ASD Libraries Annual Report 2018: Strategy 2

We thank the PTA for their generous support of our library author visit program. 

The MS and ES Libraries with funding by the PTA were privileged to host award-winning authors/illustrators Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. This husband and wife team write nonfiction, mostly on the topic of animals. They won a Caldecott Honor for the amazing paper collage illustrations by Mr. Jenkins and computer designed images by Ms. Page. Their books offered for sale quickly sold out.

At the request of the grade 6 science teachers for the ecosystem unit, the authors/illustrators presented a slide show of their animal artwork and provided guidance on what to think about for designing fictional organisms such as environmental factors and adaptations.

During grade 7 and 7/8 art classes, students were able to see first hand how Mr. Jenkin’s creates a paper collage, a multi-step process that could involve up to 20 layers of paper.

Elementary classes viewed their illustrations and heard the steps involved in creating their books from generating ideas, researching, writing the story, creating the illustrations, revising, editing, and publishing, a process that could take two or more years.

Think about one time in your ASD career when the school library really helped you. Write about the help that you got, and what you were able to do because of it.

"The ASD lybrary helped me find books and helped me learned how to use the dey deseml systum and I was able to get the books that I wont my-self."

" The ASD library they helpd me find books that I really like and want and looks that I really need and they help me find really interesting books. So thats why I feel happy and thats how I am able to read so many cool books."

"One time the library helped me by making a cake with my mum."

Think about one time in your ASD career when the school library really helped you. Write about the help that you got, and what you were able to do because of it.

"There are a few like when we had ms martin came over and told us how to collect information I used to plagiarise but now I don't thanks Ms Martin!"

" I also had one time were there were no books on the cart on Babe Ruth but you helped me find books to use on my speech"

"I really don't like reading but when I came to this library it changed a bit it was because of the great books last year and this year"

"I used to not like books but these book make me so happy and make me want to read more!!!!!!!!"

"Sometimes when I need research for a project, The library has a site for websites that are reliable. And if that doesn't help me, I ask the librarian to help me, and she gives me books about my topic"

"When I was doing research about a topic in social studies the library website helped me do research and i had a lot more info after using the library websites."

"When I needed a good book and couldn't find it the people  in the library helped me.  Many times the librarians recommended books to me which became my favorite books EVER"

Lower elementary school students visit the library on a fixed, weekly schedule.

Upper elementary classes have a fixed weekly library checkout time, as well as the opportunity to schedule library time and librarian classroom visits directly related to the curriculum. Fourth and fifth grade classes also visit the library as they prepare for the Battle of the Books.

Middle school students visit the library with their SWAT roughly every six weeks. Teachers also bring classes to work on specific units.

 In the HS, world language students use the library for independent reading as well as a place to have conversations with native speakers. Social studies and health do several research units, and English brings students to find their next read. The library is also home to tests, meetings, and other events.  

Think about one time here at ASD when the school library really helped you. Write about the help that you got, and what you were able to do because of it.

"The library has helped me a lot throughout the past three years. When it came to projects the MS Library Lib guide had a lot of resources that I could use and that I knew that I could rely on. The librarians also helped out and picked out different books that could help us with our project, and that helped us save a lot of time. The librarians were always willing to help me out, wether it was finding a book or renewing one. They're all very kind. :)"

"One thing I really liked about the Middle School Library was it's availability. Sometimes, when I needed a quiet place to study at the beginning of a school day, the library conference rooms and study areas were always open - they helped me quite a bit. The Middle School Library staff are also very friendly and helpful - I've never had any trouble with them. I also really like the comfortable seating - the atmosphere of the place just makes you want to cozy up and read a good book. The libguides, databases and noodletools are sort of a hidden gem - they are all perfect for researching and I think often underestimated."

Think about one time in your ASD career when the school library really helped you. Write about the help that you got, and what you were able to do because of it.

"I found it as a sanctuary when I first moved here. I did all of my homework and spend most of my time in the library. Also, Mrs Hoiseth is pretty awesome, she has helped me so much with wiring my senior seminar papers."

"For the past five years, the library has provided me with a well-stocked source of research materials, a comfortable work space, and a great place to just settle down with a good book. It's my favorite place to be in all of ASD, and I'll miss it a lot."

Lilas Taha, author of the award-winning Bitter Almonds was able to spend two days working with some students in the high school as a result of our relationship with the Georgetown Qatar Library. She presented to some IB and AP English students, and conducted a two-day after school writing workshop for any interested students. 

"The workshop was extremely helpful! I was able to hear other works of writing as well as receive the opportunity to better my own. I enjoyed how each and every person got the chance to share and improve their work out loud with Ms. Lilas Tasha. It was an exceptional opportunity." 

Because each high school student has a unique selection of courses, the high school library standards are integrated into classes at the point of need. For example, all 9th grade Global Issues in Action had lessons on note-taking for research, all 10th grade health students did research on nutrition topics, IB econ students presented their learning (and cited their sources) in various formats that were shared on a Libguide, and extended essay students had library workshops to help them choose a topic. Much of the support the library provides is for individual students and their research needs.

In the Middle School, library lessons encourage students to be ethical users of information, critical thinkers, and life-long readers. Lessons are planned in collaboration with subject area teachers and align with units of study.  These lessons take place during class time, either in the library or in the classroom. Grade 6 learns information literacy basics: Noodletools, paraphrasing and note-taking. Grade 7 continues those basics along with a lessons on website evaluation and fake news. Grade 8 students build on what they know and begin using higher level databases and taking detailed notes as well as citing using Noodletools.

To help students develop a love for reading, booktalks are given during SWAT and scheduled classes, along with activities for students to explore the collection such as a treasure hunt, matching books with their first lines, and spine label poetry.

Upper Elementary students visit the library once a week for check out and reading time.  During this time, they also learn about the elements of different genres, how to locate books in the library, and learn about themselves as readers to help develop a life long enjoyment of story.  During particular units of study students receive additional lessons on digital citizenship, ethical use of information, use of databases, research note taking skills, and how to find reliable sources. 

In the Lower Elementary School, library lessons are taught around the curriculum and themes in the students’ classrooms. We work purposefully towards enhancing the curriculum of the classroom.

We also teach our own standards including learning about the library, its’ parts and organization, parts of books, different types of books, how to choose books that are a good fit for them and much more. Alongside these lessons, and really our first priority is - we try our best to create lovers of books who will grow into life-long readers.

These lessons are taught each week in the library on a set library schedule. By the time they finish 2^nd grade, our goal is to have mostly independent library users who can find books in our system and check out them out.

MS and HS students are taught and encouraged to search databases when they need to find information that's more reliable or more in-depth than what they can find with a regular Google Search. ASD provides a range of databases, from general encyclopedias such as Britannica, to broad, multi-topic databases such as EBSCO, to subject-specific databases such as Modern World History, and to scholarly databases such as JSTOR.

ASD students and staff benefit greatly from our relationship with Qatar National Library, which allows us to access a number of their databases while we are on our campus. Perhaps the most helpful of these for MS and HS students is Proquest, a huge database covering almost any topic. Our students conducted over 1700 searches on Proquest this year.

Facts on File and ABC-CLIO are subject - specific databases.