• SCHOOL YEAR Impact Report

Librarian

  • The librarian promoted reading for pleasure to students through a variety of programs including the Texas Bluebonnet Award, the Texas 2x2 Reading List, Whip Up a Great Read, Read it Forward, and Schlitterbahn Waves of Pages. Whip Up a Great Read is a program for all grade levels. Students are provided a tracking sheet with different types of books such as Historical Fiction, Poetry, Fantasy, etc. Participants read at least five books from the sheet to sign the Top Chef Readers bulletin board.
  • The librarian organized two reading competitions, the Battle of the Books and Fairy Tale Rodeo for readers to compete in. Battle of the Books is a quiz-style competition for fourth graders. The title list has fifteen novels including classics such as Charlotte’s Web and award winners such as The One and Only Ivan. The Fairy Tale Rodeo is a precursor to the Battle of the Books for second graders. The booklist has 10 traditional fairy tales and their matching fractured Texas versions.
  • The librarian collaborated with teachers in reading promotion through teacher-led programs such as You’ve Been Booked, Season’s Readings, Book Brackets, IditaRead, and Children’s Book Week Bingo Board.
  • The librarian hosted two author visits this year. Dan Gemeinhart visited students in third through fifth grades to promote his fiction novels. One of his novels, Some Kind of Courage, is a selected title for the Battle of the Books reading list. Aaron Reynolds visited all students in person as well as a virtual visit for second through fifth graders promoting his newest release, Fart Quest #3: Barf of the Bedazzler.
  • Timely book displays, such as Black History Month and Women’s History Month were utilized throughout the year. The Black History Month display showcased books written by black authors. Circulation numbers were high for the titles in that particular display.
Bluebonnet readers holding books.
 
 
15.531
print books in collection
 
15,173
ebooks books in collection
 
22,952
print books checked out
 
1,400
ebooks books checked out
 
Patrons of the Chapter Book Cafe tasted new genres and series.

Teacher

  • First Grades: Sketchnotes - Kinder and first grade students practiced finding and retrieving relevant information and then taking notes of newly acquired information as images during sketchnote lessons on a variety of topics including tarantulas, frogs, polar bears, panda bears, and holidays. Students used PebbleGo from the Library Resources page to access information.
  • Second Grade: Chapter Book Cafe - Throughout the year, students visited the Chapter Book Cafe to “taste” different genres from a variety of series that are an appropriate reading level. Library tables, decorated to look like a restaurant, had 6-8 books from the spotlighted genres. During a tasting, students read for three minutes. After their little nibble, students filled out a tasting card indicating their opinions on what they read. Circulation for some lesser-known series increased.
  • Third Grade: Space Tourism Research Project - Students traveled to the future as they became travel planners creating vacations for families visiting different planets in our solar system. After researching all the features of a particular planet, including special features such as rings or moons, students created a brochure advertising their planet as a vacation destination.
  • Fifth Grade: Genre Gino’s Pizzeria - Students became employees of the Genre Gino Pizzeria as they assembled pizzas based on a customer’s reading interests. Customers placed an order by selecting three of their favorite books and putting them in a pizza box. Students then had to identify the books’ genres by reading the back matter and choose the matching pizza toppings to make the pizza. Teams were challenged to make as many pizzas as possible in the time allotted.
  • All Grades: Cultural Celebrations - Throughout the year, students studied different cultures represented in our community using a variety of instructional strategies such as Three Truths and a Lie, A-E-I-O-U, 3-2-1 Pyramid, Whittle it Down, and Connect the Dots. Cultural celebrations highlighted included Dia De Los Muertos, Black History Month, Lunar New Year, and more. 100% of teachers signed up for the offered lessons.
 

Kindergarten engineers helped solve the problems in nursery rhymes.

Lesson Spotlight

Kindergarten - Mother Goose Unit Over the span of nine weeks, kindergarten students examined eight nursery rhymes. Each week, students recited a new rhyme several times, recognized sight words and identified rhyming words. With the librarian, the class discussed the character’s problem. Students used legos to construct a device that would solve their problem. For example, one student designed a tracking device for Little Bo Peep to help her find her lost sheep. To culminate the unit, students participated in the annual Humpty Dumpty Egg Drop. With the assistance of a class of fourth graders, students worked in groups to design a device that would protect an egg during a fall. Students were provided a bag with supplies, such as bubble wrap, plastic bags, tissue paper, and tape, to use for construction. Students planned, designed, built, and tested their contraptions.

 

Collaborator

  • Self-Selected PLC Group - In addition to the district librarian PLC group, the librarian works closely with a group of librarians from different levels to plan instruction, brainstorm reading promotion activities, discuss concerns, and provide support.
  • First Grade Team - The librarian collaborated with the first grade team in planning, organizing, and implementing a research unit on insects. In whole group, the library modeled how to pull relevant information out of print and digital resources. Students followed along as they practiced taking notes. Over the next few days, students independently found information and took notes on an assigned insect. To showcase their new learning, students created infographics that were hung in the hallways.
  • Makerspace Paraprofessional - The librarian collaborated with the Makerspace paraprofessional to discuss librarian-planned instruction and order necessary supplies. They also met to review the outcomes of lessons and modifications for the future.
  • This year, the librarian worked with a campus teacher obtaining her Masters in Library Science and Librarian Certification. Together, the librarian and student planned, developed, and implemented a Reading Day for third grade students. Third graders rotated through each classroom, participating in a different reading activity. Activities included a Book Tasting, Poetry Jam, IditaRead Training, Exploration of Nat Geo Database, and Reading is an Art (artistic response to a read-aloud).
  • Librarian PLC Group - The librarian met with her PLC librarian group during librarian professional development meetings to share out fiction and nonfiction book suggestions, participate in Makerspace activities, and plan instructional activities.

Collaboration Spotlight

Fifth Grade: Animal Battle Books The librarian collaborated with the ITS on a research project for fifth grade. After first graders complained about not having enough Animal Battle books, the librarian decided to have students write more! After planning with the fifth grade team the research portion, the librarian and ITS planned the final product - digital books that replicate the inspiration series. Students spent three days researching their selected animal with print and digital resources. Students went to the zoo to observe their animal in person. After gathering relevant information, student pairs created a digital book in Google Slides. Students entered information into the template including secret weapons (adaptations) that they use to protect themselves. Finally, the partners wrote the final battle scene and declared a winner. The books were shared digitally with all students via Seesaw.The librarian selected the best ten to have printed and added to the library collection.

 

Fifth graders accessed digital resources to gather information for their Animal Battles book project.

Campus Leader

  • Through collaboration with another librarian, the librarian created a flipped PD experience that highlighted instructional strategies from Discovery Education for teachers to implement in their classroom teaching. Each month, Learning in the Loo spotlights were hung in the staff restrooms around campus. The librarian also modeled these strategies during library instruction.
  • Story Walks: Members of the community were invited to visit the Library Story Walk with their families. Each month, a new Story Walk was on display. Families could visit the Kindergarten playground in the evenings and weekends to take a stroll.
  • Social Media: The librarian is an active member of social media, posting on the Huebner Library Facebook page, Huebner Elementary Facebook page, and Huebner Library Twitter account. The librarian also has a dedicated section in the Principal’s newsletter that is updated weekly. Postings highlight instruction, reading programs, special events, and other library-related information.
  • PLC Coverage: During grade-level meetings, the librarian provides additional instruction to students that extend the lessons taking place in the library. Every morning, the librarian gathers the entire student body of a grade level together for a mini-lesson to allow PLC teams time to meet. The librarian also serves as GLC for the specials team.
  • Texas Library Association Annual Conference: The librarian attended the TLA Annual Conference in Fort Worth this April. The librarian attended several professional development sessions on a variety of librarian topics and issues. She also collaborated with librarians from NEISD to plan future programming.
 
During Black History Month, the librarian modeled the Connect the Dots strategy for third grade teachers as students learned about influential leaders.
After reading the Bluebonnet Award winning title The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read aloud to second graders, the librarian modeled the AEIOU teaching strategy for their teachers.