Chris D.

Collection Development Plan FRIT 7134 Spring 2013 March 3, 2013

Collection Development Evaluation Plan

School Description: ! I currently work as a fourth grade teacher at _________ located in

Savannah, Georgia. Our school is one of several private schools in and around the city of Savannah. Ours is a Pre-K through twelve campus with 911 students total, 430 of those in lower school. The faculty and sta" of Lower School consists of 25 regular classroom teachers, 18 assistants, 1 science teacher, 1 art teacher, 1 music and chorus teacher, 2 strings teachers, 4 PE coaches, 1 media specialist, 1 guidance counselor, 2 Spanish teachers and 2 SLD teachers. There are 38 children currently enrolled in our SLD program, 9 of them are fourth graders. We are adding a reading specialist for next year. ! Our school is committed to both socioeconomic and racial

diversity. We do not participate in CRCT testing, but do take the ERB test. I have not been given permission to release testing data at this time. ! The Savannah metro area has a population of over 350,000 people.

There are over 30 private schools along with Chatham County, E#ngham County and Bryan County public schools. Despite our drive for diversity, my school population does not reect the surrounding community racially or socioeconomically. We have, like all schools, been negatively a"ected by the economic recession. Our school had over 1,000 students before 2009. We are recovering in many areas and have strong projections for future growth at this point.

Our media center is located on the lower oor of our lower school

building. It occupies approximately 4,000 square feet. The lower school building was built in 2007, and is a beautiful, well thought out facility. Our media center includes a reading room, a reading club, an o#ce, an audio/video room, and a computer lab with 20 computers and a color printer/copier. Our collection consists of 10,000 books, which averages 23.25 books per student. The average age of our collection before serious weeding last year was 1992. Our media specialist estimates the new average age to be 2000. We have 30 audiobooks and are looking into buying e-books soon. Our media specialist recently weeded our video collection and is currently determining which DVDs would be most useful, with our curriculum, so that she can replace the old VHS tapes she discarded. There are approximately 30 DVD titles at this point. As Ive mentioned before, we are in the process of switching to Destiny, and when this is complete, in the next month or so, we will have a more accurate view of the collection. The school has access to United Streaming, Reading A-Z, edHelper, Mailbox, teaching books, BrainPop, BrainPop Jr., World Book Encyclopedia Group, Brittanica Elementary Encyclopedia, Atomic Learning and over ve dozen databases that are accessible through our upper school library site. We also have access to a variety of resources through Follett Destiny One Search. These include Thinknity, The United States Presidents, Nat. Geo., FactCite and NASA to name a few. Our school no longer blocks Youtube, and even blocked sites can be accessed by logging into a guest network if needed. Our entire campus has Wi-Fi access to support our growing technology use. The media center broadcasts live morning announcements daily. ! Our technology use and accessibility grows every year. However,

we are careful to use technology to enhance our teaching, not drive it. In lower school we have 144 iPads, 118 Mac laptops, one typing lab with 20

computers and a Mac lab with 20 desktops. Each teacher has a Mac lap top and Pre-K and K have 5 desktops in each room. All classrooms, including the computer lab, have a smartboard. Many rooms also have a document projector and clickers. Here are two photos of fourth graders using lap tops and clickers. ! I chose to explore fourth grade earth science for my collection

plan. The regular classroom teachers in third, fourth and fth do not teach science at our school. The students go to a science teacher in a science lab several times each week. We have four teachers in fourth grade with 60 students in the entire grade. The homeroom teachers teach language arts, math, and social studies. We have one assistant for

fourth grade. The students go to science for a 45 minute learning period and a double lab period each 7day rotation.

Curriculum Review !

Grade: Fourth!

Topic: Earth Science

Earth Science

S4E1. Students will compare and contrast the physical attributes of stars, star patterns, and planets. a. Recognize the physical attributes of stars in the night sky such as number, size, color and patterns. b. Compare the similarities and differences of planets to the stars in appearance, position, and number in the night sky. c. Explain why the pattern of stars in a constellation stays the same, but a planet can be seen in different locations at different times. d. Identify how technology is used to observe distant objects in the sky. S4E2. Students will model the position and motion of the earth in the solar system and will explain the role of relative position and motion in determining sequence of the phases of the moon. a. Explain the day/night cycle of the earth using a model. b. Explain the sequence of the phases of the moon. c. Demonstrate the revolution of the earth around the sun and the earths tilt to explain the seasonal changes. d. Demonstrate the relative size and order from the sun of the planets in the solar system S4E3. Students will differentiate between the states of water and how they relate to the water cycle and weather. a. Demonstrate how water changes states from solid (ice) to liquid (water) to gas (water vapor/steam) and changes from gas to liquid to solid. b. Identify the temperatures at which water becomes a solid and at which water becomes a gas. c. Investigate how clouds are formed. d. Explain the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, and precipitation). e. Investigate different forms of precipitation and sky conditions. (rain, snow, sleet, hail, clouds, and fog). S4E4. Students will analyze weather charts/maps and collect weather data to predict weather events and infer patterns and

seasonal changes. a. Identify weather instruments and explain how each is used in gathering weather data and making forecasts (thermometer, rain gauge, barometer, wind vane, anemometer). b. Using a weather map, identify the fronts, temperature, and precipitation and use the information to interpret the weather conditions. c. Use observations and records of weather conditions to predict weather patterns throughout the year. d. Differentiate between weather and climate. Assessment: -Chart the movements of the sun, moon, and earth to develop an explanation for the phases of the moon and solar and lunar eclipses -Sequence the major phases of the moon during a lunar cycle -Prepare a demonstration to illustrate how wind and water affect the earth's surface features -Design an investigation to demonstrate how erosion and deposition change the earth's surface -List factors that determine the appropriate use of an earth material -Use data from a variety of informational texts to analyze and evaluate man's affect non-renewable resources -Prepare a model that illustrates the basic features of the water cycle -Use long term weather data to distinguish between weather and climate -Use an illustration to predict and draw conclusions about how weather and climate affect the water cycle

Aquarium in lab

Our science lab is amazing! The children love to use the indoor and outdoor facilities to experiment and learn. Here are a few photos.

Collection Evaluation I chose a science topic because I wanted to take a closer look at the curriculum in this area. Also, our media specialist mentioned this as one of the areas that really needed attention in the media center. I thought, why not help her out while working on my project. She is ridiculously overworked as it is. This is my first time taking a close look at any part of the media center collection, and I can already tell that I have much to learn. I am looking for up to date, interesting materials on weather systems, the water cycle, and the solar system along with other topics such as clouds, moon phases and star patterns. The switching of cataloguing systems is a bit of a hiccup in my plan. We are doing our best to work around it. The new Destiny system is available throughout the school and online for students to use at home as well. We just had our first training for teachers and for students on this new system. It is very exciting! Here is the layout of our media center. Books are on the move, as the media people reorganize. The red shelves on the bottom are now resource/biography shelves.

Reading club

All shelves in our media center are labeled with the corresponding Dewey Decimal numbers, and visually stimulating posters or signs are there to identify each area. The best part about switching to Destiny is that it is providing the perfect opportunity to reorganize and evaluate. Our media center looks better and is more user friendly now than it has ever been before. I had to go into the old system and go to the actual shelves to find what our media center has on these topics. I was also able to use the Destiny System in a limited capacity. Informational texts have not all been catalogued in the Destiny system at this point. It would have been so much easier if I could have searched Destiny for everything! I searched the old system for earth science, weather, water cycle, solar system and planets. I also did a Dewey search in the 520s for astronomy, 532 for the states of water and the water cycle, and 551.6 for weather. Additionally, I looked for easy fiction on these subjects. I now have a list of materials available in our media center related to these topics. These sections were part of the huge weeding process that occurred last year. So, as I examined the books on the shelves, I found them to be in good repair, although some may still be a little dated. There are over 1,300 titles related to stars, planets and moon. 110 of these are picture books for children. Many of these are fiction that only have a marginal connection to the topic. I also did a Destiny visual search for solar system and found this search to be simplified for very young children but useful as well. When I did a more specific search, I found 165 titles. Unfortunately, several of our books on space still count Pluto as a regular planet and are outdated based on the definition of a planet put out in 2006. However, I did find more than a few in our collection that presented the new view of our solar system. Here is one published by National Geographic.

The average age of our books on this topic is over 10 years old which means we definitely need to search for new updated materials. The solar system materials are high interest for elementary age children and frequently circulate, particularly the newer, more visually appealing copies. The science teacher said that they go to the planetarium at Georgia Southern every year. The students also draw and track moon phases and constellations. Although he has found a few useful videos on United Streaming, he would like me to look for other visual resources as well. The oldest book I found for weather was published in 1968, and the latest publication date was 2012. I did find interesting fiction titles such as Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Ninth Ward, a book about Hurricane Katrina. In all, there were 85 books having to do with weather. The Lexile level of these books ranges from 70 to 1220, and the Fountas and Pinnell range is from B to U. The most popular series on this topic is the Weather Series by Ann Herriges. There are nine different titles from this particular series on our shelves. Books that are checked out most often in this category are books pertaining to weather phenomena such as tornadoes, hurricanes and even dust storms and tidal waves(although tidal waves are not specifically weather related). Mr. Eswine, our science teacher, notes that they also keep several resources in the science room and feels that they could use more specific resources for weather. For the water cycle, I found 147 titles published from 1947 to 2012. Reading levels range from first grade through seventh grade. These books range from fiction fantasy to the hydrologic cycle and environmental protection. Environmental protection is a cause that my school is deeply committed to. Fourth grade even attended a town hall meeting in Effingham County last year to protest the pollution of the Ogeechee River. We are also a Green Ribbon School based on our efforts to recycle, use less energy and grow our own food. This emphasis on environmental awareness starts early and intensifies in fourth grade as they learn about weather, water, the environment, and our affect on these. They do several experiments on erosion, water pollution, and changing the state of water. The students even get to use Bunsen burners. Additionally, they keep records of temperature

and measure the water that they put on the garden from the cistern. The water cycle is emphasized, and the children make salt dough projects showing the cycle. Mr. Eswine and his assistant, Dr. Khan, both feel that they would like more video and e-books to use with their new i-pads for next year. They do use reading A-Z for printable nonfiction books on all of these topics.

Standard

Avg. Publication Date 1991

Average Reading Level 1.3 - 7.9

Titles Available 111

S4E1. Students will compare and contrast the physical attributes of stars, star patterns, and planets. S4E2. Students will model the position and motion of the earth in the solar system and will explain the role of relative position and motion in determining sequence of the phases of the moon. S4E3. Students will differentiate between the states of water and how they relate to the water cycle and weather. S4E4. Students will analyze weather charts/maps and collect weather data to predict weather events and infer patterns and seasonal changes.

1994

1.1 - 8.6

236

1989

1.0 - 7.2

107

1998

0.3 - 8.9

84

Collection needs 1. Although United Streaming is used along with Brainpop and other online resources, I would like to look for audio/visual resources for these topics. 2. I would also like to find e-books and possibly audio books to support these standards. 3. I would like to buy many more up to date books. Particularly books pertaining to the new solar system, and weather since it has our oldest

average age. I will aim for books with high interest, good reviews, and varied reading levels. Most books will be on or above level since that is where the great majority of our students read. However, I will also look for books which have a lower reading level to accommodate our SLD population in fourth. 4. My main focus will be on nonfiction. The collection has a much stronger fiction section at this time. Materials Order I used ABDO and Capstone, along with Follett, as my vendors. I will also be ordering from Discovery and PBS for DVD orders. I attempted to select materials that were offered as both books and e-books. I hope that this will provide the format that best suits the activity and the student. The majority of the items I chose had favorable reviews. However, I did select several items that had no reviews. I did this based on my own knowledge of the product or a need for that specific topic. I did not order materials in other languages because we do not have a need for them at this time. When we do, I will order them. The final total for all of my materials is $4,486.75. I over ordered in case some materials are unavailable. The Numbers spreadsheet, with this information, is attached. Here is a link to my website. http://christinatd.weebly.com/ Resources: Follett Destiny (the part that was catalogued) Capstone http://www.CapstonePub.com/ Titlewave http://www.titlewave.com/ ABDO http://www.abdopub.com/shop/pc/home.asp Pages Numbers