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Library media specialists in
the district have been asked to take on
the digital literacy component of the
Common Core State Standards
Library media specialists
are working on grade level projects
tied to 21st century skills and technol-
ogy as part of an initiative designed to
promote digital and media literacy for
all students grades K-8
ldquoDuring the past two years
considerable CIA time was devoted to
project-based learning and 21st cen-
tury skills and technology We are now
ready to formally launch the LMSrsquos
projectsrdquo Patricia DrsquoAmore library
media supervisor told all library
media specialists
The launch calls for library
based performance tasks involving
technology and media skills for all
students By mid June every student
in every grade will have a completed
project either individually or as part
of a group Projects are to be inte-
grated into the content areas and
planned in collaboration with class-
room teachers
New High School Digital Book Club Starts mdashBooks 20
Library Media Kicks off Year of 21st Century Digital Projects from K to 8 Inside this issue
Book Bowl Makeover 2
Books 20 Book Club 6
Digital Projects in the LMC 379
LMS Teaches Teachers 4
Reading Events 5
Summer Reading Gains 8
IPads at Conte West Hills 9
Catalogue Gets a New Look 10
Circulation Up Overall 10
tion teams created
digital projects around
literary elements The
projects seen here
completed using Ani-
moto Prezi Photo
More than 80 students
from eight high schools attended
Books 20 on Dec 8 at James Hill-
house Library Media Center This was
the first district wide high school book
club designed to focus on digital liter-
acy
Students met for the past
two months at their schools to discuss
Graceling by Kristin Cashore In addi-
Welcome to the first issue of the newsletter from the library media department
January 2012
Students at King Robinson use PowerPoint to present pros and cons on books
they read LMS Regina Santanello designed the digital project
Cont on Page 6
NHPS Library Media
Digital Dimensions
High school students
discuss Graceling
This newsletter was written by
Stephanie Shteirman Please
email any questions concerns
or corrections or call her at
(203) 848-8994 Please take a
moment to complete a very
short survey about the newslet-
ter by clicking here
Book Bowl 6-8 rolls out
this year with a list of beloved past
selections and a new format that will
feature a Skype from Jennifer Allison
author of the popular Gilda Joyce
series
The competition is set for
April 25 at Davis Street School
Unlike yearsrsquo past the
playoffs and the Final Four competition
will take place on the same day
All teams will be tested
shortly after arriving followed by a
live question and answer session via
Skype with Allison Then the top four
teams from the playoffs will
compete in the Final Four
the presentation
tool of their choice
Projects will be
posted online and
students from all
participating
schools will vote
for their favorite
trailer via a digital
survey using
Google Forms
The top
three digital pro-
jects will be shown
at the 4-5 Book
Bowl festival The
event will take
place this school
year at John C
Daniels School
Students will head first to the audito-
rium for a conversation via Skype with
Bruce Coville author of the Book Bowl
selection Jennifer Murdleyrsquos Toad
Once playoff testing is
completed students will view the top
three digital projects according to the
voting results
Teams will then be tested
to narrow down the 25 teams to four
for the finals competition a week later
at Hill Regional Career High School
Book Bowl 4-5 Festival Goes Digital
Book Bowl 4-5 also sports
a new look this year featuring a Skype
with author Bruce Coville and a digital
projects competition The 4-5 playoff
and festival is set for May 24 and the
finals May 31
The eventmdashnow in its 17th
yearmdashwill offer students with com-
puter skills a chance to compete In
the weeks before the event teams of
students will contribute digital book
trailers for one of the ten books using
Book Bowl 6-8 Sports New Look
Page 2 NHPS Library Media
GRADES 4-5 BOOK BOWL
11 BIRTHDAYS
Wendy Mass
BRENDAN BUCKLEYrsquoS
UNIVERSE
AND EVERYTHIG IN IT
Sundee T Frazier
DYING TO MEET YOU
Kate Klise
HOW TIA LOLA LEARNED TO
TEACH
Julia Alvarez
JENNIFER MURDLEYrsquoS TOAD
Bruce Coville
LOCOMOTION
Jacqueline Woodson
ONE-HANDED CATCH
MJ Auch
THE THING ABOUT GEORGIE
Lisa Graff
WAR HORSE
Michael Morpurgo
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO
HUMPHREY
Betty G Birney
GRADES 6-8 BOOK BOWL
FREAK THE MIGHTY
Rodman Philbrick
TUCK EVERLASTING
Natalie Babbitt
HOLES
Louis Sachar
ESPERANZA RISING
Pam Munoz Ryan
MISSISSIPPI BRIDGE
Mildred D Taylor
STARGIRL
Jerry Spinelli
GILDA JOYCE
PSYCHIC INVESTIGATOR
Jennifer Allison
BUD NOT BUDDY
Christopher Paul Curtis
WHERE THE RED FERN
GROWS
Wilson Rawls
NUMBER THE STARS
Lois Lowry
Students will be able to speak to Bruce Coville author of
Book Bowl selection Jennifer Murdleyrsquos Toad via Skype
Author Jennifer Allison will answer questions via
Skype at the 6-8 Book Bowl competition in April
Students in the 7th and 8th grades at Ross Wood-
ward and 8th graders at Betsy Ross Arts Magnet used Mi-
crosoft Publisher to design posters and brochures show-
casing research from their science and social studies
classes
Students in LMS Alicia Cookrsquos 21st Century Tech-
nology class created column-formatted posters (left) seen
here that packed a punch with colorful headings word art
graphics and other text-wrapped elements Projects were
scored using a rubric which included a requirement of
proper MLA citations
These first attempts at desktop publishing will
pave the way for future booklets pamphlets and brochures
in support of the NHPS curriculum and the Ross Woodward
Classical Studies Magnet School significant tasks
Digital ProjectsmdashContinued from Page 1
Page 3 NHPS Library Media
Grateful for a Great Book Literacy Event at Mauro-Sheridan
Mauro-Sheridan celebrated its first literacy event of the fall on Wed Nov 23 with We Are Grateful for a Great
Book There was a school-wide read-in as classes read their favorite books around virtual fireplaces projected in each
classroom as well as the library Because this was also Pajama Day a fundraiser for literacy activities students enjoyed
wearing comfy clothes as they snuggled
up with their books
Students were also asked to
blog about books for which they are
grateful Read about this at http
wwwmauro-sheridannet then select
Family Literacy and Students We Are
Grateful for a Great Book
A 2nd grade blog entry with favorite books and quotations
from the Mauro Sheridan library media center
Middle Grades Learn Publisher at Ross Woodward and Betsy Ross
As part of the 6th grade unit on Ecosystems students at Wor-
thington Hooker School used Google Maps to find their assigned ecosystem in
relation to the school They learned how to
use tags and mark migration routes
They used the collaborative
tools of Google Maps to work with others
and to submit their finished projects to
the classroom teacher and the LMS Beth
Hart See an example of student work
here
Google Maps at Worthington Hooker
Prezi
Storybird
Animoto
Non-linear Power-
Point
Photo Story
Voicethread
Digital Pathfinders
Google Apps
Wikis
Blogs
Skype
Only2clicks
Radbox
Xtranormal
CIA Past Topics
An 8th grade bridge poster
project from Ross Woodward
At Betsy Ross 8th graders completed posters
on Latin American countries at the direction of
LMS Richard Naples
Seventeen teachers took advantage of a new
staff development tool in November provided by Metropoli-
tan Business Academy library technology student aides
Called Tech Treats the monthly event in the library media
center features training on a new technology tool served
along with a sweet treat
Supervised by LMS Charline Cupole the stu-
dents prepare a 5-minute presentation to show teachers
how they can use an online technology tool with their
class Students create an academic example and a small
handout with the site address and features Students
presented Animotocom and Vokicom and are working on
their next presentation using three online organizational
tools
Metro Library Offers up Tech Treats
Page 4 NHPS Library Media
Library
Media
Specialists
offer Staff
Development
in Digital
Literacy
At Brennan-Rogers Library Media Specialist Susan Martinez Sen-
droff recently led over 20 staff members in professional develop-
ment for advanced iPad usage The workshop included examples
and overviews of apps to support organization teaching and
learning including Notability Pages Morfo and Photofunia
Brennan Rogers Library Media Specialist Trains Teachers on Apple Apps
Under the direction of Ms Sendroff
Brennan Rogers LMS third grade stu-
dents recently competed in teams of
two with Miniwords to reinforce and
practice spelling and reading skills
Student library aides help staff members learn
about new technologies at Metropolitan
LMS Paula Daitzman presented a Google Apps professional development at a staff meet-
ing in November Daitzman used the digital presentation tool Prezi to convey the information (see
her presentation here) East Rock was the second school in the district to get Google Apps which
included G-mail Accounts for all
staff members and students in
grade 3-8
As Daitzman told her
staff Google Apps is a free suite of
HOSTED communication and col-
laboration applications designed
for schools and universities With Google apps schools dont maintain the servers the hardware and
the updates Google provides this service
Google Apps have something for everyone in school Teachers can use it to have a better
homeschool connection publish online documents and projects create lessons for students and
monitor student progress Administrators can extend a professional community online collaborate
with staff gather district-wide data create inventories and survey large groups Student can use it
for group work peer editing sharing content and online writing editing and publishing of projects
Google Apps Subject of East Rock LMS Staff Training
Hundreds of students at the Fair Haven School are participating in a voluntary read-
ing incentive program which is the brainchild of library media specialist Lynn Virtue
Called Go for the Gold the program has students reading at home and recording
their progress in a reading log Students color in Olympic rings that indicate 20 minutes of
reading time When K-2 students reach four hours of outside reading they receive a bronze
medal and can begin to work toward a silver and ultimately a gold Students in grades 3-5 must
read eight hours to move up a level Parents monitor their childrenrsquos progress and sign off on
the logs
Ms Virtue keeps tracks of studentsrsquo progress by recording their accomplishments
on classroom logs Periodically she submits a list of names to the principal who recognizes the
readers during morning announcements and sends
deserving students to the library for prizes Prizes
range from a book mark to a gold medal Each student
who achieves a level is recognized with a star on a
bulletin board in the library media center
ldquoImplementing a new reading incentive program school wide is an organ-
izational challengerdquo said Ms Virtue ldquobut it is well worth it when I see the enthusiasmrdquo
The program is especially helpful for students who are new English lan-
guage speakers Fair Haven is a new arrival school which makes for a steady stream
of non-English speaking students of all ages Ursule a 9-year-old third grader from
the Congo who has been speaking English for a year came in for her bronze level book
mark ldquoI like reading booksrdquo she said ldquoI have a lot of them at homerdquo
Fair Haven Library ldquoGo for the Goldrdquo Reading Promotion Program Signs up Hundreds
A student at Fair Haven
chooses a prize for
reading at home
Students in grades 1-3 and their parents participated
in a Milk and Cookies evening Dec 14 at Barnard Environmental
Studies School
Working with their teachers and library media special-
ist the children sang songs about saving the environment created
a movie showing recycling practices participated in a book swap
(pictured) made bookmarks and enjoyed a snack of milk and
cookies
NHPS Library Media Page 5
Author Christina Cody came to
Edgewood School library media
center to share her story The Per-
fectly Imperfect Pumpkin to K-2
students
Inspiring a Love of Reading
Art teacher Nicole Bimonte and Volunteer Katha Cox helped LMS
Lynn Virtue with the display at Fair Haven library media center
Students at Fair Haven are
recognized with stars on a bulletin
board when they earn medals
Mary McMullen library
media specialist at
Hillhouse introduced the
teams from each school
Story and Story Bird
Students from New Haven
Academy Cooperative Arts and Hu-
manities Metropolitan Business Acad-
emy Hill Regional Career High School
Wilbur Cross High School in the Com-
munity Riverside Education Academy
and Hillhouse participated in the event
that began in the auditorium with the
digital presentations
After that students headed
for the library media center where
they met in mixed groups for ice-
breakers and discussion facilitated by
library media specialists
At the end students com-
pleted a digital survey created with
Google Forms that allowed for imme-
diate feedback about the event Hill-
house library media specialist Mary
McMullen organized the event with the
help of Fran Pierson from HSC and
Eleanor Willis of Coop There will be
two more district wide book club
events this year The Other Wes Moore
by Wes Moore and Stir It Up by Ramin
Ganeshram both at Wilbur Cross High
School
Books 20 continued from Page 1
Page 6 NHPS Library Media
Members of Coop High
Schoolrsquos book club intro-
duce their Animoto
Students headed for the Hillhouse Media Center for icebreak-
ers and discussion on the book selection
Students answered icebreaker questions
Students began to com-
municate beyond school walls in the
weeks leading up to the event at
Hillhouse
They blogged their
thoughts about the book at a special
site set up by New Haven Academy
LMS Eileen Aiello See some of the
studentsrsquo posts here
Page 7 NHPS Library Media
Eighth graders at East Rock School volunteered to help first graders learn
how to use Tuxpaint an online simple drawing program for young children
First graders used Tuxpaint to create drawings of sea stars that they had
researched Students used Microsoft Word to type out their research
Third grade students at Christopher Columbus Family Academy complete Animotos using research they completed on animals
under the direction of LMS Rose Evans
More Library Based Digital
Projects
ldquoWith guidance and support from adults use a
variety of digital tools to produce and publish
writing including in collaboration with peersrdquo
From the Common Core State Standards for ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ART S amp Literacy in HistorySocial Studies Science and Techni-
cal Subjects for Grade 1
A yearly first grade
product at Bishop Woods is a mural about the
desert This year students teamed up with fifth
grade buddies and used Google images to find a
plant or animal to research for the mural
The pairs looked in books encyclo-
pedias and on-line to find a fun or amazing fact
about their plant or animal The first graders
wrote three captions for each picture of their
animal I am an (animal) I live in the (habitat)rdquo
and a third one a fun or amazing fact they
discovered in their research They called this
their Fantastic Fact
The fifth graders then helped the
first graders create a Blabber using the pic-
ture they found in Google Images and the cap-
tion they wrote for their picture
Students use Blabberize to create
their own talking pictures a moving mouth on a
still image Students recorded themselves
reading the dialogue to give to their animals Click here for an example of student work
At Bishop Woods
At Columbus
At East Rock
The joint efforts of the New
Haven school and public librarians to
keep students reading throughout the
summer paid off as 76 more stu-
dents completed the program than the
previous year This was the second
year that school and public librarians
collaborated on this reading incentive
program
In 2010 2369 students
signed up to
participate
in the sum-
mer reading
program at
the New
Haven Free
Public Library with 970 finishing the
program This summer 2922 stu-
dents signed up and 1706 took it to
the end
The program used reading
lists provided by the school librarians
and reading journals created by the
public librarians Students kept logs of
Summer Reading Participation up 76 Percent
Page 8 NHPS Library Media
Displays around the district
this one at Metropolitan
Business Academy Library
Media Center recognized
summer readers
Graphics from the New Haven
Free Public Library were used
to prepare the school district
reading lists
the amount they read and were
rewarded with prizes for finishing
School librarians promoted the
program in May and June and recog-
nized finishers on bulletin boards with
ice cream socials and recognition in
town meetings once students returned
to school in the fall
Did you knowhellip
You can get great research
databases for free from
home Go to ICONNorg and
put in your public library
card barcode or simply click
on the button that says Try
This
The Quinnipiac University ladies hockey team mascot visits the
summer reader recognition party at Benjamin Jepson Magnet
School with LMS Jeanne Z Lawrence (left)
Page 9 NHPS Library Media
Conte West Hills is experiencing a
renaissance thanks in large part to new Magnet
grant The school has partnered with Expedi-
tionary Learning and all classes will be going on
two expeditions incorporating 21st Century
skills this year
Technology education led by Library
Media Specialist Brett Baker is a major focus of
that Fourth graders are learning to use
Macbook laptops along with Flip cameras Stu-
dents are using Comic Life software to tell a
story and using photos they take with Photo
Booth software Fifth grade students are begin-
ning to research education Ipad applications to
use on the 60 new Ipads on carts
Conte West Hills Magnet Grant Sets Scene for Cutting Edge Technology in the LMC
A student at Conte West Hills tries out one of the schoolrsquos 60 new Ipads in the
library media center
More Library Based Digital Projects
Kindergarteners at Troup Write About Families and Careers in the LMC
Kindergarten and first graders at Au-
gustus Lewis Troup School combined coloring on
paper and typing in Word to help produce class
books on families and careers
After reading books and watched videos
about families kindergarteners drew pictures of
their own families Rita OrsquoKeefe Steel library media
specialist assisted the students in using Microsoft
Word to type descriptions of their drawings Steel
scanned in the drawings and paired them with the
short narratives She then assembled the works
into a class book called Our Families
As part of another project on community
helpers first graders located images of their ca-
reer choices online and inserted them into Word
documents Students wrote about their career
aspirations to go with the images LMS Rita OrsquoKeefe
Steel assembled the projects into a class book
A kindergarten student at Troup Library Media Center uses Word to
write about her family
Wexler Grant Library Media Center Holds Pajama Read-In
A Family Event
Wexler-Grant Pajama
Party was held Dec 8
from 600 to 730 Par-
ents students and staff
were invited to come to
read enjoy cookies and
milk and a raffle was held
One hundred people most
in their pajamas attended
to enjoy the eve-
ning Books totaling $100
were raffled as part of the
Scholastic Book Fair being
held in the LMC Many parents purchased books and much reading and socializing created a fun night
You may have noticed that your schoolrsquos online public
access catalogue (OPAC) has changed The district
recently upgraded to LS2 PAC Along with a sleeker
look the interface offers LMSs the ability to create
customizable book rivers and compile interactive book
lists for projects Students log in with their ID numbers
and can save lists and searches Users can also submit
book reviews and rate selections from one to five
stars There is also a new Kidrsquos Pack that is a hit with
the younger set At school simply clear out the ad-
dress bar and type the word Library to get the cata-
Page 10 NHPS Library Media
56713
60041
Checkouts 2010 vs 2011
Students Reading More at New Haven School Libraries
Checkouts are up 58 percent September through November of 2011 vs the
same period in 2010
Did you knowhellip
You can access
Encyclopedia
Britannica
Online from
your home as
well as from
school
See your library
media specialist
for details
Library Catalogue Upgraded
Book Bowl 6-8 rolls out
this year with a list of beloved past
selections and a new format that will
feature a Skype from Jennifer Allison
author of the popular Gilda Joyce
series
The competition is set for
April 25 at Davis Street School
Unlike yearsrsquo past the
playoffs and the Final Four competition
will take place on the same day
All teams will be tested
shortly after arriving followed by a
live question and answer session via
Skype with Allison Then the top four
teams from the playoffs will
compete in the Final Four
the presentation
tool of their choice
Projects will be
posted online and
students from all
participating
schools will vote
for their favorite
trailer via a digital
survey using
Google Forms
The top
three digital pro-
jects will be shown
at the 4-5 Book
Bowl festival The
event will take
place this school
year at John C
Daniels School
Students will head first to the audito-
rium for a conversation via Skype with
Bruce Coville author of the Book Bowl
selection Jennifer Murdleyrsquos Toad
Once playoff testing is
completed students will view the top
three digital projects according to the
voting results
Teams will then be tested
to narrow down the 25 teams to four
for the finals competition a week later
at Hill Regional Career High School
Book Bowl 4-5 Festival Goes Digital
Book Bowl 4-5 also sports
a new look this year featuring a Skype
with author Bruce Coville and a digital
projects competition The 4-5 playoff
and festival is set for May 24 and the
finals May 31
The eventmdashnow in its 17th
yearmdashwill offer students with com-
puter skills a chance to compete In
the weeks before the event teams of
students will contribute digital book
trailers for one of the ten books using
Book Bowl 6-8 Sports New Look
Page 2 NHPS Library Media
GRADES 4-5 BOOK BOWL
11 BIRTHDAYS
Wendy Mass
BRENDAN BUCKLEYrsquoS
UNIVERSE
AND EVERYTHIG IN IT
Sundee T Frazier
DYING TO MEET YOU
Kate Klise
HOW TIA LOLA LEARNED TO
TEACH
Julia Alvarez
JENNIFER MURDLEYrsquoS TOAD
Bruce Coville
LOCOMOTION
Jacqueline Woodson
ONE-HANDED CATCH
MJ Auch
THE THING ABOUT GEORGIE
Lisa Graff
WAR HORSE
Michael Morpurgo
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO
HUMPHREY
Betty G Birney
GRADES 6-8 BOOK BOWL
FREAK THE MIGHTY
Rodman Philbrick
TUCK EVERLASTING
Natalie Babbitt
HOLES
Louis Sachar
ESPERANZA RISING
Pam Munoz Ryan
MISSISSIPPI BRIDGE
Mildred D Taylor
STARGIRL
Jerry Spinelli
GILDA JOYCE
PSYCHIC INVESTIGATOR
Jennifer Allison
BUD NOT BUDDY
Christopher Paul Curtis
WHERE THE RED FERN
GROWS
Wilson Rawls
NUMBER THE STARS
Lois Lowry
Students will be able to speak to Bruce Coville author of
Book Bowl selection Jennifer Murdleyrsquos Toad via Skype
Author Jennifer Allison will answer questions via
Skype at the 6-8 Book Bowl competition in April
Students in the 7th and 8th grades at Ross Wood-
ward and 8th graders at Betsy Ross Arts Magnet used Mi-
crosoft Publisher to design posters and brochures show-
casing research from their science and social studies
classes
Students in LMS Alicia Cookrsquos 21st Century Tech-
nology class created column-formatted posters (left) seen
here that packed a punch with colorful headings word art
graphics and other text-wrapped elements Projects were
scored using a rubric which included a requirement of
proper MLA citations
These first attempts at desktop publishing will
pave the way for future booklets pamphlets and brochures
in support of the NHPS curriculum and the Ross Woodward
Classical Studies Magnet School significant tasks
Digital ProjectsmdashContinued from Page 1
Page 3 NHPS Library Media
Grateful for a Great Book Literacy Event at Mauro-Sheridan
Mauro-Sheridan celebrated its first literacy event of the fall on Wed Nov 23 with We Are Grateful for a Great
Book There was a school-wide read-in as classes read their favorite books around virtual fireplaces projected in each
classroom as well as the library Because this was also Pajama Day a fundraiser for literacy activities students enjoyed
wearing comfy clothes as they snuggled
up with their books
Students were also asked to
blog about books for which they are
grateful Read about this at http
wwwmauro-sheridannet then select
Family Literacy and Students We Are
Grateful for a Great Book
A 2nd grade blog entry with favorite books and quotations
from the Mauro Sheridan library media center
Middle Grades Learn Publisher at Ross Woodward and Betsy Ross
As part of the 6th grade unit on Ecosystems students at Wor-
thington Hooker School used Google Maps to find their assigned ecosystem in
relation to the school They learned how to
use tags and mark migration routes
They used the collaborative
tools of Google Maps to work with others
and to submit their finished projects to
the classroom teacher and the LMS Beth
Hart See an example of student work
here
Google Maps at Worthington Hooker
Prezi
Storybird
Animoto
Non-linear Power-
Point
Photo Story
Voicethread
Digital Pathfinders
Google Apps
Wikis
Blogs
Skype
Only2clicks
Radbox
Xtranormal
CIA Past Topics
An 8th grade bridge poster
project from Ross Woodward
At Betsy Ross 8th graders completed posters
on Latin American countries at the direction of
LMS Richard Naples
Seventeen teachers took advantage of a new
staff development tool in November provided by Metropoli-
tan Business Academy library technology student aides
Called Tech Treats the monthly event in the library media
center features training on a new technology tool served
along with a sweet treat
Supervised by LMS Charline Cupole the stu-
dents prepare a 5-minute presentation to show teachers
how they can use an online technology tool with their
class Students create an academic example and a small
handout with the site address and features Students
presented Animotocom and Vokicom and are working on
their next presentation using three online organizational
tools
Metro Library Offers up Tech Treats
Page 4 NHPS Library Media
Library
Media
Specialists
offer Staff
Development
in Digital
Literacy
At Brennan-Rogers Library Media Specialist Susan Martinez Sen-
droff recently led over 20 staff members in professional develop-
ment for advanced iPad usage The workshop included examples
and overviews of apps to support organization teaching and
learning including Notability Pages Morfo and Photofunia
Brennan Rogers Library Media Specialist Trains Teachers on Apple Apps
Under the direction of Ms Sendroff
Brennan Rogers LMS third grade stu-
dents recently competed in teams of
two with Miniwords to reinforce and
practice spelling and reading skills
Student library aides help staff members learn
about new technologies at Metropolitan
LMS Paula Daitzman presented a Google Apps professional development at a staff meet-
ing in November Daitzman used the digital presentation tool Prezi to convey the information (see
her presentation here) East Rock was the second school in the district to get Google Apps which
included G-mail Accounts for all
staff members and students in
grade 3-8
As Daitzman told her
staff Google Apps is a free suite of
HOSTED communication and col-
laboration applications designed
for schools and universities With Google apps schools dont maintain the servers the hardware and
the updates Google provides this service
Google Apps have something for everyone in school Teachers can use it to have a better
homeschool connection publish online documents and projects create lessons for students and
monitor student progress Administrators can extend a professional community online collaborate
with staff gather district-wide data create inventories and survey large groups Student can use it
for group work peer editing sharing content and online writing editing and publishing of projects
Google Apps Subject of East Rock LMS Staff Training
Hundreds of students at the Fair Haven School are participating in a voluntary read-
ing incentive program which is the brainchild of library media specialist Lynn Virtue
Called Go for the Gold the program has students reading at home and recording
their progress in a reading log Students color in Olympic rings that indicate 20 minutes of
reading time When K-2 students reach four hours of outside reading they receive a bronze
medal and can begin to work toward a silver and ultimately a gold Students in grades 3-5 must
read eight hours to move up a level Parents monitor their childrenrsquos progress and sign off on
the logs
Ms Virtue keeps tracks of studentsrsquo progress by recording their accomplishments
on classroom logs Periodically she submits a list of names to the principal who recognizes the
readers during morning announcements and sends
deserving students to the library for prizes Prizes
range from a book mark to a gold medal Each student
who achieves a level is recognized with a star on a
bulletin board in the library media center
ldquoImplementing a new reading incentive program school wide is an organ-
izational challengerdquo said Ms Virtue ldquobut it is well worth it when I see the enthusiasmrdquo
The program is especially helpful for students who are new English lan-
guage speakers Fair Haven is a new arrival school which makes for a steady stream
of non-English speaking students of all ages Ursule a 9-year-old third grader from
the Congo who has been speaking English for a year came in for her bronze level book
mark ldquoI like reading booksrdquo she said ldquoI have a lot of them at homerdquo
Fair Haven Library ldquoGo for the Goldrdquo Reading Promotion Program Signs up Hundreds
A student at Fair Haven
chooses a prize for
reading at home
Students in grades 1-3 and their parents participated
in a Milk and Cookies evening Dec 14 at Barnard Environmental
Studies School
Working with their teachers and library media special-
ist the children sang songs about saving the environment created
a movie showing recycling practices participated in a book swap
(pictured) made bookmarks and enjoyed a snack of milk and
cookies
NHPS Library Media Page 5
Author Christina Cody came to
Edgewood School library media
center to share her story The Per-
fectly Imperfect Pumpkin to K-2
students
Inspiring a Love of Reading
Art teacher Nicole Bimonte and Volunteer Katha Cox helped LMS
Lynn Virtue with the display at Fair Haven library media center
Students at Fair Haven are
recognized with stars on a bulletin
board when they earn medals
Mary McMullen library
media specialist at
Hillhouse introduced the
teams from each school
Story and Story Bird
Students from New Haven
Academy Cooperative Arts and Hu-
manities Metropolitan Business Acad-
emy Hill Regional Career High School
Wilbur Cross High School in the Com-
munity Riverside Education Academy
and Hillhouse participated in the event
that began in the auditorium with the
digital presentations
After that students headed
for the library media center where
they met in mixed groups for ice-
breakers and discussion facilitated by
library media specialists
At the end students com-
pleted a digital survey created with
Google Forms that allowed for imme-
diate feedback about the event Hill-
house library media specialist Mary
McMullen organized the event with the
help of Fran Pierson from HSC and
Eleanor Willis of Coop There will be
two more district wide book club
events this year The Other Wes Moore
by Wes Moore and Stir It Up by Ramin
Ganeshram both at Wilbur Cross High
School
Books 20 continued from Page 1
Page 6 NHPS Library Media
Members of Coop High
Schoolrsquos book club intro-
duce their Animoto
Students headed for the Hillhouse Media Center for icebreak-
ers and discussion on the book selection
Students answered icebreaker questions
Students began to com-
municate beyond school walls in the
weeks leading up to the event at
Hillhouse
They blogged their
thoughts about the book at a special
site set up by New Haven Academy
LMS Eileen Aiello See some of the
studentsrsquo posts here
Page 7 NHPS Library Media
Eighth graders at East Rock School volunteered to help first graders learn
how to use Tuxpaint an online simple drawing program for young children
First graders used Tuxpaint to create drawings of sea stars that they had
researched Students used Microsoft Word to type out their research
Third grade students at Christopher Columbus Family Academy complete Animotos using research they completed on animals
under the direction of LMS Rose Evans
More Library Based Digital
Projects
ldquoWith guidance and support from adults use a
variety of digital tools to produce and publish
writing including in collaboration with peersrdquo
From the Common Core State Standards for ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ART S amp Literacy in HistorySocial Studies Science and Techni-
cal Subjects for Grade 1
A yearly first grade
product at Bishop Woods is a mural about the
desert This year students teamed up with fifth
grade buddies and used Google images to find a
plant or animal to research for the mural
The pairs looked in books encyclo-
pedias and on-line to find a fun or amazing fact
about their plant or animal The first graders
wrote three captions for each picture of their
animal I am an (animal) I live in the (habitat)rdquo
and a third one a fun or amazing fact they
discovered in their research They called this
their Fantastic Fact
The fifth graders then helped the
first graders create a Blabber using the pic-
ture they found in Google Images and the cap-
tion they wrote for their picture
Students use Blabberize to create
their own talking pictures a moving mouth on a
still image Students recorded themselves
reading the dialogue to give to their animals Click here for an example of student work
At Bishop Woods
At Columbus
At East Rock
The joint efforts of the New
Haven school and public librarians to
keep students reading throughout the
summer paid off as 76 more stu-
dents completed the program than the
previous year This was the second
year that school and public librarians
collaborated on this reading incentive
program
In 2010 2369 students
signed up to
participate
in the sum-
mer reading
program at
the New
Haven Free
Public Library with 970 finishing the
program This summer 2922 stu-
dents signed up and 1706 took it to
the end
The program used reading
lists provided by the school librarians
and reading journals created by the
public librarians Students kept logs of
Summer Reading Participation up 76 Percent
Page 8 NHPS Library Media
Displays around the district
this one at Metropolitan
Business Academy Library
Media Center recognized
summer readers
Graphics from the New Haven
Free Public Library were used
to prepare the school district
reading lists
the amount they read and were
rewarded with prizes for finishing
School librarians promoted the
program in May and June and recog-
nized finishers on bulletin boards with
ice cream socials and recognition in
town meetings once students returned
to school in the fall
Did you knowhellip
You can get great research
databases for free from
home Go to ICONNorg and
put in your public library
card barcode or simply click
on the button that says Try
This
The Quinnipiac University ladies hockey team mascot visits the
summer reader recognition party at Benjamin Jepson Magnet
School with LMS Jeanne Z Lawrence (left)
Page 9 NHPS Library Media
Conte West Hills is experiencing a
renaissance thanks in large part to new Magnet
grant The school has partnered with Expedi-
tionary Learning and all classes will be going on
two expeditions incorporating 21st Century
skills this year
Technology education led by Library
Media Specialist Brett Baker is a major focus of
that Fourth graders are learning to use
Macbook laptops along with Flip cameras Stu-
dents are using Comic Life software to tell a
story and using photos they take with Photo
Booth software Fifth grade students are begin-
ning to research education Ipad applications to
use on the 60 new Ipads on carts
Conte West Hills Magnet Grant Sets Scene for Cutting Edge Technology in the LMC
A student at Conte West Hills tries out one of the schoolrsquos 60 new Ipads in the
library media center
More Library Based Digital Projects
Kindergarteners at Troup Write About Families and Careers in the LMC
Kindergarten and first graders at Au-
gustus Lewis Troup School combined coloring on
paper and typing in Word to help produce class
books on families and careers
After reading books and watched videos
about families kindergarteners drew pictures of
their own families Rita OrsquoKeefe Steel library media
specialist assisted the students in using Microsoft
Word to type descriptions of their drawings Steel
scanned in the drawings and paired them with the
short narratives She then assembled the works
into a class book called Our Families
As part of another project on community
helpers first graders located images of their ca-
reer choices online and inserted them into Word
documents Students wrote about their career
aspirations to go with the images LMS Rita OrsquoKeefe
Steel assembled the projects into a class book
A kindergarten student at Troup Library Media Center uses Word to
write about her family
Wexler Grant Library Media Center Holds Pajama Read-In
A Family Event
Wexler-Grant Pajama
Party was held Dec 8
from 600 to 730 Par-
ents students and staff
were invited to come to
read enjoy cookies and
milk and a raffle was held
One hundred people most
in their pajamas attended
to enjoy the eve-
ning Books totaling $100
were raffled as part of the
Scholastic Book Fair being
held in the LMC Many parents purchased books and much reading and socializing created a fun night
You may have noticed that your schoolrsquos online public
access catalogue (OPAC) has changed The district
recently upgraded to LS2 PAC Along with a sleeker
look the interface offers LMSs the ability to create
customizable book rivers and compile interactive book
lists for projects Students log in with their ID numbers
and can save lists and searches Users can also submit
book reviews and rate selections from one to five
stars There is also a new Kidrsquos Pack that is a hit with
the younger set At school simply clear out the ad-
dress bar and type the word Library to get the cata-
Page 10 NHPS Library Media
56713
60041
Checkouts 2010 vs 2011
Students Reading More at New Haven School Libraries
Checkouts are up 58 percent September through November of 2011 vs the
same period in 2010
Did you knowhellip
You can access
Encyclopedia
Britannica
Online from
your home as
well as from
school
See your library
media specialist
for details
Library Catalogue Upgraded
Students in the 7th and 8th grades at Ross Wood-
ward and 8th graders at Betsy Ross Arts Magnet used Mi-
crosoft Publisher to design posters and brochures show-
casing research from their science and social studies
classes
Students in LMS Alicia Cookrsquos 21st Century Tech-
nology class created column-formatted posters (left) seen
here that packed a punch with colorful headings word art
graphics and other text-wrapped elements Projects were
scored using a rubric which included a requirement of
proper MLA citations
These first attempts at desktop publishing will
pave the way for future booklets pamphlets and brochures
in support of the NHPS curriculum and the Ross Woodward
Classical Studies Magnet School significant tasks
Digital ProjectsmdashContinued from Page 1
Page 3 NHPS Library Media
Grateful for a Great Book Literacy Event at Mauro-Sheridan
Mauro-Sheridan celebrated its first literacy event of the fall on Wed Nov 23 with We Are Grateful for a Great
Book There was a school-wide read-in as classes read their favorite books around virtual fireplaces projected in each
classroom as well as the library Because this was also Pajama Day a fundraiser for literacy activities students enjoyed
wearing comfy clothes as they snuggled
up with their books
Students were also asked to
blog about books for which they are
grateful Read about this at http
wwwmauro-sheridannet then select
Family Literacy and Students We Are
Grateful for a Great Book
A 2nd grade blog entry with favorite books and quotations
from the Mauro Sheridan library media center
Middle Grades Learn Publisher at Ross Woodward and Betsy Ross
As part of the 6th grade unit on Ecosystems students at Wor-
thington Hooker School used Google Maps to find their assigned ecosystem in
relation to the school They learned how to
use tags and mark migration routes
They used the collaborative
tools of Google Maps to work with others
and to submit their finished projects to
the classroom teacher and the LMS Beth
Hart See an example of student work
here
Google Maps at Worthington Hooker
Prezi
Storybird
Animoto
Non-linear Power-
Point
Photo Story
Voicethread
Digital Pathfinders
Google Apps
Wikis
Blogs
Skype
Only2clicks
Radbox
Xtranormal
CIA Past Topics
An 8th grade bridge poster
project from Ross Woodward
At Betsy Ross 8th graders completed posters
on Latin American countries at the direction of
LMS Richard Naples
Seventeen teachers took advantage of a new
staff development tool in November provided by Metropoli-
tan Business Academy library technology student aides
Called Tech Treats the monthly event in the library media
center features training on a new technology tool served
along with a sweet treat
Supervised by LMS Charline Cupole the stu-
dents prepare a 5-minute presentation to show teachers
how they can use an online technology tool with their
class Students create an academic example and a small
handout with the site address and features Students
presented Animotocom and Vokicom and are working on
their next presentation using three online organizational
tools
Metro Library Offers up Tech Treats
Page 4 NHPS Library Media
Library
Media
Specialists
offer Staff
Development
in Digital
Literacy
At Brennan-Rogers Library Media Specialist Susan Martinez Sen-
droff recently led over 20 staff members in professional develop-
ment for advanced iPad usage The workshop included examples
and overviews of apps to support organization teaching and
learning including Notability Pages Morfo and Photofunia
Brennan Rogers Library Media Specialist Trains Teachers on Apple Apps
Under the direction of Ms Sendroff
Brennan Rogers LMS third grade stu-
dents recently competed in teams of
two with Miniwords to reinforce and
practice spelling and reading skills
Student library aides help staff members learn
about new technologies at Metropolitan
LMS Paula Daitzman presented a Google Apps professional development at a staff meet-
ing in November Daitzman used the digital presentation tool Prezi to convey the information (see
her presentation here) East Rock was the second school in the district to get Google Apps which
included G-mail Accounts for all
staff members and students in
grade 3-8
As Daitzman told her
staff Google Apps is a free suite of
HOSTED communication and col-
laboration applications designed
for schools and universities With Google apps schools dont maintain the servers the hardware and
the updates Google provides this service
Google Apps have something for everyone in school Teachers can use it to have a better
homeschool connection publish online documents and projects create lessons for students and
monitor student progress Administrators can extend a professional community online collaborate
with staff gather district-wide data create inventories and survey large groups Student can use it
for group work peer editing sharing content and online writing editing and publishing of projects
Google Apps Subject of East Rock LMS Staff Training
Hundreds of students at the Fair Haven School are participating in a voluntary read-
ing incentive program which is the brainchild of library media specialist Lynn Virtue
Called Go for the Gold the program has students reading at home and recording
their progress in a reading log Students color in Olympic rings that indicate 20 minutes of
reading time When K-2 students reach four hours of outside reading they receive a bronze
medal and can begin to work toward a silver and ultimately a gold Students in grades 3-5 must
read eight hours to move up a level Parents monitor their childrenrsquos progress and sign off on
the logs
Ms Virtue keeps tracks of studentsrsquo progress by recording their accomplishments
on classroom logs Periodically she submits a list of names to the principal who recognizes the
readers during morning announcements and sends
deserving students to the library for prizes Prizes
range from a book mark to a gold medal Each student
who achieves a level is recognized with a star on a
bulletin board in the library media center
ldquoImplementing a new reading incentive program school wide is an organ-
izational challengerdquo said Ms Virtue ldquobut it is well worth it when I see the enthusiasmrdquo
The program is especially helpful for students who are new English lan-
guage speakers Fair Haven is a new arrival school which makes for a steady stream
of non-English speaking students of all ages Ursule a 9-year-old third grader from
the Congo who has been speaking English for a year came in for her bronze level book
mark ldquoI like reading booksrdquo she said ldquoI have a lot of them at homerdquo
Fair Haven Library ldquoGo for the Goldrdquo Reading Promotion Program Signs up Hundreds
A student at Fair Haven
chooses a prize for
reading at home
Students in grades 1-3 and their parents participated
in a Milk and Cookies evening Dec 14 at Barnard Environmental
Studies School
Working with their teachers and library media special-
ist the children sang songs about saving the environment created
a movie showing recycling practices participated in a book swap
(pictured) made bookmarks and enjoyed a snack of milk and
cookies
NHPS Library Media Page 5
Author Christina Cody came to
Edgewood School library media
center to share her story The Per-
fectly Imperfect Pumpkin to K-2
students
Inspiring a Love of Reading
Art teacher Nicole Bimonte and Volunteer Katha Cox helped LMS
Lynn Virtue with the display at Fair Haven library media center
Students at Fair Haven are
recognized with stars on a bulletin
board when they earn medals
Mary McMullen library
media specialist at
Hillhouse introduced the
teams from each school
Story and Story Bird
Students from New Haven
Academy Cooperative Arts and Hu-
manities Metropolitan Business Acad-
emy Hill Regional Career High School
Wilbur Cross High School in the Com-
munity Riverside Education Academy
and Hillhouse participated in the event
that began in the auditorium with the
digital presentations
After that students headed
for the library media center where
they met in mixed groups for ice-
breakers and discussion facilitated by
library media specialists
At the end students com-
pleted a digital survey created with
Google Forms that allowed for imme-
diate feedback about the event Hill-
house library media specialist Mary
McMullen organized the event with the
help of Fran Pierson from HSC and
Eleanor Willis of Coop There will be
two more district wide book club
events this year The Other Wes Moore
by Wes Moore and Stir It Up by Ramin
Ganeshram both at Wilbur Cross High
School
Books 20 continued from Page 1
Page 6 NHPS Library Media
Members of Coop High
Schoolrsquos book club intro-
duce their Animoto
Students headed for the Hillhouse Media Center for icebreak-
ers and discussion on the book selection
Students answered icebreaker questions
Students began to com-
municate beyond school walls in the
weeks leading up to the event at
Hillhouse
They blogged their
thoughts about the book at a special
site set up by New Haven Academy
LMS Eileen Aiello See some of the
studentsrsquo posts here
Page 7 NHPS Library Media
Eighth graders at East Rock School volunteered to help first graders learn
how to use Tuxpaint an online simple drawing program for young children
First graders used Tuxpaint to create drawings of sea stars that they had
researched Students used Microsoft Word to type out their research
Third grade students at Christopher Columbus Family Academy complete Animotos using research they completed on animals
under the direction of LMS Rose Evans
More Library Based Digital
Projects
ldquoWith guidance and support from adults use a
variety of digital tools to produce and publish
writing including in collaboration with peersrdquo
From the Common Core State Standards for ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ART S amp Literacy in HistorySocial Studies Science and Techni-
cal Subjects for Grade 1
A yearly first grade
product at Bishop Woods is a mural about the
desert This year students teamed up with fifth
grade buddies and used Google images to find a
plant or animal to research for the mural
The pairs looked in books encyclo-
pedias and on-line to find a fun or amazing fact
about their plant or animal The first graders
wrote three captions for each picture of their
animal I am an (animal) I live in the (habitat)rdquo
and a third one a fun or amazing fact they
discovered in their research They called this
their Fantastic Fact
The fifth graders then helped the
first graders create a Blabber using the pic-
ture they found in Google Images and the cap-
tion they wrote for their picture
Students use Blabberize to create
their own talking pictures a moving mouth on a
still image Students recorded themselves
reading the dialogue to give to their animals Click here for an example of student work
At Bishop Woods
At Columbus
At East Rock
The joint efforts of the New
Haven school and public librarians to
keep students reading throughout the
summer paid off as 76 more stu-
dents completed the program than the
previous year This was the second
year that school and public librarians
collaborated on this reading incentive
program
In 2010 2369 students
signed up to
participate
in the sum-
mer reading
program at
the New
Haven Free
Public Library with 970 finishing the
program This summer 2922 stu-
dents signed up and 1706 took it to
the end
The program used reading
lists provided by the school librarians
and reading journals created by the
public librarians Students kept logs of
Summer Reading Participation up 76 Percent
Page 8 NHPS Library Media
Displays around the district
this one at Metropolitan
Business Academy Library
Media Center recognized
summer readers
Graphics from the New Haven
Free Public Library were used
to prepare the school district
reading lists
the amount they read and were
rewarded with prizes for finishing
School librarians promoted the
program in May and June and recog-
nized finishers on bulletin boards with
ice cream socials and recognition in
town meetings once students returned
to school in the fall
Did you knowhellip
You can get great research
databases for free from
home Go to ICONNorg and
put in your public library
card barcode or simply click
on the button that says Try
This
The Quinnipiac University ladies hockey team mascot visits the
summer reader recognition party at Benjamin Jepson Magnet
School with LMS Jeanne Z Lawrence (left)
Page 9 NHPS Library Media
Conte West Hills is experiencing a
renaissance thanks in large part to new Magnet
grant The school has partnered with Expedi-
tionary Learning and all classes will be going on
two expeditions incorporating 21st Century
skills this year
Technology education led by Library
Media Specialist Brett Baker is a major focus of
that Fourth graders are learning to use
Macbook laptops along with Flip cameras Stu-
dents are using Comic Life software to tell a
story and using photos they take with Photo
Booth software Fifth grade students are begin-
ning to research education Ipad applications to
use on the 60 new Ipads on carts
Conte West Hills Magnet Grant Sets Scene for Cutting Edge Technology in the LMC
A student at Conte West Hills tries out one of the schoolrsquos 60 new Ipads in the
library media center
More Library Based Digital Projects
Kindergarteners at Troup Write About Families and Careers in the LMC
Kindergarten and first graders at Au-
gustus Lewis Troup School combined coloring on
paper and typing in Word to help produce class
books on families and careers
After reading books and watched videos
about families kindergarteners drew pictures of
their own families Rita OrsquoKeefe Steel library media
specialist assisted the students in using Microsoft
Word to type descriptions of their drawings Steel
scanned in the drawings and paired them with the
short narratives She then assembled the works
into a class book called Our Families
As part of another project on community
helpers first graders located images of their ca-
reer choices online and inserted them into Word
documents Students wrote about their career
aspirations to go with the images LMS Rita OrsquoKeefe
Steel assembled the projects into a class book
A kindergarten student at Troup Library Media Center uses Word to
write about her family
Wexler Grant Library Media Center Holds Pajama Read-In
A Family Event
Wexler-Grant Pajama
Party was held Dec 8
from 600 to 730 Par-
ents students and staff
were invited to come to
read enjoy cookies and
milk and a raffle was held
One hundred people most
in their pajamas attended
to enjoy the eve-
ning Books totaling $100
were raffled as part of the
Scholastic Book Fair being
held in the LMC Many parents purchased books and much reading and socializing created a fun night
You may have noticed that your schoolrsquos online public
access catalogue (OPAC) has changed The district
recently upgraded to LS2 PAC Along with a sleeker
look the interface offers LMSs the ability to create
customizable book rivers and compile interactive book
lists for projects Students log in with their ID numbers
and can save lists and searches Users can also submit
book reviews and rate selections from one to five
stars There is also a new Kidrsquos Pack that is a hit with
the younger set At school simply clear out the ad-
dress bar and type the word Library to get the cata-
Page 10 NHPS Library Media
56713
60041
Checkouts 2010 vs 2011
Students Reading More at New Haven School Libraries
Checkouts are up 58 percent September through November of 2011 vs the
same period in 2010
Did you knowhellip
You can access
Encyclopedia
Britannica
Online from
your home as
well as from
school
See your library
media specialist
for details
Library Catalogue Upgraded
Seventeen teachers took advantage of a new
staff development tool in November provided by Metropoli-
tan Business Academy library technology student aides
Called Tech Treats the monthly event in the library media
center features training on a new technology tool served
along with a sweet treat
Supervised by LMS Charline Cupole the stu-
dents prepare a 5-minute presentation to show teachers
how they can use an online technology tool with their
class Students create an academic example and a small
handout with the site address and features Students
presented Animotocom and Vokicom and are working on
their next presentation using three online organizational
tools
Metro Library Offers up Tech Treats
Page 4 NHPS Library Media
Library
Media
Specialists
offer Staff
Development
in Digital
Literacy
At Brennan-Rogers Library Media Specialist Susan Martinez Sen-
droff recently led over 20 staff members in professional develop-
ment for advanced iPad usage The workshop included examples
and overviews of apps to support organization teaching and
learning including Notability Pages Morfo and Photofunia
Brennan Rogers Library Media Specialist Trains Teachers on Apple Apps
Under the direction of Ms Sendroff
Brennan Rogers LMS third grade stu-
dents recently competed in teams of
two with Miniwords to reinforce and
practice spelling and reading skills
Student library aides help staff members learn
about new technologies at Metropolitan
LMS Paula Daitzman presented a Google Apps professional development at a staff meet-
ing in November Daitzman used the digital presentation tool Prezi to convey the information (see
her presentation here) East Rock was the second school in the district to get Google Apps which
included G-mail Accounts for all
staff members and students in
grade 3-8
As Daitzman told her
staff Google Apps is a free suite of
HOSTED communication and col-
laboration applications designed
for schools and universities With Google apps schools dont maintain the servers the hardware and
the updates Google provides this service
Google Apps have something for everyone in school Teachers can use it to have a better
homeschool connection publish online documents and projects create lessons for students and
monitor student progress Administrators can extend a professional community online collaborate
with staff gather district-wide data create inventories and survey large groups Student can use it
for group work peer editing sharing content and online writing editing and publishing of projects
Google Apps Subject of East Rock LMS Staff Training
Hundreds of students at the Fair Haven School are participating in a voluntary read-
ing incentive program which is the brainchild of library media specialist Lynn Virtue
Called Go for the Gold the program has students reading at home and recording
their progress in a reading log Students color in Olympic rings that indicate 20 minutes of
reading time When K-2 students reach four hours of outside reading they receive a bronze
medal and can begin to work toward a silver and ultimately a gold Students in grades 3-5 must
read eight hours to move up a level Parents monitor their childrenrsquos progress and sign off on
the logs
Ms Virtue keeps tracks of studentsrsquo progress by recording their accomplishments
on classroom logs Periodically she submits a list of names to the principal who recognizes the
readers during morning announcements and sends
deserving students to the library for prizes Prizes
range from a book mark to a gold medal Each student
who achieves a level is recognized with a star on a
bulletin board in the library media center
ldquoImplementing a new reading incentive program school wide is an organ-
izational challengerdquo said Ms Virtue ldquobut it is well worth it when I see the enthusiasmrdquo
The program is especially helpful for students who are new English lan-
guage speakers Fair Haven is a new arrival school which makes for a steady stream
of non-English speaking students of all ages Ursule a 9-year-old third grader from
the Congo who has been speaking English for a year came in for her bronze level book
mark ldquoI like reading booksrdquo she said ldquoI have a lot of them at homerdquo
Fair Haven Library ldquoGo for the Goldrdquo Reading Promotion Program Signs up Hundreds
A student at Fair Haven
chooses a prize for
reading at home
Students in grades 1-3 and their parents participated
in a Milk and Cookies evening Dec 14 at Barnard Environmental
Studies School
Working with their teachers and library media special-
ist the children sang songs about saving the environment created
a movie showing recycling practices participated in a book swap
(pictured) made bookmarks and enjoyed a snack of milk and
cookies
NHPS Library Media Page 5
Author Christina Cody came to
Edgewood School library media
center to share her story The Per-
fectly Imperfect Pumpkin to K-2
students
Inspiring a Love of Reading
Art teacher Nicole Bimonte and Volunteer Katha Cox helped LMS
Lynn Virtue with the display at Fair Haven library media center
Students at Fair Haven are
recognized with stars on a bulletin
board when they earn medals
Mary McMullen library
media specialist at
Hillhouse introduced the
teams from each school
Story and Story Bird
Students from New Haven
Academy Cooperative Arts and Hu-
manities Metropolitan Business Acad-
emy Hill Regional Career High School
Wilbur Cross High School in the Com-
munity Riverside Education Academy
and Hillhouse participated in the event
that began in the auditorium with the
digital presentations
After that students headed
for the library media center where
they met in mixed groups for ice-
breakers and discussion facilitated by
library media specialists
At the end students com-
pleted a digital survey created with
Google Forms that allowed for imme-
diate feedback about the event Hill-
house library media specialist Mary
McMullen organized the event with the
help of Fran Pierson from HSC and
Eleanor Willis of Coop There will be
two more district wide book club
events this year The Other Wes Moore
by Wes Moore and Stir It Up by Ramin
Ganeshram both at Wilbur Cross High
School
Books 20 continued from Page 1
Page 6 NHPS Library Media
Members of Coop High
Schoolrsquos book club intro-
duce their Animoto
Students headed for the Hillhouse Media Center for icebreak-
ers and discussion on the book selection
Students answered icebreaker questions
Students began to com-
municate beyond school walls in the
weeks leading up to the event at
Hillhouse
They blogged their
thoughts about the book at a special
site set up by New Haven Academy
LMS Eileen Aiello See some of the
studentsrsquo posts here
Page 7 NHPS Library Media
Eighth graders at East Rock School volunteered to help first graders learn
how to use Tuxpaint an online simple drawing program for young children
First graders used Tuxpaint to create drawings of sea stars that they had
researched Students used Microsoft Word to type out their research
Third grade students at Christopher Columbus Family Academy complete Animotos using research they completed on animals
under the direction of LMS Rose Evans
More Library Based Digital
Projects
ldquoWith guidance and support from adults use a
variety of digital tools to produce and publish
writing including in collaboration with peersrdquo
From the Common Core State Standards for ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ART S amp Literacy in HistorySocial Studies Science and Techni-
cal Subjects for Grade 1
A yearly first grade
product at Bishop Woods is a mural about the
desert This year students teamed up with fifth
grade buddies and used Google images to find a
plant or animal to research for the mural
The pairs looked in books encyclo-
pedias and on-line to find a fun or amazing fact
about their plant or animal The first graders
wrote three captions for each picture of their
animal I am an (animal) I live in the (habitat)rdquo
and a third one a fun or amazing fact they
discovered in their research They called this
their Fantastic Fact
The fifth graders then helped the
first graders create a Blabber using the pic-
ture they found in Google Images and the cap-
tion they wrote for their picture
Students use Blabberize to create
their own talking pictures a moving mouth on a
still image Students recorded themselves
reading the dialogue to give to their animals Click here for an example of student work
At Bishop Woods
At Columbus
At East Rock
The joint efforts of the New
Haven school and public librarians to
keep students reading throughout the
summer paid off as 76 more stu-
dents completed the program than the
previous year This was the second
year that school and public librarians
collaborated on this reading incentive
program
In 2010 2369 students
signed up to
participate
in the sum-
mer reading
program at
the New
Haven Free
Public Library with 970 finishing the
program This summer 2922 stu-
dents signed up and 1706 took it to
the end
The program used reading
lists provided by the school librarians
and reading journals created by the
public librarians Students kept logs of
Summer Reading Participation up 76 Percent
Page 8 NHPS Library Media
Displays around the district
this one at Metropolitan
Business Academy Library
Media Center recognized
summer readers
Graphics from the New Haven
Free Public Library were used
to prepare the school district
reading lists
the amount they read and were
rewarded with prizes for finishing
School librarians promoted the
program in May and June and recog-
nized finishers on bulletin boards with
ice cream socials and recognition in
town meetings once students returned
to school in the fall
Did you knowhellip
You can get great research
databases for free from
home Go to ICONNorg and
put in your public library
card barcode or simply click
on the button that says Try
This
The Quinnipiac University ladies hockey team mascot visits the
summer reader recognition party at Benjamin Jepson Magnet
School with LMS Jeanne Z Lawrence (left)
Page 9 NHPS Library Media
Conte West Hills is experiencing a
renaissance thanks in large part to new Magnet
grant The school has partnered with Expedi-
tionary Learning and all classes will be going on
two expeditions incorporating 21st Century
skills this year
Technology education led by Library
Media Specialist Brett Baker is a major focus of
that Fourth graders are learning to use
Macbook laptops along with Flip cameras Stu-
dents are using Comic Life software to tell a
story and using photos they take with Photo
Booth software Fifth grade students are begin-
ning to research education Ipad applications to
use on the 60 new Ipads on carts
Conte West Hills Magnet Grant Sets Scene for Cutting Edge Technology in the LMC
A student at Conte West Hills tries out one of the schoolrsquos 60 new Ipads in the
library media center
More Library Based Digital Projects
Kindergarteners at Troup Write About Families and Careers in the LMC
Kindergarten and first graders at Au-
gustus Lewis Troup School combined coloring on
paper and typing in Word to help produce class
books on families and careers
After reading books and watched videos
about families kindergarteners drew pictures of
their own families Rita OrsquoKeefe Steel library media
specialist assisted the students in using Microsoft
Word to type descriptions of their drawings Steel
scanned in the drawings and paired them with the
short narratives She then assembled the works
into a class book called Our Families
As part of another project on community
helpers first graders located images of their ca-
reer choices online and inserted them into Word
documents Students wrote about their career
aspirations to go with the images LMS Rita OrsquoKeefe
Steel assembled the projects into a class book
A kindergarten student at Troup Library Media Center uses Word to
write about her family
Wexler Grant Library Media Center Holds Pajama Read-In
A Family Event
Wexler-Grant Pajama
Party was held Dec 8
from 600 to 730 Par-
ents students and staff
were invited to come to
read enjoy cookies and
milk and a raffle was held
One hundred people most
in their pajamas attended
to enjoy the eve-
ning Books totaling $100
were raffled as part of the
Scholastic Book Fair being
held in the LMC Many parents purchased books and much reading and socializing created a fun night
You may have noticed that your schoolrsquos online public
access catalogue (OPAC) has changed The district
recently upgraded to LS2 PAC Along with a sleeker
look the interface offers LMSs the ability to create
customizable book rivers and compile interactive book
lists for projects Students log in with their ID numbers
and can save lists and searches Users can also submit
book reviews and rate selections from one to five
stars There is also a new Kidrsquos Pack that is a hit with
the younger set At school simply clear out the ad-
dress bar and type the word Library to get the cata-
Page 10 NHPS Library Media
56713
60041
Checkouts 2010 vs 2011
Students Reading More at New Haven School Libraries
Checkouts are up 58 percent September through November of 2011 vs the
same period in 2010
Did you knowhellip
You can access
Encyclopedia
Britannica
Online from
your home as
well as from
school
See your library
media specialist
for details
Library Catalogue Upgraded
Hundreds of students at the Fair Haven School are participating in a voluntary read-
ing incentive program which is the brainchild of library media specialist Lynn Virtue
Called Go for the Gold the program has students reading at home and recording
their progress in a reading log Students color in Olympic rings that indicate 20 minutes of
reading time When K-2 students reach four hours of outside reading they receive a bronze
medal and can begin to work toward a silver and ultimately a gold Students in grades 3-5 must
read eight hours to move up a level Parents monitor their childrenrsquos progress and sign off on
the logs
Ms Virtue keeps tracks of studentsrsquo progress by recording their accomplishments
on classroom logs Periodically she submits a list of names to the principal who recognizes the
readers during morning announcements and sends
deserving students to the library for prizes Prizes
range from a book mark to a gold medal Each student
who achieves a level is recognized with a star on a
bulletin board in the library media center
ldquoImplementing a new reading incentive program school wide is an organ-
izational challengerdquo said Ms Virtue ldquobut it is well worth it when I see the enthusiasmrdquo
The program is especially helpful for students who are new English lan-
guage speakers Fair Haven is a new arrival school which makes for a steady stream
of non-English speaking students of all ages Ursule a 9-year-old third grader from
the Congo who has been speaking English for a year came in for her bronze level book
mark ldquoI like reading booksrdquo she said ldquoI have a lot of them at homerdquo
Fair Haven Library ldquoGo for the Goldrdquo Reading Promotion Program Signs up Hundreds
A student at Fair Haven
chooses a prize for
reading at home
Students in grades 1-3 and their parents participated
in a Milk and Cookies evening Dec 14 at Barnard Environmental
Studies School
Working with their teachers and library media special-
ist the children sang songs about saving the environment created
a movie showing recycling practices participated in a book swap
(pictured) made bookmarks and enjoyed a snack of milk and
cookies
NHPS Library Media Page 5
Author Christina Cody came to
Edgewood School library media
center to share her story The Per-
fectly Imperfect Pumpkin to K-2
students
Inspiring a Love of Reading
Art teacher Nicole Bimonte and Volunteer Katha Cox helped LMS
Lynn Virtue with the display at Fair Haven library media center
Students at Fair Haven are
recognized with stars on a bulletin
board when they earn medals
Mary McMullen library
media specialist at
Hillhouse introduced the
teams from each school
Story and Story Bird
Students from New Haven
Academy Cooperative Arts and Hu-
manities Metropolitan Business Acad-
emy Hill Regional Career High School
Wilbur Cross High School in the Com-
munity Riverside Education Academy
and Hillhouse participated in the event
that began in the auditorium with the
digital presentations
After that students headed
for the library media center where
they met in mixed groups for ice-
breakers and discussion facilitated by
library media specialists
At the end students com-
pleted a digital survey created with
Google Forms that allowed for imme-
diate feedback about the event Hill-
house library media specialist Mary
McMullen organized the event with the
help of Fran Pierson from HSC and
Eleanor Willis of Coop There will be
two more district wide book club
events this year The Other Wes Moore
by Wes Moore and Stir It Up by Ramin
Ganeshram both at Wilbur Cross High
School
Books 20 continued from Page 1
Page 6 NHPS Library Media
Members of Coop High
Schoolrsquos book club intro-
duce their Animoto
Students headed for the Hillhouse Media Center for icebreak-
ers and discussion on the book selection
Students answered icebreaker questions
Students began to com-
municate beyond school walls in the
weeks leading up to the event at
Hillhouse
They blogged their
thoughts about the book at a special
site set up by New Haven Academy
LMS Eileen Aiello See some of the
studentsrsquo posts here
Page 7 NHPS Library Media
Eighth graders at East Rock School volunteered to help first graders learn
how to use Tuxpaint an online simple drawing program for young children
First graders used Tuxpaint to create drawings of sea stars that they had
researched Students used Microsoft Word to type out their research
Third grade students at Christopher Columbus Family Academy complete Animotos using research they completed on animals
under the direction of LMS Rose Evans
More Library Based Digital
Projects
ldquoWith guidance and support from adults use a
variety of digital tools to produce and publish
writing including in collaboration with peersrdquo
From the Common Core State Standards for ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ART S amp Literacy in HistorySocial Studies Science and Techni-
cal Subjects for Grade 1
A yearly first grade
product at Bishop Woods is a mural about the
desert This year students teamed up with fifth
grade buddies and used Google images to find a
plant or animal to research for the mural
The pairs looked in books encyclo-
pedias and on-line to find a fun or amazing fact
about their plant or animal The first graders
wrote three captions for each picture of their
animal I am an (animal) I live in the (habitat)rdquo
and a third one a fun or amazing fact they
discovered in their research They called this
their Fantastic Fact
The fifth graders then helped the
first graders create a Blabber using the pic-
ture they found in Google Images and the cap-
tion they wrote for their picture
Students use Blabberize to create
their own talking pictures a moving mouth on a
still image Students recorded themselves
reading the dialogue to give to their animals Click here for an example of student work
At Bishop Woods
At Columbus
At East Rock
The joint efforts of the New
Haven school and public librarians to
keep students reading throughout the
summer paid off as 76 more stu-
dents completed the program than the
previous year This was the second
year that school and public librarians
collaborated on this reading incentive
program
In 2010 2369 students
signed up to
participate
in the sum-
mer reading
program at
the New
Haven Free
Public Library with 970 finishing the
program This summer 2922 stu-
dents signed up and 1706 took it to
the end
The program used reading
lists provided by the school librarians
and reading journals created by the
public librarians Students kept logs of
Summer Reading Participation up 76 Percent
Page 8 NHPS Library Media
Displays around the district
this one at Metropolitan
Business Academy Library
Media Center recognized
summer readers
Graphics from the New Haven
Free Public Library were used
to prepare the school district
reading lists
the amount they read and were
rewarded with prizes for finishing
School librarians promoted the
program in May and June and recog-
nized finishers on bulletin boards with
ice cream socials and recognition in
town meetings once students returned
to school in the fall
Did you knowhellip
You can get great research
databases for free from
home Go to ICONNorg and
put in your public library
card barcode or simply click
on the button that says Try
This
The Quinnipiac University ladies hockey team mascot visits the
summer reader recognition party at Benjamin Jepson Magnet
School with LMS Jeanne Z Lawrence (left)
Page 9 NHPS Library Media
Conte West Hills is experiencing a
renaissance thanks in large part to new Magnet
grant The school has partnered with Expedi-
tionary Learning and all classes will be going on
two expeditions incorporating 21st Century
skills this year
Technology education led by Library
Media Specialist Brett Baker is a major focus of
that Fourth graders are learning to use
Macbook laptops along with Flip cameras Stu-
dents are using Comic Life software to tell a
story and using photos they take with Photo
Booth software Fifth grade students are begin-
ning to research education Ipad applications to
use on the 60 new Ipads on carts
Conte West Hills Magnet Grant Sets Scene for Cutting Edge Technology in the LMC
A student at Conte West Hills tries out one of the schoolrsquos 60 new Ipads in the
library media center
More Library Based Digital Projects
Kindergarteners at Troup Write About Families and Careers in the LMC
Kindergarten and first graders at Au-
gustus Lewis Troup School combined coloring on
paper and typing in Word to help produce class
books on families and careers
After reading books and watched videos
about families kindergarteners drew pictures of
their own families Rita OrsquoKeefe Steel library media
specialist assisted the students in using Microsoft
Word to type descriptions of their drawings Steel
scanned in the drawings and paired them with the
short narratives She then assembled the works
into a class book called Our Families
As part of another project on community
helpers first graders located images of their ca-
reer choices online and inserted them into Word
documents Students wrote about their career
aspirations to go with the images LMS Rita OrsquoKeefe
Steel assembled the projects into a class book
A kindergarten student at Troup Library Media Center uses Word to
write about her family
Wexler Grant Library Media Center Holds Pajama Read-In
A Family Event
Wexler-Grant Pajama
Party was held Dec 8
from 600 to 730 Par-
ents students and staff
were invited to come to
read enjoy cookies and
milk and a raffle was held
One hundred people most
in their pajamas attended
to enjoy the eve-
ning Books totaling $100
were raffled as part of the
Scholastic Book Fair being
held in the LMC Many parents purchased books and much reading and socializing created a fun night
You may have noticed that your schoolrsquos online public
access catalogue (OPAC) has changed The district
recently upgraded to LS2 PAC Along with a sleeker
look the interface offers LMSs the ability to create
customizable book rivers and compile interactive book
lists for projects Students log in with their ID numbers
and can save lists and searches Users can also submit
book reviews and rate selections from one to five
stars There is also a new Kidrsquos Pack that is a hit with
the younger set At school simply clear out the ad-
dress bar and type the word Library to get the cata-
Page 10 NHPS Library Media
56713
60041
Checkouts 2010 vs 2011
Students Reading More at New Haven School Libraries
Checkouts are up 58 percent September through November of 2011 vs the
same period in 2010
Did you knowhellip
You can access
Encyclopedia
Britannica
Online from
your home as
well as from
school
See your library
media specialist
for details
Library Catalogue Upgraded
Mary McMullen library
media specialist at
Hillhouse introduced the
teams from each school
Story and Story Bird
Students from New Haven
Academy Cooperative Arts and Hu-
manities Metropolitan Business Acad-
emy Hill Regional Career High School
Wilbur Cross High School in the Com-
munity Riverside Education Academy
and Hillhouse participated in the event
that began in the auditorium with the
digital presentations
After that students headed
for the library media center where
they met in mixed groups for ice-
breakers and discussion facilitated by
library media specialists
At the end students com-
pleted a digital survey created with
Google Forms that allowed for imme-
diate feedback about the event Hill-
house library media specialist Mary
McMullen organized the event with the
help of Fran Pierson from HSC and
Eleanor Willis of Coop There will be
two more district wide book club
events this year The Other Wes Moore
by Wes Moore and Stir It Up by Ramin
Ganeshram both at Wilbur Cross High
School
Books 20 continued from Page 1
Page 6 NHPS Library Media
Members of Coop High
Schoolrsquos book club intro-
duce their Animoto
Students headed for the Hillhouse Media Center for icebreak-
ers and discussion on the book selection
Students answered icebreaker questions
Students began to com-
municate beyond school walls in the
weeks leading up to the event at
Hillhouse
They blogged their
thoughts about the book at a special
site set up by New Haven Academy
LMS Eileen Aiello See some of the
studentsrsquo posts here
Page 7 NHPS Library Media
Eighth graders at East Rock School volunteered to help first graders learn
how to use Tuxpaint an online simple drawing program for young children
First graders used Tuxpaint to create drawings of sea stars that they had
researched Students used Microsoft Word to type out their research
Third grade students at Christopher Columbus Family Academy complete Animotos using research they completed on animals
under the direction of LMS Rose Evans
More Library Based Digital
Projects
ldquoWith guidance and support from adults use a
variety of digital tools to produce and publish
writing including in collaboration with peersrdquo
From the Common Core State Standards for ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ART S amp Literacy in HistorySocial Studies Science and Techni-
cal Subjects for Grade 1
A yearly first grade
product at Bishop Woods is a mural about the
desert This year students teamed up with fifth
grade buddies and used Google images to find a
plant or animal to research for the mural
The pairs looked in books encyclo-
pedias and on-line to find a fun or amazing fact
about their plant or animal The first graders
wrote three captions for each picture of their
animal I am an (animal) I live in the (habitat)rdquo
and a third one a fun or amazing fact they
discovered in their research They called this
their Fantastic Fact
The fifth graders then helped the
first graders create a Blabber using the pic-
ture they found in Google Images and the cap-
tion they wrote for their picture
Students use Blabberize to create
their own talking pictures a moving mouth on a
still image Students recorded themselves
reading the dialogue to give to their animals Click here for an example of student work
At Bishop Woods
At Columbus
At East Rock
The joint efforts of the New
Haven school and public librarians to
keep students reading throughout the
summer paid off as 76 more stu-
dents completed the program than the
previous year This was the second
year that school and public librarians
collaborated on this reading incentive
program
In 2010 2369 students
signed up to
participate
in the sum-
mer reading
program at
the New
Haven Free
Public Library with 970 finishing the
program This summer 2922 stu-
dents signed up and 1706 took it to
the end
The program used reading
lists provided by the school librarians
and reading journals created by the
public librarians Students kept logs of
Summer Reading Participation up 76 Percent
Page 8 NHPS Library Media
Displays around the district
this one at Metropolitan
Business Academy Library
Media Center recognized
summer readers
Graphics from the New Haven
Free Public Library were used
to prepare the school district
reading lists
the amount they read and were
rewarded with prizes for finishing
School librarians promoted the
program in May and June and recog-
nized finishers on bulletin boards with
ice cream socials and recognition in
town meetings once students returned
to school in the fall
Did you knowhellip
You can get great research
databases for free from
home Go to ICONNorg and
put in your public library
card barcode or simply click
on the button that says Try
This
The Quinnipiac University ladies hockey team mascot visits the
summer reader recognition party at Benjamin Jepson Magnet
School with LMS Jeanne Z Lawrence (left)
Page 9 NHPS Library Media
Conte West Hills is experiencing a
renaissance thanks in large part to new Magnet
grant The school has partnered with Expedi-
tionary Learning and all classes will be going on
two expeditions incorporating 21st Century
skills this year
Technology education led by Library
Media Specialist Brett Baker is a major focus of
that Fourth graders are learning to use
Macbook laptops along with Flip cameras Stu-
dents are using Comic Life software to tell a
story and using photos they take with Photo
Booth software Fifth grade students are begin-
ning to research education Ipad applications to
use on the 60 new Ipads on carts
Conte West Hills Magnet Grant Sets Scene for Cutting Edge Technology in the LMC
A student at Conte West Hills tries out one of the schoolrsquos 60 new Ipads in the
library media center
More Library Based Digital Projects
Kindergarteners at Troup Write About Families and Careers in the LMC
Kindergarten and first graders at Au-
gustus Lewis Troup School combined coloring on
paper and typing in Word to help produce class
books on families and careers
After reading books and watched videos
about families kindergarteners drew pictures of
their own families Rita OrsquoKeefe Steel library media
specialist assisted the students in using Microsoft
Word to type descriptions of their drawings Steel
scanned in the drawings and paired them with the
short narratives She then assembled the works
into a class book called Our Families
As part of another project on community
helpers first graders located images of their ca-
reer choices online and inserted them into Word
documents Students wrote about their career
aspirations to go with the images LMS Rita OrsquoKeefe
Steel assembled the projects into a class book
A kindergarten student at Troup Library Media Center uses Word to
write about her family
Wexler Grant Library Media Center Holds Pajama Read-In
A Family Event
Wexler-Grant Pajama
Party was held Dec 8
from 600 to 730 Par-
ents students and staff
were invited to come to
read enjoy cookies and
milk and a raffle was held
One hundred people most
in their pajamas attended
to enjoy the eve-
ning Books totaling $100
were raffled as part of the
Scholastic Book Fair being
held in the LMC Many parents purchased books and much reading and socializing created a fun night
You may have noticed that your schoolrsquos online public
access catalogue (OPAC) has changed The district
recently upgraded to LS2 PAC Along with a sleeker
look the interface offers LMSs the ability to create
customizable book rivers and compile interactive book
lists for projects Students log in with their ID numbers
and can save lists and searches Users can also submit
book reviews and rate selections from one to five
stars There is also a new Kidrsquos Pack that is a hit with
the younger set At school simply clear out the ad-
dress bar and type the word Library to get the cata-
Page 10 NHPS Library Media
56713
60041
Checkouts 2010 vs 2011
Students Reading More at New Haven School Libraries
Checkouts are up 58 percent September through November of 2011 vs the
same period in 2010
Did you knowhellip
You can access
Encyclopedia
Britannica
Online from
your home as
well as from
school
See your library
media specialist
for details
Library Catalogue Upgraded
Page 7 NHPS Library Media
Eighth graders at East Rock School volunteered to help first graders learn
how to use Tuxpaint an online simple drawing program for young children
First graders used Tuxpaint to create drawings of sea stars that they had
researched Students used Microsoft Word to type out their research
Third grade students at Christopher Columbus Family Academy complete Animotos using research they completed on animals
under the direction of LMS Rose Evans
More Library Based Digital
Projects
ldquoWith guidance and support from adults use a
variety of digital tools to produce and publish
writing including in collaboration with peersrdquo
From the Common Core State Standards for ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ART S amp Literacy in HistorySocial Studies Science and Techni-
cal Subjects for Grade 1
A yearly first grade
product at Bishop Woods is a mural about the
desert This year students teamed up with fifth
grade buddies and used Google images to find a
plant or animal to research for the mural
The pairs looked in books encyclo-
pedias and on-line to find a fun or amazing fact
about their plant or animal The first graders
wrote three captions for each picture of their
animal I am an (animal) I live in the (habitat)rdquo
and a third one a fun or amazing fact they
discovered in their research They called this
their Fantastic Fact
The fifth graders then helped the
first graders create a Blabber using the pic-
ture they found in Google Images and the cap-
tion they wrote for their picture
Students use Blabberize to create
their own talking pictures a moving mouth on a
still image Students recorded themselves
reading the dialogue to give to their animals Click here for an example of student work
At Bishop Woods
At Columbus
At East Rock
The joint efforts of the New
Haven school and public librarians to
keep students reading throughout the
summer paid off as 76 more stu-
dents completed the program than the
previous year This was the second
year that school and public librarians
collaborated on this reading incentive
program
In 2010 2369 students
signed up to
participate
in the sum-
mer reading
program at
the New
Haven Free
Public Library with 970 finishing the
program This summer 2922 stu-
dents signed up and 1706 took it to
the end
The program used reading
lists provided by the school librarians
and reading journals created by the
public librarians Students kept logs of
Summer Reading Participation up 76 Percent
Page 8 NHPS Library Media
Displays around the district
this one at Metropolitan
Business Academy Library
Media Center recognized
summer readers
Graphics from the New Haven
Free Public Library were used
to prepare the school district
reading lists
the amount they read and were
rewarded with prizes for finishing
School librarians promoted the
program in May and June and recog-
nized finishers on bulletin boards with
ice cream socials and recognition in
town meetings once students returned
to school in the fall
Did you knowhellip
You can get great research
databases for free from
home Go to ICONNorg and
put in your public library
card barcode or simply click
on the button that says Try
This
The Quinnipiac University ladies hockey team mascot visits the
summer reader recognition party at Benjamin Jepson Magnet
School with LMS Jeanne Z Lawrence (left)
Page 9 NHPS Library Media
Conte West Hills is experiencing a
renaissance thanks in large part to new Magnet
grant The school has partnered with Expedi-
tionary Learning and all classes will be going on
two expeditions incorporating 21st Century
skills this year
Technology education led by Library
Media Specialist Brett Baker is a major focus of
that Fourth graders are learning to use
Macbook laptops along with Flip cameras Stu-
dents are using Comic Life software to tell a
story and using photos they take with Photo
Booth software Fifth grade students are begin-
ning to research education Ipad applications to
use on the 60 new Ipads on carts
Conte West Hills Magnet Grant Sets Scene for Cutting Edge Technology in the LMC
A student at Conte West Hills tries out one of the schoolrsquos 60 new Ipads in the
library media center
More Library Based Digital Projects
Kindergarteners at Troup Write About Families and Careers in the LMC
Kindergarten and first graders at Au-
gustus Lewis Troup School combined coloring on
paper and typing in Word to help produce class
books on families and careers
After reading books and watched videos
about families kindergarteners drew pictures of
their own families Rita OrsquoKeefe Steel library media
specialist assisted the students in using Microsoft
Word to type descriptions of their drawings Steel
scanned in the drawings and paired them with the
short narratives She then assembled the works
into a class book called Our Families
As part of another project on community
helpers first graders located images of their ca-
reer choices online and inserted them into Word
documents Students wrote about their career
aspirations to go with the images LMS Rita OrsquoKeefe
Steel assembled the projects into a class book
A kindergarten student at Troup Library Media Center uses Word to
write about her family
Wexler Grant Library Media Center Holds Pajama Read-In
A Family Event
Wexler-Grant Pajama
Party was held Dec 8
from 600 to 730 Par-
ents students and staff
were invited to come to
read enjoy cookies and
milk and a raffle was held
One hundred people most
in their pajamas attended
to enjoy the eve-
ning Books totaling $100
were raffled as part of the
Scholastic Book Fair being
held in the LMC Many parents purchased books and much reading and socializing created a fun night
You may have noticed that your schoolrsquos online public
access catalogue (OPAC) has changed The district
recently upgraded to LS2 PAC Along with a sleeker
look the interface offers LMSs the ability to create
customizable book rivers and compile interactive book
lists for projects Students log in with their ID numbers
and can save lists and searches Users can also submit
book reviews and rate selections from one to five
stars There is also a new Kidrsquos Pack that is a hit with
the younger set At school simply clear out the ad-
dress bar and type the word Library to get the cata-
Page 10 NHPS Library Media
56713
60041
Checkouts 2010 vs 2011
Students Reading More at New Haven School Libraries
Checkouts are up 58 percent September through November of 2011 vs the
same period in 2010
Did you knowhellip
You can access
Encyclopedia
Britannica
Online from
your home as
well as from
school
See your library
media specialist
for details
Library Catalogue Upgraded
The joint efforts of the New
Haven school and public librarians to
keep students reading throughout the
summer paid off as 76 more stu-
dents completed the program than the
previous year This was the second
year that school and public librarians
collaborated on this reading incentive
program
In 2010 2369 students
signed up to
participate
in the sum-
mer reading
program at
the New
Haven Free
Public Library with 970 finishing the
program This summer 2922 stu-
dents signed up and 1706 took it to
the end
The program used reading
lists provided by the school librarians
and reading journals created by the
public librarians Students kept logs of
Summer Reading Participation up 76 Percent
Page 8 NHPS Library Media
Displays around the district
this one at Metropolitan
Business Academy Library
Media Center recognized
summer readers
Graphics from the New Haven
Free Public Library were used
to prepare the school district
reading lists
the amount they read and were
rewarded with prizes for finishing
School librarians promoted the
program in May and June and recog-
nized finishers on bulletin boards with
ice cream socials and recognition in
town meetings once students returned
to school in the fall
Did you knowhellip
You can get great research
databases for free from
home Go to ICONNorg and
put in your public library
card barcode or simply click
on the button that says Try
This
The Quinnipiac University ladies hockey team mascot visits the
summer reader recognition party at Benjamin Jepson Magnet
School with LMS Jeanne Z Lawrence (left)
Page 9 NHPS Library Media
Conte West Hills is experiencing a
renaissance thanks in large part to new Magnet
grant The school has partnered with Expedi-
tionary Learning and all classes will be going on
two expeditions incorporating 21st Century
skills this year
Technology education led by Library
Media Specialist Brett Baker is a major focus of
that Fourth graders are learning to use
Macbook laptops along with Flip cameras Stu-
dents are using Comic Life software to tell a
story and using photos they take with Photo
Booth software Fifth grade students are begin-
ning to research education Ipad applications to
use on the 60 new Ipads on carts
Conte West Hills Magnet Grant Sets Scene for Cutting Edge Technology in the LMC
A student at Conte West Hills tries out one of the schoolrsquos 60 new Ipads in the
library media center
More Library Based Digital Projects
Kindergarteners at Troup Write About Families and Careers in the LMC
Kindergarten and first graders at Au-
gustus Lewis Troup School combined coloring on
paper and typing in Word to help produce class
books on families and careers
After reading books and watched videos
about families kindergarteners drew pictures of
their own families Rita OrsquoKeefe Steel library media
specialist assisted the students in using Microsoft
Word to type descriptions of their drawings Steel
scanned in the drawings and paired them with the
short narratives She then assembled the works
into a class book called Our Families
As part of another project on community
helpers first graders located images of their ca-
reer choices online and inserted them into Word
documents Students wrote about their career
aspirations to go with the images LMS Rita OrsquoKeefe
Steel assembled the projects into a class book
A kindergarten student at Troup Library Media Center uses Word to
write about her family
Wexler Grant Library Media Center Holds Pajama Read-In
A Family Event
Wexler-Grant Pajama
Party was held Dec 8
from 600 to 730 Par-
ents students and staff
were invited to come to
read enjoy cookies and
milk and a raffle was held
One hundred people most
in their pajamas attended
to enjoy the eve-
ning Books totaling $100
were raffled as part of the
Scholastic Book Fair being
held in the LMC Many parents purchased books and much reading and socializing created a fun night
You may have noticed that your schoolrsquos online public
access catalogue (OPAC) has changed The district
recently upgraded to LS2 PAC Along with a sleeker
look the interface offers LMSs the ability to create
customizable book rivers and compile interactive book
lists for projects Students log in with their ID numbers
and can save lists and searches Users can also submit
book reviews and rate selections from one to five
stars There is also a new Kidrsquos Pack that is a hit with
the younger set At school simply clear out the ad-
dress bar and type the word Library to get the cata-
Page 10 NHPS Library Media
56713
60041
Checkouts 2010 vs 2011
Students Reading More at New Haven School Libraries
Checkouts are up 58 percent September through November of 2011 vs the
same period in 2010
Did you knowhellip
You can access
Encyclopedia
Britannica
Online from
your home as
well as from
school
See your library
media specialist
for details
Library Catalogue Upgraded
Page 9 NHPS Library Media
Conte West Hills is experiencing a
renaissance thanks in large part to new Magnet
grant The school has partnered with Expedi-
tionary Learning and all classes will be going on
two expeditions incorporating 21st Century
skills this year
Technology education led by Library
Media Specialist Brett Baker is a major focus of
that Fourth graders are learning to use
Macbook laptops along with Flip cameras Stu-
dents are using Comic Life software to tell a
story and using photos they take with Photo
Booth software Fifth grade students are begin-
ning to research education Ipad applications to
use on the 60 new Ipads on carts
Conte West Hills Magnet Grant Sets Scene for Cutting Edge Technology in the LMC
A student at Conte West Hills tries out one of the schoolrsquos 60 new Ipads in the
library media center
More Library Based Digital Projects
Kindergarteners at Troup Write About Families and Careers in the LMC
Kindergarten and first graders at Au-
gustus Lewis Troup School combined coloring on
paper and typing in Word to help produce class
books on families and careers
After reading books and watched videos
about families kindergarteners drew pictures of
their own families Rita OrsquoKeefe Steel library media
specialist assisted the students in using Microsoft
Word to type descriptions of their drawings Steel
scanned in the drawings and paired them with the
short narratives She then assembled the works
into a class book called Our Families
As part of another project on community
helpers first graders located images of their ca-
reer choices online and inserted them into Word
documents Students wrote about their career
aspirations to go with the images LMS Rita OrsquoKeefe
Steel assembled the projects into a class book
A kindergarten student at Troup Library Media Center uses Word to
write about her family
Wexler Grant Library Media Center Holds Pajama Read-In
A Family Event
Wexler-Grant Pajama
Party was held Dec 8
from 600 to 730 Par-
ents students and staff
were invited to come to
read enjoy cookies and
milk and a raffle was held
One hundred people most
in their pajamas attended
to enjoy the eve-
ning Books totaling $100
were raffled as part of the
Scholastic Book Fair being
held in the LMC Many parents purchased books and much reading and socializing created a fun night
You may have noticed that your schoolrsquos online public
access catalogue (OPAC) has changed The district
recently upgraded to LS2 PAC Along with a sleeker
look the interface offers LMSs the ability to create
customizable book rivers and compile interactive book
lists for projects Students log in with their ID numbers
and can save lists and searches Users can also submit
book reviews and rate selections from one to five
stars There is also a new Kidrsquos Pack that is a hit with
the younger set At school simply clear out the ad-
dress bar and type the word Library to get the cata-
Page 10 NHPS Library Media
56713
60041
Checkouts 2010 vs 2011
Students Reading More at New Haven School Libraries
Checkouts are up 58 percent September through November of 2011 vs the
same period in 2010
Did you knowhellip
You can access
Encyclopedia
Britannica
Online from
your home as
well as from
school
See your library
media specialist
for details
Library Catalogue Upgraded
Wexler Grant Library Media Center Holds Pajama Read-In
A Family Event
Wexler-Grant Pajama
Party was held Dec 8
from 600 to 730 Par-
ents students and staff
were invited to come to
read enjoy cookies and
milk and a raffle was held
One hundred people most
in their pajamas attended
to enjoy the eve-
ning Books totaling $100
were raffled as part of the
Scholastic Book Fair being
held in the LMC Many parents purchased books and much reading and socializing created a fun night
You may have noticed that your schoolrsquos online public
access catalogue (OPAC) has changed The district
recently upgraded to LS2 PAC Along with a sleeker
look the interface offers LMSs the ability to create
customizable book rivers and compile interactive book
lists for projects Students log in with their ID numbers
and can save lists and searches Users can also submit
book reviews and rate selections from one to five
stars There is also a new Kidrsquos Pack that is a hit with
the younger set At school simply clear out the ad-
dress bar and type the word Library to get the cata-
Page 10 NHPS Library Media
56713
60041
Checkouts 2010 vs 2011
Students Reading More at New Haven School Libraries
Checkouts are up 58 percent September through November of 2011 vs the
same period in 2010
Did you knowhellip
You can access
Encyclopedia
Britannica
Online from
your home as
well as from
school
See your library
media specialist
for details
Library Catalogue Upgraded
