Kevin Henkes Website
It's been a challenge to think about how the Learning Commons can be useful for primary students. One of the ideas that I thought would be beneficial for primary students is to show them author websites. I am particularly excited to show author websites using the new television viewing area that will be installed later this year. Many author websites are rich learning opportunities and are highly interactive and engaging. I was approached by a grade 1 teacher who thought that showing her students an author website would be a great first step for her students in the Learning Commons. She asked me to show the students Kevin Henkes' website, as she had been reading her students his books in her classroom. Henkes' website is rich with interactive opportunities for students. We showed students a couple video clips which feature Henkes explaining the process of creating one of his stories. He is both the author and illustrator of his books, so it was very interesting for students to see how he creates one of his books. While this use of the Learning Commons wasn't research-based, I believe that it is a very good use of the Learning Commons. This experience exposed students to technology and how it can be used to access more information about something- in this case, more information about Henkes and the book creating process. This activity also helped to foster a love of books and learning. In order for students to view the Learning Commons as a home for exploration and learning, students need opportunities to enjoy reading and using technology in the library setting.
Spongebob and Research- Who knew?
I have been approached by the grades 5-6 teachers about teaching note taking skills during Learning Commons blocks. So far, I have had one class of grade 5s participate in one note taking lesson. We began by focusing on finding the main idea(s) in non-fiction text. I started the lesson by asking students what they currently knew about research. Their responses were very minimal, but this was expected for this age group. I explained that research can be very daunting and that we were going to learn how to research one step at a time. I related research to a puzzle and explained that we need to put together the puzzle piece by piece, that each piece is important, and that we need to put together a few pieces before research really starts to take shape. I read the students a description about one of the main characters from Spongebob Squarepants. Students seemed a bit surprised that a lesson about research would feature a beloved cartoon. Students were engaged because nearly every student had watched (and liked) the cartoon. I showed them the article about the character under the document camera and we dissected it sentence by sentence until we identified the main ideas of the text. I then gave the students a news story from Time for Kids and asked them to dissect the text in groups. Students were asked to identify the main ideas, supporting details and any pieces of information that they were unsure about. The classroom teacher circulated and helped students to identify the main ideas in the news story. The classroom teacher and I met after to discuss if the session was useful and if it was what she had in mind for her students. The next focus area will be putting the information that we collect into our own words and students will be introduced to the idea of plagiarism. One of the other teachers who approached me about these sessions mentioned another benefit of housing these sessions in the Learning Commons that I had not thought about. He mentioned that the Learning Commons provides consistency for students with regards to research skills. For example, students in grade 5 will already be familiar with the style of research skills that they will be exposed to in grade 6 and then this same skill set can be refined each year. Collaboration (as we already know) is so beneficial and we are beginning to see the benefits of housing some of our projects and lessons in the Learning Commons!
I was SO pleased to be approached by these teachers for these sessions. Research really does need to be broken down before students can really enjoy and benefit from it. Students do not need to be told what to research, but they need the proper tools to be able to research something effectively. The Learning Commons is a great place for students to be given the puzzle pieces and be shown how they come together, while allowing students to identify the picture the pieces create for themselves.
I hope these new uses of the Learning Commons add to your own ideas for future ideas for the Learning Commons.
Cheers!
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