More information to follow as Division 4 and 6 explore the effects of erosion during Library Collaboration.
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The Mischievous Librarian
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(Original Post March 23, 2020)
Literacy Initiative 2020
Blacklock's Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego Event has hit a whole new level of library mischief and we are loving every minute of it!
In the spirit of creating a love of reading culture in our school this year, we have used the Carmen Sandiego Event to encourage on and offline reading, fiction and non-fiction texts, and shared literacy experiences. We took time to honour identity and diversity while integrating the whole experience through a fine arts lens.
I tried to mimic the themes of the old computer game/ TV show from the '80s and '90s. Recently, Netflix has resurrected Carmen and given her a "Robinhood" queen of thieves persona. While I love the artistry of the reboot, I prefer her old, mischievous ways.
I created our official website for the staff and students using Wix.com:
Event Preparation
Lady Di and I decided there would be six locations where Carmen and her gang of crooks would hide with the button blanket.
Each location needed:
A picture book
1 -2 artefacts (to touch and hold)
Related dances, music, videos, artwork, and webpages for students to explore
A crook
An arrest video
A great deal of time was spent choosing the perfect picture books. It was important to us to have books that would be accessible for all of our grades (K - 5) while also honouring identity and diversity. We hoped siblings and families would talk about their personal connections and reflections to the picture books since everyone was reading the same books for the event.
We chose the following books:
Location #1: England: Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick
Location #2: Paraguay: Ada's Violin by Susan Hood
Location #3: Malawi: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
Location #4: Syria: Stepping Stones by Margriet Ruurs
Location #5: Australia: Circle by Jeanne Baker
Location #6: Russia: The Littlest Matryoshka by Corinne Demas Bliss
The Cast
The crooks' names were based on the original computer game and TV show with the exception of Eartha Brute's twin, Bertha. Lady Di wrote all of the biographies and the staff were in charge of finding their costumes.
The taping and head shots were filmed Friday after school. (If that's not teacher dedication, I don't know what is!)
Friday's agenda:
2 Head shots: normal and jail (green screen)
Arrest Videos (green screen)
Burglary Scenes with button blanket (outside, hallway)
Custodial Scenes with button blanket and Mr. Pickles (gym)
Mr. Pickles Cameo (Green screen/hallway)
Detective Scenes (hallway)
My husband, Grade 3 and Music teacher, played Vic the Slick.
Here are his headshots:
Evidence Boxes
Blacklock's classes are grouped in 3 pods (K/1 Pod, 2/3 Pod, and 4/5 Pod) so we purchased three file boxes for each pod from Staples.ca. The boxes were emptied and filled with items for each new location by a very supportive and helpful parent volunteer, Mrs. H.
Each box contained:
Picture Book
File Folder with QR Codes (enough for each student in a class)
1 - 2 Artifacts
Reminder Notice from Library (re: reading extra books for clues)
Evidence Tag and QR Code for the website (on the lid)
evidence-tag
.pdf
Download PDF • 52KB
Extra Clues
We wanted to encourage students to read books about different geographical locations and from various international authors.
We created a display of "Extra Clues Books" inside the library. Depending on the length of the book, students received 1 - 4 clues about Carmen Sandiego's final destination.
Extra Clues Sign
.docx
Download DOCX • 211KB
Hallway Decor
Luckily, I have access to a display case and a huge empty wall just outside the library.
The display case housed the crooks' biographies along with some fun decorations!
The empty wall held the giant blank map, the "Classes Guessing Board," and Mr. Pickles' Adventures Map. The giant blank map kept track of locations were the crooks were captured. The country's name and a picture of the crook in jail were pinned to the map.
Successes
Shared Reading Experiences: As it turns out, it was not just the students and families who enjoyed discussing the picture books! My heart burst with happiness as I listened to the staff discussing their personal responses to Finding Winnie in the staffroom at lunch time. It proves that adults need opportunities to share reflections about literature as much as children do.
Geography Skills: I witnessed parents and other family members pointing out specific places on Mr. Pickles' Adventure Map to the students. Connections to vacations, relatives overseas, and world events were made as people pointed out places on the world map. I even heard one of our Reading with Seniors volunteers pointing out to his reading buddy the places where he was stationed during his military career.
World Events: Students learned more about the places that have been in the news recently. Australia became more than just a country that was suffering from wildfires and a renewed interest in Syrian refugees prevented their plight from being forgotten by our school community.
Research Skills: It was exciting to walk by classrooms and eavesdrop on the learning that was taking place. I watched teachers help students find places on Google Earth, create class lists and eliminate possible places, and encourage students to search for additional information about artists and authors. One teacher even signed out an "Extra Clues Non-Fiction Book" to read aloud to her partner as a bedtime story as she wanted to know more about Machu Picchu.
Connecting with the Global Community: During our second week, a school in Salmon Arm, BC joined our pursuit of Carmen and her thugs. I added a short welcome video for the students and they are working through the books and clues right alongside us. We are hoping to set up Skype sessions between the two schools eventually.
(Original Post: December 1, 2020)
The financial struggle is real.
Especially when it comes to public school library funding.
Then, add a little pandemic and you have yourself a serious lack of moola for your library.
No Scholastic Book Fair = $0
No Used Book Sales = $0
Cancelled PAC events = $0
Ugh. Silver Lining…? There sure is. Let me show you!
My First Read-A-Thon
The read-a-thon was birthed from a book room request. One of my side jobs is keeping the Intermediate book room updated after being given a district grant in 2017 to overhaul the entire collection. Since then, Lady Mac and I have been diligently adding 1-2 new book sets each year.
Enter pandemic.
With no extra money, I went to my staff to see what we could do to purchase a few books to complete two sets of novels for the book room. My plight was heard loud and clear by a senior staff member, who proposed a read-a-thon fundraiser. Her hope was that not only would the fundraiser fund the book room sets, and anything left over could go towards library books.
read-a-thon_instructions
.docx
Download DOCX • 17KB
Tip: Set a Reasonable Monetary Goal
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the incomes and budgets of many of our families so we decided to set our goal at $1000. This may seem like a lot and it is. However, our calculations were based on each student raising $5.00, which was deemed possible by the admin and staff.
Tip: Recruit the Students
The most powerful part of this fundraiser was student involvement and ownership. Two intermediate divisions took on the advertising tasks which included iMovie Trailers, posters, and ballot boxes. The iMovie trailers were viewed by whole school during library blocks and were available for community viewing once uploaded to the school’s Youtube account. Posters were hung all over the school and featured reminders of dates, events, and prizes.
Brochures and reading logs were sent home with each student along with an email blasted out to all the families outlining the events.
We chatted a lot about owning the fundraising and discovering what each of us could do rather than only asking for money. Even the Kindergarteners brainstormed ideas such as raking leaves, picking up toys in playrooms, and playing with baby siblings while parents cooked dinner.
The students enjoyed watching the Money Thermometer slowly rise as donations came in via cash donations and School Cash Online Accounts. The fruit of their labour truly was a sight to behold!
Read-A-Thon Events
The read-a-thon took on the this year's library theme, Blacklock in Wonderland. The staff came up with daily events for the Wonderland Read-A-Thon Week:
Mad Hatter Monday
Wear a hat while reading
Topsy Turvy Tuesday
Read in odd and strange places or positions
Wonderland Wednesday
My weekly school-wide podcast of Alice in Wonderland took on theatrical "one woman show" element for this special Wednesday.
Thankful Thursday
Bring a book from home to read that you are thankful for
Flashlight Friday:
Reading in the dark by flashlight
Classes took part in each event at some point during the day.
It was so much fun!
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