Monthly Archives: April 2011
Shanna Miles Wins the 2011 AASL Innovative Reading Grant
NEWS
For Immediate Release
April 26, 2011
Contact: Jennifer Habley
CHICAGO – Shanna Miles and her project the “Billionaire’s Book Club” is the 2011 recipient of the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) Innovative Reading Grant. Sponsored by Capstone Publishers, this grant of $2,500 supports the planning and implementation of a unique and innovative program for children that motivates and encourages reading, especially with struggling readers.
Working out of the Tech High School Library in Atlanta, Ga., and with the support of the Tech High School Parent Teacher Association, the Billionaire’s Book Club will team ninth grade struggling readers with an upperclassman who is a member of the National Honor Society. These teams will read one book a month for six months, and each month the teams will host an online radio show analyzing the book read. In addition, the teams will keep a reading journal and maintain a Billionaire’s Book Club Facebook group as a place to share their thoughts about their reading.
The goals of the project are to increase the reading level of the struggling reader by improving reading comprehension and fluency. The students will also use social networking to improve their academic success by discussing literacy academically and socially. The program seeks to create a reading culture within the school and help bridge the digital divide. Throughout the program the students will work cooperatively to produce their radio shows, but team members can work competitively to earn the grand prize, an e-reader.
“Shanna Miles has established an exemplary example of engaged reading opportunities for her students with the Billionaire’s Book Club,” said Leslie Preddy, award committee chair. “This project incorporates reading with social interaction, which is vital for reading to thrive and survive with this generation. It is a shining model for others to follow.”
Miles’ “Billionaire’s Book Club” project and other AASL award recipients will be honored at AASL’s Awards Luncheon during ALA’s 2011 Annual Conference in New Orleans. The luncheon will be held Monday, June 27, and Lauren Myracle, best-selling young adult author and national spokesperson for intellectual freedom, will headline. Ticket information can be found on the AASL website athttp://www.ala.org/aasl/annual.
The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), promotes the improvement and extension of library services in elementary and secondary schools as a means of strengthening the total education program. Its mission is to advocate excellence, facilitate change and develop leaders in the school library field.
Civil War Resources in GALILEO
In honor of the Civil War Sesquicentennial, here are several places in GALILEO to find articles, primary source documents, images, and more related to the American Civil War.
The New Georgia Encyclopedia (NGE) has a Civil War Overview article with links to many important political and military figures as well as important events and places, such as the Battle of Chickamauga, Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Battle of Resaca, Wilson’s Raid, Andersonville Prison, the Atlanta Campaign, and Sherman’s March to the Sea. There’s even an article to highlight Civil War journals, diaries, and memoirs. Search the NGE for civil war to find these and more.
The Digital Library of Georgia includes many images and primary sources. Just choose to Browse by Time Period to see a list of collections from this time period. There are several collections that may be of particular interest. American Civil War is a collection of documents and artifacts held by the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia. The Anne Fannie Gorham Diary Collection includes the diary of a woman in Hamilton, GA chronicling the first years of the Civil War. Barnard’s Photographic Views of the Sherman Campaign provide images of Sherman’s Campaign through Georgia, Tennessee,and the Carolinas. The Cornelius C. Platter Civil War Diary is a personal account of Sherman’s march by a Union soldier (choose the Historical Timeline and see Platter’s entry for November 15th for the beginning of the campaign in Atlanta). For an account of the early years of the war from a Confederate perspective, see the Cyrus F. Jenkins Civil War Diary. You can also find images in Vanishing Georgia from this time period by using the advanced search to limit the date of the photo to 1861 to 1865. Civil War in the American South is a portal to manuscripts, photographs, books, newspapers, broadsides, and other materials housed in research libraries. Georgia Historic Books and the historical newspapers can also be good sources of information, although some of the newspapers have gaps in publication during the war years.
GeorgiaInfo has created This Week in Georgia Civil War History listing important events each week during the years of Civil War with images and primary source documents. A few important dates to check out are January 19, 1861; April 12, 1861; December 18, 1864; or April 9, 1865.
Encyclopædia Britannica has an article on the American Civil War in all three levels of Encyclopædia Britannica School Edition (see article in High School, article in Compton’s, or article in Elementary). In observance of the Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War, the Britannica editors have also created a special article titled “Remembering the Civil War” with images and videos. You can find this article in High School or see the article in the Academic Edition of Britannica.
History Reference Center offers quite a few interesting articles about the Civil War. You can search for Civil War or a particular person, event, or place, but a quick way to find items for this era is to limit your search to U.S. History – Civil War and Reconstruction in the Timeline field and then leave your search box blank.
For many wonderful primary source documents, try Annals of American History. You can use the timeline to browse to the years of the Civil War or search for your term. Some interesting documents include the Georgia Debate on Secession, some Sherman letters, an Andersonville Diary, and some documents surrounding the meeting at Appomattox Court House.
Find these resources and more in the History section of GALILEO High School or the History and Government section of GALILEO Teen or the Georgia History and Culture section of GALILEO High School or the Georgia section of GALILEO Teen.
We recently had a session for all GALILEO communities (including public and higher education libraries) to review some resources in GALILEO for the Civil War Sesquicentennial. You can view the archive or see the handout.
As always, if you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.
Courtney McGough
GALILEO Support Services
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia
Article and search links may not work off site. Click the database name first for access.
Image from Barnard’s Photographic Views of the Sherman Campaign
Express Links for Databases Mentioned in this Post:
New Georgia Encyclopedia
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=ngen
Digital Library of Georgia
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=dlg1
Barnard’s Photographic Views of the Sherman Campaign
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zlbp
Cornelius C. Platter Civil War Diary
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zlpd
Cyrus F. Jenkins Civil War Diary
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=jenk
Civil War in the American South
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=amso
Vanishing Georgia
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=vang
Georgia Historic Books
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zlgb
GeorgiaInfo
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=gnfo
Encyclopædia Britannica Online (Academic Edition)
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebo
Encyclopædia Britannica School Edition
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebs
Encyclopædia Britannica High School
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zehs
Compton’s by Britannica (for middle school)
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebm
Britannica Elementary
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebk
History Reference Center
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbhr
Annals of American History
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zeba
GeorgiaInfo Needs Your Feedback
GeorgiaInfo, available in GALILEO and Digital Library of Georgia database menus, is a portal to historical, cultural, statistical, governmental, and geographic information on Georgia. The GeorgiaInfo team would like your feedback to help inform the redesign of this robust resource. Please see their message below.
“We’re redesigning GeorgiaInfo! Please take our short user survey at http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu to help us improve GeorgiaInfo.”
As always, if you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.
GALILEO Staff
GALILEO Support Services
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia
An Elementary Library Redesign with Very Little Money, Part 1
I’ve been thinking about how library spaces can be improved for a long time. When I was a Children’s Librarian in a public library, I often marveled at how architects treated certain aspects of libraries as their chance to be noticed (at a big price) without really understanding how libraries might feel to children. As a career-switcher with an alternative path Teacher’s Certificate added to my MLS, I wanted to wait and really understand schools before I tackled my own library. Two years ago at the School Library Journal Summit 2009 in DC, I heard about several impressive projects at a session moderated by Dr. David Loertscher. This school year, the time finally came for me to re-think my space.
Our superintendent, Pam Moran, proposed a small seed project to help several school libraries move away from the rigid overpriced library environments of the past (think 1940s in some cases) toward more configurable spaces that would promote the library as a center for learning. Luckily, my new principal Kendra King was all for it. We discussed technology, lighting, color, shelving and learning activities with an eye for how to accomplish our vision with very little money, but with some help from parents and the community. We mapped out what we wanted in several sections, what should go, what could be added and which jobs were for maintenance (electrical and window work) and which could be done by volunteers. Our focus was how to revamp the library into a place where students would have more choice and be more invested, not only in the physical space, but in their own learning.
The first thing I did was commission a giant clipboard from Shadiah Lahham, an illustration/multimedia wiz and graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, because I’ve always wanted one! It is mounted on the wall and the top is 8 ft off the floor in the entry to the library. It sparks immediate interest, as well as lesson ideas for math, animation, and student work. Then I set up a working wiki:
http://infolearninghub.wikispaces.com/
and gathered ideas from other teachers, school librarians, artists and designers.
I began weeding like never before. In terms of books, my goal was to shrink my nonfiction section down from 3 long shelving ranges to two. This took about 3 months and nerves of steel, but it was the only way to free up the space we needed. My main considerations were:
1. What’s of interest?
2. What’s not just factual, but has narrative power and beauty?
3. What books have lower reading levels and therefore will not be easily replaced by database articles or websites?
Weeding books was hard enough, but I weeded the walls and furniture too. I wanted a lot of space for intriguing art, posters, installations and student-made displays. As I weeded furniture, the part of the library with table and chairs began to look more appealing and less like an area waiting for the next PTO or faculty meeting.
Melissa Techman, MLS
Melissa Techman
I’m a Teacher Librarian and Tech Lead Teacher for Albemarle County Public Schools at Broadus Wood Elementary in Earlysville, near Charlottesville, VA. I have been a Children’s Librarian as well, at Houston Public Library (Go, Mosquitoes! Oh wait, libraries don’t have sports teams). I’ve taught for 9 years and am currently putting together an informal day camp for grades 5 through really old (me) to learn how to make apps and e-books. My interests include art/design, usability (especially truncating the heck out of stuff), Special Ed, and encouraging students to have strategies in all areas, not just math and reading. Best current use of Twitter: asking Scholastic to show good customer service by sending popular book in promo video, after 6 email and phone requests. They arrived by FedEx the next day.
Blog http://mtechman.wordpress.com/
Twitter: @mtechman
New Online Tool Links AASL Learning Standards with Common Core Standards
For Immediate Release
Tue, 04/19/2011 – 16:06
Contact: Jennifer Habley
AASL
CHICAGO – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announces the launch of the “Standards for the 21st-Century Learner Lesson Plan Database,” a public, online database providing school librarians a fast and user-friendly way to create and share quality lesson plans with their peers.
Building on the template provided in “Standards for the 21st-Century Learner In Action,” the Lesson Plan Databaseis an interactive resource and tool to support school librarians and other educators in teaching the essential learning skills defined in the AASL learning standards. The database serves as a catalyst for collaboration, as school librarians and teachers work together to create projects that weave content and skills into engaging learning activities.
Registered users may submit lesson plans to the database, as well as search the database by learning standards and indicators, content topic, grade-level, resources used, type of lesson or schedule, keyword and much more. Registered users can also bookmark lesson plans in a portfolio for future use, rate and comment on lesson plans in the community, print plans to PDF, and share lesson plans across social networking platforms. In addition, the database automatically aligns the skills, dispositions in action, responsibilities, and self-assessment strategies represented in the lesson plan to their corresponding English Language Arts Common Core Standard as set forth by the AASL crosswalk. When available, the database will be updated to include the same capability with the Common Core Math Standards.
“The launch of the AASL Lesson Plan database signifies a red-letter day for our association,” said standards and guidelines implementation Chair Susan Ballard. “The database represents the collective wisdom, experience and expertise of the many members and staff that helped to develop this outstanding resource. And, as a dynamic publication, the ongoing expansion and improvement of the database ensures that it will continuously serve the instructional design needs of school librarians as they help students to be learners for life.”
Submissions to the Lesson Plan Database are vetted by AASL reviewers to ensure lesson plans published are of the highest quality. The lesson plan rubric (PDF) and checklist (PDF) used by moderators are available to site users prior to submitting a lesson plan. With this system, AASL hopes that the database serves not only as a useful tool full of exciting best practices, but as professional development to those new to developing lesson plans. Not only can peers rate and comment on published plans, but site moderators can provide feedback on plans prior to being published. For more information, or to create an account and begin using the database, visit http://aasl.jesandco.org/.
The “Standards for the 21st-Century Learner Lesson Plan Database” is freely available to all users and is a part ofAASL’s national campaign, Leaning4Life. The Learning4Life (L4L), www.ala.org/aasl/learning4life, national implementation plan supports states, school systems and individual schools preparing to implement the “Standards for the 21st-Century Learner” and “Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Programs.” Development and maintenance of the database is supported through AASL membership dues.
The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), promotes the improvement and extension of library services in elementary and secondary schools as a means of strengthening the total education program. Its mission is to advocate excellence, facilitate change and develop leaders in the school library field.
