- East Terrell Hills Elementary School
- Library Mission and Vision
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Library Vision
Love to Learn for Life
Library Mission
The purpose of the East Terrell Hills Library is to provide a welcoming, safe environment for all users to connect with other users and resources that will ignite a passion for learning that will last a lifetime.
Library Staff
Librarian
Marisa Christenson
Full-time
Library Resources
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Electronic Resource Subscriptions
- BrainPop: Educational Videos & Tools
- Britannica Online: English & Spanish Encyclopedias
- Discovery Education: Educational Videos & Tools
- Gale Biography in Context: Biographical
- Gale Educational Reference Complete : Education
- Gale Kids Infobits: General Knowledge
- Gale National Geographic Kids: Social Studies/Science
- Gale Power Search: Search Engine for Advanced Resources
- Gale Research in Context: General Knowledge
- Gale Science in Context: Science
- Learning Express: Career & College Prep
- Pebble Go: General Knowledge
- ProQuest SIRS Discoverer: General Knowledge
- Soundzabound: Royalty-Free Music
- Teaching Books: Literature
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Books, Audiovisual Materials, & Periodicals
- Print Books :9.946
- Print Spanish Books: 3, 233
- Electronic Books*:23,046
- Periodical subscriptions** :23
- Print books per student: 15.5
- Electronic books per student : 36.1
- Total books per student: 51.6
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Digital Books
- Abdo: Spanish Nonfiction
- Britannica E-Stax: English & Bilingual, Nonfiction
- Capstone: English & Spanish, Nonfiction
- DK: English, Nonfiction
- Gale ASCD: English, Nonfiction, Professional
- OverDrive: English & Spanish, Fiction & Nonfiction
- Tumblebooks: English & Spanish, Fiction & Nonfiction
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Library Collection
Avg. Age of Print & Digital Collection: 2009
Usage Statistics
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Circulation
Total Circulation to students, staff, parents & community: 24,596
Total Circulation to students only: 23,307
OverDrive eBook Circulation: 268
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LibGuides Usage
Library Webpage Total Views:10,014
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Discovery Education Usage
Total Views: 4,116
Programming, Technology, Training, & Leadership
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Library Programming & Use
Research Projects/Lessons
Examples:
This year our East Terrell Hills students became experts on topics created in collaboration between the teachers and librarian to teach the art of research and to fulfill the curiosity of our students. These are the topics studied by grade level.
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Kindergarten - Animal Research - Our students became zoologists and selected an animal of interest to learn about as a class. They selected Sea Animals this year to correlate with their trip to Sea World.
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First Grade - Winter Holidays around the World - Our students learned about different cultures and traditions from around the world. They created books that they shared in their classrooms.
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Second Grade - Sates - Our students learned about our brothers and sisters across America through the study of a state they were interested in learning more about.
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Third Grade - Rapid Earth Changes - Our students learned how to prepare for and live through natural disasters, as well as how to clean up in the aftermath.
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Fourth Grade - Famous Texans - Our students learned inventors and their inventions and how they changed how we live!
Collaboration
ExamplesBeing the Librarian at East Terrell Hills is the best job in the school. Not only do I get to work with all students, but I get to work with this fabulous staff! With teamwork we make things happen at ETH. I work with each grade level team to ensure that their needs are met in the Library and that they have all of the materials they need to create meaningful lessons.
Examples of the collaboration are all of the Research projects worked on this year. We also work together every week to make connections between their learning in the library and the classroom. I am blessed with a staff that understands the importance of making those connections.
Other Programming in the Library
Examples
Scholastic Book Fair September 7-14, 2018 and April 25-May 3, 2019
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- Every year I find myself questioning whether or not to have a Scholastic Book Fair. It takes time from my library instructional time and it is physically demanding to set up and take down. This year's Book Fairs proved to me again why I do this...the looks on the faces of our youngest friends as they walk in and see an actual Book Store (some for the first time). I'm always in awe of their reaction when they find out the books they buy are for them to keep and don't have to be returned. It's the smiles, the pride of ownership and the excitement of the students that keep me setting up and tearing down year after year, twice a year. I love to have parents walk in and experience the Book Fair through their adult eyes. Many share with me the fond memories they have of the Book Fair from their own childhood. If it didn't bring joy to so many, including myself I might reconsider, but I just don't see that happening any time soon! Thank you to all who supported this year's Fairs.
Author Visits
- November 30, 2018 - Nathan Hale Our second through fifth grades were entertained and educated by Nathan Hale, author of the Historical Graphic Novel Collection, "Hazardous Tales". They learned about the Lewis and Clark Expedition while he illustrated the story as he told it. Teachers and students are still talking about this visit!
- March 4 - Emma Virjan Our Pre K, Kindergarten and 1st graders were brought into the world of Pig as Ms. Virjan introduced them to her Pig in a Wig series of books. Her books have been checked out of the Library consistently since her visit!
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Reading Promotion & Activities
- Summer Reading Camping
Students who completed their summer reading form were rewarded with camping in the Library.
- Texas Bluebonnet Award
Our 3rd - 5th graders earned a prize for every Bluebonnet Award nominated book they read. In January we invite all voters to come to the library to vote for their favorite Bluebonnet book, eat their lunch and talk about the books they've read!
- Texas 2 x 2 Reading List
PK-2 grade classes were given the challenge of reading 20 books from the Texas 2 x 2 lists in 8 week period before Spring Break. We read some of the books in the library and some books were read in classrooms. This year I included some of the picture books from the Tejas Star Reading List. These are Spanish Language books. Our Dual Language classes really enjoyed having those. All of our PK-2 grade classrooms read all 20 books and were awarded with a special time in the library. Some of our classes chose a movie, some chose Camp Read-a-lot and some chose centers. They all had a fabulous time celebrating their accomplishments!
I was so pleased to hear so many of the students talking about these books excitedly, sharing their opinions on which were their favorite. I also have each student vote for their favorite 2 x 2 book. This year the favorite was The Bad Seed by Jory John. In a close 2nd was Triangle by Mac Barnett followed by I am not a chair by Ross Burach.
- ETH Reading Incentives
We had 2 reading challenges this year. One in the fall and one in the spring.- Fall for Reading! and Pop open a Book! The students read books and write down the titles. After they have read 5 books or chapters for 2nd grade and 100 pages for 3rd, 4th and 5th grades they receive a prize from the library treasure box.
- Six Flags Read to Succeed Program
Students were encouraged to read for fun for at least 6 hours to earn a free ticket to our own Fiesta Texas. They earned a prize from our treasure box, and of course, their free ticket to Six Flags.
- Battle of the Books
Our 4th grade English classes participated in a Battle of the Books. They read from a list of books and them one team from each class was formed to Battle, answering questions from the books they read. The winning team from ETH battles against 4 other schools in the Roosevelt Cluster. Our Dual Language classes participated as well in the Torneo Literario which is the Spanish version of the Battle of the Books. Our ETH team competes against the other Dual Language Campuses in NEISD.
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Technology Integration
We spent time using some of the e-books in our collection. We noticed that they were all a bit different, but realized there were similarities that could help us navigate each one. We also used the ipads to review OverDrive checkouts.
Our third graders used the iPads in the library as well as the Chrome books in their classrooms to research Rapid Earth Changes. We used our Library Books and Digital Resources to help find the information needed to inform an area of the country/world how to prepare for a Natural Disaster. Discovery Education has a Board Builder using Video, photos and text to illustrate what the student learned and gives them a format to share that with others.
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Staff/Parent Training & Leadership
Staff & Parent Training
- Accessing and Navigating e-books
- Informal training on OverDrive and Digital Resources at point of need
Leadership
- Co-Chair and Treasurer of Social/Wellness Committee
- Coordinator for Studentreasures Publishing - Students as Authors


