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With the end of the year approaching quickly, we wanted you to be aware of some important deadlines and upcoming events!
Friday, May 1:
Last day for students to check out library books.
Tuesday, May 5: Cobb County Public Library Summer Reading presentation.
Wednesday, May 6 thru Friday, May 8:
Scholastic HALF PRICE Book Fair!
Hours: 7:30 AM - 3:00 PM
Friday, May 8:
All students books due to the Media Center.
Monday, May 11:
Last day for students to take AR tests.
CRCT testing will begin on Tuesday, April 21 for students in grades 1st through 5th. To help students prepare for the Language Arts portion of the tests, our media lessons will focus on practice testing for this subject area. Using sample questions from previous CRCT tests, we will use the student response system, Beyond Question, to review material that students may encounter during testing. These questions test the students' knowledge of various reference sources, parts of a book, and research skills.
If you haven't heard of Beyond Question before, ask your child! Students and teachers alike love this method of reviewing. Using the student response system allows the teacher to quickly assess how well students understand each question, while giving students the opportunity to answer (with their own remote control!) without their peers knowing whether or not they were correct! The teacher however, can see after each question how many students got the answer right, giving her the immediate opportunity to reinforce the concept if necessary. With Beyond Question, students are actively involved in the learning process.
Reference Resources
Students will review various reference resources such the encyclopedia, thesaurus, dictionary and atlas to determine which resource is the best to use, depending on the type of information you need. For example, if you need to know where South America is, your best resource would be an atlas. If you need information about the weather, economy, and history of South America, an encyclopedia would be a better resource. In order to be successful learners, students need to have the skills to locate information quickly and evaluate the accuracy of the source of that information. With so much available on the Internet, students must always be certain that they are using information that can be relied on for its accuracy.
This month our lessons are focusing on the use of Guide Words. Most students know that they can find guide words in a dictionary, but are unaware of how often you use some sort guide words in everyday life. We show how guide words are found in other reference books, such as an encyclopedia, but there are some other more surprising uses as well! For instance, right here in the Media Center, we use guide numbers in the non-fiction section to help students locate books on the shelf. These numbers correspond to the subject of the book. In our chapter book section, students use guide letters to help them locate the shelf that contains books by the author they are looking for.
This is a skill that is useful throughout life, and so is reinforced at each grade level to ensure understanding. (It's also covered on the CRCT tests!)
In January, our lessons in first through fifth grade will focus on informational writing. We will discuss the features of a non-fiction book, how to distinguish fact from opinion, what plagiarism is and why you need to know about it, and finally, how to take good notes.
This is a very difficult task for any student, no matter what their grade. But it is also a very important skill that must be learned in order to be successful in middle school, high school, and beyond. Each grade level works on this skill, both in the classroom and in the media center to give maximum exposure.
This month classes in grades 2nd through 5th will take part in a library scavenger hunt. This activity tests the knowledge they have gained from our previous lessons on how to locate books in the Media Center. Classes are divided into 2 teams which compete 'relay' style. Each member of the team is given a call number and title of a book. They are sent out to locate the book and retrieve the letter hidden in the book. The winning team is the one who collects all their letters and can correctly unscramble the word. It is a fun, (but rather noisy!) activity!
Kindergarten begins the month reading stories about bears, as a culmination to their classroom bear unit. We then end the month with a variety of holiday stories.
First graders will hear a story called 'The Fairy Tale News', which combines many fairy tale characters into one very cute story! In the classroom, first graders have been learning about several different fairy tales, so 'The Fairy Tale News' incorporates all they have learned! Just before the Winter Break, we will read a variety of holiday stories.
This month's lessons will focus on Call Numbers. These can be found on the side of a book, and let you know where the book is located in the Media Center. When using Destiny to search for a book, students are provided with the call number, and then must use that information to locate the book on the shelf. It can be confusing however, because
call numbers are not always numbers--they can be just letters. We also refer to the call number as the book's "address", because it is giving the location where the book 'lives' in the library. Through a variety of activities, students will practice identifying call numbers and then actually locating books on the shelves.
BOOK FAIR IS COMING!
The Scholastic Book Fair will be held in the Media Center the week before the Thanksgiving holidays. It will begin Monday, November 17 and run through Friday, November 21 at noon. The hours are as follows:
We will have a great assortment of books and educational activities. Don't miss this opportunity to get a jump on your holiday shopping while supporting literacy and technology at Nicholson!
Now that orientation is over, Kindergarten students are enjoying coming to the media center and checking out books both with their class, and on their own. Many students have become 'regulars', coming to the Media Center each morning before school to exchange their book for a new one. It's wonderful watching them get so excited about reading!
First grade storytimes this month will feature a variety of seasonal stories featuring fall and Halloween themes.
Second graders have been introduced to our online library catalog, Destiny. They have been taught to use the visual search feature which allows them to look for a book without having to worry about spelling. They just click on icons that represent various subjects of interest to second graders. Destiny is also available at home, so have your child show you what it's all about! You can access Destiny by clicking on the 'Media Center' button on the Nicholson home page.
In order to reinforce classroom instruction, third through fifth graders will put their knowledge of homonyms, homophones, and homographs to the test. After a review of their differences, along with a few tips to help remember those differences, students will demonstrate their understanding using our student response system, Beyond Question. Then we are on to a little drama when students demonstrate their knowledge of idioms by acting them out for their classmates. (An idiom is an expression that means something other than the literal meaning of its individual words.) Groups of 3 students will choose an idiom to perform and the rest of the class will have to guess what the idiom is.
Kindergarten students began their four week orientation series last week with an introduction to our Storytime Area and a couple of 'monster' stories. One monster loved books, the other was willing to eat your peas in trade for a favorite belonging! This week students will learn about proper book care. Now that they have the privilege of 'borrowing' a book from the Media Center, we are learning how to take care of it once it leaves the Media Center. Please help your child to find a safe place at home to store their book while at home. I encourage the students to always return them to their bookbags--ready to be returned to school to exchange for a new book! Parents--please be sure to review our Checkout Policies page in the column to the left of this post. Look for a parent permission form that will be sent home with your child next week. This form must be signed and returned prior to their first checkout the week of September 22.
Beginning this week and continuing throughout September, students in 2nd through 5th grades will receive instruction in using Destiny, our online library catalog and the Cobb Virtual Library, an awesome resource for information and fun learning games. Keep in mind that these resources are also available at home. During their class lesson, students will receive a handout with instructions and the passwords necessary to use at home. A parent information session on these resources will be held in the near future. Look for information to be sent home with more dates and details.
Storytime for first graders brings social studies standards to life in works of fiction. The Scrambled States of America truly makes geography fun when the 50 states decide they are bored in their usual locations and rearrange themselves. Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin brings an engaging and comical approach to modern day conveniences and the ideas that inspired Ben to invent them.
