• 2022/2023 Impact Report

Librarian

  • International Dot Day was a great day to connect, collaborate, and celebrate self-expression. Activities included Wear Dots to School Day, several dot-themed art projects, reading The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, and wonderful discussions addressing self-esteem, perseverance, and growth mindset.
  • The library provided many fun activities during the fall, including Read Around the School, the Scholastic Book Fair, and the Storybook Pumpkin Patch, which has quickly become a fall favorite! Students and families from all grade levels were invited to decorate a pumpkin to look like a favorite storybook character to plant in our Storybook Pumpkin Patch.
  • Wilshire celebrated Read Across America from February 27 to March 3, 2023. Our students participated in book-themed dress-up days and welcomed author Catherine Corcoran. Mrs. Corcoran entertained the students by reading her new book, Treasure Isle: A Swashbuckling Tale of a Boy and his Parrot.
  • Students in third through fifth grades had the opportunity to participate in the Texas Bluebonnet Award Reading Challenge. The students were encouraged to read from the list of twenty nominated books. After reading or listening to at least five books, the students were allowed to vote for their favorite Bluebonnet book. Many wonderful books were read, and our campus voted Memoirs of a Tortoise by Devin Scillian as their favorite.
Students wearing clothing with dots.
 
 
7,633
print books in collection
 
4,506
ebooks books in collection
 
6,408
print books checked out
 
867
ebooks books checked out
 
A student is using an app on an iPad.

Teacher

  • The librarian supported the Kindergarten curriculum by providing lessons on rhyming. The librarian read Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas while the students listened for and identified rhyming words. Playing with rhyming words is a great way to encourage phonemic awareness. Finally, the students created a dust bunny and used ChatterPix to record themselves saying rhyming words.
  • The library offers many books that feature sharing, kindness, teamwork, and understanding one’s emotions. The librarian read Crankenstein by Samantha Berger to the Pre-K students. They made personal connections to the main character and were able to explain why the character was so grumpy. They discussed facial expressions and feelings and created an emoji mask. Finally, they played a game where the students matched emotions from a play scenario with emoji masks.
  • The librarian read the TLA 2x2 book; Butterflies are Pretty... Gross by Rosemary Mosco to second-grade students. Afterward, the students used the district database, PebbleGo, to research other insects. They took notes and reported on how the insects were incredible but also pretty gross.
  • The librarian read a biography about Malala Yousafzai to the fourth-grade students and discussed how Yousafzai advocated for young girls' education. The students brainstormed other advocates and history-makers. They selected a person, either living or historical, who had positively impacted history or their community. They utilized district databases, such as PebbleGo Next and Britannica, to find information and used a research organizer to answer who, what, when, and why questions.
 

Students look at a tarantula while taking notes.

Lesson Spotlight

Third-grade students observed a tarantula from Region 20 and then listened to a nonfiction book to learn about arachnids. The students also learned how to use sketchnotes, a form of note-taking. While listening to the book, the students used sketching and writing to take notes. Sketchnoting promotes active listening and helps students to process what they are learning and retain information. Afterward, the students were able to retell the information they had learned about tarantulas by referring back to their sketchnotes.

 

Collaborator

  • The librarian collaborated with the gifted and talented teacher to create an after-school STEM club for families. Through fun activities, this club provided families with engaging hands-on exposure to science, technology, engineering, and math.
  • NEISD Learning Support Services piloted a reading program for Title 1 elementary schools called Spring into Reading. The librarian collaborated with the family specialist to provide an assembly to kick off and promote the exciting reading initiative for all students!
  • The librarian collaborated with the third-grade teachers on how to support students in their research of famous African Americans. The librarian taught lessons on notetaking, paraphrasing, plagiarism, citing sources, and utilizing district databases, such as PebbleGo and Britannica.
  • The librarian collaborated with the second-grade teachers to provide lessons in the library that supported classroom learning. For example, the librarian selected stories and lessons that prompted students to describe character traits, understand plot elements, and explain the importance of the setting.!

Collaboration Spotlight

The librarian collaborated with the third-grade teachers to create student interest in chapter books that were at an appropriate reading level for their students. The librarian hosted a Book Tasting Café that spotlighted various genres from different reading levels. The library was decorated to look like a restaurant to promote student engagement. Students “sampled” several books from a specific genre at each table. The students read a few pages of a book, then wrote down the title and location of the book if they enjoyed it. After a few minutes of sampling the books at their table, the students rotated to a new table. Following the book tasting, students could locate the books they wanted to check out. Circulation for early chapter books increased, and the teachers noticed student interest in different genres.

 

The students are looking at books.

Campus Leader

  • The librarian provided fall training on Library Resources, demonstrating how to use and access district-provided resources, which support literacy for students of all abilities. Some of the library resources reviewed in the training were PebbleGo, PebbleGo Next, and Britannica. Additional training was provided during the spring on how to incorporate Canva in the classroom. Individual and grade-level training was provided after school for teachers and staff who requested additional support.
  • The Wilshire Morning News Team consisted of fourth and fifth-grade students that were trained and supervised by the librarian. The team delivered school information and announcements daily through live video and led campus-wide Synergy Rallies every Friday.
  • Science, Literacy, and Math Night was a huge hit with our students and families. The librarian collaborated with the literacy specialist to provide a fantastic night of fun and engaging activities. The librarian worked with various community members, including Half-Priced Books and Kappa Epsilon Psi Military sorority, to host an Adopt-a-Reading Buddy program where students were given a stuffed puppy, certificate of adoption, I Love Reading bracelet, and a book to read to their puppy.
  • The librarian is an active member of social media, posting regularly on the Wilshire Elementary School Facebook page. Wilshire library lessons and special events, such as reading programs and author visits, are shared on Facebook @WilshireNEISD. The principal shares library events through parent emails, as well.
 
Students are leading the morning announcements.
A student is holding a stuffed dog.