It's Been Awhile...

As the 2015-2016 school year is coming to a close and life gets busier with the days longer, I realize it's been awhile since I've updated this blog! So many amazing collaborations have been happening and I have yet to feature them here. My apologies. 
Let's have a quick recap on what's been going on within the libraries at Spencer-Van Etten!
*Don't forget to keep up to date through the SVE Library Twitter page: @SVELibraryLady

10th Grade: Inquiry Project with Global & English 

After a workshop that BOCES put on in the Fall, Elizabeth Peters (Global), Katherine Manion (English) and I collaborated on two separate lessons centered around introducing inquiry. If you didn't have a chance to read the District Newsletter back in February, here it is. It was a lot of fun working with both these teachers and seeing what the students created. Here are a few pictures/examples of what was created: 

6th Grade: One-Child Policy in China

Have you heard? China recently lifted their one-child policy. Good news? Maybe, maybe not. Students had the chance the read through seven articles on the topic and answer supporting questions to decide whether or not China should have changed the one-child policy. Once the information and evidence was gathered, students then condensed these facts into an infographic on the program Piktochart. There, they had to choose a side and prove, with evidence, why they chose said side. Everyone did an amazing job deciding what information could fit onto a one page infographic. The students had fun with it, too!

4th Grade: A Call for Change

During the month of March, the 4th grade classes came into the library ready to analyze primary source images depicting women's roles during the 20th century in New York State. The essential question was: Why did women want to be considered equal to men in NYS? From those images, students gathered facts and evidence of women's roles. This then led to a discussion about how far we have come today. The students did a phenomenal job, and there was lots of great conversations throughout the short project. 

Integrating Quotes

Students & Teachers: check out this simple 3 minute video on how to effectively add quotes to your paper.

Search apps & websites for education

Teachers/parents: do you ever wonder what free apps or websites there are for your students/children? Have you heard people talk about their favorite sites, but can't remember what they were?
Graphite is the perfect place to start your search! Common Sense Media has gathered teachers from all over the nation to review and rate learning technologies. Here is what Common Sense writes about the review and rate process: "Graphite's unbiased ratings and reviews are conducted by expert reviewers and are not influenced by the developers of the products or by our funders. We never receive payments or other consideration for reviewing any product".
You can also filter by grade level, subject and price. What's not to love?
If you find a new technology on Graphite, but are not sure how to use it in your classroom stop by and I will be more than happy to collaborate!
Call: ext. 3466
E-mail: afarmer@gstboces.org

Padlet (Wallwisher)

Looking for a simple, and easy place to post pictures, videos, or comments? Padlet is FREE web tool.
Here are some possible uses:
Art: Students can upload images in one location for storage and peer review.
English: Vocabulary word of the day posts, gather images to show character or POV for a piece of literature.
Social Studies: Brainstorm periods of history in class (tablets, laptops) in real time .
Government: Post a current event and create a discussion to be done outside of class, have students find political cartoons that correlate to the theme of the day.
Foreign Language: Word of the day to be used in a sentence, post sentence or poem to be translated.
Math: Extra credit word problems, upload helpful videos for homework, extra credit 1 page paper ideas like who is considered the father of calculus and why?
Science: Student collaboration of ideas on images and themes for their rollarcoaster project, Extra credit homework questions, post real-life scenarios of crime labs and ask for comments.
Health: Gather images, words, and videos showcasing an addiction.
Finance/Business: Students list the positives and negatives of opening a CD vs a savings account, make lists of what was bought for 1 month along with the cost.

There is so much more you can do with this site! Stop in to the library and let's begin!

Free Web-Based applications to align Common Core Standards

With less time to meet and receive curriculum planning help, there is a website that can help you quickly align your lesson plans to the Common Core Standards!
It's called Teaching Objects. Below is a 3 minute video on how this site can help you:




Another helpful site is Common Curriculum. I was not able to copy the 1 minute explanatory video here, but you can see what an amazingly FREE resource this is on their website: http://www.commoncurriculum.com/

If you want to know more, or need help navigating these new sites please see me!

Common Core with Teaching Books.net

Pouring over the Common Core State Standards exemplars and texts can be daunting. So Teaching Books has done a lot of the work for you. Here is how this amazing resource is described:

TeachingBooks.net helps with your Common Core instructional shifts by...

• Identifying exceptional and relevant books for your classroom,
• Providing ready-to-use instructional materials for each text to expose your students to a range of text types, formats, cultural perspectives, and authoritative information as suggested by the Common Core Standards.

Support 4 Instructional Shifts:

• Balance of Informational & Literary Texts
• Increase Reading in all Disciplines
• Require Knowledge & Direct Consideration of the Text
• Expose Students to Authentic Writing & Research Process

Check it out Here!

Speed Dating

A huge thank you goes out to William Dove and Britany Rose for their help in making our speed dating day such a success! The students had a blast and loved receiving a chocolate kiss at the end.
This can be adapted for any grade and any subject. Just ask!
Here are a few images from the day, but if you want to see more go to the K drive>SVE HS>Library>Speed Dating.

Here is what William had to say about the day: "thanks for all your time, effort, organization, and expertise in helping our students enjoy and engage in more reading.  You could see and hear the excitement in the library as our students "speed book dated" during five periods today!  Helping our students enjoy a skill that will increase their success in life is priceless.  You did that today."