Vermont School Library Association » Newsletter 1/10

Letter from a Vermont Librarian in Cairo

vslainfo — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:05:20 +0000

November 25, 2009
I am a long-time Vermont librarian now working at Cairo American College in Cairo, Egypt. As part of my job, I sometimes travel with students on school trips. Below is a description of one such trip. (My husband John and I had spent an October weekend relaxing at a glamorous resort hotel in Sharm El Sheikh on the Sinai.)

I was back in Sinai a few weeks later under different conditions. My companions were a dozen teachers and 150 middle school kids studying reef ecology.

We’d loaded school busses at 4 AM for the drive to the Cairo airport. When our chartered plane landed in Sharm el Sheikh, the kids piled onto different busses for the hour drive to Dahab, a funky resort town up the coast. What our hotel lacked in quality it made up in charm and location – right on the beach with lots of outdoor space for seventh graders to roam around.

The reef snorkeling was challenging. Each small group of a dozen kids swam with a marine biologist, snorkel master, and faculty member. It was cool to watch kids in my group overcome fears, gain confidence, and enjoy the water.

Besides time in the water, kids studied marine life and causes of reef destruction, tested water quality, made art, and participated in drama simulations. In the evening, they performed skits and had a bonfire.

Each group visited Nabq, a protected area where desert and ocean environments meet and the coast supports a mangrove forest. Small groups sipped Bedouin tea and learned a little about traditional Bedouin life.

Kids had a great time but it was definitely exhausting for faculty to be on duty and constantly vigilant with 150 daffy middle school kids. Below are kids in my group.

Cheers, Beth Phillips

Fall Conference in Brattleboro

vslainfo — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:21:23 +0000

The VSLA Fall, 2009, conference was held at Brattleboro High School in October. Our morning speaker was J’aime Foust, author of Dewey Need to Get Organized (my answer to that question would be “yes!”). J’aime encouraged us to make a pie graph showing the most important things in our life, then make another pie graph showing what we are really doing. She suggested that we repeat the exercise in 6 months to 1 year to see if anything has changed. I admit that I tucked my conference notes away, and did not come across this idea until just now as I sat down to write. I did manage to borrow J’aime’s book from a friend, though, so now I am encouraged to try this exercise and look for more ideas in the book. My favorite piece of advice from J’aime? “The trash can is your friend.”

A chance to gather and chat before the first session of the day

Amy Howlett of the DOL talking about Readers Advisory Basics

Workshops continued throughout the day. I attended Amy Howlett’s session on Readers’ Advisory Basics. Amy works for the DOL and does Rapid Reviews for the VLA. She reminded us that turning kids into readers is the key thing that we do. She presented many tools, from books to websites to her own handouts. My favorite was her approach to “reading” a book in 10 minutes. There are many features that give us clues about a book, and if we are willing to skim through and skip ahead (yikes!) to the ending and epilogue, we really can learn a lot about that book in just 10 minutes.

J’aime Foust inspires us to get organized

New member Chris Putnam-Poulliot talks with VSLA President Marsha Middleton

The semi-annual VSLA membership meeting was held after lunch. Minutes of the meeting are available on the VSLA website.

The day concluded with a presentation by artist John Steven Gurney, who has illustrated all of the A-Z Mystery books. There is also a new series of Calendar Mysteries, which is an off-shoot of the A to Z series. Mr. Gurney also wrote and illustrated a book called Dinosaur Train, which has been made into a TV series.

As usual, I came away from the conference thinking that it is one of my most valuable professional development activities of the year. So much is packed into one day, but at a comfortable pace. And it all relates directly to many aspects of our jobs as School Librarians.

by Marcia Peterson, Librarian at the Ottauquechee School (Hartford School District)

A Collaborative Approach to a Red Clover Book

vslainfo — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:21:05 +0000

This year, for the first time, our Art Teacher Kate Townsend and I sat down with the Red Clover books to select one for a collaborative approach. Our goal was to reach 4^th and 5^th graders in a more meaningful way. At Dothan Brook I do the Red Clover program with the 4^th graders. This year I decided to include the 5^th graders with some of them. One reason for this was our school district’s approach to bolstering reading with Fountas and Pinnell. At recent discussions, the picture book has been emphasized for use with older students.

Student begins to work with wire.

The Red Clover book we selected was Sandy’s Circus by Tanya Stone. I did research on the internet to find two You Tube sites to show students after reading the book to them. The first was an old black and white video of Alexander Calder actually performing his circus and the other was a kids’ Art Display made by K-5 students in Calder style with wire circus figures and mobiles after Tanya Stone had come to their school. My students found it totally fascinating.

During Art Class in the following weeks, Kate had the students make wire circus creations with fanciful odds and ends. Among the materials Kate used were twisteez wire, pipe cleaners (regular and shiny), wire edged ribbon, buttons, beads, feathers, toothpicks, pencil eraser heads, pom poms, marker caps, and shish-ka-bob sticks. Large detergent bottle caps and styrofoam were used to stand up figures. Styrofoam used in packing allowed for the display of several youngsters’ work in one scene. Several students got so excited about the project that they worked on ideas at home. One class’s work was on display in the library. Many students wanted to take their work home to give as holiday gifts.

Student displays her first finished product

Kate and I also used this project as one our Professional Development goals for the year.
Pat Cook, Librarian at Dothan Brook School, Wilder, VT (Hartford School District)

Fanciful creature

Trio of performers

Complete circus scene

Award-Winning Children’s Book Author Jamie Gilson Visits St. Francis Xavier School

vslainfo — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:34:07 +0000

Young writers and readers at St. Francis Xavier School in Winooski were recently treated to a visit from children’s book writer Jamie Gilson, author of twenty funny and nationally acclaimed books for elementary school age students. The visit was organized by School Librarian Kathleen Finn.

Students in grades 2 to 5 at St. Francis Xavier have been reading Mrs. Gilson’s books since school began. On the day of her visit, Mrs. Gilson spoke to these students about how her ideas develop and how the book process works, from manuscript to finished product. The importance of the back-and-forth process between editor and writer – and many, many rewrites – was emphasized. She showed the students samples of her original, edited manuscripts; some illustration drafts; and what her books look like when translated into German, Dutch and Braille. After the presentation, there was time for questions that students had formulated prior to the author’s visit.

Mrs. Gilson’s uncanny eye and ear for what kids are like at this age is key to her success, from her earliest titles first published in the late ’70s to those published in the last few years. Notebook in hand, Mrs. Gilson has been prowling school classrooms for years in the Chicago suburb where she lives. “This is the way my books grow,” she says. “I watch what kids are doing and write stories based on what I see.” The everyday stuff of elementary school – such as field trips to catch spiders, chess clubs, class clowns, and substitute teachers – is foundational to her fast-paced, engaging, and witty books. Mrs. Gilson’s most recent book is Chess – I Love It! I Love It! I Love It! (Clarion, 2008), and her 1982 title Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub (the winner of five child-voted state awards) is being reissued this fall as a “Classic” by Marshall Cavendish. It has already sold over a million copies in paperback.

Jamie Gilson at Rick Marcotte Central School

Jamie Gilson Visits the Marcotte School

While in Vermont, Jamie Gilson also visited her grandchildren’s school in South Burlington, the Rick Marcotte Central School. She spoke to the second through fifth grade students there. Mrs. Gilson has a granddaughter in second grade, and a grandson in fifth grade. Photos were taken by her son-in-law Martin LaLonde and sent to us by Mrs. Gilson’ daughter Anne Gilson LaLonde.

by Kathleen Finn

Ice Cream and GMBA

vslainfo — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:30:43 +0000

Greetings from the Essex High School Library Media Center!

Interested in some new ideas to help promote the Green Mountain Book Award? It’s difficult to get students to read beyond what’s required of them for class. We have been trying to get increased participation for years and came up with a new plan. We created a new promotion to encourage our students to read more GMBA books.
It all began with offering the sweet incentive of ice cream!

Our Plan:

• Create New Shelving Section: We moved GMBA books to an area where they are more visible and accessible.

• Implement a GMBA punch card program: Each time a patron reads a GMBA nominee we punch the corresponding image on their card. When they’ve read three titles, they get a personal invitation to our “GMBA Make Your own Sundae” voting party.

Punch card: The student puts his/her name on the back of the card.

• Create Promotional Advertising: Designed new signage, buttons and displays to get the word out.

• Library Staff wears buttons in support of the GMBA.
• Library Staff actively includes GMBA nominees when recommending books to individual patrons and during book talks for classes.

The End Result; We’ve tripled the number of student participation in the GMBA program!
We’re really excited about our increased participation in the program and are looking
forward to our “Make Your Own Sundae” voting party in the spring.
If you have any questions regarding our promotions let me know via e-mail.

This is a snapshot of the poster that we’ve displayed above our books. If you’d like a jpeg file, or the original publisher file let me know and I can e-mail it to you.

Written by:
Jill Abair< Library/Administrative Assistant jabair@ccsuvt.org
Philip Crawford, Library Director
Pictures taken by: Jill Abair

University of Vermont School Library Media Studies Sequence

vslainfo — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:21:48 +0000

During the next two years, UVM will be unrolling professional development opportunities for School Library Media Specialists in practice. The courses will concentrate on topics that are loosely defined as “Contemporary Issues,” and are geared to practical application of emerging technologies and new guidelines for Library Media Programs. The courses will be offered online and will vary from one credit to three credits, depending on the scope of the topic.

As Vermont Library Media Specialists, you will have the chance to shape the direction of the topics to meet your needs. Online surveys will help us identify areas of professional development, and there will be a social networking site developed for the “Issues” strand of coursework. Look for that in early 2010.

We are also looking for instructors to join our faculty. If you enjoy working with adult learners and would like to share your knowledge with fellow practitioners as a learning leader, send your resume to Judy Kaplan. (Judith.Kaplan@uvm.edu). I am looking for folks who might also be interested in teaching the basic courses in the sequence. The minimum educational requirement is a MLS or a Master’s Degree in content.

Already proposed and set to go early next summer is a 3 credit course taught by Anna Bolognani:

Powerful Web Tools for the School Library Media Center: Changing the Way We Teach and Learn
Course description and goals:
This class will explore Web 2.0 literacy and how tools such as blogs, wikis, twitter, social bookmarking, mashups, podcasting, and vodcasting can be used to foster collaboration and learning in our schools.
Participants will explore current research and information on student learning in the digital age. Through the use of blogs, wikis, twitter, IM, social bookmarking, mashups, podcasts and vodcasts they will become familiar with the technology and develop ideas on how to use them for collaboration and lessons in an educational setting. Students will use web tools to develop a multimedia web based presentation.

In the formative stages are several others that will be available in following semesters:

School Library Leadership in 21st Century Schools
3 credit course-Fall 2010
Course description:
21st Century Standards have been developed to meet the changing educational needs of learners in schools across America. Library Media Specialists are asked to revision the future for school library practice for the future, and the future is now. This course will explore the ideas presented through the AASL documents, Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs (2009), and the Standards for the 21st Century Learner (2007). The focus of the course will examine the concept of educational leadership, and offer ways to create leadership opportunities for Library Media Specialists to become agents of change and educational leaders within the school community to ensure the continued support of equitable access to resources, both physical and virtual through Library Media Centers.

Contemporary Issues in Children’s/Young Adult Literature: The Literacy Connection
3 credit course Spring 2011

Course description:
Reading is described as a “window to the world,” as a common belief listed in Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs. (ALA 2009) Library Media Specialists face challenges in making the literacy connection between collections of literature for children and young adults and young learners. New pedagogies for teaching reading skills and comprehension, written expression, and other communications skills impact student learning. To be effective educational partners and collaborate with classroom teachers in literacy instruction, Library Media Specialists will be introduced to many of the recent learning theories and practices that are used in the literacy classroom. Basic language literacy and other 21st Century Literacies will be addressed as well. Library Media Specialists will use current children’s and young adult literature to apply these new pedagogies and literacies in the School Library Media Program.

Assistive Technology in the School Library Media Center
1 credit course

Course description and goals:
The School Library Media Center is arranged so students have complete physical access to library materials. Aisles are wide, shelves are low, but can students actually access the content of your collection? Can the students see the print, can they use the computer mouse? Assistive (or adaptive) technology can help all students who need accommodations to use library resources for their learning needs

Changes to concepts about copyright have recently emerged in response to the impact of Web 2.0 social network tools for student learning. This course will provide a guide to navigate the new interpretations of fair use rules and how to help students and colleagues make sense of using resources appropriately.

Watch for upcoming announcements on the VSLA list serv, and consider joining our team. It’s great fun!

Judith Kaplan, MA, Library Media Specialist, School Library Media Sequence Coordinator , University of Vermont

World Expert on Medieval Cistercian Architecture Visits Rice Memorial High School

vslainfo — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:18:45 +0000

Internationally recognized as an authority on medieval Cistercian architecture, Dr. Terryl Kinder recently spoke to students at Rice Memorial High School in a special visit sponsored by the Friends of Rice Library and supported by a grant from the Paul Post Foundation.

Ann Kenney (left), librarian at Rice Memorial High School, displays Architecture of Silence: Cistercian Abbeys of France by Dr. Terryl Kinder (right) of St. Michael’s College.

Kinder’s presentation discussed how the Cistercian monks evolved from their Benedictine roots and how they lived, worked and prayed in silence. She also described how the architecture of their monastic buildings-simple, beautifully proportioned and well-built-reflects the spiritual transformation to which they aspired.

Kinder’s time is currently divided between teaching at St. Michael’s College and living near the site of Pontigny Abbey in the Burgundy region of France. She has written several books, including Architecture of Silence: Cistercian Abbeys of France, which she co-authored with David Heald, the chief photographer at the Guggenheim Museum.

by Ann Kenney

Summer Reading for Kids 2010

vslainfo — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:16:57 +0000

If it’s January… it’s time to plan the Summer Reading for Kids list again! VSLA is looking for volunteer contributors to compose this year’s tips for terrific tantalizing summer reads. Traditionally, we divide the list into Picture Books and Easy Readers for K-4, Grades 5-8, and Grades 9-12, with a contributor or team providing 10-15 suggested titles with short annotations for each age grouping. As the list also includes each year’s award winners and links to our state award lists (Red Clover, DCF, GMBA), we try to promote other titles that readers might not find on their own.

The list, printed as a full-color brochure by VSLA-affiliate VT-NEA, has a print run of 30,000+ each year, and has often “sold out.” (Hint: order your copies early!). VT-NEA provides the printing and covers all shipping and handling costs to deliver copies to classrooms or your school library and to local bookstores and public libraries around the state. Originally conceived and created by Leda Schubert, former VT Department of Education Library Media Consultant, and Laurie Huse, Communications Director for VT-NEA, Summer Reading for Kids has been featured on WCAX News, Across the Fence, and received an honorable mention from The Wall Street Journal. Past lists may be accessed at: http://www.vtnea.org/vermont_education_center/summer_reading_lists.aspx.

Barb Marvin of Colchester High School has already stepped up to the plate to cover the high school titles for 2010. Contributors for both younger age groups are still needed. (Note: as VT-NEA covers all the production costs, they do ask that list contributors be VT-NEA members as well as VSLA members). If you are interested, please contact Shannon Walters at swalters@bsdvt.org at your earliest convenience.

Shannon Walters, Library Media Specialist, C.P. Smith School, Burlington, Vermont 05408
swalters@bsdvt.org
(802) 864-2228

Fall Library Events at St. Johnsbury Academy

vslainfo — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:15:16 +0000

Poetry Outloud Contest

One of our favorite and best-attended events in the library this past semester was the poetry declamation contest initiated and planned by the English Department in honor of a former faculty member, Graham Newell. It was held on Parent’s Night, which brought more parents than usual to the library. Over ten English classes participated in this National event (http://www.poetryoutloud.org/) coordinated as a first annual event at the Academy by English teacher Angela Drew. Two Academy student winners will proceed to the State level contest and hope to win an expense-paid trip to Washington, DC, to compete at the national level.

Capstone Conference Day/Silent Art Auction

Each student at the Academy prepares a Capstone project in their senior year. On December 4, over 100 Capstones were presented on campus during the course of the day. Juniors and seniors could rotate through the various venues to see their fellow students’ presentations, and the library was one of the busiest venues on campus. A Capstone project highlight later in December was Hannah Spero’s silent auction in honor of her mother, an award-winning photographer, who died from melanoma when Hannah was 8. Faculty, staff and students contributed art projects for the silent auction, and the art works were displayed on low shelving in the library. A student violinist played music in the background and cookies were served just like in a big-city gallery. As a backdrop, Hannah prepared a multimedia presentation about her mother and the disease which took her mother’s life. The event was attended by several hundred students and faculty members, and raised more than $600 which Hannah donated to an organization that funds melanoma awareness.

Odyssey Book Presentations at the Library

The last week of school the English department again used the venue of the library for the grand finale for a fun Humanities project. Freshman Humanities students worked in small groups over the previous weeks to prepare a physical book which retold the Odyssey as a modern story. Each book was formally presented to the library staff as if the students were trying to sell it to an editor for publication and to the library staff for inclusion in the collection. The students prepared posters, book blurbs, and even bribes (in the form of chocolate kisses palmed off to library staff with goodbye handshakes!). The library staff was impressed by the variety of abilities and skills the students honed working on this project: imagination, creative writing, drawing, graphic design, teamwork, marketing, and presentation and public speaking skills.

Recommend a Book! Contest

Our newest staff member, Caitlin Smith, who comes to us with experience at Powell’s Bookstore, initiated this contest. The students responded enthusiastically and quickly. She gave the students a month to recommend from one to three books, prepared an eye-catching display, and posted the 24 book recommendations as they were submitted. We displayed copies of the recommended books if we had them, and if not, we ordered a copy or the entire series. The books and recommendations were displayed in a popular seating area of the library and more than half of the student-recommended books were checked out while the contest was underway!

Caitlin Smith and the student who won the $25 gift certificate to a local bookstore

by Linda Wooster, SJA Library Director lwooster@stjacademy.org (802- 751-2100)

Save the Date for “Dynamic Landscapes 2.0: Synergy at Work”

vslainfo — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:11:11 +0000

On December 30, Sue Furry-Irish and Sue Monmaney met with Ed Barry of VITA-Learn to finalize plans for a joint VSLA/VITA-Learn Spring 2010 conference, to be called “Dynamic Landscapes 2.0: Synergy at Work.” This exciting 2-day conference will be held at Champlain College May 13^th and 14^th, building upon the successful Dynamic Landscapes Conferences of the past by blending in workshops of special interest to library media specialists and their extended communities. In addition, a special dinner with guest speaker will be offered for Thursday evening, May 13^th. The entire 2-day program will create an unprecedented gathering of educators with different job titles who share the same media literacy goals.

The call for proposals goes out to the technology, library, and education communities January 11^th, with a February 19^th deadline for receipt of proposals. All proposals should be emailed to Sue Furry-Irish at suzanne.irish@cesu.k12.vt.us by February 19^th or before. Proposals should be 75 words or less (with a catchy title!) on a topic related to technology in K-12 education. Presenters will receive free registration for one day of the conference (one registration per one-hour workshop).

VSLA aims to bring 24 presentations to the conference mix. While we will be looking for proposals that relate to the library media center, we must remember that conference participants will be a mix of librarians, teachers, and technology integration specialists. Collaborative projects or library uses that could be duplicated in classrooms will reach a broader audience. At the same time, we are mindful that the spring conference needs to meet the special interests of our library community. If you have an important idea to propose or would like to help the conference committee, please contact Sue Furry-Irish at the above email address.

This collaborative conference is a new venture for both parties, so librarians, let’s shine! Share your expertise with others, encourage synergy, and benefit from others’ creativity. Are you using Skype, blogs, wikis, podcasts, Flip videos, or wish you were? Do you need clarification on 21^st Century Learning Skills? Are you dying to discuss Fair Use questions or policies on publishing, Web 2.0, and more? Come learn, share, meet, and teach at the Dynamic Landscapes 2.0 Conference this May 13^th and 14^th!

Poster Raffle Proves Popular in Proctor

vslainfo — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:05:53 +0000

What time is it? It’s Twilight time, of course!

Last month I ran a contest where I raffled off a New Moon poster from the New York Times that I had laminated. Each student filled out slips with his/her name and the title of the book they were currently reading, and dropped it in the box. I ran it for about two weeks and I ended up getting a lot of entries. It was a pretty popular idea, and a good way to find out what else they are reading.

Jessica Langlois, Librarian, Proctor Jr/Sr High School