Library, Marblehead Village School, 2.5 hours

During my observation on 2/15/13, I witnessed a variety of things that a typical Friday might bring.  A 4^th grade class was utilizing the library for a non scheduled “free read” time, special education came into the library with some students so that they could work with the LMS in a smaller group to find books and she offered assistance with their projects, and lastly the LMS was training a new community volunteer.  Once I had a chance to sit down with the LMS, we discussed her newest project and the usage of volunteers.  When looking at what guideline I first felt this observation seemed to target, reading or collaboration came to mind, but after some reflection, I felt that it should mainly address the collection and information access.

When I think of collection and information access, what comes to mind is a library full of books, periodicals, reference materials, audio/visual materials and computer access to databases and the internet in general.  While there can be virtually unlimited access to materials, which I saw firsthand from my time shelving some books for Mrs. Soghomonian and straightening the well used bookshelves, what was missing is a way for children to know which books are best suited for them.  Sometimes in an effort to achieve quantity, we need to step back and qualify what we have.  This takes the form of the LMS’s newest project that she is working on with a great deal of volunteer involvement.  She likes to have the volunteers help out with the daily clerical activities of the LMS, but she is mindful that there has to be a long term project that can be worked on once the other aspects of the job are completed.

As part of a recent Lucy Calkins study group that Mrs. Soghomonian is taking with teachers in the 3^rd through 6^th grades, she shared with me their collective goal which is to level all the guided reading books.  Most classroom teachers have a much smaller collection and the teachers are having room parents and volunteers label them.  Mrs. Soghomonian decided that this would be an ideal project to have her many eager volunteers work on when they have some spare time to donate.  Knowing that there are approximately 8,000 books in her collection, she knows that this is a large task.  

She first printed out a listing of all the fiction books with the author’s name in the library’s collection.  Mrs. Soghomonian then highlighted the ones that were used the most as a great place for the volunteers to start researching the guided reading levels.  To find the correct reading level, she showed the newest volunteer Scholastic Book Wizard and Booksource as the online resources that would assist them.  Mrs. Soghomonian will later go into the records of each identified book and add the guided reading level into the MARC record.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak - Level J (Courtesy of Scholastic Book Wizard)

Caterpillars to Butterflies by Bobbie Kalman - Level J (Courtesy of Booksource)

Mrs. Soghomonian likes the idea of making a reference to the level in the record but does not want any levels written on the books themselves.  She was also clear that her role as LMS was not to teach reading but to be supportive to its patrons and encourage a love of reading.  She feels that she wants there to be no “stigma” associated with a patron reading a book due to its high or low level by his/her peers.  Teachers, parents and children will be able to search on their desired level when looking for a book.  I feel that this extensive initiative is a great way for the students to be able to find books for their level discretely, teachers to easily identify books that meet a desired level and it is a great way for Mrs. Soghomonian to show that the library is supporting the classroom teachers.  Her next areas of focus will be nonfiction high usage curriculum units of study before tackling the remaining resources in the library.  This leveling project, while not the main initiative that Mrs. Soghomonian is undertaking, certainly will allow teachers and users to meet the needs of the curriculum at a level that is appropriate for all learners.  Leveling will give this well developed collection the quality and meaning on a more individual basis to meet patron needs.

Library, Marblehead Village School, 3 hours

My library observation on 2/14/13 really seemed to focus on the mission of the library.  From the initial review of effective Google searches to the upcoming unit of study on Canada, a yearly 4^th grade curriculum focal point relating to the study of North America, the goal seemed to address the various levels that Bloom presents.  The upper level of Bloom’s Taxonomy was apparent when the class was reviewing effective Google searching and then the lower levels of Bloom were seen for the upcoming unit on Canada.  Critical thinkers, skillful researchers and ethical users of information were woven into the lessons of both 4^th grade classes that I observed.

Mrs. Soghomonian asked, “What clues do information detectives need to remember when looking at a website?”  Both classes were quick to remember the “about” button on a website to find out more about the author.  The students even offered reasons as to its importance.  As one girl stated, “You don’t want any random person to post.”  Another child shared some information that she learned on Wikipedia.  She proudly shared, “Wikipedia said that bunnies sleep with their eyes open.  Since my bunny does not, I looked at a few other websites and they didn’t say that.  This shows that Wikipedia can have wrong information.”  

When an article was written or a website was updated brought up another important factor when selecting a site as well as the clue in the URL.  These children have learned to not be as trusting when on the net.  One child even said, “K12 is from a school and you can usually trust them.”  It seemed unanimous that the “.gov” sites from the USA were probably not written to mislead according to these students.  From their responses the major criteria for website selection were being utilized and remembered by both classes.  With those skills solid, Mrs. Soghomonian moved on to Canada.

Map of North America Courtesy of the Library of Congress

She gave students some background as to why they would be studying Canada and completing a project on it in library over the next few weeks.  Since the 4^th grade core curriculum standards in social studies focuses on North America and the classroom teachers spend so much time with the U.S.A. and Mexico, it left little time to learn about our neighbors to the north.  Mrs. Soghomonian had a large map of North America visible.  She first asked for observations about Canada from the students.  This allowed the students to share any connections to the geography in relationship to the USA.  I saw firsthand that visuals are very important to further understanding.  For one brave child, this visual offered clarification of the location of Alaska in the world.  The child inquired if that really was Alaska attached to Canada.  Once the teacher confirmed her question, the child said, “Any time I have seen Alaska on a map of the USA it was near Hawaii.”  Other students also shared their similar misconceptions as a result of this child’s geographical confession.  Both Mrs. Soghomonian and I never realized that the USA maps could distort the true location of this state for students when the 50 states are not shown in conjunction with North America.  This open discussion was a wonderful opportunity to clear up misconceptions and make connections for students.

Map of the 50 States Courtesy of ABCTeach

Mrs. Soghomonian then asked the class to raise their hands if the students had any personal connections to Canada.  She offered examples of connections such as a visit to Canada, participating in the Marblehead/St Lambert’s hockey tournament, ancestors from Canada or a parent went there on business.  Out of a class of 22 and 23 children, less than half of each class raised their hands to make a personal connection.  I actually saw the level of engagement rise over the course of their sharing by the connections and excitement that the children had.  I was reminded of the Michael Wesch YouTube video where he states, “You can tell if kids are engaged by paying attention to the questions they ask.”  By the end of the discussions I heard, “Why didn’t Canada want to buy Alaska?” and “What was Canada like before the U.S. bought it?”  

The conversation allowed all the children to make a connection.  The children identified some similarities and differences with Mrs. Soghomonian’s help over the course of each class’s discussion.  After many similar thoughtful questions and comments, Mrs. Soghomonian concluded this discussion by saying, “You have done a wonderful job of generating questions about Canada and we will later answer those same questions through our research projects.”

Library, Marblehead Village School, 2 hours

My observation on 2/12/13 seemed to best focus on the collaboration among partners to present unified decisions along with their basis for each decision.  Each of the two 5^th grade classes that I observed completed a previous lesson where they examined primary source documents in the form of early American runaway slave advertisements.  (This previous lesson can be found on my 2/5/13 blog entry.) The children had to decide, based on the clues given in the advertisements, if the slaves made it to freedom or they were captured.  They then presented the clue along with their analysis of the situation and all surrounding factors at the time to give a logical determination of the slave’s success at achieving freedom.

It was the same as each class entered the library, or in this, the case court room.  Mrs. Soghomonian had an easel with the names of each slave along the left hand side and two additional columns next to it that read “freedom” and “captured” along the top.  The classes were told to finish their final determinations as to each slave’s fate with their partner.  Mrs. Soghomonian reminded the children that they needed to use clues from the advertisements to make their judgment.  In addition to the clues that support their judgment, Mrs. Soghomonian wanted the children to synthesize the given information and extrapolate what it meant in terms of each slave’s success.

After all the groups were ready to present their rulings, Mrs. Soghomonian took an initial poll and tallied the numbers on the easel based on each group’s final determination.  Once that was done, Mrs. Soghomonian asked for those who believed Quash made it to freedom to share why.   Some arguments were, “His clothes were common just like others so he blended in well.  Although he had a missing toe, he was wearing shoes so it didn’t matter.  He had good English skills so he would not attract attention to himself.  He was in his prime so he could handle the harsh conditions of being on the run.”  The groups that believed he was captured stated, “He was well described in the ad including what he wore so it would have been easy to notice him.  He had no big toe so if someone wanted to check his feet it would have been obvious who he was.  It was the middle of winter when he left and since he was not wearing winter clothes, he would have been freezing and left foot prints in the snow.” 

Quash's Runaway Slave Advertisement Courtesy of University of Virginia

In their initial poll, the teams were split evenly over Quash’s fate, but after both sides stated their positions Mrs. Soghomonian turned to me and asked me to rule in favor of who gave the strongest reasoning based on the clues.  Luckily, I was taking notes so I noted key arguments on each side and then gave a final ruling in favor of freedom.  The children were so invested in their positions that you could tell which position they held based on their reaction to the final ruling.  This format was successful and even showed that when the next pair of slaves, Cuffee and Essex, were being debated with 4 teams supporting freedom and only 2 supporting captured, it was the captured teams that gave the best argument overall and won the debate.  This showed all the teams that just because they were in the majority with their determination, if they did not have solid reasoning to back up their position, then they had nothing to base their decision on and ruling in their favor was most unlikely.  

Dick's Runaway Slave Advertisement Courtesy of University of Virginia

This format continued for each of the 5 slave advertisements in each of the classes.  While some of the same arguments were given for the clues in the paper, occasionally there was one that showed even more thought.  This was the case with the last slave named Dick.  One argument for his capture was that he had a very visible R branded onto his right cheek which would be very obvious.  However, with questioning by Mrs. Soghomonian as to the meaning of the R, one student guessed that it meant “runaway.”  This student also said, “I think he made it to freedom since he tried to runaway before and knows what not to do.  Also he is more motivated to leave now after being branded.”  

In summary, Mrs. Soghomonian said you need to really look at the primary source, since there is so much information given, and use your brains to make an educated guess as to what happened.  The students in both classes at the end questioned whether each slave made it to freedom.  They were genuinely engaged in the lesson and the fate of these slaves that they had come to know.  While with major events we know the outcome, the fate of these slaves was unknown.  Seeing this level of interest and the questions and comments that were generated made it obvious that the children were deeply invested in this lesson and the outcome.  These primary source documents helped the students to work together to push each other to use the information given to explore the past.  With the ability to draw on their knowledge and connections, the children were able to critically look at what was presented and determine the outcome.  I am glad that I was able to see the culmination of this lesson and the reactions of the children.  I felt that Mrs. Soghomonian took a potentially dry subject and made it creative, collaborative, interactive, instructive, inquiry-based and genuinely fun!

Library, Marblehead Village School, .5 hours

My 2/6/13 observation was of the after school program that is run by the librarian from 2:30 to 3pm daily.  She provides this time on a regular basis so that the students will be able to come leisurely after school to check in/out books, work on homework both alone and in groups, get assistance on a research project, find sources, socialize with friends or read independently.  During my observation, I witnessed all of these things happening at one time or another.

In the library, Mrs. Soghomonian has two computers she allows children to use in addition to two others at the check in/out desk which contains the database and another at her desk.  Unless he is using one of her computers she will allow children to use them as well.  (At this time of day, the computer lab is off limits for student use since she is not able to provide supervision in there.)  

As I entered the library, a student was already seeking assistance to find a site author for his 4^th grade teacher assigned research project.  The student had initially used the WorldBook Database for one source of information but needed another, so he used Bing to find one.  On the site, he found Ezine Articles but he was having a difficult time finding the author.  Mrs. Soghomonian also could not find any information about the author and reminded the student to use the databases on the school library’s website.  She told him that his class had not learned about website evaluation yet during library class but they would be learning it soon.  Mrs. Soghomonian asked him if he had a difficult time locating author information on the WorldBook and he did not.

Tables and Chairs in Village Library

The library provides many different seating options.  There are small sofa sections scattered around the periphery of the library, along with tables and chairs, folding canvas stadium chairs and green circular corduroy chairs.  While most children opted for one of those, 2 girls spread out their papers on the carpeted floor in front of their friends to work as a group on homework.  The 20 children in the library were not quiet but instead used appropriate voices to interact with each other.  All the children were utilizing the library resources, the physical space and/or the expertise of the librarian.  

 Assorted Seating at Village Library

The librarian likes this time of day.  She enjoys helping individual students during this unstructured time.  She has the luxury of doing this thanks to the invaluable assistance of a very dedicated parent volunteer who sees the benefit of providing daily support after school with Mrs. Soghomonian.  This parent began her association with the library as a volunteer for her older son’s class when he was in 4^th grade.  Once her older child was in 6^th grade and her younger son was in 4^th she began coming afterschool to work in the library.  She is in her third year of working with Mrs. Soghomonian afterschool.  She claims it is a win-win situation since she allows Mrs. Soghomonian to focus on more important work while she provides the clerical assistance that is desperately needed. 

This parent spends her time doing any task that is required of her.  She checks in/out books, straightens out the shelves for abandoned books, and covers books for processing.  As our time ended, the parent politely announced to the students that they had 2 minutes remaining before the library would be closing.  By this point the librarian had left for her staff meeting and the parent was shelving the last of the books so that Mrs. Soghomonian would have a clear cart to return to.  It was clear to see that both the librarian and the parent both appreciate what the other does and they have a seamless working relationship.