Goal:To work with a teacher to evolve their pedagogical practice with the use of reference resources.
Teacher A - Mrs. Sunshine
Situation:
Mrs. Sunshine is a Gr. 1/2 teacher in the English program in a French immersion elementary school. She would like to engage her students in a focused inquiry study on an animal of their choice. She would like their primary source to be informational (non-fiction) books from the library. The aim is to have the student work on this project over the period of one month during their science time. Teacher wishes for their students to be able to locate and extract information on: physical characteristics, habitat, diet, adaptations and offspring. The collected information will be further used as students develop an understanding on animal groupings.
Experiences and Methods:
This is a project that Mrs. Sunshine has done for a number of years but the first where she is giving students more choice for the task. She has some concerns as her students’ reading levels are across a wide range and many will not have learned the skills of locating and extracting information independently. As well, in the past, instruction has been from packages where the information was laid out in steps and it was uniform instruction to the class. Mrs. Sunshine has previously only experienced dropping students off in the LLC for prep coverage and has not had collaborative time with the Teacher-Librarian.
Design:
Working with the classroom teacher, the TL and teacher will collaborate in creating a variety of lessons to support student learning in the LLC. In Part I, students will work through a series of stations (scavenger hunt style) to familiarize themselves with informational books and how to navigate them.
We will examine the following attributes of the books:
1) Title and author
2) Table of contents
3) Headings
4) Bolded vocabulary/Glossary
5) Diagrams
6) Index
The books being used are a part of a series “Blastoff! Readers”, they are at varying reading levels but all have the same consistent layout and design. This will ensure we can pair the student with a book they can read so they can focus on the activities. Students will be able to choose an animal from the books provided. Part II will have the students going into their particular book and locate and extract information specific to their animal.
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| From Bellwether Media |
Levels of Use (Concerns-Based Adoption Model)
Orientation – Meet to determine need and to elaborate on the assistance TL can provide
· Set a time to discuss the project and the type of assistance the teacher wants
· Suggest resources that would meet the needs of the students and the teacher
· Answer questions regarding concerns – variety of materials needed, student reading levels
Preparation – Ready materials and ensure teacher is comfortable with it
· TL to pull the book series to be used: Blastoff! Readers – variety of animal titles
· TL to verify with teacher if variety and levels of books are appropriate to needs
· Allow time for teacher to familiarize themselves with material and layout of information
· Clarify keywords/vocabulary to be used for consistency; supply teacher with list
· Go over activity stations
Mechanical – Run the stations in the library during collaborative time, team teach with the teacher, support as needs arise
· Set-up the activity stations
· Teacher and TL deliver instructions at the stations and circulate as students work, assist in answering questions
· Teacher and TL to compare notes at the end of Part I sessions to assess instruction and learning and ensure students are ready to move to Part II.
Routine – Using learned vocabulary from station activities and with teacher direction, students will locate and extract information on their animal
· Teacher will review attributes of informational books with students in the classroom
· Teacher and TL will assist students as they navigate their resources to find target information
· Student learning will be assessed throughout and any necessary review/instruction provided
Teacher B - Mrs. Harmony
Situation:
In converting our library into a LLC space, our collection was massively culled. Many floating shelves were removed in order to make room for flexible furnishings and some materials (such as textbooks and novel kits) are to be relocated. Many teachers were shocked and appalled by the number of books weeded, however, upon closer examination, it was apparent that it needed to be done as much of the collection was dated, worn, or no longer relevant to our curriculum. As a result, the shelves are looking very bare and teachers are upset and worried that there are no longer enough resources for our student population.
One of the solutions is the creation of digital Collections within our library catalogue, Destiny. TLs are being asked to create vetted collections of websites, images, activities, books (print and electronic), and multimedia resources to supplement topics of importance. In particular, beginning last year, our school is on an A/B/C year for social studies and science (subjects are in a three-year rotation and is being covered by all grades). This means that the whole school is now vying for limited books and resources. Of interest this year is the Renaissance Fair that the whole school is participating in.
Now that a number of relevant Collections have been created, it would be beneficial for the teachers to put them to use and even better if they would collaborate in the building of future Collections. Many teachers in my school, including Mrs. Harmony, have no idea that these Collections exist, let alone how to access them.
Experiences and Methods:
Mrs. Harmony has taught at grade 8 for a number of years. The Renaissance has been a large chunk of the grade 8 curriculum for social studies in past years, this will be the first year where resources are in high demand. Mrs. Harmony will also be joining other teachers in organizing a Renaissance Fair. For most of the other teachers, this will be the first time they teach the Renaissance and they will likely appreciate any expertise that Mrs. Harmony can offer. Teams (4 classes) will be working together to develop their part for the Fair and it will culminate in a school-side presentation day in the gym.
Design:
TL has created digital collections on the “Middle Ages” and the “Renaissance”. These Collections will be shown to the staff as a whole at a staff meeting to build awareness of the resource. Interested teachers will attend a workshop to navigate and build a Collection of their own. TL will invite these teachers to collaborate in building future Collections on upcoming topics of interest.
Levels of Use (Concerns-Based Adoption Model)
Orientation – TL will request time in a staff meeting to showcase Destiny Collections and offer follow-up workshop to those who are interested to learn more
Preparation – TL to provide a workshop (Lunch and Learn) to give a guided overview of Destiny Collections
· TL will model step by step instructions for teacher to sign-in to their Destiny account, locate Collections, navigate existing Collections and begin building a private collection
· TL will create a “Renaissance Fair” Collection and “invite” teacher participants to join in building it – teachers like Mrs. Harmony will be able to share reliable sites and resources they know of
Mechanical – Teachers will be able to access and retrieve reliable information, share expertise and cooperate via the Collections to prepare for the Renaissance Fair
· TL to facilitate the building of the Collection and offer help as needed
· Mrs. Harmony will build confidence in using the PLT and possibly open up other Collections she builds for future collaboration with her colleagues
Referenced
Huang, Po-Sang. "Levels Of Use - Concerns-Based Adoption Model". Sites.Google.Com, 2011, https://sites.google.com/site/ch7cbam/home/levels-of-use.
Percevault, Eleana. "The Middle Ages". Collections.Follettsoftware.Com, 2019, https://collections.follettsoftware.com/collection/5babb0c14b2c270011dcfae8.
Percevault, Eleana. "The Renaissance". Collections.Follettsoftware.Com, 2019, https://collections.follettsoftware.com/collection/5badbe8489c797001193ef50.
"Prek - 3". Bellwethermedia.Com, 2019, https://bellwethermedia.com/k-3.html?top_level_subjects=783&dir=desc&reading_level=400-401&p=1&imprints=526. Accessed 27 Feb 2019.
