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A Quick Note from the SLMS

Now that the 09-10 school year is well underway, perhaps you

might find yourself with some time to think about how you would like the

Dickens LMC to support your classroom teaching. (OK, fine. Time is not

exactly free-flowing, but hopefully you might find a place for us!)

Consider making an informal appointment before or after school

and sharing your lesson plans, unit ideas, or even just talk about how your

students are or are not progressing. The school librarian can be

instrumental in raising student achievement by brainstorming teaching and

behavioral strategies, as well as by working one-on-one with those students

who just don’t seem to want to learn. Use the services of the Dickens LMC

to work smarter, not harder!

Christina A. Bentheim, M.Ed.

School Library Media Specialist

How often do you feel like this poor guy? Rely on the Dickens LMC to help

you with your planning, teaching, and assessment!

The Shelf

November Issue 2009

Vol. 1 Issue 3

Bits and Bytes from the Dickens Library Media Center

D.L. “Dusty” Dickens Elementary School

Library Media Center

5550 Milan Peak St.

North Las Vegas, NV 89081

702.799.3878 – phone

702.799.3871 – fax

www.MrsBentheim.com

What a school thinks about its

library is a measure

of what it feels about

education.

~ Harold Howe

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Circulation Stats During the month of October, more than 7,700 books circulated through

the Dickens LMC (700+ of those coming from classroom teachers)!!!

Keep it up! The more books being circulated, the more being read. The

more being read, the better readers our children become. The better

readers our children become, the higher chances they’ll have at success

in future academics and life! (And it doesn’t hurt those test scores,

either…) Additional specifics about the Dickens LMC program during

October can be found in the Monthly Report to the Principal, which can

be accessed here: http://tinyurl.com/octreport.

Teacher Book Review Program As you may already know, the Library Services department provides

school libraries with the opportunity to earn 10 new books per month

through the writing of staff book reviews. These are books that are just

being published—so new you won’t yet find them anywhere! If you

would like to participate (you can include your class, too), please let

Christina know. Reviews are due the 15th

of each month—and the next

batch will be available early December. So far we’ve earned 30 new

books through the program.

The Shelf Elf Award Every Monday the Shelf Elf blasts off to another classroom (or stays in

the same one, if that class comes out on top again)! This is not a

behavior award. It is solely for following library procedures during

browsing. The class who earns the most visits by the Shelf Elf at the end

of the year will earn a very special reward! A special congrats to the

students learning from Mr. Gabarre, Ms. Wallace-Roth, Ms. Goldberg,

and Ms. Hedvall for earning time with the Shelf Elf during October.

Technology Grant Last month Christina submitted a $24,000 proposal for new technology

in our library media center--40 netbooks with wireless internet, a

netbook cart, 6 iPod touches, an Elmo document camera, and 6 digital

cameras. So far, 50 percent of the project proposal has been funded;

there is still a long way to go. If you would like to see the proposal and

share it with others (parents, students, community members, etc.)

please go to: http://donorschoose.org/twt/318874. The deadline for

funding is quickly approaching in February …

LMC STUDENTS to be featured The following classes are proudly featured on a new American Library

Association READ poster: Hartman, Johnson, Wilson, and Carpenter-Turner.

New LMC Website Design The Dickens LMC website, which can be accessed by visiting

www.MrsBentheim.com, just received a facelift! Flash graphics and moving

images provide for an updated appearance that will hook visitors at first

glance.

New LMC Blog We’ve recently changed blogging platforms from Blogger to Edublogs so that

students and staff can visit the blog from within the confines of CCSD’s filters.

Subscribe to our daily updated by visiting: http://mrsbentheim.edublogs.org.

Visit From A Mountain Man

We celebrated reading by learning from Buffalorump Dan–a mountain man re-

enactor! He so graciously came by to share his experiences with every student

in the school. Students heard about his heritage as a registered American

Indian and saw first-hand what pelts, native instruments, and cooking

materials look like. The Dickens LMC has a variety of resources available for

students in all grades to explore more about the relationship between the

Mountain Men and Native Americans.

I have always imagined that

Paradise will be a kind of

library.

~ Jorge Luis Borges

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Effective Use of AR in the School Library Media Center

Research shows that students who enjoy what they are reading because

they chose it, will rise to the occasion, regardless of level. (This means if a

1st grader wants to read Harry Potter in addition to his "leveled" selection,

who is to say his parents won't read it to him? Or an older sibling? He has a

right to that higher-level text under the ALA's Freedom to Read statement.)

Major barriers between students and resources include, but are not limited

to, imposing age or grade level restrictions on the use of resources; limiting

the use of interlibrary loan and access to electronic information; charging

fees for information in specific formats; requiring permission from parents

or teachers; establishing restricted shelves or closed collections; and

labeling. Policies, procedures, and rules related to the use of resources and

services support free and open access to information.

Overall Message: We need to be very careful that when we level books,

we do not end up leveling our kids!

Book Fair Update

The Book Fair begins December 2 and goes through December 16. Student

and staff shopping hours are from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. daily. All proceeds benefit

the Dickens LMC program.

Our sales goal is $3,000.00 of which $1,800.00 of that will be ours to

purchase new materials. We’re also striving to get students to read for a

combined total of 3,000 minutes during the fair. If students meet this

challenge, our new assistant principal has agreed to don her PJs for the day!

On December 1 between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., the Dickens LMC is hosting a

special preview breakfast for all staff to create their wish lists!

Author Visit A Success Author Mike Knudson came all the way from Utah to visit us

on October 29! Several 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes got

cozy in the multipurpose room to learn from Mike’s writing

experiences. He talked a lot about how he gets his ideas for

writing, how he builds on those ideas, and how he edits and

revises his stories. He is a great speaker, engages the children

and teachers well, and is definitely an up-and-coming author

to watch.

You don’t have to burn books

to destroy a culture. Just get

people to stop reading them.

~ Ray Bradbury

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Where you can learn more about the

Dickens LMC

1. Visit our website at www.MrsBentheim.com and explore each section. (The Links and Teachers sections specifically have some great

stuff for you!)

2. Become a fan of the Dickens Elementary School Library Media Center on Facebook by searching for our name (Dickens Elementary

School Library Media Center) at www.facebook.com.

3. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com. Our Twitter handle is DickensLMC.

4. Subscribe to our blog by visiting http://mrsbentheim.edublogs.org.

5. Join our Delicious network for social bookmarks by clicking on the link at the right-hand side of our

home page at www.MrsBentheim.com or by searching for the DickensLMC at www.delicious.com.

6. Take about 15 minutes to go through the Dickens LMC Teacher Orientation by visiting

www.MrsBentheim.com and clicking on the Teachers section.

Insert Headline Here Month Day Year Vol. 1 Issue 1

Find us on any of these social media

websites. Add us to your contacts list so

that you can stay updated daily on the

goings-on within the Dickens LMC!

Twitter: DickensLMC

Flickr: DickensLMC

YouTube: Dickens LMC

Delicious: Dickens LMC

Edublogs: http://mrsbentheim.edublogs.org

Facebook: Dickens Elementary School Library

Media Center

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