{"id":5044,"date":"2016-04-15T17:22:10","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T21:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=5044"},"modified":"2016-04-18T14:52:29","modified_gmt":"2016-04-18T18:52:29","slug":"schools-celebrate-how-libraries-transform-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/schools-celebrate-how-libraries-transform-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools celebrate how libraries transform learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Library media centers in schools throughout the city feature banners, bulletin boards and displays to remind students daily of the value and fun of reading.<\/p>\n

\"Alanton<\/p>\n

\u201cReading is to the mind what exercise is to the body,\u201d promotes a banner at Corporate Landing Middle School (CLMS).<\/p>\n

A Fairfield Elementary School display invites students to \u201cVisit the Library: Characters Welcome!\u201d<\/p>\n

April is especially important to the division\u2019s library media specialists (LMS) because it celebrates School Library Month. This year\u2019s theme, \u201cSchool Libraries Transform Learning,\u201d is featured on a bulletin board in Tallwood High School\u2019s media center.<\/p>\n

\"Tallwood<\/p>\n

The month-long celebration also includes National Library Week April 10-16, and there is\u00a0no shortage of activities to encourage students and staff to demonstrate their love of reading, writing, literature and more.<\/p>\n

Tallwood High School will Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) for 15 minutes each day April 18-22. According to LMS Rachel Lizan, a DEAR announcement will be made at a specific time and everyone reads.\u00a0During the free choice, reading time students may read books, ebooks, magazines and articles, or teachers can elect to read aloud to students.<\/p>\n

The Tallwood media center will be used as a performance hall the last week of the month. \u201cWe will have student-led robotics demonstrations, fashion shows, orchestra performances, cultural dance showcases and poetry readings, to name a few!\u201d said Lizan.<\/p>\n

Fairfield Elementary School LMS Terry Austin is incorporating National Poetry Month with School Library Month and asking fifth-graders to write poems about libraries and reading. Austin, who often proudly wears a \u201cSuper Librarian\u201d T-shirt, reads students\u2019 poems on the morning announcements.<\/p>\n

\"Fairfield<\/p>\n

Mallory\u2019s poem takes readers on a journey of some favorite books:<\/p>\n

A library is like a portal to another world.
\n<\/em>Woosh! I open a book and I am on Klickitat Street
\n<\/em>with Beezus and Ramona.
\n<\/em>Woosh! Suddenly I am solving mysteries with Nancy, Bess, and George
\n<\/em>In River Heights.
\n<\/em>Click! I am back to reality.
\n<\/em>A library is like Netflix for books.
\n<\/em>Books are like a sweet, plump, juicy mango.
\n<\/em>I take one bite and I\u2019m in love.
\n<\/em>I can\u2019t stop eating them.
\n<\/em>The words swirl and fall all-around me like snowflakes.
\n<\/em>I pick up every single one and I tuck it away into the corners
\n<\/em>Of my mind so when I need it I can take it out again.
\n<\/em>I love the whisper of the pages when I turn them
\n<\/em>As they share their secrets with me.
\n<\/em>A library is like a portal to another world. <\/em><\/p>\n

To join students in sharing their love of reading, Austin took photos of Fairfield staff members holding their favorite books to also feature on the morning announcements.<\/p>\n

\"Fairfield<\/p>\n

CLMS staff members are posting signs on their classroom or office doors to share what they are reading, and students participated in the school\u2019s Read-a-Shirt Day April 14.<\/p>\n

\"CLMS\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWe enjoy sharing our love of literature with both students and staff,\u201d said CLMS LMS Sabrina Flegal. \u201cWe firmly believe that there is a book out there for every reader. If a student doesn\u2019t like to read, it\u2019s because he hasn\u2019t found his \u2018homerun\u2019 book yet. Our job is to help him find it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Princess Anne High School (PAHS) invited representatives from the Virginia Beach Public Library to issue library cards to students. Additionally, in the \u201cCavs Caught Reading\u201d contest, PAHS staff members are giving students tickets when they \u201ccatch\u201d them reading. Tickets are entered into a drawing for prizes.<\/p>\n

PAHS students may be having the most fun with another contest. In the bookface contest, students search for a book cover that best matches their own face and then pose for a bookface photo.<\/p>\n

\"Princess<\/p>\n

Courtney Porter, PAHS LMS, hopes the unique activity will encourage more reading.<\/p>\n

“As a librarian, I love inspiring my students to read. I also love the role I play in showing students the correlation between reading and success. I want them to know that reading is a simple way to set the stage for a success in life,\u201d Porter said.<\/p>\n

As they celebrate how libraries transform learning, media specialists recognize libraries\u00a0have had a transformation of their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe library is no longer the place just to check out books and do research from a print set of encyclopedias,\u201d said CLMS LMS Kathryn Schweers. \u201cStudents now check out eBooks and playaways as well as connect to myriad online resources.\u00a0Research has changed drastically from mainly print resources to online databases and websites.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest changes are yet to come as we move towards personalized learning,\u201d continued Schweers. \u201cThe library should become the hub of the school as students and teachers utilize the resources available and work independently to complete tasks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acknowledging students\u2019 use of digital resources and social media, Tallwood High School LMSs Rachel Lizan and Peggy Ricks established a social media #shelfie campaign. Hermitage Elementary School students will have the opportunity to \u201ctweet\u201d about their favorite books. Hermitage LMS Nancy Carollo created paper tweets students can complete and post on a display.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Indian Lakes Elementary School LMS Cara Dibbs also set up an interactive bulletin board on which students are sharing the favorite book characters they would like to meet. They write names on butterflies to post on a bright display in the media center.<\/p>\n

\"Indian<\/p>\n

According to Dibbs, popular characters include: Percy Jackson, Geronimo Stilton, Thea Stilton, Hagrid from Harry Potter, <\/em>Nikki from Dork Diaries, <\/em>Charlotte from Charlotte\u2019s Web<\/em> and Jason from The Lost Hero.<\/em> Dibbs also noted that several students said they prefer to meet authors instead, such as Shel Silverstein, Dr. Seuss, Raina Telegmeier, Rick Riordan and Kazu Kibuishi.<\/p>\n

Book characters are on display in the Kemps Landing\/Old Donation School (KLODS) media center with signs to get students\u2019 attention and encourage them not to \u201cdrag-on\u201d with the same genre and try something new.<\/p>\n

\"KLODS<\/p>\n

The opportunity to be creative, partner with teachers and work with students are just some of the reasons library media specialists\u00a0cite for loving their jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat other position in the school system allows you to interact with all the students and staff and share the love of reading, too?\u201d asked KLODS LMS Diane Smithson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe job has become much more of a team effort, not just collaborating with teachers, but with the other specialists, especially technology, in the school.\u00a0Teachers see us more as an instructional partner,\u201d said Peggy Ricks, LMS at Tallwood High School.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love my job for many reasons,\u201d said Carollo. \u201cI especially love to see a student get excited about a particular book, reading it cover to cover in a day or two, and then returning it to the library to tell me all about the plot and how much he\/she enjoyed the book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carollo added, \u201cPromoting great literature and inspiring a lifelong love of reading is incredibly rewarding!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Library media centers in schools throughout the city feature banners, bulletin boards and displays to remind students daily of the value and fun of reading. \u201cReading is to the mind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-5044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-literacy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5044"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5059,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5044\/revisions\/5059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}