OverDrive Digital Library School Checkouts Competition

October 12, 2017 Josh Whiting Leave a Comment

In September 2017, students and staff in Granite School District checked out nearly 10,000 ebooks and audiobooks from our OverDrive Digital Library. The infographic below reveals the top five schools for the month.

For 2017-18 we are sponsoring a monthly checkout competition between schools, with four traveling trophies that will be awarded to the highest circulating elementary and secondary schools, as well as the “most increased” elementary and secondary schools. Members of the Ed. Tech. team recently delivered these trophies to the winning schools of our September competition.

Elementary September 2017 Top Checkouts: Beehive Elementary

Susan Wilkerson, Media Clerk; Misty Butterfield, School Technology Specialist; Nichole Higgins, Principal, Beehive Elementary

Secondary September 2017 Top Checkouts: West Lake STEM Jr. High

Tyler Howe, Principal; Jennifer Kellis, Assistant Principal; Craig Edwards, Library Media Educational Technology Specialist; Faculty of the West Lake Jr. English Department

Elementary September 2017 Most Improved: Gearld Wright Elementary

Krystal Plott, School Technology Specialist, Wright Elementary

Secondary September 2017 Most Improved: Valley Jr. High

Trent Hendricks, Principal; Stephanie Mondragon, Library Media Educational Technology Specialist, Valley Jr. High

Granite OverDrive Circulation Site

Alyssa Carraway, secretary in the Educational Technology department, tracks these checkout numbers and has used Google Sites to create a simple but beautiful website to share this data with our district throughout the year. She uses Canva to convey the data in infographics, such as the year-to-date information shared below. You can check out the full site for more details on Granite OverDrive usage per school, as well as monthly updates on our OverDrive checkouts competition winners.

https://sites.google.com/granitesd.org/overdrive-circulation-granite/home

Infographics and Granite OverDrive Circulation Site created by Alyssa Carraway, Administrative Secretary, Educational Technology Dept.

Granite Battle of the Books 2017-2018 Book Lists

September 21, 2017 Josh Whiting

What Is Battle of the Books?

Throughout the school year, 3rd-6th grade students in Granite School District are encouraged to read as many books as they can from these lists.

Students who read at least five of the books by January will be able to create teams and compete in school level competitions.

Once schools have completed their competitions, their top two 5th-6th teams will then be invited to compete in a district-wide competition during the spring of 2018. Keep Reading

What’s New in OverDrive: Young Adult Titles September 2017

September 13, 2017 Josh Whiting

Poster – New YA Books in OverDrive Sept. 2017 – 1

Poster – New YA Books in OverDrive Sept. 2017 – 2

These images highlight a few of the young adult titles that have been added to Granite’s OverDrive Digital Library this month. Click on them to download a high quality PDF that you can print out and display in your library or classroom, or right click and save the images to post them on a school or class website.

(Granite’s OverDrive provides free access to ebooks and digital audiobooks for all students and staff in Granite School District. Granite’s OverDrive can be accessed on the web at http://granite.lib.overdrive.com or via OverDrive apps designed for various mobile devices. For more information or help getting started with OverDrive, visit https://www.graniteschools.org/edtech/overdrive.)

Summer Reading and Learning 2017

May 24, 2017 Josh Whiting

Looking for great resources for summer reading and summer learning? In this post we round up programs and resources from Granite School District, our friends at the Salt Lake County Library and Salt Lake City Public Library systems, and other resources from the web in general.Keep Reading

Elementary Media Clerks ‘By the Book’

May 15, 2017 Josh Whiting

Each day over on Granitemedia.org, our sister site for district library media programs, we are featuring the reading lives of our elementary media clerks with a daily ‘By the Book’ spotlight interview. Below is one recent example. Check out all the By the Book posts to get to know our fabulous media clerks, as well as find some great book recommendations both for kids and adults.

By the Book: Jennifer Porter, Crestview Elementary

Jennifer is finishing her fifth year as a media clerk at Crestview Elementary. She has done incredible work bringing the library into the 21^st century and creating an environment that students are excited to come into.

What books are currently on your nightstand?

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, The Price We Paid: The Extraordinary Story of the Willie and Martin Handcart Pioneers by Andrew D. Olsen, and Enchanted Air by Margarita Engle

What was the last great book you read?

Boys on the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown. I really enjoyed learning about this group of “boys” and all the history that went into their story. Plus, being from Seattle myself, it was fascinating to learn more about my hometown. I wasn’t even familiar with their story!

The last book that made you cry?

True (…Sort Of) by Katherine Hannigan. I read this a few years ago and was completely drawn in. I finished it as our family was driving to Oregon and I was curled up in the front seat trying not to let the rest of the family hear my sobs. It really made an impact on me and was a beautiful story.

The last book that made you laugh?

Been There, Done That: Writing Stories from Real Life by Mike Winchell

What kind of reader were you as a child? What childhood books and authors stick with you the most?

I actually was a slow reader- things didn’t click for me re: reading until about 4^th grade, and I didn’t enjoy reading all that much. But my mom, an avid reader, kept introducing me to great books. My favorite was <em>The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett. My mom challenged me to read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, with the promise that if I finished it she would buy me all the Madame Alexander Little Women dolls. I still have the set. I loved the classics…still do!

What is the best book you were required to read as a student?

Required? I don’t really remember. The only thing I can think of is in 10^th grade English we had to read Romeo and Juliet. I was nervous about reading Shakespeare but my teacher was so great and taught us how to understand Shakespeare that I have loved his work ever since!

What book did you hate reading as a student?

I really can’t remember hating anything I read. I’m sure there was something, I just have no memory of it.

What is your favorite book to recommend to children?

I love to recommend Matthew Kirby’s books. He is a great storyteller and each book fits a different genre.

If you could only bring three books to a desert island, which would you pack?

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen OR A Room with a View by E.M. Forster, and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

By the Book Posts compiled by Nikki Gregerson, District Elementary Library Media Specialist, Educational Technology Department

Granite District Battle of the Books 2016-2017 Competition Winners

May 1, 2017 Josh Whiting

On April 13, 2017, over 50 student teams from 18 different elementary schools in Granite School District converged on Gearld Wright Elementary for the first annual Granite District Battle of the Books competition. Student teams went head-to-head in this “Family Feud”-style game, in which their knowledge of the 15 books on the official 2016-2017 reading lists was put to the test.

We congratulate all of the students who read and participated in the battles, whether in their school or at the district competition. We thank all of the media clerks, teachers, administrators, parent volunteers, and others who tirelessly supported this program and inspired our students to find excitement in reading.

Check out the winners of our 2016-2017 competitions!

3^rd-4^th Grade Winners

2017 Battle of the Books 3rd-4th Grade Bracket

5^th-6^th Grade Winners

2017 Battle of the Books 5th-6th Grade Bracket

2017-2018 Battle of the Books Competition

Any who are interested in learning how their school can participate in next year’s Battle of the Books program are invited to one of two informational meetings which will be held on Friday, May 12, 2017, at your choice of 12:00-12:30 PM and 2:00-2:30 PM. These meetings will be held at the Educational Technology Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) at 5300 West Cherrywood Lane, West Valley City, UT 84120.

2017-2018 Battle of the Books Informational Meeting - 1

2017-2018 Battle of the Books Informational Meeting - 2

If you have any questions about Battle of the Books, please contact Nikki Gregerson, District Elementary Library Supervisor in the Educational Technology department.

What’s New in OverDrive: Young Adult Titles, Spring 2017

April 17, 2017 Josh Whiting

These images highlight a few of the young adult titles that have been added to Granite’s OverDrive Digital Library recently. Click on them to download a high quality PDF that you can use to print out and display in your library or classroom, or right click and save the images to post them on a school or class website.

What’s New in OverDrive: February 2017

February 10, 2017 Josh Whiting

These images highlight a few of the latest titles that have been added to Granite’s OverDrive Digital Library. You can print them out and display them in your library or classroom, or post them on a school or class website.

What’s New in OverDrive: Young Adult Fiction, January 2017

January 18, 2017 Josh Whiting

These images highlight a few of the young adult fiction titles that have recently been added to Granite’s OverDrive Digital Library. You can print them out and display them in your library or classroom, or display them on a school or class website.

By the Book: Jenny Peirce, Kearns High School

December 16, 2016 Josh Whiting

Jenny Peirce has been the Library Media Educational Technology Specialist for the last 5 years at Kearns High School. Before that she was an STS and eMints Instructional Coach for 5 years. She started her career at Granite teaching 4th grade at Beehive Elementary.

Her faculty says that they love having her at Kearns. She keeps the school running smoothly and is always willing to help. One teacher made the comment, “Jenny is always so patient even when I ask the same question over and over again. We are so fortunate to have her at Kearns HS.”

Jenny is creative, does monthly promotions and makes sure that students feel welcome and that they have all the new releases. Keep Reading