WHHS Library Highlights: 2016-17
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RESEARCH & INFORMATION LITERACY

Research and information literacy are at the core of instruction for Teacher Librarians. Throughout the 2016-17 school year, Ms. Sannwald has worked with students and teachers on a number of research-related projects.

Of note, just as pedagogical approaches have shifted with Common Core and other subject-based standards, approaches to teaching about research are also constantly evolving.

The GUHSD Library Council became more deeply involved with up-leveling instruction during the 2015-16 school year, when two members, Carolyn Teschler from Santana High and Anthony Devine from El Cajon Valley High, participated in an information literacy workshop hosted by CSU San Marcos librarians. Expanding from what they learned, the entire Library Council has continued to collaborate to improve research instruction district-wide.
Curious about how research is changing? This is the slide deck from when Valhalla High Teacher Librarian Stephanie Macceca and Ms. Sannwald presented "10 Misconceptions About Teaching Students How to Research" at the Fall 2016 San Diego Computer Using Educators Tech Fair.

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Research Toolkit

As mentioned above, the GUHSD Library Council has been committed to improving research instruction district-wide, and through their collaborative efforts, these Teacher Librarians created the Research Toolkit, which launched Summer 2016 as a resource for students and teachers. The Research Toolkit features a robust mix of original and curated resources for use throughout the research process.
Research Toolkit

Customized Research Resources

As mentioned on the Collaboration page, Teacher Librarians may work with teachers in different ways, and one common way is to serve as a subject matter expert about research resources and skills. Below are some resources that Ms. Sannwald created and shared with classes that were conducting research during the 2016-17 school year. Thank you to the teachers who offered the opportunity for this collaborative instruction!
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General Research
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Annotated Bibliography
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Controversial Issues
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Social Justice

READERS & WRITERS CLUB

The Readers and Writers Club is a student organization that has a long-standing tradition in the West Hills Library. As with other clubs, it is completely student-run, and this year's leaders have done a great job of planning a number of fun activities from debates about books to free-writing challenges.

The Readers and Writers Club also hosts monthly book talks from the San Diego County Library Santee Librarians (see more in the Collaboration section) and sponsors the annually printed Inkwell Student Literary-Art Magazine (see more below).

Thank you to our senior club leaders, and to our younger members, we look forward to having another great year in 2017-18!
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INKWELL STUDENT LITERARY-ART MAGAZINE

In 2014, students in the Readers and Writers Club​ became inspired to revive Inkwell, the literary-art magazine published in the past to feature works by West Hills High students.

While a limited run of print copies gets published each year, anyone may enjoy the digital versions. This year's Inkwell is embedded here and you may view Inkwell​ from the previous two years by clicking on the buttons below.
Inkwell 2015-16
Inkwell 2014-15

ONLINE RESOURCES

Teacher Librarians across the GUHSD work collaboratively when reviewing subscription-based online databases annually. Want to see what students currently have access to? Check out this page to see the full suite of GUHSD online databases. Beyond subscription-based resources, Teacher Librarians also coordinate access to and curate other free resources. Below is a sampling of online resources promoted by the West Hills Library this year.
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PrepSTEP
PrepSTEP is a subscription-based resource just added for the 2016-17 school year. PrepSTEP offers rich content, including test preparation materials for key exams such as the PSAT, SAT, ACT, and an expanding number of AP exams.
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Open Ebooks
The Open eBooks initiative is a nationwide program that provides students with free access to eBooks. Teacher Librarians in our district have registered and facilitate accounts for students to access these digital books.
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#instapoetry
When collaborating with a teacher about a poetry unit, Ms. Sannwald mentioned the recent popularity of #instapoets and offered to compile this resource, which highlights a new literacy trend and is an example of digital curation.

PHYSICAL PRINT BOOK COLLECTION

Do students still read print books? Yes! While students use a number of online resources for school projects and research, they continue to check out print books, often to read for fun or personal learning.

When adding new books to the West Hills collection, titles are intentionally selected to complement online resources, not to compete with them.

Browse through the slideshow to see some of the new books that have been added to the West Hills Library collection, displays featuring books by theme, and more. 

Interested in learning more about digital vs. print reading trends? Check out the Pew Research Center's report on Book Reading 2016.

SENIOR STAR READER AWARDS

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Valhalla High School Teacher Librarian Stephanie Macceca recently mentioned how she awards several senior awards, including recognizing the student who has the most number of school library book checkouts.

​Upon hearing this, Ms. Sannwald ran a report to determine which seniors at West Hills have had the most checkouts over the past four years, and the top three names were ones she immediately recognized as having been super library book lovers. To honor these seniors, inaugural Star Reader Awards go to:
  • Shannon Smith (95 checkouts)
  • Kaia Josey (81 checkouts)
  • Tabitha Long (63 checkouts)

​Congratulations to these standout seniors and keep on reading!
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