Radnor Township School District School Libraries
March 2017
Ithan Elementary School – submitted by Stephanie Crean, Librarian
While all grades have been working diligently through our Digital Citizenship curriculum and other library standards, the Ithan library would like to take this opportunity to give a giant thank you to all of the staff and community readers we enjoyed for Read across America Day! It is really a fun privilege to see this event grow to include more people each year, reminding students that reading is a lifelong pursuit. Progress reports are going home now showing families a snapshot of the targets we have covered this past marking period, and we are getting ready for the season of Reading Olympics and poetry month. Also coming up, wewill be asking students for their help evaluating e-books, second grade is preparing for country research, and we are all about ready to vote for this year's Pennsylvania Reader's Choice Award - ask your child which book they are voting for!
Radnor Elementary School – Submitted by Renee Francisco, Substitute Librarian
February flew by at the RES Library! All grades continue to enjoy reading and listening to the Pennsylvania Reader’s Choice Nominees. We will vote for our favorites at the end of March.
Common Sense Media lessons covered Personal vs. Private information. Lively discussions were held as students discussed website registrations, online gaming, and safety online. Anti-bullying and cyber safety are important aspects of the library curriculum.
Older students enhanced their Noddletool knowledge by adding resources to their accounts. Classes covered ISBN location and citations. First through Third grade used Pebble Go to research spiders and frogs. Students reviewed login procedures for in school and at home use of our online resources.
March opened like a LION as we celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday on March 2, 2017. Our students, dressed in their best Dr. Seuss wear, welcomed more than 20 guest readers. The RTSD high school students and the Villanova University Football players stole the show!! We were honored to have our new superintendent Mr. Batchelor read here in the library to our third grade. Celebrations continue as we display the PTO sponsored “Art Goes to School” and encourage book selections about the various selected artists.
Our 2017 new book order of over 250 titles has arrived. We will introduce the new selections through displays and book talks throughout the spring.
Wayne Elementary School – Submitted by Sue Dahlstrom, Librarian
Read across America on March 2nd was definitely the highlight of our month. Guest readers from the high school, the administration, school board members and even Carrie Sturgill read during the day to our students. Many classes made a trip to the library to pose in front of the green screen with Dr. Seuss backgrounds. The best part of the day was the deafening silence at 2 pm when EVERYONE in Radnor schools moved outside to the hallways to spend 15 minutes reading silently. The commitment of everyone to read send a powerful message to our entire community.
We just completed conferences for the 2nd marking period, and students were able to demonstrate what they have learned on grade level common assessments. Most of the rest of the month was spent comparing Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice selections as voting will take place next week.
Two WES students have been selected to present the 2016 Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award to author Peter Raymundo at the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association conference in Hershey on March 31st. Carrie Sturgill and Anny Laepple will join Sue Dahlstrom and Maureen McQuiggan to present a workshop at the same conference on Library 365 and our summer(s) of collaboration.
Carrie Sturgill and Sue Dahlstrom have begun planning summer collaborative activities.
Radnor Middle School – Submitted by Catherine Horan, Librarian
On March 2nd, Radnor Middle School, along with schools across the country, celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday. As part of the celebration, many classes signed up to host guest readers from Radnor High School. Other classes came to the library for read-a-louds by Lt. Flanagan (Radnor PD), Anny Laepple (Radnor Memorial Library Director), Andrea Elson (RML Librarian), Chuck Madden (RTSD School Board Member), Mrs. Purnell, Mrs. Horan, and other RMS teachers. Students also participated in a Dr. Seuss trivia contest in their Advisory classes. The Advisory from each grade who had the most questions correct earned a Seuss related prize. Read Across Radnor took place at 2pm when students and staff stopped what they were doing and read for 10-15 minutes.
Radnor High School – Submitted by Michelle Wetzel, Librarian
This month all 9th and 10th grade health classes received Digital Citizenship Lessons. 9th grade English students are research the Victorian Era while 10th grade English classes are researching Social Media. Seniors in British and Modern Literature and Senior Seminar are also researching this month.
As a result of the recent Technology in-service day, RHS now has five certified Apple Teachers. The Apple Distinguished School Committee is also writing a section of the iBook to be submitted as our application for Apple Distinguished School by March.
And finally, RHS students heard from author Jeff Giles as he presented his debut novel, The Edge of Everything on Friday, February 3rd.