Library at Wendell Creative Arts & Science Elementary School

Welcome!

2010-03-12T16:43:00.017-05:00

The mission of the library at Wendell Creative Arts & Science Magnet Elementary School is to:

help 21st century students become

effective users and producers of information and ideas

promote reading for fun and lifelong learning

support student achievement

As an A+ Creative Arts and Science Magnet school, we offer library resources and services for different learning styles and multiple intelligences.

"School Librarians Teach Every Student" used with permission of the artist, Aliki.

Destiny search button created using Buttongenerator.com

Library... media center.... learning commons!

2009-11-12T19:15:00.001-05:00

Last week I got to hang out with almost 4000 fellow school librarians and their friends who care about student learning and 21st century skills! All these fellow librarians and I were in Charlotte at the conference of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). I saw some amazing uses of technology, listened to inspiring speakers, and did some BIG thinking about the future of our school library. I really like a new concept of the library media center as a "learning commons", a place for asking, thinking, creating, and sharing.

In the coming months I hope to do more big thinking about what our school "learning commons" needs to be to support student learning and 21st century skills. Watch for changes to this blog, to the physical space in which I teach, and to the strategies and tools I use in the learning commons to help all WES students prepare for the future.

Free news!

2009-11-03T10:08:00.003-05:00

Thanks to our local newspaper, the News & Observer, and their News in Education program, our students now have free access to an online edition of the News & Observer here at school. Reading, thinking, and writing about the news is a great way for our students to develop media literacy. The fact that the news is available online is just one more reason that we are working hard to prepare our students with the 21st Century skills they will need for the future! The access point on the web is: http://www.newsobserver.com/nie/. This link is also posted in the Library Hot Links box to the right.

Thanks N&O for this great opportunity to support our students' learning!

Gimme an L... gimme an S.... gimme a T, now gimme an A. LSTA... hurray!!

2009-10-30T14:32:00.005-04:00

Last fall, Wendell Elementary School became one of 101 public school libraries in the state of North Carolina to receive an LSTA grant for purchasing library books. The State Library of North Carolina, a division of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, awarded the $10,000 federal grant and it has helped us build a much stronger library book collection to support the school's curriculum and boost student achievement. We've still got a long way to go before our library collection is where it needs to be, but this grant program has helped bring us closer to our goals.

A requirement of the grant was that we match the $10,000 in grant monies with another $2,500 in local money. Can you guess how many books that much money can buy? Try 937 NEW books! Before we added these new books, the average age of our reference book collection (books like World Book Encyclopedia, dictionaries, atlases, & science encyclopedias) was 1988. Today the average age of our reference collection is 2004... this is a huge leap forward! Imagine all the things that have changed since 1988 and think about how great it is that we now have books in the library that bring that current information to our students.

Before the grant, the average age of our science books was 1992 (that's 17 years old, for those of you who struggle to be "math smart"). Do you think anything has changed in the world of science since 1992? Today, because of the LSTA grant, our science books are more up-to-date (but still not where they need to be), with an average age of 1999. Other subject areas in our collection made significant gains in average age, going from 1992 to 1999.

Besides bringing our collection more up-to-date, we were also able to add a significant number of "best books" to our library, easy biographies and transitional chapter books for emergent readers. Whether it's reading for fun or using books for information in research and learning, students at Wendell Elementary now have access to some fantastic new library books thanks to the LSTA grant!

Great thanks to the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services which administers the Library Services and Technology Act, and distributes the funds through a grant to the State Library of North Carolina.

Fall into Books!

2009-10-13T12:28:00.001-04:00

It's Fall and Wendell Elementary students are busy reading the exciting new books purchased with last year's federal LSTA grant. When they're not reading, students are learning to use library resources like the encyclopedia, streaming videos on Discovery Education, and Destiny, our library catalog.

October is Disability Awareness Month so please check out our display of some of the resources on this topic available here at school. You can also view this information online using Destiny... click on Resource Lists to see a full list of materials available for students and teachers.

These cool autumn days are perfect for getting cozy and comfy with a good book. If you need a suggestion for the perfect book for you, please ask Ms. Brannock. Happy reading!

Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com

Yee-haaa... it's round-up time!

2009-05-18T08:45:00.000-04:00

Giddy-up pardners and round up those library books! Teachers can keep on checking out books, but students need to lasso their books and bring 'em on home to the media center.

Which classroom will be the first to corral all their student books??

Reading blog for parents

2009-05-15T12:05:00.000-04:00

Parents, I just discovered Booklights, a blog about books and reading for parents. Booklights is part of PBS KIDS Raising Readers, a national literacy campaign, and this blog is chock full of book recommendations, along with tips and advice for parents on helping their children become successful readers. With summer around the corner, Booklights is a great place to find suggestions for the perfect book for your young reader.

Summer is coming, summer is coming!

2009-05-08T17:21:00.000-04:00

Summer is just around the corner so it's time for all library books to come back to the library. All student books are due back in the media center by next Friday, May 15th. Teachers can still check out books until the end of the school year, but student books must be returned next week.

At Wendell Elementary we "show responsibility", so thanks for helping to get our books back on time. You can keep on reading all summer long by visiting your local public library for new books!

Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com

New books are sprouting up at WES!

2009-04-14T14:10:00.000-04:00

Look around the library shelves at Wendell Elementary and you'll see lots of NEW books! Thanks to a special LSTA grant, we're adding $10,000 in new books to our collection. There are books about alligators, siamese cats, and tarantulas, books about weather and landforms, funny stories about favorite characters like BabyMouse and Arthur, and much more! In the last two weeks, 21 boxes of new books have arrived. Come see what's new . . .and check out a new book while you're here!

Thanks to everyone who voted in our first poll about your favorite type of fiction books.

Here are the "official" results:
historical fiction - 30%
realistic, science fiction, funny, mystery & ghost stories, & fantasy fiction all tied at 14%. Look for a new poll on non-fiction reading coming soon.

See you in the library!

Spring Break is great for reading!

2009-04-07T16:23:00.000-04:00

Spring break is finally here and it's the perfect time for reading!

If you haven't already visited your local public library, what are you waiting for?? They have books, movies, books, magazines, books, books on tape, books and much more. Best of all, it's FREE! If you're wondering where and when to visit your local library branch, check out their website for more information. Here's the URL: http://www.wakegov.com/libraries/default.htm

During spring break I'll be reading . . .

Coretta Scott King Award book Standing Against the Wind by Traci L. Jones. The main character is Patrice who has hair issues (I can relate!). In fact, Patrice's hair is so wild that the kids at her new school tease her by calling her "Puffy". Unfortunately, Patrice faces more than just teasing at her new school, but her brains and grit help her stand up against the negative forces in her life. I can't wait to be inspired by this courageous young character!

I'm also planning to read the Newbery Honor Book, Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. Hattie is a pioneer girl in Montana who is longing for a home in the Big Sky country (that's Montana!) and a family to call her own. Historical fiction is my favorite, so I think I'll start reading about Hattie first. I haven't been to Montana -- I wonder what it looked like to Hattie 100 years ago?

(Ms. R is sure to be reading nursery rhymes and sweet bedtime stories to Jonah.)

I hope you can find something exciting, interesting, scary, funny, charming, heart-wrenching, or mysterious to read during spring break. Please come see me and tell me about what you read over break -- I'll be waiting to hear all about it.

Happy spring break and don't forget to visit your local library for some great reading!

Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com

What's Wendell reading?

2009-03-23T11:47:00.000-04:00

Wendell students. . . what is your favorite kind of reading??

We'll start with your fiction faves... are you a fan of funny fiction or is an exciting sports story your thing? Click on your favorite kind in our poll to tell us your opinion!

A Succ-Seuss-ful Celebration

2009-03-23T10:49:00.000-04:00

It was seuss-ical, splendiferous, super-sized fun at Wendell Elementary during Dr. Seuss's birthday week. There were decorated doors, guest readers, fantastic furry feet, and lots & LOTS of fun with reading!

Special thanks to our friends at the Carolina Railhawks for making our celebration so special . . . professional soccer players Devon and Jack visited with our students and read some favorite Seuss stories. Thanks also to Miss Margaret from the Wendell Branch Library for sharing some Seuss-silliness with our kindergarten students. A good time was had by all!

Dr. Seuss Week comes to Wendell Elementary!

2009-02-26T15:09:00.000-05:00

Dr. Seuss has a birthday on Monday, March 2nd and we're having a week-long celebration! Here the daily events:

Monday, March 2nd is Monday Movie and Dr. Seuss dress-up day. Come dressed as your favorite Dr. Seuss character and enjoy a Seuss story in video format, (with popcorn, of course)!

Tuesday, March 3rd is The Cat in the Hat Day so wear your favorite hat! Special visitors from the Carolina Railhawks will be here in the afternoon to read with some of our classrooms.

Wednesday, March 4th is Wacky Wednesday. If it's Wednesday, wear something wacky! The always entertaining children's librarian from the Wendell Public Library will be visiting with a few of our classes.

Thursday, March 5th is The Foot Book day. Have comfy feet, funny feet, or super-stupendous feet as you show off your favorite socks, shoes, or slippers!

We'll be fishing for FUN on Friday, March 6th as we enjoy 2 Dr. Seuss stories with a fishy theme... One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and McElligott’s Pool.

2009-01-22T10:44:00.000-05:00

Parent Information Night tonight!

Parent information night at Wendell Elementary School is tonight, Thursday, January 22nd -- we hope to see you here!

Ms. Crumel & I will be doing 2 sessions at tonight's event. From 6:30-6:55, join us in the computer lab (room 217) for "Surfing for Science: Internet resources for science fair research". At this session, we'll talk about the upcoming Science Fair and share some of our favorite web sites for science fair research. For a preview, check out my blog posting from December (shown below) for some of these must-see websites!

From 7:00-7:25, we'll be in the computer lab again (room 217) for our session called "Internet Junior: great learning websites for young students". During this half-hour, come see some age-appropriate websites that are great for younger children.

Here's the link to Science Fair resources on our school website. Please scroll down the page to find those links...

http://wendelles.wcpss.net/Science%20Fair%20Resources.htm

Science Fair time!

2008-12-04T20:42:00.000-05:00

December is an exciting month for many reasons... twinkling lights, special foods, festive sights and sounds, and a time for new wishes. December is also the time to start thinking ahead to the science fair project. We've compiled a list of helpful places to start your search for information ... so ready, set, experiment!

Janice Van Cleave's Science for Fun website is among the best. Here is a link to her site: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/sciencefaircentral/jvc/

The Internet Public Library (IPL) has a big list of helpful science fair sites. Check it out at: http://ipl.org/kidspace/browse/mas6000

You've GOT to try the amazing free resources available through NC Wise Owl. Online encyclopedias, magazine articles, and much more are here -- provided free for our students by the state of North Carolina. Be smart -- click on the link to NC Wise Owl!

A great directory for finding any type of information is KidsClick! a web search engine for kids by librarians. The students and faculty at the School of Library & Information Science are in charge of KidsClick! and they work hard to find the best websites for children. You don't have to be a kid to KidsClick! so surf on over to find information for your science fair project in their Science & Math section.

Finally, don't forget that experiments take time, especially if you run them more than once (just like a good scientist does!). Get a head-start on a great project by getting started on your experiment now. Good luck and happy experimenting!

Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com