First graders enjoy looking
at their selections in the Media Center while waiting for their
teacher.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
* Goals
of the Media Center Program
* Media
Center Policies
* How
Parents Can Help the Media Center Achieve Its Goals
* Media
Center Curriculum
* Give-a-Book
Program
Goals of the Media
Center Program
- To help the students
acquire an interest in and enjoyment of reading.
- To acquire and maintain
a balanced collection of media center resources which meet the
needs of the users.
- To teach the students
the necessary skills to be efficient and effective information
users.
- To support the Niskayuna
curriculum and the teachers' classroom programs by providing
necessary materials and appropriate guidance and instruction
to students.
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Media Center Policies
- All grades have a weekly
half hour media center class period scheduled. However, children
are encouraged to use the Media Center whenever they need to
come. With their teacher's permission, students may come to the
library any day and any time during school hours for browsing,
book exchange, or reference work.
- We do not set arbitrary
limits on the number of books an individual may borrow at any
one time. We encourage children to be responsible, considerate,
and to select a reasonable number of appropriate materials.
- Parents are invited
and encouraged to use the library's resources. The media specialist
is available to recommend appropriate titles or provide materials,
bibliographies and book lists to parents if requested.
- Most books are loaned
for two week time periods and must be returned or renewed by
the due date. Longer time periods are available on request.
- DVDS, video cassettes and
computer software are available for overnight and weekend borrowing.
Permission slips are required for students to borrow these items.
- Overdue notices are
sent out periodically. There are no fines charged for overdue items,
but prompt return is expected. Children with many overdue items
may be restricted from further borrowing until the overdues are
returned or renewed.
- Borrowers are responsible
for materials signed out to them. Any lost or damaged library
materials must be paid for according to a fee schedule set my
the district or the replacement cost of the item.
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How Parents Can
Help the Media Center Achieve Its Goals
- Encourage your children
to read. Show an interest in the books your child brings home.
Read with your child on a daily basis.
- Encourage your child
to take good care of library materials. Provide a safe place
for him/her to keep library materials at home.
- Provide a sturdy bag
so your child can safely transport library materials to and from
school.
- Help your child remember
to return materials on time by checking the due date cards in
the back pocket of books and making sure videos are returned
the next school day.
- Use the public library
with your child.
- Provide close supervision
when your child is using the Internet at home.
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BIRCHWOOD MEDIA
CENTER CURRICULUM
Literary Appreciation
and Understanding
- Appropriate for their
age, students will:
- Develop an understanding
of and appreciation for literature through exposure to various
types of literature and introductions to many different authors
and illustrators.
- Expand their curiosities
and understandings about the world through exposure to a variety
of nonfiction materials.
- Listen attentively to
stories.
- Become aware of universal
literary symbols.
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Reading Guidance
Personal reading guidance,
one of the most individualized components of the academic framework,
is often informal and spontaneous. It is important to view it
as an integral part of the total framework so that students are
continuously reinforced in the concepts that there are reading
materials about people like themselves and situations familiar
to them, as well as books that help them expand their knowledge
and understand other cultures, new ideas, and historical perspectives.
The program includes directed browsing, story-telling, listening
skills, book talks, bibliographies, creative and oral book sharing
with frequent joint instruction, planning, and collaboration between
the students' teachers and the media specialist.
Through a continuous reading
guidance program, students will be able to:
- Select books and materials
for classroom and personal use.
- Share reading experiences.
- Discriminate in choice
of reading matter.
- Meet individual differences
in reading interests.
- Understand personal
concerns through reading.
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II. Media Center
Skills of Location and Use for Primary Grade Students
- Learn to check out and
return materials independently according to established procedures.
- Demonstrate proper care
and use of print and non-print materials and equipment.
- Recognize, understand,
and use library media vocabulary and terminology appropriate
for their level.
- Learn that media centers
are organized and that knowledge of one media center can be applied
to others.
- Recognize that the library
media center is a place to find answers to personal and school-related
questions.
- Learn to locate and
select materials appropriate to interest and ability.
- Know that library books
and materials are shelved in an organized way.
- Locate the picture book,
fiction, nonfiction, and video sections.
- Learn the location and
arrangement of periodicals.
- Discover that fiction
is arranged in alphabetical order by the author's last name.
- Recognize that nonfiction
is arranged by subject and is shelved in numerical order.
- Recognize and find folk
tales, biographies, and reference materials as needed.
- Become aware that the
records for the media center's resources are stored in the computer's
on-line catalog (OPALS) and that materials can be located by
accessing these records.
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Media Center Skills
of Location and Use for Intermediate Grade Students
- Learn the process of
writing and constructing a book.
- Be able to locate fiction
books by call number.
- Understand the broad
categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification System and know
that like subjects are grouped together.
- Be able to locate nonfiction
materials by their Dewey decimal classification number.
- Use OPALS (the on-line
catalog) to locate books and other media center materials using
author, title, subject, keyword, and series searches.
- Use OPALS to locate
materials in other Niskayuna schools for interlibrary
loan.
- Learn to interpret the
information contained in a OPALS record.
- Identify the parts of
a book and use them in search strategies.
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Media Center Skills
of Inquiry and Investigation for All Grades
The use of materials for
reference and specific skills are taught when dictated by students'
needs. Research has shown that skills taught in isolation or out
of context are not retained. Therefore, when the students have
a purpose for learning which directly correlates with their needs,
instruction and guidance in the use of necessary materials is
given at that time. Most of the reference instruction in the media
center is integrated closely with classroom units or a student's
personal interests and is frequently on a one-to-one or small
group basis.
In addition to the nonfiction
collection, the media center contains a wide variety of reference
materials to help meet the information needs of students. These
include general and specific topic encyclopedias in printed and
subscription data base formats, almanacs, atlases, dictionaries, thesauruses,
periodicals, guide books, biographies, and other specialized resources.
Through our access to the World Wide Web, students are guided
in Internet searches for specific information. Students may borrow
materials from other buildings in the Niskayuna school district
through interlibrary loan.
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Media
Center Skills of Inquiry and Investigation
Primary grade
students will:
- Recognize that information
and ideas can be recorded and stored for later use.
- Identify information
sources at home, at school, and in the community.
- Interpret simple graphs,
charts, and maps.
- Locate and use specific
information on the title page and in the table of contents to
find information.
- Use dictionaries, encyclopedias,
magazine articles, nonfiction books and nonprint resources to
locate information when warranted by need and ability.
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Media
Center Skills of Inquiry and Investigation
Intermediate Grade
Students will:
- Be able to use a table
of contents, index, glossary, key words, guide words, headings,
topic sentences, and summary sentences to recognize and locate
information that is likely to be relevant to a search topic.
- Extract information
for notes.
- Summarize information
in written and oral forms.
- Try a broader term or
a more specific word during an information search.
- Develop an outline.
- Interpret graphs, charts,
maps, and diagrams to show how these serve to clarify or replace
written statements.
- Determine the most appropriate
resource(s) for an information search.
- Use the copyright date
to determine the currency of materials.
- Recognize that printed
material and information found through Internet searching may
reflect the point-of-view of the author.
- Prepare bibliographies
of resources used in researching topics.
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Give-a-Book Program
- Families, individuals,
and groups (Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, etc.) may donate a new book
to the Media Center in honor of a special occasion, in appreciation
of a teacher or staff member, in memory of a loved one, or for
any reason. These books will be placed in the Media Center collection
with an inscribed book plate which acknowledges the gift.
- Books to be donated
may be selected from a "wish list" kept in the Media
Center. Donors can select a title which reflects an interest
of your child or group and is appropriate for the occasion.
- If you are interested
in purchasing a book for the Media Center and would like more
information, please call the Media Center at 785-3577 or send
an email message to Mrs.Disque.
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