfCm3X
Phone: 636-891-6842
Twitter: @mm_sullivan