Wrapping up school year 2016-2017 at ISE Library

Enjoy the ISE library antics through the below photo show. Our library is a busy place where learning, socializing and fun in general happens.

Let's start off with a regular state of the library on any given Wednesday, period 8, when almost all middle school, well except year 4 is in having a class, group investigations or independent work.

Our IT Integrator Ms. Glyka introduced books including augmented reality during our last PYP literature circles meeting. Grade 3 students were eager to make connections on how innovation changes the ways we read, and access books and information, something that we have been discussing in the library in conjunction with their Innovation UOI.

Meet the Gruffalos in Reception. Students loved Gruffalo stories by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, as well as the lovely film based on Gruffalo book that gave a sneak and peek in "behind the scenes" of the story.

In February Year 5 students hosted the Human library on their Personal project topics. We has 12 exciting and knowledgeable Books sharing their learning stories with the community.

Visitors from the youngest to the oldest of our students.

 And then this happens... I told you...

... fun ...

... sometimes sorrow ...

... and love.

Till the next year! Have a great summer holidays! Päikest!

Haunted library

At the beginning of this month ISE library once again transformed into the Haunted House. It is our school tradition that the Student Council  with the help of upper school students hosts a haunted house in the library for lower school students during their Fall Party. It is an event everyone is looking for (except maybe the librarian, me). See below what I mean:)

This year an 11th grade, new to ISE, decorating one of the rooms in the library asked sincerely: "Do you really let this happen in the library  every year?" I do... The library with its layout of 5 circularly passable rooms lends itself ideally for this event. Each room usually represents a theme and has a group of students responsible for it.

Reference area-haunted laboratory

Library classroom-haunted hospital

Lower school area-witches den

Middle and Upper school area-haunted dollhouse

It has been quite fun to look at the ideas and the execution of these over the years. Not so much fun coming in next Monday finding pieces of  cobwebs, spiders, not to mention misplaced books and furniture, and this year ... a pool of "blood" on the floor. Yet I think that next year for one night ISE library will turn into a haunted house again.

"Blood, No doubt about it!" Kalle Blomkvist 

Happy New Year!

Welcome back everyone, students, teachers and parents, the librarian... and blogger. It has been a while.
As my first post I wish to share the collage of the previous school year's library fun. Take a moment, enjoy and join in!

Lower school fun

Upper school labourers

The "Four Musketeers" (boys from 2015-16 graduating class) bottom left will be duly missed in the learning commons.

Human library held during the science week.

ISE Library working in collaboration with Tallinn University Academic Library

International School of Estonia and its library are happy to start a collaboration with Tallinn University Academic Library in sharing their abundance of printed and electronic collection, providing our DP students with a scholarly resources for their Extended essays, TOK papers and other coursework. 

Tallinn University Academic Library (Estonian: Tallinna Ülikooli Akadeemiline Raamatukogu) is one of the most comprehensive research libraries of Estonia in all fields of knowledge. 

The library was founded in April 1946 as the Central Library of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. Although the library is quite young, the Library of St. Olaf's Church (founded in 1552) makes up the oldest part of the collections.

Image source: Tallinna Ülikool, Akadeemiline raamatukogu http://www.tlu.ee/et/akadeemiline-raamatukogu

The library holds over 2.5 million items. The number of the readers amounts to nearly 50,000. During the years the library has gone through several administrative changes. It is acting as a part of Tallinn University administrative structure as of 2003. 

Tallinn University Academic Library website

In February Grade 11 students, Ms. Beth Dagitses, DP Coordinator and Ms. Kadri Tomson, MYP Coordinator and librarian visited the Academic library to set up the collaboration and register as readers at the library.

One of the many reading rooms

The stacks

Home lending room

Signing up to become the readers.

Welcome to the new school year MYP!

The school year has started and we are at the full swing at ISE and in the Library by now.

Below is some info about what library has to offer for upper school students and how information literacy and research skills are addressed at MYP, middle school level. 

     Academic honesty
MYP programme takes academic honesty very seriously. One of the four policies all MYP schools have is an Academic honesty policy. ISE adopted one at the end of last school year and is implementing it into teaching and learning this school year.
All MYP students signed an age appropriate student version of the policy agreeing to demonstrate academic honesty and avoid any form of academic misconduct.

Academic honesty in the IB is described by the IB learner profile. As stated in the IB learner profile, all members of the IB community must strive to be “principled”, acting with “integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness and justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere”.

ISE’s Academic Honesty Policy focuses on prevention and promoting good practice. It is our goal for the entire school community to view the principles of the Academic Honesty Policy positively.

In IB the programmes, students develop skills that are important across the curriculum and help them “learn how to learn”. Students will learn and practice academic honesty as part of the ATL skills in various classes, receive and sign an age-appropriate, copy of the policy and understand that the coordinator and teachers are available for further advice and guidance.

We encourage parents to teach and support the ethical values of honesty and integrity and share ISE’'s enforcement of the academic honesty policy, especially with regard to work done outside of school. ISE helps and encourages students with schoolwork, but never does it for them.

                  Binghamton University students talk about academic honesty.

     Information literacy

This year information studies are integrated into subject group units of study. MYP subject teachers and I will  be looking into ways how to collaborate when teaching and learning ATL (approaches to learning) - research and information literacy skills in an authentic settings while exploring UOS topics. 

     Personal project
For the second year I am the Personal project Coordinator at ISE. The MYP culminates in the personal project. Year 5 (grade 10) students engage in the Personal Project. It is a mandatory project in the Middle Years Programme. The project is an opportunity to explore a topic of interest, to develop ATL (approaches to learning) skills and to create something unique, to demonstrate a consolidation of learning in the MYP (what they have learned during the 5 years in MYP). ISE library offers support with finding resources in and outside school for the research portion of the project.

Besides wearing the hats of a librarian, an information literacy specialist and a Personal Project Coordinator my new role this year is a MYP Coordinator.
Last but not least the library is a homeroom for grade 8 this year.

We like it here!

Human Library 2015

Book Week 2015 "We All Speak Music" ended on Friday with an exciting Human Library event. I commend the time and effort all the Books in the Human Library volunteered. From International School of Estonia - Karolina Sepp and handbell students (Christian, Simon, Janek, Anjali, Saskia, Viola, Amane), Paula grade 10, Tamara grade 12, Guido Hiiemaa, Anais Chevalier, Reelika Herkel, Relika Bergstrom, Solvi Ryder, and from outside school Toomas Sepp and Andrea Patron. The books were very interesting and expedient. I was amazed by the talent people have to be shared with our students.

This year the Library Catalog held 10 music themed books.

1. Title: The World of Bells
Summary: The history and the basics of playing the handbells, and a small concert with the possibility of joining in.
2. Title: The Rhythmic World of Percussion
Summary: Find out musical percussion instruments from different part of the world and discover how to play interesting sounds and rhythm.
3. Title: Trumpet in a Musical Circle
Summary: You will learn about the trumpet player's life and why music is important.
4. Title: You Can't Dance Without Music
Summary: This book is about dancing. It tells us about how music and dance are closely related. Have you ever seen a ballet? Would it be good if there was no music? Let's find out and dance together with the music.
5. Title: Singer Songwriter
Summary: Have you ever thought about singing? How about singing a song you wrote yourself?
We will be talking about joys and struggles of being a singer songwriter, learn few tricks and ways to write a song and try to create one together.
6. Title: Digital Organ
Summary: Find out about an instrument called piped organ and hear it play some extraordinary pieces of music.
7. Title: Feel the Beat
Summary: Find out about different drumming styles, discover the rhythm in you and create your own beats.
8. Title: Estonia and the Eurovision Song Contest
Summary: A short overview of Estonian performers and songs at Eurovision song contest from 1994 till now. Greatest winners and losers, and funniest performers and songs. Come and check us out.
9. Title: A Musical Trip Through the Baltics
Summary: Listen to a song starting from Estonia, through Latvia and ending in Lithuania. In each country the song recommends what to do there and what to notice and keep in mind.
10. Title: The sounds of variety
Summary: Listen to various genres of music and spot the differences between them. Find out what genre suits you the most and is your favorite. A perfect opportunity to hear what makes genres different.

Information studies in middle school

Reseach cycle by Jamie Godfrey Gr.9

• During the 1st quarter we learned about the research cycle the process of gathering, analyzing and communicating information. Students studied and compared different research models. They looked for patterns, connections and similarities in these models. Using the information from their studies they created their own research models, making a visual/graphic representation for it as well.
• We also learned what does plagiarism mean? That plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward. Plagiarism is a big deal, and it’s not something you want to find out about the hard way. 
• 2nd quarter discussions focused on what does "citing a source" mean? Whenever you use material that you got from another source in your research project, you must let your audience know where it came from.You have to cite your source because it is not appropriate to use other person’s ideas, thoughts and words as your own
• We continued with Web Search Strategies unit comparing benefits and challenges when searching the Online databases and the web, looked at some general web search strategies and explored Google search engine further from standard search function. That took us to the 3rd quarter.
• Can you complete these "A Google A Day" challenges?

• 

  Currently we are exploring Wikipedia look at what wikis are, learning what Wikipedia itself says about using it as a source, acknowledging special research considerations concerning Wikipedia.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Library Work Group

In January 2011 we established the ISE Library work group (Terje, Steve, Kathleen, Dee, Eric, Kadri) with a goal to make sure that the development of ISE Library/technology is intentional rather than accidental, to determine the mission/vision for our library and to identify the major policies and priorities for the next 3-5 years.

This group will meet once a month to talk about:

1. the role of ISE library, services to its patrons, meeting students´, teachers´ needs;
2. digital literacy;
3. developments in the field: print vs. digital resources, balance, usefulness, financial implications;
4. hardware, software needs to cater for digital resources + spacing.

During our first meeting we identified the following topics/issues to be addressed:
Digital (online databases/ebooks) vs. print resources:
validity, structure
Online databases: age appropriateness,
ebooks: format, compatibility, lending rights, promoting for kids, open sources, cost.
Print resources: what do we need to keep in mind related to print resources? Guidelines related to adding/discarding print content.
Book that are : just right, purpose, validity
Up to date books
variety of authors
books by the same author (author study)
lower school focus
source for inquiry/research

Education/Research Skills
Access, evaluate, use information - plagiarism, citing the sources (ISE Writing Guide)
Add plagiarism and citing sources into the assessment
Use common criteria consistently throughout school.
Offer research skills workshops to MSP (working on the program with Triin)

Library space
What do students need from the library?
Sliding door to create private space
Move computers from Tech lab to library (the only monitored area)
Social/cozy space for hang-out
Classes in the library?

Conclusion:
Following issues/concerns were identified for the need of discussion:
* eResources at ISE library,
* lack of guidance in research skills: common criteria, tutoring, application of skills especially at Middle school level. Continuum of a program from lower to upper school,
* library space, how best to use what we have available, minor modifications to the space to better cater for the needs of patrons.

For more check the Library work group wiki link on the left.

What's happening at the library?

Lower school students have weekly library classes. Look what we are learning about!

Preschoolers are enjoying fairy-tales. By listening to three popular fairy-tales: Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears we will learn that every country has stories that are so old; people cannot remember where they came from. These stories have been kept alive because they have been told over and over throughout history. Long time ago when people did not have books, radios, TVs, or computers stories were told for fun and entertainment, but also to teach a lesson or warn children of danger. Because there were no books and people could not read and write; stories spread by the word of mouth. Stories were told to one another over and over again. Nowadays popular fairy tales are written down in books for children and grown-ups to enjoy.

Reception class is learning about fiction and non-fiction. Fiction books are made-up and imaginary. Non-fiction books are true, about real things. We are sorting books, and looking at what makes a book fiction/non-fiction.

Grade 1 is learning that books just don't happen. Author writes the story we read, and illustrator creates the pictures we see in the book. We are also looking where you can find the author's and illustrator's name in a book?

Grade 2 created collaborative non-fiction book “Grade 2 in Prehistoric Times” while learning about parts of a book, how each part can help you to get different information and copyright. Each student created a page for the book by first reading a small paragraph about a dinosaur, then writing a sentence about it and finally marking down the source of this information. The librarian, with the help of students assembled the book, students labeling all the parts in that book. Our book includes the title page, table of contents, glossary and the index for easier access to information.

Now we are learning how fiction and non-fiction books are arranged in the library.

Grade 3 knows how to look up books using ISE Online Catalog, and practicing where the specific books are on the shelf. At the moment we are getting acquainted with the 10 Dewey sections of the library. Do you know in which section are the books about animals/sports/famous people?

Grade 4 has discussed the following topics: how to use dictionaries and thesauruses in the writing process; how to be a responsible cyber citizen; how are the library resources arranged in the library for independent access. Students are becoming more and more confident in finding their way around the library.

Grade 5 completed an encyclopedia investigation which took us discussing and learning about plagiarism and citing sources. We are getting ready for their final exhibition by also looking into Online databases, finding information online and evaluating websites.

Upper school students mostly pop in for classes and study halls, invade the computers, browse magazines and occasionally check out books...

I recommend our upper school students to check out the following titles available in the library "Moribito I and II" by Nahoko Uehaski fantasy and adventurer lovers, and Axel Rider series by Anthony Horowitz for action and spy story readers.

Check it out!

Come to the library to find and check out the new additions to our collection.
Below are some of the brand new titles added this school year. Many have received starred reviews and several awards, and are part of ALA Notable/Best Books lists.

The lion & the mouse /Pinkney, Jerry. Caldecott Medal 2010

Horn Book starred (March, 2010) By retelling Aesop's fable entirely in his signature pencil and watercolor art, Pinkney encourages closer exploration of the pleasing detail with which he amplifies it. On every page, this beautiful book suggests even more than it tells about its real setting, and about that fabulous world where rescues may happen between lion and mouse. An artist's note is appended.

When you reach me /Stead, Rebecca. Newbery Medal 2010

Horn Book starred (March, 2010) Sixth grader Miranda's life is an ordinary round of family and school. But when she starts receiving anonymous notes that seem to foretell the future, it's clear that all is not as it seems. The story's revelations are startling and satisfying but quietly made. Their reverberations give plenty of impetus for readers to go back and catch what was missed.

PRESCHOOL

Chicken Little /Emberley, Rebecca.

How to clean your room /Spinelli, Eileen.

Let's do nothing! /Fucile, Tony.

Little Oink /Rosenthal, Amy Krouse

Otis /Long, Loren.

Read it, don't eat it! /Schoenherr, Ian.

Spoon /Rosenthal, Amy Krouse.

The clever stick /Lechner, John,

The curious garden /Brown, Peter,

The lion & the mouse /Pinkney, Jerry.

The OK book /Rosenthal, Amy Krouse.

What's wrong with my hair? /Kitamura, Satoshi

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Al Capone shines my shoes /Choldenko, Gennifer,

Cirque du Freak /Shan, Darren.

Coraline /Gaiman, Neil

Ghostgirl /Hurley, Tonya.

Heck: where the bad kids go /Basye, Dale E.

Moribito /Uehashi, Nahoko.

The chronicles of Vladimir Tod /Brewer, Heather.

UPPER SCHOOL

Beautiful creatures /Garcia, Kami.

Hate list /Brown, Jennifer,

Liar /Larbalestier, Justine.

The girl who played with fire /Larsson, Stieg,

The girl with a dragon tattoo /Larsson, Stieg,

The last song /Sparks, Nicholas.

Wintergirls /Anderson, Laurie Halse.