Book Baskets

I have recently come across a new strategy for use in the elementary media center. Primary students come into our media center and go through a lesson with the media specialist. At the end of the lesson students are directed to go to their tables for book checkout. At the tables are book baskets with age appropriate books for students to look through. Kindergartners are not allowed to look through the shelves on their own. They must choose a book from the book basket to check out if they are able to check out a book. First and second graders are allowed to choose books from the shelves, but if they have a book out and are unable to checkout a book they must choose a book from the book baskets to read during checkout time. I am not sure how I feel about this method. I like the way that it works for the first and second grade students because it ensures that all the students have reading material during checkout time, but I am afraid that the way this works with the kindergartners may be limiting their choices and keeping them from learning about the set up of the library. The nice thing, however, is that the students are not running wildly throughout the library searching for a book. They are also sure to pick books appropriate for their age and may come across books they hadn't seen otherwise. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Wordle Uses in Education

 

Wordle can be a great tool  for use in the classroom. It can be used for making signs such as the one above which would be posted on a bookshelf for the Dewey Range 400. Wordle can also be used to design motivational posters or posters with numerous ways of saying one word/phrase such as with synonyms or with other languages. Students can also use this tool to show them which words they have used most in their papers and perhaps help them in the revision process. Students can also use this tool to create cover pages for their projects or book covers for favorite books.

Grading

While attitude and behavior count in life, the job of a school is to get students to meet educational standards. Students should be held accountable for their behavior through classroom management, or another set of grades if necessary. Class grades should be based on whether the student met the goals that they needed to meet or not. This will ultimately make the job of the teacher easier, and provide students with a better education.