PLN Librarian Group. One of the silver linings of the Covid experience has been the online support group that several librarians and I formed on Teams. Throughout last year and this year, the five of us have discussed lesson plans, shared and developed ideas, and debated issues in our field. Even more importantly, we’ve provided each other with moral support and friendship through personal and professional challenges. This group has really been a blessing.
Chinese New Year - K - 3rd. During the last week of January, K-3rd grade students learned about author Grace Lin, used age-appropriate print & digital library resources, including books, PebbleGo, Discovery Education, and/or Britannica School, to learn about Chinese New Year traditions. They also listened to Lin’s book Bringing In The New Year. Back in their classrooms, students completed a Grace Lin draw-along video on YouTube to create a Chinese tiger for 2022 - The Year of the Tiger.
Intervention Groups. During the Spring semester, students in each grade participated in small instructional groups that targeted troublesome skills. As librarian, I had 5 intervention groups each week in addition to regular library classes: two 5th-grade, one 4th-grade, one 1st-grade and one Kinder. I communicated with the teachers about which skills needed addressing and ideas for how to do so, then implemented plans.
Endangered Animal Research with 2nd grade. The second grade team and I worked together to design a Guided Inquiry research project on Endangered Animals that addressed reading, writing, and technology TEKS. Students gathered information from print books and online Library Resources (through Launchpad) to create two Google slides for a class presentation.
Career Day with Counselor. Our school counselor and I worked together to plan and schedule multiple visitors for our first annual Career Day. I created a master spreadsheet for all grades, all speakers, and all locations that provided an organized framework for the event. She called and coordinated the visitors, and we hosted them in the library for coffee and snacks when they arrived at school.
This year, we began a Therapy Dog program in which specially trained dogs (with their handlers) come to campus and spend time reading with students who need a boost in their reading abilities and motivation. The teachers chose students who were reading at least two years below grade level according to their MAP scores. Those students work with one of our dogs, reading pre-selected books once a week for 15 minutes. According to their teachers, this program has had a tremendous impact. One teacher
commented that the program “has helped foster a love for reading as well as confidence” while another stated that her student “built confidence by spending time reading to an adult other than me or a family member.” Yet another said that “the dog provided the emotional support to help [my student] relax into reading.” Based on positive feedback from teachers and students, we plan to expand our program next year to involve even more students.