Nearly Done

MAP testing in the IMC is nearly over. There are only a few students who were absent who need to take one or two of the tests. As soon as these students return to school, their tests will be scheduled. For the IMC (and its staff), next week we go back to library business. The 8th grade LA/Reading classes are already signed up for book checkout with a booktalk. And Health and Spanish are using the computers. For Mrs. Wilson and myself it will be nice to get back to business as usual -- library business!

Strange Week

Since last Friday students have been taking their Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) tests for math, language usage, and reading in the IMC. Mrs. Wilson and I set up each computer with the proper test and student login. Students come with their math or LA/reading classes for the tests. Mrs. Wilson and I keep track of students who do not complete a test within their class period and Mrs. Liles arranges for more time. The MAP tests are not timed so students may have as much time as they need. Many of our students finish their tests within the class period or with one extra session. During this testing time the IMC is closed to all other business, so it has felt very strange for us librarians. This past Wednesday was an early dismissal day so the IMC was open for regular business as no testing was scheduled. We librarians really enjoyed a return to normal.

Next week is also a MAP testing so the IMC is closed except for Monday when no testing is scheduled due to the Red Ribbon Week assembly. MAP testing is scheduled to end on October 29th. The IMC will resume its regular schedule in November. The nice feature of this testing week for us is that while the students are testing, we have the opportunity to work on new books. Please check my other blog, What's New on the Book Shelves," to see what new books are now ready for checkout.

Timelines in World Book Online

This week 6th grade Social Studies classes have been working on a timeline project using World Book Online. Mrs. Maass and I collaborated in utilizing this special feature of our online encyclopedia. Students researched 5 events from specific years of the 21st century (2000-2010). World Book Online allowed them to search by year. Most of the encyclopedia articles were about people, so we also encouraged students to try the Back in Time Articles listed in the Results List. The Back in Time Articles gave an overview of events in certain categories like Literature, Sports, Television, Automobile, and Education, or in certain countries or continents. Using these articles it was easy for students to pick an event and get enough information to note the Who, What , Where, and Why. Then all they had to do was type a one sentence description and use pull-down menus to specify the date. World Book Online put their events in chronological order and made the timeline. Students printed their timeline in color for the final product.
Since this was the first time anyone used the timeline feature, Mrs. Maass and I learned a lot as the students worked through their project. I thank Mrs. Maass for being flexible when we ran into problems along the way that we did not anticipate. I am happy to report that the timeline feature was successful enough for Mrs. Maass to agree to use it again later this year.
World Book Online is a District 66 subscription and is linked to the district webpage.

Are There Any Books Left?

For the first time ever, all three grade levels checked out books this week and all classes were selecting free choice Accelerated Reader titles. Many of the IMC fiction bookshelves are very empty. Fortunately, with over 1200 AR quizzes there were plenty of choices for the students. And some great books were checked out!

Next week the computers take over. Classes using the IMC computer lab include 8th grade accelerated LA and music. The laptops will be in use in 6th grade accelerated LA and 6th grade Social Studies. Mrs. Maass and I have been exploring the timeline feature in World Book Online. 6th grade students will be using that feature for a social studies project.