*Post written by Jennifer Anders, school librarian at West Jefferson Elementary.
For many of us, the book fair is a primary source of revenue for our libraries. Over the past few years I have tried several different things, with some success. Here is a list of ideas:
•If you use Scholastic, use the promo video. It really generates interest. The books featured are always top sellers. Their other promotional material is really useful, too. Send home the sheets so parents can send the exact amount of money and know what their kids are buying.
•Have a parent or community night, combine it with something else. For instance, hold the book fair during Grandparents' Day, and stay open late at least once during the fair. The first few fairs I stayed open late for, I may have had 4 or 5 parents, but over time this has turned into a big event. I can make nearly ½ the week’s sales during this time. (Oh, I always feed them, too.)
•Advertise early and often.
•Get parent and community volunteers to help setup and run the fair. Teachers are much more appreciative (and willing to spend) if you don’t cancel their classes. And the more times stakeholders come into the school, the more comfortable they feel, and the more involved they may become. (This is not research-based, just an observation.)
•It’s okay to make kids buy a book first, before they buy all that junk. I would happily handle a parent complaint that I made their child buy a book. Incidentally, this has never happened.
•Let the kids get involved in the theme, and give out book fair gift certificates for participants. For instance a dress up day or something like that.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Symbaloo
Symbaloo is a way to visually bookmark websites you want to remember and/or wish to use frequently with your students. Many people enjoy using Symbaloo as their home page, because it prevents young children from clicking off into never never land and getting off-task in a hands-on learning computer lab activity.
You can customize your "webmix" by searching for or creating tiles to represent your favorite websites. Below is a (crunched) webmix of K-5 math links. This is a great tool for affording students freedom to peruse a safely established perimeter of websites.
Get started today by heading over to www.symbaloo.com and creating your free account!
You can customize your "webmix" by searching for or creating tiles to represent your favorite websites. Below is a (crunched) webmix of K-5 math links. This is a great tool for affording students freedom to peruse a safely established perimeter of websites.
Get started today by heading over to www.symbaloo.com and creating your free account!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Literature Mapping
"I like this book. What else do you have like this?"
"This series was great, but I have finished reading all the books in it. What else do you have like that?"
"Who is someone who writes kind of like this author?"
Literature mapping.
It's a fancy way of dressing up we do on a daily basis, which is matching books to readers. As librarians, most of us rely on our own knowledge of literature to guide students toward (or away from, as the case may be) books and series of books that they might enjoy. As awesome as our brains are :) we should also take full advantage of these digital literature mapping tools. Besides, we might learn a thing or two about similarities and differences between authors and book styles!
1. Gnooks is a pretty simple website where all you (or teachers...or the students themselves!) do is type an author's name into the "Map of Literature" box, and suddenly your screen will fill with a swirling circle of other authors as they relate to the individual you have searched. The names in close proximity to your person (whose name will show in the center) are the writers whose styles most closely resemble the author desired. (*Side note: I had no idea that Maya Angelou and Mark Twain had such similar writing styles! But now that I think about it...)
**Great for middle and high school levels, but easily used in upper elementary. This would be a very cool computer lab activity!
2. Scholastic Book Wizard is a tool that permits readers to search the "Book Alike" box by adjusting to the child's current reading level (or shifting along the continuum for a harder or easier book, as it applies) and typing in the title of the book he or she enjoyed. Boom! There is a list of current, popular titles that match student's interest. (*Scholastic Book Wizard has a widget tool you can embed onto your library OPAC site or your school's website. Look for it on the homepage...and view it on the sidebar here to see how the widget works.)
**Great for elementary level.
What other tools do you use to help students grow to enjoy literature?
"This series was great, but I have finished reading all the books in it. What else do you have like that?"
"Who is someone who writes kind of like this author?"
Literature mapping.
It's a fancy way of dressing up we do on a daily basis, which is matching books to readers. As librarians, most of us rely on our own knowledge of literature to guide students toward (or away from, as the case may be) books and series of books that they might enjoy. As awesome as our brains are :) we should also take full advantage of these digital literature mapping tools. Besides, we might learn a thing or two about similarities and differences between authors and book styles!
1. Gnooks is a pretty simple website where all you (or teachers...or the students themselves!) do is type an author's name into the "Map of Literature" box, and suddenly your screen will fill with a swirling circle of other authors as they relate to the individual you have searched. The names in close proximity to your person (whose name will show in the center) are the writers whose styles most closely resemble the author desired. (*Side note: I had no idea that Maya Angelou and Mark Twain had such similar writing styles! But now that I think about it...)
**Great for middle and high school levels, but easily used in upper elementary. This would be a very cool computer lab activity!
2. Scholastic Book Wizard is a tool that permits readers to search the "Book Alike" box by adjusting to the child's current reading level (or shifting along the continuum for a harder or easier book, as it applies) and typing in the title of the book he or she enjoyed. Boom! There is a list of current, popular titles that match student's interest. (*Scholastic Book Wizard has a widget tool you can embed onto your library OPAC site or your school's website. Look for it on the homepage...and view it on the sidebar here to see how the widget works.)
**Great for elementary level.
What other tools do you use to help students grow to enjoy literature?
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Professional Organizations
Holding membership in professional organizations is an indicator of an active lifelong learner. The beginning of the school year is always very hectic, but it is important that we set aside time to investigate and join professional organizations that we find helpful! This is by no means an exhaustive list of professional organizations available to us, and keep in mind the resources are list in no particular order, but I hope you find it a good place to start! If there are other professional organizations I can add to this list, please feel free to comment or email me, and I will add it as quickly as possible.
- Jefferson County Librarians Association (leave comment or post to our group forum if you need assistance with this)
- Alabama School Library Association
- Alabama Conference of Educators
- Alabama Education Association
- American Federation of Teachers/Alabama Division
- International Society for Technology in Education
- American Library Association
- American Association of School Librarians
- Alabama Library Association
- Alabama NBCT Network (for those who have achieved National Board Certification)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Book Review: Blood on the Tracks (Cecelia Holland)
In 1877, the United States was just recovering from the Civil War. The railroad industry was booming, which meant the men who owned the railroads were fantastically rich. And greedy. In a meeting the men decided they weren't as rich as they wanted to be, so they agreed to kick it up a notch by cutting the railroad workers' wages by 10% and increase their workloads. The result was overwhelmingly catastrophic.
The workers began a strike, which snowballed into an all-out war between the remaining local militia and a mob of railroad workers driven crazy by anger. The railroad business owners completely underestimated the mob, and in the span of one night (July 20, 1877), the entire town of Pittsburgh was thrown into complete chaos. Innocent people were shot and killed by stray bullets, buildings were set on fire, and firefighters were held at gunpoint to prevent them from putting the fires out. After the massacre, the number of people who died resulting from wounds inflicted during the chaos is still unknown to this day. That which was documented is completely harrowing. One 4 year old girl was shot in the knee and her leg had to be sawed off. Another Irish immigrant who had only been in the country for a few days was killed without ever even realizing what the fight was even about. Because of the damage inflicted to the cities and to the railroad businesses, the "bosses" learned a lesson that has impacted the way workers have been treated ever since. The workers learned the very same lesson. There is great power, and great responsibility, in mass revolt.
Maybe I just never paid attention in history class, but I must shamefully admit, I didn't even know there was a "Great Railroad Strike of 1877." Did you?
The workers began a strike, which snowballed into an all-out war between the remaining local militia and a mob of railroad workers driven crazy by anger. The railroad business owners completely underestimated the mob, and in the span of one night (July 20, 1877), the entire town of Pittsburgh was thrown into complete chaos. Innocent people were shot and killed by stray bullets, buildings were set on fire, and firefighters were held at gunpoint to prevent them from putting the fires out. After the massacre, the number of people who died resulting from wounds inflicted during the chaos is still unknown to this day. That which was documented is completely harrowing. One 4 year old girl was shot in the knee and her leg had to be sawed off. Another Irish immigrant who had only been in the country for a few days was killed without ever even realizing what the fight was even about. Because of the damage inflicted to the cities and to the railroad businesses, the "bosses" learned a lesson that has impacted the way workers have been treated ever since. The workers learned the very same lesson. There is great power, and great responsibility, in mass revolt.
Maybe I just never paid attention in history class, but I must shamefully admit, I didn't even know there was a "Great Railroad Strike of 1877." Did you?
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Educate Alabama for Librarians
EducateAlabama is our state's new tool for evaluating teachers and measuring professional growth. We should be very proud that our state has the forethought to design such a useful resource for holding educators to high standards while also permitting room for differentiated growth.
In the fall of 2010, approximately 20 school librarians from around our state met in Montgomery and were charged with tailoring the Educate Alabama standards to the unique needs of our profession. Over the course of multiple meetings, the document was formed, eventually approved by the state department, and is now the sole resource Alabama librarians are to use in the evaluation process and in writing our annual professional growth plans.
Carolyn Starkey (Buckhorn High School) has created a LiveBinder which explores and explains all the nuts and bolts of EducateAlabama. She developed this resource solely to assist school librarians in Alabama, and is very generous with her materials!
Check out Carolyn's LiveBinder here!
In the fall of 2010, approximately 20 school librarians from around our state met in Montgomery and were charged with tailoring the Educate Alabama standards to the unique needs of our profession. Over the course of multiple meetings, the document was formed, eventually approved by the state department, and is now the sole resource Alabama librarians are to use in the evaluation process and in writing our annual professional growth plans.
Carolyn Starkey (Buckhorn High School) has created a LiveBinder which explores and explains all the nuts and bolts of EducateAlabama. She developed this resource solely to assist school librarians in Alabama, and is very generous with her materials!
Check out Carolyn's LiveBinder here!
Monday, September 12, 2011
PD Opportunity!
Have you registered for the West Alabama Library Leadership Symposium on September 28th? Hurry and get your professional development request submitted!
*Go here to register for the conference: http://www.alasla.org/
Please view this message from the conference organizer, Dr. Susan Cordell.
*Go here to register for the conference: http://www.alasla.org/
Please view this message from the conference organizer, Dr. Susan Cordell.
Dear School Library Colleagues:
As many of you already know, the annual Alabama Expo (formerly LAMP) has been cancelled this year due to budgetary constraints. The Library Media Program at The University of West Alabama is stepping up to provide a one-day conference for anyone who is interested in attending. The symposium will qualify for 6 1/4 to 7 1/4 clock hours of professional development, with an optional, free, one-hour post-symposium workshop that is sure to be both valuable and fun!
Included in the symposium will be a presentation/discussion by Dr. Carolyn Starkey, NBCT, on the new EDUCATEAlabama librarians' evaluation program, which is being implemented this fall. Dr. Starkey will also discuss the core standards and how they, along with EDUCATEAlabama, impact us as school librarians. Other topics include a presentation on the state of school librarianship in Alabama, how to be a stronger advocate for your profession, and a short break-out meeting for all of the Alabama School Library Association districts represented.
The day will be filled with vital information, refreshments, a catered lunch, free optional workshop, door prizes, exhibits and several doses of fun! The cost is $12, all-inclusive.
You will find a pdf flyer attached to this email. [Flyer can be found here.] Please join us and show your support for our--YOUR--profession. For further information, please contact me at the address listed below and on the flyer. It would be very helpful if you could also email me to let me know that you are planning to attend, so that accurate lunch arrangements can be made. I can also send directions on how to locate UWA for those of you who are unfamiliar with the area.
We at The University of West Alabama look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, September 28, 2011, at UWA's Bell Conference Center in Livingston!
Best regards,
Susan Cordell
Dr. Susan Cordell, NBCT
Assistant Professor, Library Media
Certified NBCT Candidate Support Provider
Station 33
The University of West Alabama
Livingston, AL 35470
205-652-5421 Office
205-652-3706 Fax
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