Hafey,+Melissa

[|__http://pviewlibrary.blogspot.com__]

Deliverable #3 Dear Mr. De Angelis, I am requesting permission to create a blog for the Pleasant View library. The purpose of this blog would be to provide information about the library to the faculty and students. For example, the fifth grade students are working on projects in the library. These projects require some work to be completed at home. By making a blog available to them, the students and parents will be able to get updates on what is required, post questions, comment on other student posts, and collaborate on line. I also feel it it a great tool to stay connected to our students’ families. Setting up a blog is easy, posting to the blog can be done quickly, and it can be updated from anywhere-home or school. I have taken a look at several blog sites. Blogspot by Google is free, easy to use and navigate through.

I have also researched the benefits to having a school blog. According to the web site there are 11 advantages to using blogs in education one of which being the fact that blogging is participant centered.

In looking at the website [|__http://www.adultlearn.com/blogs-education.html__] a blog “will also help parents to be informed of what’s going on in the classroom. This, in turn, will lead to more parents taking active roles in their children’s education.” If you decide to allow a Pleasant View Library blog, I feel it would be beneficial to present this idea during our monthly faculty meeting as well as a scheduled PTO meeting. I think parents might be more receptive if they are able to ask questions regarding security, what it is to be used for etc. Speaking of security, there would have to be guidelines for students to follow to ensure the safety of all students. We should also consider limiting postings to members of our school community only. I have created a blog for you to look at before you make any decisions. It can be accessed at pviewlibrary.blogspot.com. I look forward to your feedback

Sincerely, Melissa Hafey [|__http://pviewlibrary.blogspot.com__]

[|__http://pviewlibrary.blogspot.com__]

Melissa Hafey final project 5/3/09 Purpose: the purpose of this unit is to integrate information literacy skills with social studies. We have a problem at my school with students ‘googling’ information and wanting to copy and paste whatever they find into a document and call it their own. Because I have more computers in the Library than the classrooms, students often come to conduct research and complete assignments. Background: I am working on a social studies unit on immigration with a fifth grade teacher. We have been collaborating to develop lessons connecting information literacy and civics. She has been teaching the civics portion and I have been teaching the information literacy skills. Goals: the goal of this unit is for students to : (1) have a greater understanding of the effects of immigration on the American landscape. (2)Become information literate. Objectives: 1. Students will learn how to search for authentic and appropriate information on specific cultures using the Internet. 2. Students will be read the story **__The King of Mulberry Street__** and be able to make connections (text to me, text to text, and text to world). 3. Students will create an “Ancestor box “ containing geological jewels representing the life of an immigrant. 4. Students will learn how to create a power point presentation depicting the culture represented by the ancestor box. Information Literacy Portion:

Lesson 1 ( 3 days) During the library session, I asked students what a search engine was and what they are used for. About 1/3 knew that search engines only give web sites, not the actual information. After distributing the Cybersmart handout, we looked over the criteria that would make a search engine ‘just right’. Students were given a list of search engines and a brief description of each. The assignment was to complete a criteria checklist for at least 4 search engines.

Here is the link to the student worksheets: After completing the exercise, we shared out what we found as a whole group. Students shared out what they learned about finding appropriate information and what makes the information authentic-they have been told do not believe everything you find!! Evaluation: At the conclusion of the lesson (3rd day) students were required to given the definition of a search engine and what it is used for. They were also required to name at least 4 kid friendly search engines.

Lesson 2( 3 days) Our school has a diverse population and most students have family members who have immigrated to the United States. Students have been given the assignment by their classroom teacher to interview an immigrant about his/her immigration experience. They recorded what country this person immigrated from, their birth date, and reason for immigration. Using the Internet, students conducted research and created a Power Point presentation on that culture/country. Because we do not have a dedicated computer teacher, I taught the students how to create a slide show using the Power Point program. Students were given time to use the computer workstations to search World Book online and use their newfound skills to search other web sites for information on their country. Their teacher requested at least 6 slides, so the students were given a graphic organizer to record what they found. Once they complete this assignment, I showed students how to use Power point. Evaluation: completion of the graphic organizer following the criteria of the classroom teacher.

Lesson 3(5 days) To teach the power point program, I created my own slide show to illustrate the process. Students crated a basic power point presentation with a minimum of 6 slides first. After they mastered adding information to the slides, I taught how to ‘pretty it up’ with slide design and animation schemes. Evaluation: Students received a rubric on a scale of 1-4. The rubric contained a checklist so the students could self evaluate through the creation of the Power Point presentation. Students presented their slide shows to the class and were graded 1-4 for the presentation. The classroom teacher and I also took turns reading the novel **__The King of Mulberry Street__**, by Donna Jo Napoli, a story about a young boy’s immigration experience to America from Italy in the late 1800‘s.
 * In addition to these lessons, students were creating “ancestor boxes”. These were created by using shoe boxes or any other small box that could hold at least 5 items of interest. The boxes were decorated to represent the country researched, and contained at least 5 “geological jewels” such as photographs, maps, letters, copies of birth certificates, mementos, flags, etc. Students shared out their boxes and the contents to the class and were displayed in the library.