Teachers' Corner

Maintained by Mary M. Silgals, librarian Last updated 3/30/05

Welcome to the Trident Academy teachers' library web page. If you wish for an Internet link or a document to be stored here for easy access, please let me know. Check back often for updates.

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture

The award winning 5 volume set of the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture has been added to the library collection.

The following description is provided by the publisher: "With its emphasis on ideas, people, events and products, this is a cross-curriculum resource that will find use among a wide variety of users. Major topics include: television, movies, theater, art, books, magazines, radio, music, sports, fashion, health, politics, trends, community life and advertising. The vast, 5-vol. set includes more than 2,700 signed essays. Ranging from 500 to 2,500 words in length, entries are written by subject experts and edited to form a consistent, readable and straightforward reference. Entries include subject-specific bibliographies and, where appropriate, photographs and textual cross-references to related essays.”

As you think about and plan for the 2005-06 school year at Trident Academy, remember to stop by the library and let me know what supplemental materials you may need from the library. Early as it may seem, I am already receiving wish lists from teachers for next year. I welcome any inquiries, and as always, I am looking forward to working with you in locating materials for next year's curricula.

If you are interested in Web quests, hot links, etc., for next year, now is a good time to stop by the library and let me know.

SCASL - South Carolina Association of School Librarians

The school library convention in Florence, S.C., March 2-4, was very informative. I returned to Trident with a variety of new ideas, plus almost 100 new books to catalog. Please come by the library to see the new additions to our collection. They are located on the last book case in the center of the library.

Mrs. David and Ms. Driver are working on updating the video Excel file on all the A-V materials that are located in the teachers' lounge in the upper school building. The updated Excel file will include a column noting when a video is on reserve for a particular class. The link to the updated information will be located here.

The videos are shelved with color-codes and are on the shelves by categories: poetry, biographies, short stories, plays, classics, contemporary, and instructional. It may be easier to view the Excel file in Netscape if you select print preview on the task bar. If you use Internet Explorer, you can select "view" and then "zoom" on the tool bar and reduce the size of the sheet. This will allow you to see a whole page at a time. AV- Inventory.

New Books-on-Tape

Several new books-on-tape have been added to the library collection. Since this collection is often overlooked in the librarian's office, the collection of books-on-tape has found a new home. They are now located on a hanging display shelf in the library. (Where the LEAD materials were located; LEAD materials are now on the back wall). The new blue pocket hangers include the tape/cd and the book. Students are to take the print copy home along with the tape/cd.

You will find that I have placed a tape player and headphones next to the rocking chair in case a student has free time and wishes to come to the library to listen to a book-on-tape.

For the teachers who have requested a list of what the library has available in books-on-tape, I have created an Excel file which you can find here. These are the "green" and "gold" reading levels. The Excel file for red level books can be found here. Books-on-tape may be checked out of the library by students, parents, and teachers.

Mrs. McAbee and I have collaborated to put together her science fair information on a web page. Check it out! Science Fair.If you have information that you would like easily accessible to parents and students, let me know, and we will see if it's feasible to create your own web page. These pages may be accessed through the teacher's homework page, or as Mrs. McAbee's case, through the library grid.

Mary Alice Satterfield met Chris A. Zeigler Dendy, author and specialist on ADHD at the South Carolina LD Conference at Trident Academy this fall. She purchased several of the author's informative materials. These resources are now available in the library for check out. The videos are located in the librarian's office and the books are located on the Teacher/Parent Resource shelf. More information on Ms. Dendy can be found at her web site.

A binder with Orton-Gillingham required and suggested readings for different levels of certification is available in the library in the LEAD resource book case. Several new titles have been added to the professional/teacher/parent resource shelf. If you are looking for Orton resources, ask Ms. Silgals for assistance.

Additional background materials on the English language and learning disabilities (required or suggested Orton readings) have been added to the LEAD/Library collection. Here are a few of the new titles:

Matt Christopher

Several titles of the popular Matt Christopher sports series have been added to the juvenile fiction collection. These books are excellent for reluctant readers. Fourth graders will be required to read at least one of the titles to earn a sports badge for their caps. Although these are not reading counts titles, I will be working on adding them as teacher written quizzes.

No Fear Shakespeare

Added to the library collection this month is a series of "No Fear Shakespeare" titles. This series contains the complete text of the original play plus a side-by-side translation on the left-hand page that "anyone can understand." The books also contain a list of characters with descriptions. There is plenty of helpful commentary. The following titles have been added:

King Lear

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New Math Videos

Mrs. Gerken has purchased seven new math videos for the lower school. The following description comes from the video catalog: "This mathematics series has been produced for Grades 2-5. Each program consists of a series of segments depicting real world contexts in which mathematics is relevant, accessible, and fun. A narrator is used to guide students through the segments and to invite them to actively participate in the program. Each video is 15 minutes." The videos are shelved in the library and are available for check-out.

New Lower School Biographies

Three series of biographies have been added to the library: President and Patriots, Scientists and Inventors, and Presidents and Patriots. These 47-page books are perfect for 3rd-5th graders who are looking for biographies to read and write reports on. I have added 25 books to the collection and have 10 more on order.

New ATLASES and Beacham's Guide to Endangered Species

Come by the library and take a look at the nine new atlases that have been added to the collection. If you teach geography, or even current events, you will want to see the new Middle East atlas and the new world atlases.

The Beacham's Guide to Endangered Species is a six volume edition that is packed full of information on the world's endangered species. The text is easy to read and is perfect for students to use when writing reports.

Bullies

The article Mr. Harrington mentioned in the staff/faculty meeting 8/18/2004 is available here: North Dakota State University article on bullies. Jenny Whittle has additional information available in the guidance office. For literature that addresses "Bullies," see Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site "Bullies in Children's Literature."

Filamentality HOT Links

Hot Links for Tsunami Information Links to Tsunami Web Sites

Hot Links site for Presidential Campaign Issues 2004 Links to Presidential Campaign Issues

Hot Links site for WWII Information/Ideas for 5th Grade Social Studies Links to WW II Web Sites

Hot Links site for Psychology Behind the Olympics: Links to Psychology and the Olympics

Hot Links site for Writing Skills and Creative Writing Activities: Writing Links

Hot Links site for Current Events: Current Events Links

Hot Links site for Election Stuff: Election Links New links added 8/21/04. The "Living Room Candidate" is an excellent web site that provides video of the original campaign ads of the US presidential candidates from 1952 to 2000. Also linked on this site is the "Desktop Candidate" which includes some of the current presidential campaign ads. Check it out!

Hot Links site for the Olympics: Olympics Links

Print resources

A 3-ring binder on election stuff is available in the library. It contains activities, registration form, election vocabulary, etc. Come to the library to check it out.

Two 3-ring binders on science lesson plans are available in the library (grades 6-10). It contains lessons on science skills, student activities, and much more.

Don't forget! There are three 3-ring binders of literature lesson plans available in the library. Over 66 books are covered in this resource from Glencoe Literature.

New Videos in the Library:

Teacher In-Service

My powerpoint presentation from 8/13/04 is available here. Click on "teacher power point" and under "open presentation" select "teacherlibrary.ppt." Thank you for your patient attention during a rather stressful, pre-hurricane, Friday 13th.

Ecosystem Webquest

Back-flip:

Have you ever stored a url on your computer at home and then needed it at school, but you could not remember the address to save your life? Back-flip allows you to access your urls anywhere. Check it out.Backflip It!

Interesting web sites:

Geography

Government/Civics

Mathematics

Psychology

Reference

Teaching aids for Internet Use