Library at GICS
 

The Rogers-Wilbur Library was completed in 1992 and houses the school's computer lab as well.  The library collection totals approximately 4000 items.  Students have a regularly scheduled library class each week and are encouraged to visit the library at other times as well.

Be sure to read the Monthly Highlights following the Curriculum Overview!

Curriculum Overview

Pre-Kindergarten
           The Library program for Pre-Kindergarten is designed to provide a rich, stimulating environment that promotes an appreciation for literature and a life-long love of reading. We stress exploration of traditional literature (folk and fairy tales, nursery rhymes) and award-winning books, awareness of parts of and care of books, the location of and difference between fiction and nonfiction.

Kindergarten
          The Library program continues to promote each student’s love of reading and encourages an appreciation of the many resources that a library has to offer.  Library skills for Kindergarten include an awareness of subject grouping of nonfiction, familiarity with the terms author, title, and illustrator, and continued exposure to a variety of literature genres.

1^st Grade
        In First Grade, students begin to understand that fiction books are shelved by author while non-fiction materials are shelved by subject.  While encouraging a life-long love of reading, students learn to select books appropriate for their personal reading levels and to select books that meet personal interests.  As a class, we examine a variety of illustration styles and continue to learn about a variety of authors and illustrators.  First graders also participate in the Chessie Reading Program, a program designed to encourage them to read beginning chapter books.

2^nd Grade
         Second-graders practice alphabetical order and use it to find library materials and information easily.  We also investigate the location of fiction materials and biographies and practice dictionary skills.  The students begin to use the catalog to search for materials by author, title, and subject and to then find the desired materials on the shelf.  The Chessie Reading Program is again open to students, helping them to bridge the gap between picture books and the more difficult fiction materials they will read in the upper grades.

3^rd Grade
         Student use of the Library catalog is reinforced in Third Grade as students search by author, title, and subject.  The students begin to use encyclopedias, locate information using tables of contents and indices, and discuss folk tales, myths, and award winning books.  The Library program continues to promote an appreciation for literature and a life-long love of reading.

4^th Grade
          There is a greater emphasis on reference sources in fourth grade as students use encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and the Internet to search for information.  The fourth graders continue to practice using the catalog to locate materials, and the 10 main classes of the Dewey Decimal System are explored.  Book talks are given regularly to introduce the students to adventure, mystery, fantasy, realistic, historic, and science fiction titles, and reading of all kinds is encouraged.

5^th Grade
          Fifth-graders review and use multiple informational sources, recognize and communicate specific information needs, choose sources and locate information to meet those needs, skim for information, and are introduced to the arrangement of certain Dewey Decimal subclasses.  The Internet is used to find information, and students learn to evaluate websites and their authority.  Book talks continue to be used often to promote interest in books and a lifelong love of reading.

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Library Highlights

May & June 2008

Pre-K:  We will be sharing and discussing Caldecott Award books in May, looking at the different kinds of materials that illustrators use when they create pictures for their books. Toward the end of the month and into June, we will look at books based on songs and listen to songs that are based on books.
 

Kindergarten:  In May, we will we be reading predictive stories and stories that have rhythm to their text. Toward the end of the month and into June, we will share some books that are based on songs and hear songs that have evolved from stories.
 

1^st Grade:  We will be looking at non-fiction books in the early part of May, reviewing how they are classified and exploring the many different topics available. Toward the end of the month and into June, we will share some books that are based on songs and hear songs that have evolved from stories and rhymes. We will see how some famous stories and rhymes show up in movies also.
 

2^nd Grade:  In May, we will continue to work with dictionaries and encyclopedias, practicing finding particular words and looking at all the different pieces of information that are included in entries. Later in the month and into June, we will look at how songs and theatrical performances such as operas and ballets often are put into books, and how stories and rhymes are in turn sometimes put into movies or turned into songs.
 

3^rd Grade:  In May, we will continue to practice using encyclopedias to find information. Using print and CD-ROM sources, students will look up topics such as individual U.S. states and topics related to those states. Students will use references in their encyclopedia articles to extend their research into other topics. Later in the month and into June, students will practice locating nonfiction materials through the Dewey Decimal System’s ten’s places.
 

4^th Grade:  In May, we will finish our review of the Dewey Decimal System, then practice searching encyclopedias and dictionaries to find answers to a variety of specific questions. The students will compare a print source’s ease of use and format to those of online sources.

Toward the end of the month and into June, we will examine newspapers, looking at the many types of information to be found in a daily paper and how to locate specific types of information.
 

5^th Grade:  In May, we will be exploring a variety of maps and atlases, both in print and online. Students will use map indices and legends to locate cities and places of interest and examine some of the “extra” sections included in many atlases.

Students will also be using road maps to plan trips – choosing roads, calculating times, and planning rest stops. Each student will plan a route to Williamsburg, then compare his/her chosen route with that of another classmate’s, discussing their reasons for planning the routes as they did. Following these discussions, an online source will be used and that site’s chosen route compared with the ones chosen by the students.

 

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