We started the month by presenting to our staff how we have been working on close read activities with classes and invited more teachers and classes to the library to work on literacy skills. And it worked! This has been a full month of reading, researching, and working on projects. Check it out!
Close-Read Lessons
After the literacy PD, we welcomed 18 classes with over 500 students in to the library for close read activities! AP Human Geography read about bilingualism, Geography read about desalination, US History used the close reading techniques on an article about the Sedition Act, and World History read DBQ evidence about Napoleon. We even read about Jello with Culinary Essentials in an article from Bon Appetit. Students practiced the four main techniques: circling difficult words, underlining claims, noting what the claim means, and noting why the claim matters. Some students were in the library for multiple close read activities and quickly understood that regardless of the subject in the text, close reading strategies always help when trying to understand difficult texts!
Senior Research Paper
The research project continued for all ELA 12 and Contemporary Communications classes. They worked on note taking, turning notes into paragraphs and their first drafts of their argumentative paper. After spending so many class periods with us, students were comfortable using databases, asking for help, and relying on their research as the evidence to drive their theses!
Physical Science
Physical Science students made circuit cards with batteries, LED lights, and copper foil. They put their knowledge of simple circuits into action by designing a light up greeting card. Students also practiced prototyping by sketching the circuits they designed, completing the final draft of the artwork on the card, and trouble shooting any circuitry issues. These holiday cards turned out great and were a nice surprise that put their knowledge into action!
Sociology Marble Races
Ms. Salimbene's Sociology students participated in a marble challenge. They worked in teams to build marble runs that fit certain criteria according to a series of challenges. For some challenges, the runs had to be a certain height, some challenges required multiple marbles to run simultaneously, and some challenges required groups to use as many pieces as possible. Students learned about the sociological principles of group dynamics while having fun constructing marble runs.
Freshman Biology
We had every single Biology class and Honors Biology class come to the library to work on a cancer research project. The librarians taught students how to use databases for research while Mr. Holloway showed them how to make their infographics look presentation-ready using Canva. Students in Honors Bio created their own infographics while students in Biology worked in small groups. The task included finding credible research, making the information easy to understand, and following appropriate design principles for infographics that disseminate information while incorporating graphical and textual information.
Surprise Squad
The surprise squad came to the library to announce grant winners. The library received a $3000 grant from the Blue Valley Education Foundation to make biblioboxes - think influencer subscription boxes, but more focused on books. Stay tuned to see them in action!