District Wide Information

Writing to Improve Reading http://carnegie.org/fileadmin/Media/Publications/WritingToRead_01.pdf

According to the authors of this research study (Graham and Hebert, 2010) this report from the Carnegie Corporation shows writing practices that improve students' reading ability.  Practices include

• having students write about texts they have read (through analysis, interpretation, personal reflection, or summary, or by creating or answering questions to improve comprehension through the act of students' reflecting on ideas presented in the text and putting those ideas in their own words). 
• explicitly teaching spelling and how to write sentences and paragraphs,
• and increasing how much and how often students write.

District Wide Information

Welcome back to school!

Media Centers will not open until Monday, August 30th unless the media assistants and I can get things in order before then. Media assistants start work tomorrow (Monday, August 23rd and only work on student contact days). Please know that if possible we will open the media centers as soon as possible.  An announcement or email will be sent if the media center is able to open before next Monday.
Some things that need to be done before the media centers can be opened...

• new student and teacher library accounts
• AR rosters updated
• library decorations completed

Like last year, this blog is my way of sharing ideas, websites and media information district wide throughout the school year. I post every Sunday evening and then send an email reminder to all in the district to check out my blog.

Last year I asked teachers and staff to comment on my blog or send me an email comment so I had some interaction with teachers asking to provide constructive comments about the postings. I kept track of everyone that sent comments and I had a monthly drawing for those that sent comments to win a prize.
Please send me a comment if you'd like me to continue the comment option to win a prize (last year I gave away a USB drive each month!) I look forward to hearing from you!

For those of you new to reading my blog, I have many great websites you should check out. Some include information about reading strategies, some are about internet safety and much more. Also note that I have my schedule posted on the left side of the blog as well as the names of the media assistants in each building. I will be updating the dates as to when the book fairs will be held at each building.

At the Middle School and High School I will be contacting teachers about library media orientation.  At the high school, I would especially like to meet with 9th grade students at the high school.  At the elementary buildings proper care of books and check out procedures will be taught at Story time and at the first library media lessons.

I will be in touch with teachers at the elementary and middle school levels about library lessons for the school year.

I look forward to a great year and enjoy working with you and the students in Marshall Public Schools!