Maywood Library

On Friday March 3, Divisions 2 and 3 enjoyed a field trip to visit the library at Burnaby South. Our purpose was to get a sneak preview of all the amenities a high school library has to offer its future students. One of the goals was to give students the opportunity to experiment with green screen technology. Students filmed live-action videos using the green screen studios set up by Ms Yan in the library and by Ms Alexieva in the Media Arts classroom.

They learned how to create additional footage,

and they practiced editing their productions using the Do Ink app.

They learned about forced perspective, and how to create it in a live-action video.

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Media literacy is about understanding a wide variety of tools and techniques for making messages. Some students preferred creating animated videos using apps like ChatterPix and Puppet Pals

All the students were willing to give video production a try, but some decided it was not for them, and Ms Yan had a thoughtful array of alternative activities available. When students have options and possibilities for exploring how they prefer to learn, it paves the way for them to take charge of their own learning. And you can see that libraries offer havens for all the learners and all the ways of learning.

Thank you to Ms Yan, Ms Alexieva, and all the Media Arts students at South who were so welcoming and helpful during our visit.

• All books should be returned to the library by Friday, June 10.
• If I’m not here, you can leave the books in the bin on the library counter
• I will be sending out overdue notices starting the week of June 13^th
• I will start marking books ‘lost’ the week of June 20^th

Last week, Ms Baker’s class came in to the library to work on their unit on ‘Cinderella’ stories from around the world. They are developing their critical thinking skills by comparing different versions of the story.

Our goal in the library was to learn about why the setting is important to understanding a story. We watched a short video about setting, we had a class discussion about how setting works in one of the stories we are reading, and then students used the loose parts materials to create settings for their ‘Cinderella’ stories.

We used the story of The Turkey Girl as an example of why setting is important to a story. The Turkey Girl is set in a Zuni pueblo in New Mexico. The Zuni people have lived there for hundreds of years, and they have many stories and customs that they pass on to their children. The Turkey Girl is one of those stories.

We looked at slides showing the old pueblo villages of the Zuni people, and the desert that surrounds them to this very day.

We talked about how the story was first told a long time ago, before European explorers came to New Mexico and changed the lifeways of the Zuni people.

We also talked about the importance of turkeys to the Zuni people, the ceremonial dances they performed, and the traditional costumes they wore. This discussion was interesting because many students mentioned connections they made with their own cultural backgrounds and traditions.

And then students created settings for their own ‘Cinderella’ stories, using the illustrations in their books for inspiration and the materials from the loose parts cart to realize them.

Ms Baker and I filmed the students explaining their creations, in terms of both the story and their use of materials. For the students, being able to explain their ideas out loud is an important first step in writing them down. For me, listening to them give their interpretations was the best part.

Ms Baker posted the presentation information on the Division 8 Team site so students could have access to it as they worked on their projects at home. For Ms Baker and me this was a true collaboration–we each brought our ideas, resources, and skills to the lesson; we co-planned it and we co-taught it. It was a very satisfying experience all the way around.

Congratulations to Tony from Division 5 for being the first person to find his next book by checking the New Novels and Chapter Books link in the right sidebar. He gets the glory and the reward of being the first one to borrow the newest Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End.

It could be you next. Check the New Books links, see something you like, and put a hold on it to borrow it.