News From the Library-March 7, 2011

Too Much Information

It seems that getting information online has become a conundrum.  Yes, there is an incredible amount of information available and that is both the wonder and the problem.  We have become “googlers” and often at best we look at only the first page of search results.  In our Library, we are encouraging students to look beyond google, and this week sixth graders worked on an online “scavenger hunt” using World Book Online which is available to us through our County Schools Portal.  This wonderful resource has some great qualities:  it is age appropriate information, it has already been vetted for accuracy, currency, lack of bias, and authority–the hallmarks of website evaluation, and it even gives citations for use if needed.  While it often seems quicker to use google, we discovered that for serious research time can be saved by using a source that has done all the hard work for you.

Also in the Library this week…

Kindergarten–It’s always fun to see the fox “outfoxed” and this week’s book is one of the funniest versions of that tale.  My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza tells the story of a clever pig who seemingly stumbles into a fox’s house.  But instead of being dinner he cons the fox into giving him a bath, a dinner and a massage!  Kindergarteners used their prediction skills to guess who the pig might trick next.

First, Second, & Third Grades–We continued reading our California Young Reader Medal nominees this week.  Next week is voting!!

Fourth Grade–How great is our state?  Fourth graders used atlases this week to make a comparison chart of our state and two others.  They compared size, population, date of statehood, and rankings in these areas. When we finished it was fun to figure out why certain states might have high rankings in land area and lower rankings in population.  Weather was the first thing that came to their minds.

Fifth Grade–We played a rousing game of Library Jeopardy this week and made an interesting discovery.  In our category of “Internet & Computers” we had to remove several answers and questions that are no longer relevant!  Times and technology  change so quickly!!

Sixth Grade–See opening post

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30 comments on “News From the Library-March 7, 2011

  1. Hello to all the wonderful readers! I see some terrific books here and I think your booktrailer is really great! I’ll bet you had fun putting that together and I hope you make many, many more.

    I also see that my website, abookandahug.com is one of your featured resources! How terrific! I’m reading MY NAME IS NOT ALEXANDER by Jennifer Fosberry right now…what are you reading?

    Your friend from abookandahug.com,
    Barb Langridge

  2. Tom Kaun says:

    Hi, Kids.
    It sounds like you have a very active library program and get to use the library regularly. You are very lucky! Not all schools in California have a library. :<(

  3. Helen says:

    I love the idea of Library Jeopardy! That sounds like so much fun. Enjoy your time in the Library

  4. Mrs. Eason says:

    I agree there is often too much information. I taught “Trash & Treasures” to my 3-5th graders this week. We did a quick Google search on the moon with different outcomes each time. But usually around 397,000,000 hits. The first few were WIKI pages about the moon, but usually the first few are pages you have to pay to use. When we looked at WB for students there were only 387 or so hits. That is a HUGE difference. It would take everyone in your school a life time to look through millions of hits, not to mention hundreds of millions of hits, and most would not be what you were looking for in the first place, or may have in accurate information.

  5. Joan Kramer says:

    Hello – I’m a retired librarian living temporarily in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Costa Rica. I enjoyed reading this wonderful blog — and learning about all the wonderful things you are doing in your library. Just to let you know, children where I am staying do not have books, libraries, or even bookstores. I have collected 1000 books in Spanish to bring here — my next step is how to get them here. How wonderful that you can search an encyclopedia online for your information.

  6. Cheryl Youse says:

    It is SO true that there are a lot more resources than google. Even though I use google daily, I teach my own students that databases are like ‘one-stop shopping’ in comparison. Homework can be done a lot faster using a database where you know the information is correct than trying to read a lot of different websites found on google for one that is correct (authoritative).

  7. Nancy Teger says:

    Hi, Students,
    I enjoyed reading about your very active library media program. Using the online World Book Encyclopedia is a great way to learn research skills. We subscribe to this product in South Florida also. : – )

  8. Amy Jensen says:

    Hi kids!
    What a great librarian you have! Isn’t it wonderful to learn how to use all the tools available to you in the library? Just this week classes were using online database, the atlas and the best resource–their librarian!

    I loved the video book talk I saw, and that fireplace looks really inviting in the back.

    I hope you really enjoy this time in school with a comfy library, a bunch of creative kids, and a librarian who obviously loves you!

  9. Pat Guarnero says:

    Hi everyone!
    Olive looks so happy sitting in front of a book. I hope you all are the same. It sure looks like you have lots of inspiration and help from your librarian. You are very lucky!
    I’ve read “Green Eggs and Ham” to some of my students in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday which was Wednesday.

    Happy Reading!

  10. Karen Cole says:

    WOW! What great things are going on in your library. And how lucky you are to have such a lovely school library with a an even lovelier librarian to help you.
    Our school also uses World Book Online and other websites and digital resources, too, in addition to all of our books. Right now the 2nd graders are researching insects, the third graders are researching planets, the 4th graders are researching endangered animals, the 5th graders are researching U.S. presidents, the 6th graders are researching ancient number systems, the 7th graders are researching national parks, and the 8th grades are researching mathematicians. Our perschoolers, kindergarteners, and 1st graders are not doing any research right now, but they are enjoying some great books and stories in the library, including this year’s California Young Reader Medal books.
    Keep up the good work.

  11. DeAndra says:

    Wow, such busy little bees! At our middle school here we say Google is okay for some current events, but use other academic resources for research. We also say Google and other search engines like it are a last resort.

    Further, my group has finished up our state award readers (Truman Awards for Missouri) and we have our pizza party this week.

    Reading is so much fun.

  12. Leslie Sharbel says:

    Hello from Alabama! I love reading about what is going on in other libraries across the country. I just showed my 3rd grade students a Powerpoint presentation about Dr. Seuss. It was made by 2 librarians in New Jersey!
    The Internet does provide wonderful ways for us to share information. Keep Reading!

  13. Amy says:

    Greetings from Texas. It appears you all are very busy! I love your traffic feed and Olive is a cutie. My fourth grader loves an atlas, so I am glad those students are learning all the fun ways to use them.

  14. Sarah Giffen says:

    Hello to all of you.

    Keep reading…it is the best!

  15. Naomi Bates says:

    Sounds like ya’ll are having fun with your amazing librarian!! And California is a great state — visited it three time and loved all of my visits! I live in Texas, another great state, so we have something in common. Have a great week Cold Spring!

  16. Renita Irvin says:

    I love you blog. I think that this is an excellent way to communicate to the students, parents, staff and general public what is HAPPENING in the library. I would love to have time to maintain a blog. Great work.

  17. Greg says:

    Very interesting that technology questions and answers in Library Jeopardy game are no longer relevant. Describing our technology today is a little bit like trying to paint a fish. Whatever description we give it washes away before we even finish.

    Wonderful description by Cheryl Youse above, that databases are like a “one stop shop.” As a high school librarian, I love Mrs. Eason’s lesson about “Trash & Treasures” too. With thousands or even with only hundreds of hits to a search, we have to learn that the first ones on the list might not be the best (even in a database).

    Have fun learning about blogs.

  18. Sandy Schuckett says:

    I love this blog! It’s so great to read about all of the wonderful things that are happening in your library, and I know that the students are learning a lot — which is what libraries are for! I wish this kind of programming was happening in every school in California. It’s something we can all work for.

  19. Traci Cope says:

    I, too, struggle with weeding through too much information. With practice, finding good quality information from reputable resources gets easier. I applaud Cold Springs School (and especially Janet Reid) for teaching students how to navigate to the best information!

  20. Katy Manck says:

    Hi, Cold Spring! When I was in grade school, we lived near Sacramento (my dad was in the Air Force, so we moved a lot). I remember studying California History in 5th grade, especially the Missions and Gold Rush. We visited lots of historic sites, all the way from the very old Russian Orthodox Church up in Fort Ross to the eerie landscape around Mono Lake.

    Glad that y’all are double-checking your information and using reliable resources. If the fourth graders have any questions about Florida (where I am right now) or Texas (where our house is), please let me know. Since my husband is in construction, we travel all over the place and love to learn about new things.

    Katy Manck
    Librarian-at-Large & Book Recommender on http://www.abookandahug.com
    p.s. Do you think that Olive would like “Bless This Mouse,” Lois Lowry’s new book?

  21. Next week our school will be voting for our state award books also. It will be interesting to see which books are chosen by the students of each state as the votes are tallied and the winning titles announced. I know that each state has different lists and criteria. I’m not always wonderful at guessing who the students will choose, but I think Circus Ship by Chris VanDusen and Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas may be the front runners at my school. Keep reading and take your vote seriously–each one really does count!

  22. Barbara Gogan says:

    Thank you for mentioning My Lucky Day. It looks like a book we may want to get for our school library.

  23. Hello California!

    It looks like you are doing some great work in your library in Cold Spring! I am a school librarian at Collins School in Livingston, NJ. I grew up in a town with a very similar name as your town…Cold Spring Harbor, NY 🙂

    I wish you well and hope you have a wonderful time the rest of this school year.

    All the best,

    Sheila H. Stafford

  24. Jan Davies says:

    Library Jeopardy sounds like a lot of fun. When I was teaching in an elementary school, the kids liked to play “Card Catalog Bingo”. Ask your librarian what a card catalog used to look like.

  25. Jane Lofton says:

    What a busy library you have. I am the teacher librarian in a high school library, and, while my students are older, I also encourage them to start with databases for research. I tell them that it will save them a lot of the difficult work of evaluating a site for quality they need to do when they visit sites on the open web. Another really nice feature of using databases is that the bibliographic citation is provided for them. You students are lucky to have access to research databases and a wonderful librarian helping you to learn about them.

    Another activity my library has in common with yours is that we are also participating in the California Young Reader Medal program. I am promoting the Young Adult category. There are three terrific books nominated in that category this year: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Unwind by Neal Shusterman, and The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson. I would have a very difficult time deciding which of these to vote for!

    One question: Does Olive the Cat listen when you read in the library? She is adorable! I have another book recommendation I think she would like: Mystery at the Club Sandwich by Doug Cushman. It won the CYRM Medal in the Picture Books for Older Readers category in 2009. It’s a very funny book.

  26. Sharon says:

    Hello students,

    You sure are lucky to have such an active library. I can’t wait to read the books you been read to my grandchildren.

    Sharon

  27. Torin Moray says:

    It sounds like great things are happening in the CSS library, as usual.
    CSS students are so fortunate to have the wide variety of lessons and information that Ms. Reid shares every week, and to have a warm and inviting library space.

    I’m interested in hearing how our neighbors will vote on the CYR selections, and to compare them with the results from Montecito Union.

  28. Terri Street says:

    Sounds like your library is a busy, welcoming space! I’d like to see your Library Jeopardy game. My students enjoy playing Survivor Maktaba (Swahili for “library”) in our library. The directions can be found on my website.

  29. Deb Schiano says:

    I love your library blog! It sounds like there’s a lot of quality learning and creating going on in your library! Too bad I’m all the way in NJ, because I’d love to visit! Can you tell that I’m exited by all the exclamation points?! Keep having fun, because having fun while learning is pretty awesome!

  30. Please check out the video my 3rd graders made on appropriate commenting:

    Our 2nd grade also is learning about blogging and commenting. You can read their blog posts at:

    http://mjgds.org/classrooms/2ndgrade/

    Be sure to let us know what you think! And if you’d like to skype with us, just let me know!

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