Lower School Research and Database Trials

Is Research Season underway at your schools?

February brings the start of a flurry of circulation, requests for articles, database mini-lessons and, of course, a time when the databases are celebrated, criticized – or – yikes, underutilized.

At the Lower School Campuses of my school, we have remained steadfast promoters of databases. At the First and Second Grade levels, we are teaching the compound word, breaking up it’s “big word feel” into something that feels approachable. We also teach the difference between a “search engine” and a “database” – which is an interesting conversation for another blog post!

Retrieved from https://www.rawpixel.com/image/9216044/vector-crown-logo-illustrations CC0 License

As we begin the Research Season, we ask our students to become the “Royalty of Research” and to become the academic researchers that we are teaching them to be. We also call to mind our Bolles Way which is “pursuing excellence through courage, integrity and compassion.” These practices set a foundation for our expectation of students as they begin to build practices of research.

We have a variety of digital resources for our students to use in tandem with print resources as required by their teachers. Our resources that have remained constant over the years are: Gale Elementary, PebbleGo and PebbleGoNext.

These have been excellent products that have stood the test of time (and changes in research focus), have excellent customer service, and truly improve and expand year over year. These products also routinely provide students with academic support needs various modalities in which to use the interfaces.

We enjoyed Britannica and Britannica Kids, but this year their pricing schedule jumped and it was time to go out into the marketplace and see what is currently available to Lower School students pursuing academic research.

After a quick request from the Listserv, I decided to initiate a trial with WorldBook and Ebsco.

WORLD BOOK

Many of you may already enjoy this wonderful resource. We have not had it at the Lower School level here at my school. Brittanica got mixed reviews from teachers, so I decided to go ahead and try another encyclopedia. VERDICT: it has been fantastic! I highly recommend to schools seeking a companion to a more generalized database.

Gave us all the flexibility of an online encyclopedia with all the modality options as well as topical availability to match our research needs.

For example, our Fifth Graders do a research project in tandem with their reading of Lois Lowry’s NUMBER THE STARS. I did a quick preview of what students would encounter with WORLDBOOK with the search term “World War II” and found the resource friendly to navigate, friendly to evaluate (for type of material) and friendly to read. A win all around.

EBSCO

After poking around, I have determined EBSCO is a solid product for Middle and Upper School environments. I found navigational tools to be cumbersome for newer computer users, and frankly, the layouts were not designed for younger researchers. VERDICT: Not for us at the current moment. Great for our MS/US campuses to explore if they felt the need to add to their Gale suite.

I did a quick preview of what students would encounter with EBSCO for “World War II” research, and while would be very interesting for some of our students, the majority would be left frustrated and unsure of how to narrow down source material. Plus, the reading level of EBSCO’s overview articles was going to be just right for some and too high for most.

At the Lower School level, I work with teachers to scaffold lateral reading, citations, source evaluation and notetaking. When evaluating these two options, it was very clear that WorldBook would be the best option to provide students. It has been revealing to talk with teachers about student experiences during the trial – and how I can best leverage my budget to meet the research and informational needs of Lower School students.

What are the sources your Lower School students use for academic research?

They Still Can

“They can’t write sentences.” I was completely stunned by this statement. Sitting in a meeting with other teachers, the group was talking about the challenges our students were facing due to Covid. Now admittedly, I had only seen these students several times since March of 2020, but still, really? And, well, they already had. In the library I had been working with the third graders on research skills. Each student wrote sentences with a range of sophistication, but all within the realm of early third graders. Maybe I was mistaken. Maybe I had not read closely enough over their work, perhaps only some had written sentences. And of course, we were still in the beginning of the unit, so all of the students were working together with me studying the same topic, Big Ben, on Pebble Go. Perhaps I was not seeing clearly enough.
I spoke with the teacher who made the comment and shared my experience. They were surprised and encouraged. Their own experience was that when asked for work students were not producing. So I checked in with the teacher from the previous year, who affirmed that they absolutely could write sentences. Yes, there were some things that were not studied in the usual depth last year but the basic skills were firmly covered.
I continued with the unit, and in the second half each student chose their own topic on PebbleGo to research. They pulled five facts in their own words and then wrote sentences from the facts. We stressed that the notes should not be in full sentences, thus helping to prevent them from copying the text word for word, and then we talked about pulling the information together into their own words. This is hard, not just because it is a hard skill, but the reading level on PebbleGo is low enough that the sentences are simple and straightforward. How many ways can you actually say an animal can grow to be a certain weight? The students then worked to organize their sentences into paragraphs, which they needed substantial support with, but that is to be expected at this point in their development.
I write all this not to brag, although let’s face it, I am always thrilled when students work hard and achieve their goals, but to remind us not to make assumptions about student abilities. We have spent so much time in my school around trauma-informed teaching, making sure that we are sensitive to student needs. I think we may have forgotten that stretching, struggling and then achieving is also a student need. Students didn’t write this in the library because I was a better teacher, this particular teacher is outstanding and always in demand. I think it just never occurred to me that they couldn’t do the work. And students so often rise when they know people believe in them.
This is not to discount the difficulty of the virus for everyone. We are all struggling all the time. It is because of this that these self affirming triumphs are so important. The students were just so proud of themselves and their work. Every single one wanted to take it home to share with their parents. What I learned from this is to constantly check my own lens around what students can and can’t do. To remember that even in challenging situations and maybe because of them, student achievement and the self confidence this produces is another layer to trauma informed teaching.


Research Project

A Lower School Library: Renovated!

A photo essay.

First Day at my new job August 2017 – lots of potential!

Immobile furniture, no soft seating, awkward browsing, but lots and lots of great light, a solid collection, and it’s an octagon!

At the start of my job as Lower School Librarian and Information Specialist in August of 2017, I was in meetings about a possible renovation. I reached out to everyone I knew who had completed a reno recently, researched furnishings and finishes, and, later, took detailed notes at AISL ATLANTA. Visiting Atlanta area independent school libraries made a lasting impact. In the mean time, I encouraged my space to sing as best I could.

Year after year went by. No renovation. Meeting after meeting. Promises not kept. Then COVID.

And then, the renovation magically made it to the top of the CFO’s to do list!

In the Fall of 2020, there was a glimmer of hope. I started updating all of my planning documents. The fun part happened in Spring 2021. We met with architects, and held listening sessions. I shared a slideshow and a document of the vision with stakeholders:

Come May 2021, the packing began. I was on my own – thanks to mentors from my past roles, I had a system: box books spine up and in shelf order. Label each box exhaustively with contents and number order.
This is what I returned to in August 2021: boxes in scary heaps, but the carpet was down and the walls were painted! Supply chain issues plagued our furniture…
waiting and waiting and waiting…then the day came!

The first two months of school I held “library classes” in the library. I gave public library website browsing lessons to older grades, borrowed books from the public library, and taught my digital citizenship lesson earlier in the year than usual – figured might as well get the nuts and bolts of non-library space instruction completed before furniture arrived!

Two months into the school year, after multiple false starts, we got the call! Would we accept delivery of we-don’t-know-what-will-arrive…? Of course I said SEND IT!

I was able to get help from our maintenance crew to open boxes, and take and break down empty boxes. Over 200 boxes of PK-5 library books were unpacked over 2 days.

The space is reflective of my library program: warm, welcoming, open, vibrant, inviting, curious and exciting!

Circ desk area
The Last Box. #moodattheend

All in all, this project was 5 years in the making. Folders and folders of quotes, scribbles, ideas, furniture books and linear feet measurements! 3 months for wall removals, painting and carpet. 1 full day of assembly from the furniture company. 3 days to unpack and put everything away. And all the months of the school year ahead to share and celebrate!

All that is left is some soft seating still “stuck somewhere in the COVID supply chain disruption” and art for the walls.

There were many silver linings to the delay – I learned more about my students, my school, my space. I developed tastes and interests in ways to reflect the library program with the space and furnishings.

And grand opening week has been magical! Here is an album from one class visit!

Renovation was an exhilarating experience. Reach out with questions!

Lower School Library Lunch Clubs

Image result for book lunch
Lunch in the Library? You bet!

School Library Programming is as unique as each librarian and learning community. One popular program in my suite is the Library Lunch Club(s).

I am on a fixed PK to Grade 5 schedule for just over 190 students. During the seven day rotation, I see PK for 30 minutes, K and 1 for 40 minutes per section and grades 2 through 5 for one hour per section. I also additionally schedule co-teaching and extra library time during research season. This schedule allows ample time for curriculum as well as reader’s advisory.

I have been offering Lunch Clubs since my first year here in 2017. I had an eager bunch of 5th graders that year – strong readers and active library users – this got me thinking about expanding programming.

Lunch Clubs were born! My schedule is such that offering 2 lunchtime clubs in the library during the 7 day rotation felt manageable.

Library Lunch Club:

  • Open to 4th and 5th grade students
  • 2 lunch clubs offered each year, one per semester
  • No more than 10-12 students per, and only repeats if space allows
  • Themes (except for first year) are decided upon by my student leadership group year prior
  • Meet at least 8-10 times per semester, all semester long
  • Option to drop after first meeting, then committed for remainder
  • Eat lunch in the library or outside weather permitting for first half of lunch
  • Create, learn, enjoy library and literary activities during second half of lunch
  • Clubs offered so far:
    • Graphic Novel Club: appreciate the genre, create your own, pub in library
    • Picture Book Appreciation Club: appreciate the genre, create your own, pub in library
    • Newbery Club: Read Newbery winner and discuss book club style
    • Newspaper Club: appreciate the form and function, write your own and pub
    • Homemade Books Club: create accordion books and sew a handmade book together

I chose activities that I knew all of us would be able to dig into reasonably during the lunch hour. During all of these clubs, we talk books, laugh a lot, watch related videos, create original content and find community in our love for books, stories and sharing.

Graphic Novel sample 1
Graphic Novel sample 2
Shelf space for self-published work created during Lunch Clubs
Newspaper Sample 1

Lunch Clubs are here to stay. I really enjoy providing a unique time and space to explore the books and topics they love, while they enjoy creative expression. Please share one of your unique library programs in the comments below!

Follett Book Fair: Lower School Edition 2019

Follett Truck Arrival: 10:36am Nov 1

I have now been part of school book fairs for 5 years. In that time, I have participated in Main Street Book Fairs, indie bookstore fairs, Scholastic and now Follett.

This year, I made the switch from Scholastic to Follett. After 2 years of dealing with low quality bindings, single-house pub list and tons of junk, I went with Follett this year. I have been pleased thus far with communications, availability of items and quality of bindings.

Before I contacted Follett, I did reach out to two independent bookstores in my area, but they declined to consider a school book fair. During AISL Atlanta 2018, I attended the Librarians, Bookstores, and Community Connections given by the Staff of the Little Shop of Stories and felt well equipped to approach. During this great presentation, they gave suggestions of how to connect with your local bookstore for events. Alas, could not convince my local booksellers of the benefits for all!

Follett solicited me via email in mid-2018 to consider hosting a bookfair in 2019. I had not heard many reviews and figured it would be worth trying at least once. I was able to secure my first choice of dates, and contract was signed. I was really looking forward to offering my students a wide array of new titles as well as not have to deal with boxes of random items ranging from water bottles to tote bags to preschool plastic calendar pointers that came with Scholastic.

Selection of layout in The Bolles School, Ponte Vedra Beach Lower School Campus Library

Highlights:

  • Fall of 2018 Contract signed and sent
  • Spring of 2019 First communications around book fair logistics
  • August 2019 Reached out to Duval County Public Schools to investigate servant leadership opportunities related to our book fair and proceeds
  • August of 2019 First in a series of monthly phone consults with my Follett Book Fair Rep
  • September 2019 Began receiving access to online portal for webinars, helpful PDFs, and images
  • September 2019 Connected with Parkwood Heights Elementary School: we will aim to provide each of their 304 of elementary school students with a birthday book
  • October 2019 Received box of Follett Book Fair promotional materials
  • November 1, 2019 10:36am truck arrived
  • Delivery driver helped move everything to my second floor library using our service elevator
  • 3 parent volunteers arrived at 11am and we were finished setting up by 12:30pm!
  • Cash register set-up super easy and I love the Drop Ship and Complete your Series options!
Interesting display option: four sided cart (I ordered 3 of these)
Traditional wheel-to-open V-shaped cart (I ordered 5 of these)
Wishlist sheets for students: for use on preview day. Includes information about sales tax, what payment options are available, and purchase date and time.

I have developed a system where students visit twice with their class during book fair week. The first visit is a PREVIEW day and the second visit is the PURCHASE day. On Preview Day, students create a wishlist to discuss with their grownups. That way, they can bring home their ideas and feel good about returning for Purchase Day. I remind everyone that purchasing is not ever required, it is just a special bookstore experience within the library.

This year, we aim to provide every student at Parkwood Heights ES with a Birthday Book. I reached out to the Elementary Region Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools to find out about ways we could be servant leaders in our community.

Servant Leadership is part of our learning experience here at Bolles. There are many ways we accomplish this and the Book Fair is one. The proceeds of our book fair are used to support reading and public school libraries in our area. Last year, we boosted 2 elementary school library collections, and in 2017 we assisted a school in Marathon Key, FL which was partially lost to Hurricane Irma. The Library Media Ambassadors assist in communicating this effort to our student body, as well as go on a field trip to meet and read with students at the schools support. Goal being to support literacy everywhere!

I will leave some comments next week about the overall experience! Feel free to leave questions in the comments section below!

Three Cheers for Lower School Book Fairs!

November 15 Debrief:

Our November Follett Book Fair – despite all the negative experiences I have heard about – was really well executed. The EXCELLENT book selection, high quality of materials, strong communication with my rep, and fast delivery of items ordered that were sold out. Fair drop off was at 10:30am the Friday before and pick up was around 9:30am the Monday after. Set up was 45 minutes with 2 volunteers on hand. Take down was the same. The portal for learning (how-to videos, PDFs for advertising, author videos) was accessible, though I gave many development suggestions. My volunteers commented how much “easier” the register system was to use and how nice it was not to have to sort and store JUNK. The pens, erasers, bookmarks and journals that did come with the fair were good quality and really well curated. I have booked my fair for next year!

Sharing is Caring with our Youngest Learners: Bibliographies in the Lower School

Research in the Lower School in one word: kaleidoscope.

The range of skillsets, prior knowledge, teacher applications and expectations, and scope is wide and always shifting. One place where I can create consistency is in the writing of a bibliography. I apply a few basic principles in my teaching of this essential part of a complete research experience.

I. All Lower School students can appreciate the power of MINE, YOURS and OURS.

Figure 1 Venn diagram retrieved from Wikimedia.com

Developmentally, Lower School students can fully appreciate what belongs to whom. Giving credit to someone for their hard work is well in the grasp of our youngest learners. Bridging understanding from the physical book to the work that went into it by one or more authors can be compared to an art piece a student just completed, or a fiction story just written. All Lower School students can appreciate their own hard work! When we do research, we are using previously published material to create something of our own. We are borrowing the work of others. Writing the Bibliography as a part of the complete research experience is a great way to show sharing and caring for the work of the authors.

Figure 2 Overview image of hurricane retrieved from pexels.com

II. Do we really expect Lower School students to write bibliographies? You bet!

Ready to dive into the eye of the storm? Bibliographies contain the sorts of material that our youngest learners have little or no connection to other than TITLE and/or AUTHOR. The copyright page is nearly always in font sizes you need a magnifying glass to read, and is largely passed over in early reading experiences. As has been posted previously on the blog, teaching the vocabulary of a bibliography is a natural and necessary first step. I have made it a point to embed lessons that include awareness around AUTHOR, TITLE, PUBLISHER, CITY OF PUBLICATION, COPYRIGHT DATE.

Figure 3 Figure with magnifying glass retrieved from Pixabay.com

III. Lower School students relish being a super sleuth.

Developmentally, students in the Lower School are curious seekers and love a challenge. When beginning bibliography lessons, I first turn it into a game. I start with the easiest information first, then mix it up until we get to what I have found to be the most challenging: publisher.

Once I have introduced vocabulary, here is a framework I use:

PK, AUTHOR, TITLE: even though not fully reading, PK students can look at the front of most nonfiction books and point to where the title is and where the author’s name is located.

K, AUTHOR, TITLE: emerging readers, K students can look at the front of most nonfiction books and point to where the title is and where the author’s name is located, and can occasionally read this information.

Grade 1, AUTHOR, TITLE, COPYRIGHT DATE: emerging and beginning readers, Grade 1 students can find the author and the title, and when shown the copyright page, can find the copyright date.

Grades 2-5, AUTHOR, TITLE, CITY OF PUBLICATION, PUBLISHER, COPYRIGHT DATE: students aged 7 and up can find all of this information with varying degrees of support.

At each age and stage, I provide a simple way to record the information except for PK where we create a group bibliography, as the research is usually done at the class level. In K, my students can copy the author and title onto paper and include at the end of their report OR the tech integrator can assist with having them type it into a new document. In Grades 1 through 5, I have created graphic organizers that stair-step up with developmental stages.

Figure 4 Rainbow check mark retrieved from publicdomainpictures.net

IV. Checking it once, checking it twice!

When recording information for a bibliography, I encourage students to trade their organizers and assist in the super sleuth checking. When we are finished, these organizers go back to the classroom for the students to connect to their completed research project. My faculty especially appreciates the collaboration because of the hybrid need-hate relationship most have with this step of the research process. However, it is ESSENTIAL to build these habits young, and with relative ease of use, so that the task is less daunting as an older student – and seen as an essential, credible part of the research experience.

Share your Bibliography experiences in the comments below!

Collaborating on Caldecott

Whenever possible, I love to collaborate with colleagues, friends, students…the fun of more brains than one just sparks a deeper imagination. Our professional organization, AISL, is another source of excellent teaching and learning partners. While many of us share our expertise at conferences and via the listserv – have you considered co-teaching with a fellow AISL member?

When I met Debbie Cushing, Lower School Librarian at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta, last year at the AISL Conference during Dinner with a Librarian, I knew there was a project between us waiting to hatch.

While browsing the shelves at Little Shop of Stories, we began talking about Mock Caldecott and Newbery lists. We lamented ‘so many books, so little time,’ and outlets we seek out for guidance on narrowing our selections.

With that, the spark ignited. On the spot, we decided this year we would do a Mock Caldecott Collaboration: Westminster Schools Smythe Gambrell Library X The Bolles School, Ponte Vedra Library.

X

We both have Mock Caldecott programs in place with the Second Grades at our respective schools. We both are committed to children learning about the deeper purpose art plays in picture books. We both desired a fresh update to our programs. BAM!

We exchanged information and got right to it.

In May of last year, we shared a Google doc to keep notes, start book lists and develop timelines. In August, we connected both by phone and via our Google doc to work through the expressions of our programs and the timing of various classes, events and, of course, holidays. We laughed and found common ground while inspiring each other to reach higher.

In late October, we began our unit and announced it to our classes. My students were so excited to be sharing this experience with other kids their age! In another state! Imagine!

Through November, December and January, we read 13 picture books, analyzed all the art, debated merits of Caldecott guidelines, worked in Mock Caldecott Committees to [briefly] experience what it’s like to sit at a table with peers and opinions and choose a “winner” among a collection of winners.

Debbie and I shared photos, emails, and reflections along the way. We offered stationary to students to write pen pal letters around their reading experiences and Caldecott experiences. At the time of voting, we shared the unique results of both schools and compared notes. On the Big Day [YMA announcements] in January, when HELLO LIGHTHOUSE won, our students were jubilant!

Mock Caldecott 2019 Voting Results

Westminster Schools Lower School Library

Gold Medal: HELLO LIGHTHOUSE, Sophie Blackall

Honor Book:  I AM A CAT, Galia Bernstein

Honor Book: DRAWN TOGETHER, Min Le (author) Dan Santat (illustrator)

Honor Book: OCEAN MEETS SKY, Terry Fan and Eric Fan

The Bolles School, Ponte Vedra Lower School Library

Gold Medal: I AM A CAT, Galia Bernstein

Honor Book: HELLO LIGHTHOUSE, Sophie Blackall

Honor Book: JULIAN IS A MERMAID, Jessica Love

Honor Book: IMAGINE, Raul Colon

Announcement Response!

Collaborating on Caldecott? You bet!
Developing curriculum? Starting a book club? Trying out a new website eval system? Reach out to fellow AISL colleagues as collaborators! Over the next few weeks, Debbie and I will debrief and make plans for next year. This experience offered a natural and enjoyable way to grow both professionally and personally. Let sparks fly!