This school year, we have been thrilled to welcome back all of our students through our doors, especially our friends who had never set a foot into our space. In preparation, we made changes to our space to accommodate our learners, including 4 major initiatives:

1. Setting aside a distinct K-2 and a 3-5 space so that students will have easier access to their just-right literature, and also, the space can be used simultaneously,
2. New easy to browse nonfiction spaces so our learners can locate their just-right nonfiction literature easier,
3. A brand-new genrefied Makerspace section, filled with high-quality literature aimed to promote growth mindset, and
4. A grades K-2 Lego wall space (thank you PTA!) to accommodate the growing interest in creating structures using Legos.

This school year, our students had the opportunity to select from 878 new titles, and then we added another 489 more throughout the school year. Our focus this year was to improve our collection to truly reflect the diversity of our students and to update our much-needed nonfiction options with attractive and up-to-date publications.

Across the year, we have held 30+ themed displays, addressing international/national months/days/weeks as well as curricular studies in grade levels. Our data indicates that a total of 7,252 books were checked (as of June 14, 2022). This number only include our print-collection. This year, we have also researched, purchased, and offered high-interest literature in our ebook collection. Just in our Follett e-collection, students have accessed close to 300 ebooks. We also offer Sora and other digital resources where students can access books 24x7.

In terms of our library programs, we held 5 school-wide reading promotions, planned and participated in 1 district-wide promotion, engaged in 12 classroom curricular collaborations, and organized and facilitated 10 virtual and in-person events with multiple sessions geared for different grade levels. Our Media Team supported additional 6 school promotional events. And after a two-year hiatus, we held our annual Grade 1 Assured Experience field trip to the Greenwich Public Library.

One of the highlights of our year has been the addition of 2 MakerBOT 3D printers to our Makerspace. These printers not only ignited curiosity among our learners, they also fueled up creativity! All of our students get to tour the printers and learn about the workings. Our Grade 4 students used the printers to create pieces to augment their Forces & Motions projects. Across grades 3-5, we introduced students to TinkerCAD and Thingiverse, 2 software platforms that encourage creation. Our younger learners connected with our older learners through transforming 2D designs to 3D.

In our Library Learning Commons, we always welcome our extended learning community. Over the past few weeks, we've had the pleasure of welcoming some of our community helpers, our police officers. We love interacting with them- showing our creations, explaining our thinking process, and chatting away about our learning.

And, yes, that's Crosby from 3G, sharing his 3D design in TinkerCad to Officer Corticelli and explaining to him his design process.

Visiting our local libraries is a Greenwich Public Schools tradition and an assured experience that all our first graders get to experience.On Friday, June 10, our JC first graders visited the main Greenwich Public Library. During our visit, we got to see so many different sections of the library, including some of the behind-the-scenes operations. Ask any of us our first graders about what happens when we drop our books off through the outdoor book returns! Not only did we get to tour the recently renovated space, we also received our first library cards and got to check out a book on our own! What a fabulous milestone in our reading lives...

In collaboration with the Grade 4 classroom teachers, students created their own roller coasters using the principals of Design Thinking during their Makerspace time in the Library Learning Commons. As part of the design challenge, students explored and used concepts kinetic and potential energy as well as law of conservation of energy. They assumed the roles of engineers and users, created drafts and proposals, and designed a prototype.

As the finale to our design challenge, students interacted with an authentic audience, our Pre-K learners. We are hoping that their interaction helped them understand why what they created is valuable and useable.

Earlier in the school year, students in Grade 5 immersed themselves into the study of journalism as part of our literacy curriculum. If you'd remember, JC Parent Alum, Ms. Leslie Yegar, Founder & Editor of Greenwich Free Press, had also joined us in exploring the nitty gritty that goes behind creating a newspaper and answered many of our questions. As a culminating experience, each classroom had created and published its own newspaper.

Inspired by their experience, some of our Grade 5 students expressed interest in creating our own JC newspaper. Together, we embarked on creating a newspaper from scratch, one that will appeal to grades K through 5. We wanted the newspaper to be easily accessible and environmentally friendly. In thinking about the content, we surveyed young students, we brainstormed in small and large groups, we debated our findings, created list after list of potential options, all the way to the last minute. We've also had the opportunity to work across classrooms, designate roles & responsibilities, assign tasks to each other, and spend hours collaborating.

We are proud of the process that went behind creating the JC Newspaper, we certainly learned quite a bit and had even a greater appreciation for content creators. Aside from their wish to create an exciting and interactive product that can be read across all grade levels, fifth-grade students hope that that the incoming students will carry on the task where they left it and create many editions of what will hopefully become a JC tradition.

Strongly encouraged by the interest in the Battle of the Books, we extended the spirit of reading to our Grade 4 as well as our Grade 5 readers! This year, Julian Curtiss hosted its first Nutmeg Award Book Bowl!

We had 5 teams composed of 4-5 students in Grades 4 and 5 compete in the Bowl. After a very tight competition, we have determined this year's winners. Congrats to the readers in 4M: Olivia B., Eliza, Emily, Rylie and Cael! Well done, readers!

Now off and onto the Battle of the Books as Grade 5 readers!

Next year, our 5th graders will once again have the opportunity to participate in the district wide Battle of the Books program (BoB).

The Basics: GPS elementary library media specialists have chosen ten books (see attached list) for kids to read; in late fall a twenty question quiz will be given to all 5th graders; the five students with the highest scores in each class will then compete, as a homeroom team, against the other 5th grade homerooms in December. The winning homeroom team will represent JC at the district competition in late January.

Most of the titles are available through the Greenwich Public Library, including Perrot, Cos Cob and Byram Shubert. They will also be available in the fall through our school library. Want to purchase them? Check in at your local bookstore or Amazon.

What can the parents do? Research shows students who engage in reading books, discussing books, and participating in opportunities to have books read aloud or read-along counteracts any possible summer slide. Put simply - find time to read.

Please click on our link here or below to view next school year's selection of Battle of the Books.

Summer is officially here! Please be on the lookout for our newsletter, the "SUMMER READING EDITION" in your mailboxes next week!

We are wishing everyone a well-deserved rest over the summer break!

Ms. Laccetti would like the readers to indulge in as many book as they can!

Mrs. Ripegno would like students to enjoy the summer months, build on new experiences, and come back to JC with so many stories to tell!

Esra Murray, Library Media Specialist

Arlene Laccetti, Library Media Assistant

Anna Ripegno, IT Support Technician

Email: esra_murray@greenwich.k12.ct.us
Website: https://www.greenwichschools.org/julian-curtiss-school/learning-commons
Location: 180 East Elm Street, Greenwich, CT 06830
Phone: (203) 869-1896
Twitter: @ezziemur