NCHS Library News

NCHS librarians have been working with district curriculum leaders and K-8 librarians to align research models from kindergarten through twelfth grade. This will help learners recognize and build upon prior research knowledge as they move through their academic career at NCPS.

As often as possible, NCHS library responds to texted queries from students. Learners may text their reference questions to (615) 669 6670. Librarians learn what students do not know through these exchanges which helps to inform instruction, avoiding over-teaching, and targeting real learning gaps. It provides learners with personalized instructional support as well. An analysis of texted exchanges between librarians 9th graders working on the “Museum Project” - a formative assessment involving several phases of inquiry - revealed that students were deeply appreciative of this service. Sandwiched between “PM” and “AM” (143 messages were sent in the afternoon/evening hours as opposed to 21 in the morning hours), was the word “Thank”, which appeared 26 times in approximately 80 student messages. What follows are the number of instances in which each of the following words appeared in student inquiries.

The library now offers digital magazines that can be downloaded to mobile devices. To access these periodicals, teachers and students may log into the NCHS Library database page and scroll down to Flipster. To read online periodicals, it is recommended (but not required) that students add the free Flipster app to their mobile devices.

Ms. Goldhawk’s ninth grade social studies students created a crowdsourced spreadsheet of alternative keywords for P.E.R.S.I.A.+ G.T. (see below) to expand their repertoire of search terms for their research on classical civilizations. Six other 9th grade sections are now using the spreadsheet as a resource to guide their own learning. This is a great example of student-directed learning.

• Politics

• Economics

• Religion

• Social

• Intellectual

• Aesthetic/Arts

• Geography

• Technology

Librarians added a much needed resource to THE ANNEX@, the library’s humanities instructional portal. In the top left corner, learners will find “Who published that newspaper?”, which will lead visitors to information that will help students cite newspapers correctly.

The Science Technology Engineering and Math (S.T.E.M.) librarian taught an art history lesson, featuring an introduction to Photorealism - Hyperrealism to NCHS drawing classes. The lesson included research instruction on finding background information on art movements.

Somewhat Virtual Book Club met on November 4th to discuss Laurie Halse Anderson's The Impossible Knife of Memory via Google Hangouts with three schools in other states (California, Oregon, South Carolina)! Dorman High School in Roebuck, SC facilitated the discussion and challenged participants to answer thought-provoking questions. The club will next meet on December 2nd at 6PM in the high school library to discuss The Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave. Dorman High School, in Roebuck, South Carolina will facilitate the discussion in December.

The makerspace received a generous grant from the PFA in November. Students and faculty are very excited to see robotics and coding added to the makerspace offerings. As part of a 10 month roll out plan, the library introduced the the media lab to its makerspace. The shift came late in the month so stay tuned for more details and photos!

We post much of our research instruction on THE ANNEX@ (our instructional blog). It's the go to resource for students who wish to review what we taught in class.

Email: contact@nchslibrary.info
Website: nchslibrary.info
Location: 11 Farm Road, New Canaan, CT, United States
Phone: (615) 669 6670
Facebook: facebook.com/nchslibrary
Twitter: @nchslmc