Biblionasium

I began the year with with the intention of really pushing student book reviews and recommendations for the 5th and 6th graders. While some students seek book recommendations from me and other librarians, there are students that would rather hear one from a friend. I can't say that I blame them. I'm always asking friends what they read recently that was really good, so I wanted to give the kids the resources and knowledge necessary to share their favorites with one another.

I began by doing book talks and showing the kids some book trailers I had made. We talked about how reviewing books can not only help you think more in depth about the book you just finished, but that it's also a good way to exchange recommendations.  Next, the students wrote short reviews on "book tickets" that were posted on the circulation desk. There was a drawing from the entered book tickets and four students won gift cards to the school store.  

Last week we moved on to the next phase of the book review roll out,  Biblionasium. I wasn't sure what the kids would think about the site since I hadn't used it with a group before, but they loved it! It's a safe site for kids, because educators or parents must set up their accounts and there is no personal information required. I set up all of the students' log-ins beforehand in 5th and 6th grade groups, so they were already connected to their peers.

The site is easy to move around with a navigation bar to the left.  They also have the ability to recommend books to their classmates. When they log in the home page let's them know what books their classmates have added and recommended.

Students can add books that they have finished, are currently reading, and want to read.

  

They were really excited about the awards they can earn by reaching certain milestones; like completing their first book, reading for a certain amount of time, or meeting a challenge. Challenges can be set by the teacher or the student. So, one challenge could be for them to complete a book by a certain date and if that challenge is met they would be rewarded. 

I told the students that this is a great way for them to continue to share books with one another over the breaks and that they now have a go-to place when they don't know what to read next. I'm assigning my first challenge in a few days after I have seen all of the classes. I'm excited to see how well they do!

Short & Sweet

Last week, though shorter, seemed to be packed with just as much activity. Even though we are already well into the school year, I'm still tying up loose ends from last school year. One item that I was finally able to check off was cataloging and covering all of the new books from last Spring. New books on display always make me feel better!

With a feeling of satisfaction after finally completing one book order, I found myself scrambling to finalize another book order. With the addition of FollettShelf last year, another layer is added to the ordering process in first looking to see if a title is available in eBook format and then deciding if it is worth the money. Follett recently added a few more publishers to their deck, but there are monstrous variations in the pricing from one publisher to the next. The book order should arrive soon, which means there will be another stack of books to catalog and cover. One bright side to the eBook headache is that they are instantly available, cataloged, and don't have to be covered!

Speaking of cataloging, I'm in the process of re-cataloging the graphic novels, once again. With the Lower School collection now being in the same space as the rest of the collection it made sense to combine our 5th grade and up graphic novel collection with the Lower School's. Formerly, we signified this section with a green dot, but we will now be using "gn" for this section. We changed how we cataloged graphic novels a few years ago. We went from using the Dewey to using Graphic Novel (GN) or Upper School Graphic Novel (GNUS) first, then, the first three letters of the publisher, like DCC for DC Comics, and the first three letters of the title, like OWL for "Owly and Wormy." For example, the spine label may look like this:

 GN 

DCC

OWL

 The only exception would be if there is a main character, like superman. Since there is a more definite style from one graphic novel publisher to the next this has aided students in going straight to what they like and has also made it possible to keep series and characters together. 

Putting together a book review display kept my eyes from crossing due to all of the cataloging! In the coming year, I want to make the 5th and 6th graders feel more empowered to review books themselves. In the past, I have done book talks and regularly recommend books when classes come in for library day, but the students haven't done much, if any, recommending themselves. In sticking with our movie theme for the year, I put together a theater marque on which the students will then stick their book reviews. 

I purposely kept the sheet simple, so that it doesn't take long to fill out or read. 

If all goes well, I also want to introduce the kids to Novelist , so that they can read and write their own reviews online. This will help the kids to find books pertaining to specific topics and improve their writing. Also, knowing that people other than those at your school will be reading what you write ups the ante a bit.

Like I said, a lot happened in four days, but even the most tedious of tasks have their moments of contentment, making for an enjoyable ride overall.

Hate That Cat: a Novel, by Sharon Creech

Are you a dog or cat person? A common question, asked with the expectation of a definite answer. Dog or Cat. Never both. In Hate That Cat: a Novel, by Sharon Creech, Jack is definitely a dog lover and a cat hater; especially the big, fat, black type. In poems exchanged between Jack and his teacher poets and poetic concepts like alliteration, metaphor and onomatopoeia are discussed along with daily events.

As Jack learns about poetry he also learns to accept the loss of his yellow dog, sky, embrace his mother's deafness, and let the love he feels for a black Christmas kitten grow, in spite of this reservations. All of the poems that were used for inspiration throughout the book can be found at the back. This is a nice addition, though, definitions of the terms used throughout the poems would have been helpful.

Creech ends the book in wonderful fashion with this poem written by Jack for his mother:

I will listen
for you


I will hear
all the sounds
in the world


all the
delicious
ineffable
effable 
sounds


all the
thrumming
and 
humming
and 
tintinnabulating
sounds


I will hear
all the sounds
in the
world
and I will write them down 
so you
can 
hear
them
too. 


(p. 124-125)