My final project has changed since my last blog post.
I had one of those moments of panic, about why and what I was doing for my
final project. So, naturally I sent one of those “longer/panic emails” to
Aaron, to help sort out my thoughts., which was very helpful. The conclusion,
perhaps a website or set of video instructions (as discussed in my previous
post), might not be the biggest priority for my school and community right now.
Throughout discussion, I began to think about how my primary students do not have the strongest library skills.
My prep classes are with the primary students in my
school and I know library skills are something that I need to improve my
teaching on, and it would greatly benefit the teachers and students to learn library skills from a younger age. I feel library skills, such as
locating a book, how to select good literature, locating subject areas in the
library are transferable skills for the students.They can use these skills in both the classroom and community. So, I will be creating a
package with some research to support library skills as well as lessons, and
activities. I will keep the package online, and also on the library shelf for staff
to use in up coming years. I plan to share the document with other librarians
in our district as well. (Perhaps a living document, where it could be added
to).
Although, I most likely won’t get to use this idea
until September, as I have another project that is ready for the primary
students in 3rd term, it will be extremely useful for September. I
am really excited to have lessons that will be ready for the beginning of the
year, and be able to spend time in the first semester teaching students how to
best use their library.
The challenge will be remembering that some of the
students will not know their alphabet at this point yet, so creating lessons
that are not based around reading skills will be important. I feel it will be
beneficial for student to be able to find books, even if their understanding of
the alphabet is limited. Currently, I notice my kindergartens always go to one
area of the library to get books, almost like the other areas are off limit…. This
is a problem. I do not want this to be a trend year to year. Lessons that make
the students feel that they can access the whole library if they desire from a
young age opposed to waiting until their literacy skills are higher in grade 2
or 3 will solve this problem. Then, if a student chooses to zoom into their favourite area, I will feel more comfortable with it because they will have working
knowledge of what is available to them in the library already.
Image #1
http://www.macworld.com/article/2027201/how-to-troubleshoot-a-kernel-panic.html
Image # 2
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/89368373831009468/
A good post that outlines your change in direction well. You've discussed and identified your key goals for this project, who it is for, and why. This is very helpful for keeping your project on track and I am very pleased to hear about how helpful it will be for you, your school and potentially your district and wider community.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really cool idea. I especially like how the skills can be transferred. I often take for granted that students at the high school level have the skills you mentioned: locating a book, selecting an appropriate novel, and understanding the different subject areas in the library. But, as most assumptions are, this is often not the case. Introducing these skills to primary students and then being able to build on them as they work their way through intermediate grades and move into high school is something that will be so valuable for them.
ReplyDeleteAs a young elementary student, I remember a program called "Now Library", where we did learn those transferable skills. I am surprised now how often my Middle School students have difficulty navigating their way through the library. I'm not sure if this is due to budget cuts and less time is spent in the library, or if schools are not focusing on those skills any more. I also agree that this is a valuable tool/skill for your students.
ReplyDeleteSheila