3rd Quarter Library Report

It's hard to believe we're about to kick off the final stretch 4th Quarter! It feels like only a couple months ago we were just settling into a "new" school year and adjusting to new routines - and yet here we are already thinking about end-of-year field trips and graduation!

The 3rd Quarter was busy with many exciting schoolwide initiatives like our One School, One Book program, the Literacy Fair, the Talent Show, and our fantastic Drama Club performance of How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse. Likewise, in the Library, we've enjoyed several amazing CTE presenters and I was very excited to win both the coveted Golden Dustpan and be selected as the recipient of the February Staff Kindness Award!

But of course the big news is the successful passage of the District Merger Vote. It is with great optimism that we as a school will prepare for this exciting new chapter in our unfolding history! I personally look forward to exploring how to best align our robust Library program with Troy's vision. Together we will ensure that GD's students continue to receive the best possible education while having access to a much wider variety of enrichment opportunities. Here's to a bright future and a great partnership!

And here are some quick numbers at a glance:

• Number of new items added to date: 700 (almost double last year's Q3 total!)
• Number of circulated items to date: 17,708
• Most popular item: Drama by Raina Telgemier with 42 checkouts (and counting!)

First PreK wrapped up a fun unit on gingerbread themed books before deep diving into several iconic books from incomparable children's award-winning author and illustrator Kevin Henkes! Students thought about things that make them worried after we read Wemberly Worried, then they drew their favorite comfort object after we read Owen, then they let their creative juices flow in our very own Learning Lab after reading Lily's Plastic Purse, and finally they drew signs of spring after we read When Spring Comes and A Really Good Day! We're now reading poetry in honor of National Poetry month :-)

In the 3rd Quarter, our curious Kindergartners delighted in the incomparable books of Dr. Seuss in honor of his 122nd birthday! Now we're learning about cause & effect through the fun If You Give.... books by Laura Numeroff.

In February, 1st grade learned all about poetry and its many different forms: shape, acrostic, free verse, etc. We learned to both hear and see rhymes and how to count stanzas. Then, in March, to celebrate Women's History Month, 1st grade used PebbleGo to learn about a variety of important female leaders and trailblazers. I often paired read-alouds with independent research as students explored the lives of author Barbara Park, First Lady Martha Washington, scientist Jane Goodall, and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

I'd like to give a HUGE shoutout to my 7th grade helpers who volunteer to help me with this large group!

Second grade spent February learning about Martin Luther King Jr while using PebbleGo to study five essential character traits that exemplify Being a Good Citizen: Courage, Leadership, Respect, Responsibility, and Tolerance. Next, 2nd grade practiced writing a variety of letters. They wrote formal letters to their future 3rd grade teachers, persuasive letters to an adult in their lives, and friendly letters to a classmate. We had fun reading exemplar texts for each style of writing!

Starting in the second quarter, 3rd grade began a unit on global folklore where we compare and contrast similar stories. First, we focused on Folk Tales through the lens of Red Riding Hood. As we read three versions, students took notes on key literary elements from each story that they used to fill in a triple Venn diagram. Then students summarized their learning in a brief compare & contrast essay that showcased their conclusions. We're now in the process of exploring Fairy Tales through three global Cinderella stories.

Fourth grade spent the 3rd quarter learning about a NYS topic of their choice. They found resources on the database Britannica Online and the internet (focusing on finding reliable websites that are teacher approved!). They researched the history and impact of their topic and created presentations complete with bibliographies and images that they shared with their classmates.

Now that 5th grade has practiced making citations and notecards in the online research organizer, NoodleTools, they are ready to tackle their first major library research project! Each student has chosen an aspect of American culture to explore, focusing on researching the origins and impact of their topic. It's a great way for students to learn how our culture is a richly woven tapestry made up of many different fibers!

Sixth grade spent the 3rd quarter creating an evidence-based claim presentation defending their choice for what should be included in an updated list of Wonders of the Modern World. Beginning with defining what a modern marvel means to them and following up with evidence-based research on their chosen topic, students engaged in meaningful inquiry.

CTE 6 has worked hard this quarter! First they wrapped up a unit on Budgeting that included 2 interactive projects designed to simulate real-world experiences. Students enjoyed doing a 6-month simulation in the style of the board game, Life, where they got a job and paid bills while also making decisions about spending and saving. Then they hit the lottery in the Million Dollar Project where they had to research college, transportation, and housing costs while having a little fun planning a trip and making other dream purchases.

In our Young Voices Matter unit, students have learned about and researched both Youth Activists and Youth Entrepreneurs. It is my goal that they find these projects inspirational and motivating, while demonstrating that young voices do indeed matter!

This Quarter students in 7th grade CTE wrapped up their work on soft skills and began exploring the 16 national career clusters, beginning with the US military. Students learned about the 6 branches of the military and how the military can offer training or help pay for college (Be sure to check out Kellen Duke's recruitment pitch for the Airforce above!). In March, we had our first community presenter, Col Jason Shultz, from the Watervliet Arsenal. It was super cool when he brought in "pins" for each student! Now students are exploring career opportunities in Healthcare. We kicked the unit off with a presentation from Jennie Brown, who talked about her career in the public health sector. We also had registered Nurse, Pam Barrall, with her engaging collection of CPR dummies and medical apparatus for the students to try out! We wrapped up the quarter with Christina Santiago. We are SO lucky to have such an abundance of community career presenters who are willing to share their personal and professional journeys with 7th graders!

Students in 8th grade CTE spent the 3rd quarter learning about consumerism. We started the unit by exploring what defines a generation followed by what motivates us a consumers. Then students researched their favorite influencer and what strategies they use to promote goods and services. As part of the project, students had to create their own influencer video (See Addisyn Round's awesome influencer video above!). Our guest presenter was our very own Kyle Barber who talked to the students about techniques and tools for shooting effective videos. He even loaned equipment to some students and helped others film their videos. Next, students researched the history of their favorite brand logo, analyzing how these logos help to promote the products and brands that are such a big part of our lives. Then they created what they think the next version of their chosen logo should look like, and explained who the target audience is, why they chose each stylistic element, and how this new logo fits into the evolution of the original logos. We wrapped up the unit by learning about marketing strategies in product packaging and what causes inflation. Now students are learning about AI tools. They had fun animating their own drawings and trying to stump each other by generating plausible writing samples using either ChatGPT or Code Breaker. We were lucky to end the quarter with Mandy Miele coming in to talk to our 8th graders about how AI is transforming the future of employment.

This quarter, students in Music Research wrapped up their work on Opposing Viewpoints by sharing their researched evidence-based claim on a controversial topic in music of their choice. They spent the rest of this quarter working on a biography project where they researched the life and contributions of any person of their choice who has had a significant impact on the music industry. Topics ranged from G Dragon to Elvis Presley to John Williams - truly an eclectic group of individuals past and present representing the diversity of the field! Students then took their research and created 4 products to demonstrate their learning. Several product options encouraged creativity and allowed the students an opportunity to really discover the "voice" of their chosen individual. I am really proud of the solid research skills our students have honed this year!

The ICAN students continued to learn about the 5 senses through interactive read-alouds and modified storybooks. This quarter we focused on what we could SEE by exploring Bill Martin's classic, Bown Bear, Brown Bear What Can You See?

On January 29th, I attended the second Questar Library SLS Communication Coordinators meeting of the academic year which was a joint "Showcase of Excellence" hosted at Cap Region BOCES. Librarians from both Cap Region and Questar, shared a variety of projects and programs they do with students. It was an outstanding day of learning and collaboration!

On April 1st, Christie Gildart from Follett School Solutions visited me to discuss our library collection and to review the collection analysis I routinely run to evaluate our collection's relevance and currency. Together we made a plan for a more in depth weeding to occur before the end of the school year.

Email: lfecura@Wynantskillufsd.org
Website: https://sites.google.com/wynantskillufsd.org/lfecura/home
Location: 25 East Avenue, Troy, NY, USA
Phone: (518)283-4600 238