It is a pleasure getting to know the students' individual interests and needs as we continue to work together in the library.
Please ask your child about a book they have read from the library. Perhaps you could provide an incentive for him or her to read a variety of books. I know you will enjoy hearing their thoughts about points of view shared in a fiction book or facts they have discovered by reading informational text found in our nonfiction section, JUST ASK.
Third Grade Focus:
Sections of the library and their organization-
Students are becoming more familiar with Everybody, Fiction, Nonfiction and Paper Back book sections and have practiced locating books with E or F on the spine label by searching for the author’s last name.
We will spend time exploring the Dewey Decimal System which will allow students to become more independent in their nonfiction books searches. There will be ongoing reinforcement and practice using OPAC and then finding a book on a subject of interest.
Fourth Grade Focus:
We will work in groups to research a Maryland county using print and electroninc sources while going through the steps of Big 6.
Big 6 – A guide through the research process that keeps students from being overwhelmed and doing more than they have to. The steps are as follows:
Step 1: Task Definition – Know what you are looking for to eliminate taking notes you don’t need.
Step 2: Information Resources- Identify and evaluate the places to look for information.
Step 3: Location and Access- Find useful resources using your understanding of how they are organized.
Step 4: Use of Information- Take notes to complete your task (This is where most students are likely to start their research making their assignment more difficult to complete).
Step 5: Synthesis-Task completion (write, make, or create your project)
Step 6: Evaluation- Look over the completed project and question the quality and thoroughness of your work. Skipping this step often results in a grade lower than the efforts warrant. Sometimes a very simple and easily corrected part of the task may be neglected.
Each of the steps in the Big 6 have been examined and will be practiced as the students begin a research project on a Maryland county.
Fifth Grade Focus: Students will be given opportunites to put all they have learned about reference sources into practice as they complete research assignments. I will also continue to support students effots in note taking as they work on classroom assignments.
Quite a few students in fourth and fifth grades are eagerly participating in our challenge to read the 2008-2009 Black Eyed Susan Nominees in the grades 3-6 chapter book category. Voting will take place in April for those who have read 3 of the books. Also, all of the students will vote for a favorite in the picture book category. We are looking forward to finding out which one was the favorite.
Students in each grade level are encouraged to read a mystery and share a summary. Once they do this, they are invited to sign their name to a large magnifying glass on our bulletin board. It has been great getting to know some of the children better as they tell me details about their mysteries.
Thank you for all the support you offer your children in their reading efforts.
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