Check It Out

As winter sets in, it is the perfect time to catch up on some great reads! In addition to the weekly library lessons the West Orange Elementary School students experience, our media specialist have curated a large and diverse collection of materials from which students may choose. We encourage you to visit our library web pages where you will find the access information to all of our online resources including ebooks, research databases, read-alouds, and activities available 24/7. Read about library experiences our students have enjoyed recently. Then take some time to explore the links attached below.

Have a very Happy Holiday Season!

Warmly,

Ms. Mullin

Supervisor of Career Education and Library Science

At Redwood, students enjoyed a virtual visit from Author/Illustrator Katy Tanis. She read fascinating facts from her book Animal Olympics and answered questions the students had generated during a pre-visit lesson in their library class. Ms. Tanis also led a drawing activity in which students may have started with the same basic instructions and shapes, but ended up with an array of creative, individual responses. Thank you Principal Jackson for finding Ms.Tanis, and thank you Mrs Diglio for helping me put together this educational, engaging, and enjoyable visit.

If you would like more information about Katy Tanis and her books, please visit her website, https://www.daughterearth.com/shop or see our newsletter https://www.smore.com/fvsk2

Students at Washington School have been learning all about eBooks. There are so many awesome eBooks available in our school district to read for school and for fun. So far, we have been exploring the MackinVia eBook platform. Students have been utilizing the basic features of MackinVia to check out current and popular eBook titles. Students have also been learning how to use the MackinVia Notebook for research, highlighting, and note-taking purposes. We are so excited to keep reading with MackinVia and explore more eBook platforms in the future.

Click here for our eBook newsletter. Please use your school Google account for access.

At St Cloud, grades 4 &5 students have been learning how to design in 3D using Tinkercad. Their projects range from keychains to bookmarks to personalized objects that have special meaning to each of them. Check out some of the completed projects and some of the works in progress.

Students at Kelly School are learning how to navigate both the library shelves and MackinVia to access the books in which they are interested. In January, 3rd and 4th grade students will start learning about using the online catalog to find the locations for books in our library. Books about winter holidays are high in demand right now, as are non-fiction books about animals, dinosaurs, and people.

Graphic novels are flying off the (physical and digital) shelves! Graphic novel series books like The Baby-Sitters Club, Baby-Sitters Little Sister, Dog Man, and Amulet are most in-demand, while stand alone graphic novels like Allergic and Kayla Miller’s books are also popular. Lauren Tarshis’s I Survived series and Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid are both in high demand chapter books, while the picture book requests are dominated by Mo Willems’ books and Pete the Cat. Students will be introduced to award winning books in January once the 2022 Caldecott and Newbery Awards are announced.

At Gregory Elementary Library Media Center, we’ve been learning about many different topics through interactive Choice Boards and Virtual Reading Rooms. Featuring eBooks and read-alouds, as well as games and other resources, students can explore different subjects more fully, both in the library and at home. See below to check them out!

At Mt. Pleasant School, our students are in the spirit of making & STEM! Grades 4 & 5 are learning about open and closed circuits and have created winter-themed light-up circuit cards. Grades 2 & 3 have created pop-up art inside their cards for a 3D effect. Kindergarten and first grade students used oil pastels and pom poms to decorate gingerbread cookies after learning about author/illustrator Jan Brett and reading her books The Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Friends. We are grateful to be back in school utilizing makerspace during this holiday season.

Hazel Students have been exploring learning beyond the walls of our school. The fifth grade had the opportunity to engage in a Virtual Workshop with a volunteer from the Native American Museum in Washington D.C. The students engaged in conversation about some of the myths about Native Americans as we learned about their stories during the workshop titled “Telling the American Story.”

Click on the pictures below to explore the museum.

The students had the chance to design and create their version of the Macy’s Day Parade using Ozobots, mini-robots that read color-coded lines students create. They worked on the design of the floats, balloons, and parade routes. It was a great way for them to get a glimpse of how all the parts of this historic parade come together while learning about coding.

The students were excited that author Peter H. Reynolds commented on their Dot Wall Creation that we shared on Twitter. Their work was retweeted on the International Dot Day feed!

The District Librarians have a wonderful partnership with the West Orange Public Library. In October we collaborated with the Public library to give away hundreds of books at the Farmers Market and we promote upcoming activities at the Public Library. Take a look at what is happening in December:

Family Movie @ the Library

CRAFT-O-RIA

Please visit the Public Library for the many events (and books) that they have to offer!

Gregory LMC: Ms. Day

Hazel LMC: Ms. Soto

Kelly LMC : Ms. DeBaun Orr

Mt. Pleasant LMC: Ms. Bleeke

Redwood LMC : Ms. Boyd

St. Cloud LMC: Ms. Palant

Washington LMC: Ms. Mitterman

Ms. Nancy Mullin, Supervisor of Career Education & Library Science

Email: nmullin@westorangeschools.org
Website: https://www.woboe.org/domain/239