Sixth Grade Mythology Project

During January and February 2018, many class periods were devoted to visits from Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Whalen, and their fantastic sixth grade ELA students.  The purpose of the library visits was to perform research on a variety of figures from Greek Mythology.   An in-class reading of The Lightning Thief, a fictional story rooted in mythology, led to many students having a keen interest in the subject matter.  I have even overheard sixth grade students debate about the gods' powers during their library study hall periods!  This degree of personal interest made the research process all the more fascinating for the sixth grade students.

Upon entering the library, students were assigned a specific god or goddess from Greek Mythology that would serve as the focus of their research.  Some students did not receive their first choice for research, but this provided an opportunity for students to learn about figures they may not have knowledge about.  Mrs. Whalen and Mrs. Webb provided their students with a project overview, deadlines for specific portions of the project, and a folder in which to organize their resources.

Each student needed to find information about their god or goddess, including family structure, symbols, and specific myths where their figure was mentioned.  When in the library, the classes would begin with a mini-lesson on research resources and strategies.  For the first three days, we focused on using a single type of resource.  Day 1 was devoted to books, day 2 was devoted to online databases, and day 3 was reserved for website research.  By breaking the research process down by type of resource, it helped the students to understand the benefits and challenges of each specific type of resource.

Research sources helped students to complete their graphic organizer.

As students moved through the research process, they were required to use MLA-formatted Note Sheets in order to keep track of the sources used.  These Note Sheets helped students to organize their research and avoid plagiarism.

Completed Note Sheets for research sources used.

Once students had completed their research in the library, they spent their ELA classes working on writing their essays.  The graphic organizer also served as the outline for their essay!  Students were able to directly apply their research into the essay, since their organizer served as the overall structure for the essay.

When the essays were completed, the students returned to the library for two final activities: a mythology gallery walk and presentation.  For the gallery walk, students brought in their finished essay (complete with beautifully illustrated cover) and an object with symbolized their god or goddess.  Students were exceptionally creative when it came to choosing a symbolic object.  One student even used a 3D printer to make a model of his god's helmet.

Essay covers and objects from sixth grade mythology projects.

A 3D-printed helmet was especially awesome!

More artifacts and covers from the mythology gallery walk.

Students were able to walk through the area containing the artifacts and covers.  This allowed the students to see their peers' hard work and the creativity used when finding a symbolic object for their god or goddess.

After the gallery walk, students then gave a brief presentation about their god or goddess.  They explained the basics of their figure, retold an associated myth, and explained why they brought in the object they chose.  These presentations made it clear that students had learned from their research!

A homemade sword and shield to represent Ares!

Hades' homemade helmet.

A homemade, winged cap.

Homemade ax (don't worry, it wasn't sharp).

Zeus costume!

Bow and arrow.

Testing a bow and arrow in the library!

Overall, the goals of this project were met.  Students were introduced to the different research offerings available through the library.  This will help students as they move up through the grade levels, as books, databases, and websites will continually be used for research.  The MLA Note Sheets also introduced students to the fundamentals of note taking, citing sources, and avoiding plagiarism.  The structured outline provided by Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Whalen helped guide students' note taking and set them up for success when they began writing their essays.

The best part of the project by far was the gallery walk with accompanying presentations!  It was such a treat to witness the students' creativity and hard work. 

December 2017 Library Visits

Happy New Year!  It's always tough to get back into the swing of school after a break, but it is nice to return to familiar faces and a more structured routine.  December 2017 welcomed class visits as well as special events within the Iroquois Middle School Library.

Book Bistro
On December 7th, the annual Book Bistro for Iroquois Middle School staff members took place.  It was a great day of food and fun!  Click here to read more about the Book Bistro event.

The Omnivore's Dilemma Project
The largest research project of December was done with the eighth grade students in Mrs. Maulucci and Mrs. Mule's classes.  After reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, students gained knowledge about the health, environmental, and economic issues surrounding the food we all eat.  This led to more questions about food issues and a desire to explore these questions in greater depth.

The project required students to develop a claim based on topics within the book, then find credible sources that supported the claim.  Students were introduced to library resources, in particular the Opposing Viewpoints in Context and Teen Health and Wellness databases, in order to find evidence for their claim.

This was the first project in the library that was completed via Microsoft Office 365 Class Notebook.  The online notebook provided a digital way for students to stay organized.  Within the notebook, students found the project requirements, grading rubric, passwords for library resources, and a space to record their notes.  This digital organization also gave Mrs. Maulucci and Mrs. Mule the ability to check in on students' progress throughout the project.

Once a claim was formulated and supporting evidence was solidified, students were able to choose how to present their findings to the class.  Although the majority of the students used PowerPoint, some chose to make posters, record videos, or use digital services such as Sway, Screencast-o-Matic.

A presentation discussed food poisoning.

Claims about a vegan diet was the focus of another presentation.

Overall, students' presentations were well-organized and informative!  Some students struggled with the idea of a claim, and instead presented about a topic.  This is a high-level skill that will be continually developed through ELA classes and research.

Reading Conferences and Book Selection
Many classes continue to frequent the library for book selection.  The sixth grade reading classes are well underway with their 40 Book Challenge, meaning they are often seen in the library selecting new titles.  Mrs. Whalen's reading class has also been using the library space to host small group meetings about their classroom book, Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin.  The flexible seating allows for each group to find a place where they can comfortably hold a book discussion.  During the short month of December, 383 books were checked out or renewed.

Genre/Book Tasting
Mrs. Nicosia was excited to try a book/genre tasting with the sixth grade students in her reading class.  Although I had previously worked on speedbooking activities, I had never hosted a book tasting.  In order to prepare for the experience, I was able to draw upon other tastings conducted by educators.  I found the blog entries from Bubble Up Classroom by Corey Thornblad and Gretchen Hazlin and The Unquiet Librarian by Buffy Hamilton to be particularly helpful.  Using ideas and resources presented from both blogs, I now felt like I had a good foundation to host a book/genre tasting.  It was very helpful that these educators graciously shared their resources and insights.

Taking Mrs. Nicosia's students into account, I chose to focus on some of the genres where students were having difficulties finding engaging titles.  This class is particularly adept at reading graphic novels, so that category was not included.  The genres featured included historical fiction, poetry/novels in verse, mystery fiction, nonfiction/biographies, science fiction/fantasy, and realistic fiction.  Canva was used to create beautiful signage for our library (which was turned into the Genre Cafe for the event!).

The featured selections for Mrs. Nicosia's genre tasting.

When students entered the library, they were greeted by tables full of selections from the featured genres.  Each table also included a place setting, candle, and description of the genre.  As students moved through each table, they recorded their impressions of the books they chose to "taste" during the activity.

The science fiction/fantasy table for the genre tasting.

The nonfiction/biography selections.

Students "tasted" their books and recorded their impressions.

There were many positives associated with conducting this type of activity.  Most importantly, it exposed students to a variety of books that they may not have have previously viewed.  Students also seemed to really enjoy pretending that they were at a fancy restaurant!

If I were to host another book/genre tasting in the future, I would make some changes.  The activity took place right before winter break, so behaviors were a bit of an issue--students were excited to leave for break, so some needed extra prompts to get on track!  Also, this event requires lots of setup time.  I thought the early morning time before school would be sufficient for setting up, but time was tight.  It would make more sense to set this activity up the night before.  Mrs. Whalen's students will be coming in during January to have their own genre tasting.  Hopefully it goes just as well!

American Revolution Day
On the final day before winter break, all seventh grade students participated in American Revolution Day.  This coincided with the content they were learning about in their Social Studies classes.  There were many stations located around the school where students took part in activities pertaining to colonial times.  The library housed the problem solving station.  While in the library, students cracked a code, worked on a logic puzzle, and attempted to guess the uses of some colonial artifacts (and replicas).

Since my mom is a history buff and a generous person, I was able to borrow sixteen different items to use for the activity.  Student groups took their best guesses as to what all of the items were used for.  Although some of the items were obvious, there were definitely some tricky items as well.  The winning groups guessed thirteen out of sixteen items correctly.

Student groups guessed the uses of colonial items.

This item is a patten, which is a primitive form of ice skate.

This is a type of lantern that could be hung outdoors.

Although December was a short month, there was still lots of activity within the library.  Looking forward to more projects in 2018!

Iroquois Middle School December Report

Early American Research

During November 2017, the students in Mr. Smerka's seventh grade Social Studies classes spent multiple days in the library for a research project.  During this project, groups of 3-4 students researched Early American topics and presented their findings to their classmates.

Student groups chose from topics such as: Haudenosaunee, Moundbuilders, Mesoamerican Civilizations, Southwestern Civilizations, Spanish Conquistadors, and Early English Colonies.  These topics were very broad and open-ended, meaning that the groups had the flexibility to take their research in many directions.

The first few days of the project were devoted to introducing students to the various resources available for research.  Students spent time using nonfiction and reference books available in the library.  They recorded their research on MLA note sheets, which helped them to stay organized and avoid plagiarism.

Note Sheets help students to stay organized during the research process.

Enjoying the flexible seating in the library while completing some research.

Students used nonfiction books to learn more about their topic.

Once students exhausted the information found in the books, we moved on to using online databases to gather more facts.  Online databases are helpful choices for research because they provided reliable information written by experts.  The World Book Student and Britannica databases proved to be very useful for the project.  Students again used the Note Sheets to collect their facts and citation information.

The Note Sheets gave students practice with finding citation information.

Britannica and World Book were particularly helpful databases.

At the end of the third day of research, the students completed an online "Research Check In" form that was posted on the library website.  This check in allowed Mr. Smerka and I to see if students understood the importance of using reliable sources and if anyone was experiencing issues with the research process.  The data gathered from this was extremely helpful.  Students that might not have been comfortable telling us that they were having problems researching felt comfortable letting us know on the form.  Over the next few days, we were able to provide targeted assistance to those students.

A Google Form was utilized to create the check in document.

As students neared the end of the research process, only a few groups utilized Internet sources found using a search engine.  These students were directed to again cite these sources, and looked into evaluating the validity of the source prior to its use.

The groups then worked on PowerPoint slides in order to provide a visual for their presentation.  The majority of these projects were well organized and utilized advanced features such as hyperlinks and transitions.

The last few days in the library were devoted to presenting the group projects.  Students received a grading rubric prior to presenting, so they had a clear idea of the assessment for criteria.  The presentations were wonderful!  Many student groups displayed tremendous creativity (and the groups that brought snacks were much appreciated!).

Some groups used the "PERSIA" acronym to focus on different cultural aspects.

Students explaining the governmental structure of the Haudenosaunee.

A group chose to display a learning goal at the beginning of the presentation.

A group researched jewelry making of Mesoamerican groups, then created their own pieces!

An informative presentation on the Moundbuilder societies.

Having Mr. Smerka's students in the library made for a very enjoyable week and a half.  Additionally, students were able to practice their research, teamwork, and presentation skills.  The seventh grade teams will return to the library for an ELA project in January where they will continue to hone their skills.