Web extra: End of school 2005

Summer loan, fall connection
Busy as you are with end-of-the-year activities, take time to encourage teachers to borrow books over the summer. If you are in a high school the selection will, of course, include adult recreational reading, but at any level you want to acquaint them with titles they can recommend to their students, use as read-alouds, and/or use to create a web as part of whole language units.
Choose old and new favorites. Pull lists of notables and award winners. You probably know which ones you own so you can quickly gather them. As you do so, you will spot other titles that you want to include. Use Post-it notes -- preferably color coded -- to separate genres, and place books in a spot where teachers can sit and browse through them.
Put a notice in teachers' and administrators' boxes inviting them to drop by when it's convenient, after inaugurating the display at a special time before or after school with coffee, cold drinks, and light nibbles. When people come in, make yourself available for informal booktalking if you are not occupied with a class. Then step aside to give them a chance to make selections on their own.
The payoff for your efforts comes in the fall as teachers return what they borrowed. As you share their enthusiasm for the books they read, take advantage of the opportunity to schedule their classes for special booktalks, research projects, or whatever else connects with their summer loans.

First published in June 1997, p. 5

Previous issues, 2004-2005

Spring 2005: A bouquet for mother
Flowers are traditional gifts for Mother's Day, but which ones should be given? Try this colorful activity for students in grades one through three in which they find names of flowers that spell out "Mother."
Make a worksheet listing the letters "M", "O", "T", "H", "E" and "R" vertically with space next to each for the student to write in the name of a flower starting with that letter.
Make the project simpler by allowing them to locate the needed letters anywhere within the flower's name. Show students field guides and other books on flowers from your collection, suggesting the index as the fastest way to identify those with letters they are seeking.
Be prepared for some difficulties with the letters "O" and "E." Many will select "orchid," and you might challenge them to look for something else. Do the same if too many decide on "rose" for "R". Flowers beginning with an "E" are rare unless you allow latitude such as "Easter lily" or accept certain trees such as "eucalyptus" which has flowers and is used in making arrangements.
Let students work in groups of two or three to make the task easier. After the activity is completed, have them decide on their favorite flower. Ask the art teacher to help them draw a picture of it to be given as a gift for Mother's Day.
Possible answers:
Marigold, magnolia
Orchid, orange blossom
Tulip, tiger lily
Hyacinth, hibiscus
Edelweiss, eucalyptus
Rose, rhododendron

Winter 2005: In the cards: a Black History Month unit
While students need to know about the great civil rights leaders, an equally important Black History Month lesson is to develop tolerance and respect for diversity. One way to realize that aim is for students in grades three through seven to discover the contributions African-Americans have made to their lives.
The end product is an enlarged version of a sports trading card which, when placed on display, allows everyone to learn from the activity. Your list should be based on your collection and student grade levels. However, you should try to have representation among writers, entertainers, artists, inventors, entrepreneurs, athletes, and explorers.
Setting up the project
Once your list is complete, pull the most helpful print resources from your shelves. Buy or borrow a number of sports cards in advance and distribute them among students as they begin their initial session. Ask them to list the separate types of information they see on the cards, recording their answers on newsprint or a chalkboard. Then explain that they will be making cards about famous African-Americans, only some of whom are sports figures. Challenge them to come up with categories to put on these cards. In essence they will be developing their own Information Sheets.
Discuss with students how and where they will find information. Since they are creating cards which have limited space for text, this project gives them an excellent opportunity to learn note-taking skills as well as selecting and synthesizing key ideas.
As always, students will learn more if they work in groups, but they can research and prepare cards individually. When they have found their information, including illustrations, have them transfer significant facts onto 9-by-12-inch oaktag. If you plan to hang the oaktag, they can use front and back similar to an actual sports trading card. If you mount the cards flat, have students use two sheets which can be kept close together.
Group completed cards by field of achievement. Have students design large logos to indicate the different areas. After the project is completed, plan to have some cards read over the PA system each morning. By the time Black History Month is over, everyone will appreciate that, while civil rights not only gave African-Americans access to what white Americans take for granted, it also gave all of America the benefit of the talents and genius of these great men and women.

Sample: Matthew Henson
CHIEF ACCOMPLISHMENT:
April 6, 1909--First person to reach North Pole
STATISTICS:
Born: August 8, 1866
Died: March 9, 1955
Orphaned: Age 8
Married (1): 1891-1897 (Eva Helen Flint)
Married (2): 1907-till death (Lucy Jane Ross)
Buried: Bronx, NY
Reinterred: Arlington Nat'l Cemetery (1988)
ACHIEVEMENTS:

Made 8 Arctic expeditions with Robt. E. Peary.
Only team member to learn Inuit.
Skilled in boat building, sledge repairing, hunting, dog team driving, and igloo building.
Planted U.S. flag at the pole.
First African-American elected as honorary member of the Explorers Club (1937)
Awarded silver medal from U.S. Navy
Received honorary degrees from Howard Univ. and Morgan State College
Bronze plaque commemorating him erected in MD
State House (1st. African-American so honored in South.)
His autobiography was published in 1912.
HARDSHIPS:

Went to sea at age 12.
After retiring from exploring could only get a job as a parking attendant.
Then became messenger for U.S. Customs Bureau.

First published in February 1997

New year 2005: Thinking ahead: an intermediate career unit
Career units are part of the curriculum at several levels. They are sometimes incorporated into a specific subject area, such as math or art, with students investigating the specifics of a variety of jobs within that field. At the intermediate level, career exploration is more general and can be included in social studies or language arts classes.
One of the best methods for opening up students' minds is by introducing them to books about people who succeeded in many different occupations and building the unit around that initial reading. The current issue (New Year--2005) has six different departments that relate to this topic including Noteworthy Nonfiction on "Changing Our World" as well as Bibliographies entitled "It's My Job," and Research to Go on "Working World."
The working life
At the first session, ask that time-honored question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Put students' answers on an easel pad, leaving enough room between each job to make additions later. Then give a brief book talk on your titles, letting each student choose one and start reading. Be sure you have enough for the entire class. Check biographies and nonfiction areas such as medicine and inventions for possibilities.
Suggest that students think about the following questions as they read:

Explain what work this person did or does.
What career is described in the book?
In what way is this an important career?
Would you like this to be your career? Explain.
Tell which parts of the job you like best and which ones you like least.
After the books have been finished, schedule another session in the media center. Bring out the easel pad and ask students if the person they read about had any of the jobs previously listed. If so, add the book title immediately below it.
Now find out if anyone read about occupations not on the list. Record the career and title. Students may have difficulty finding the right term--for example, someone may be reading about an "entrepreneur" yet find it difficult to explain what the person actually did. If no one can figure out the appropriate career title, suggest that an alternate occupation such as a "small business owner" be substituted.
Tying it up
Group students who have chosen to read about similar careers and have them research more about the whole field. Check the Occupational Outlook Handbook at www.bls.gov/oco/ for additional information.
Complete the project with written and oral reports and visuals. Those with similar careers can present their findings together, highlighting similarities and differences. For example, Health Professionals can discuss the range of schooling required for each occupation within the field but still point out parallels in work environment. For the graphic display, have students create a collage on a large sheet of oaktag, pasting their reports over the pictures.
This article first appeared in May 1999

Get Out the Vote for Books
Even though the presidential election doesn't take place until November 2, there will be lots of discussion before and analysis of the results afterwards. While elementary and middle school students become familiar with candidates' names and generally support their parents' choices, they need to recognize why the process is so fundamental to a democracy.
The best way to develop an understanding of how elections work and the meaning of winning and losing is to become personally involved. Rather than dealing with national politics which might be seen as infringing on family privacy, create a campaign around favorite books and, at the same time, promote reading in honor of Children's Book Week, another important November event.
Start by gathering information on the various national book awards. Check to see if your state is among those that select annual winners. Assemble a collection of titles and authors recently honored and introduce them.
Have students develop a list of qualities for an award-winning book; then give them the criteria used for national and state honorees. Together, take the best and/or most appropriate, creating qualifications for your contest.
Running a Campaign
Students should read to determine their candidate for the award and then hand in a nominating petition signed by 10 of their classmates to get the book on the ballot. You can set up primaries followed by a full election. Have groups work to prepare posters and other campaign literature. Volunteers should present speeches in support of their books. As in real elections, speakers need not write their own speeches. If there is time, prepare a "whistle stop" campaign tour with speakers appearing before different classes. Try to have these campaign stops videotaped.
Work with a group of students to prepare a ballot. Book candidates must run in pairs for "presidential and vice-presidential winners." However, you can have additional titles on the ticket since the national elections include other offices.
If you are at a middle school, take a poll two or three days before the actual vote. See how closely the random sample came to the final result. Be sure to have speeches ready to accept honors for winning books.

First appeared November 1996

School begins 2004

High school orientations that fit
Updating a hands-on orientation that familiarized students with separate areas of the media center so that they would have an assignment connected to the classroom, the library media specialist suggested to teachers that each group would do two areas the first day while tailoring the second day to whatever was happening in the classroom.
A great start to the year
A number of teachers wanted students to begin their required outside reading and were pleased that book talks either broad-based or limited to a specific genre could be provided. Several others were starting Dickens' Great Expectations and opted for a one-day research project to set the scene. Four groups per class were assigned one specific aspect of Dickens' life, time or achievements, and with the aid of information sheets, began their first research project as high school students. Telling them the dates of Victoria?s reign helped set the time frame while previously pulled sources got them started quickly.
Working with the groups gave teachers and the library media specialist a chance to get to know students as individuals early in the year and understand how they analyzed a research problem. Back in class, groups reported their findings and discussed what life was like in Victorian England and the importance of Charles Dickens as a literary figure and voice for reform.
Students had an immediate opportunity to put their orientation lesson to use regardless of which option teachers chose. In the first situation, they became aware of the library media specialist's familiarity with young adult literature and checked out a book right away. In the second case, they discovered the group process worked as well with research as it did with opening exploration, recognized that the media center served as an extension of the classroom, and became familiar with a variety of resources which they would continue to use through their high school years and beyond, developing strategies to utilize them effectively.
Information sheets

Group 1: Victorian history
Name the wars fought by Great Britain during Victoria?s reign and tell where they took place.
List the U.S. Presidents during Victoria?s reign.
Find out what other wars or political events were occurring throughout the world at this time.

Group 2: Charles Dickens' life and works
Describe some unusual experiences in Dickens' childhood.
Name the women in his life and explain their relationship to him.
Find out Dickens' age when he was first published. Name his first book. Identify his most important works and tell how old he was at their publication. Choose one and give a brief plot summary explaining what institution, if any, he was attacking.
List the places where Dickens traveled, indicating why he went there.

Group 3: Victorian fashion
Describe women's clothing during this time, distinguishing between upper and lower classes.
Describe men's clothing during this time, distinguishing between upper and lower classes.
Describe children's clothing during this time, distinguishing between upper and lower classes.

Group 4: Science, medicine and technology in Victorian times
List important inventions of the day and their inventors.
Explain Florence Nightingale's contribution to Victorian medicine.
Identify medical discoveries in this era.
Name and describe land transportation in this era.

Sources: Call # Author/ed. (Last name, first name) Title. Place of publication: Publisher, Copyright date.

First appeared in The School Librarian's Workshop in September 1995