The ISG Library promotes and nourishes the development of life-long learners by developing a love of reading in its students. The Library is an educational and cultural environment where community members can extract information through an array of media forms. Our Library is viewed as an integral part of this community, and one that is vital, vibrant, and crucial in the teaching and learning process. We welcome you to our library! Please come and browse through all the wonderful books. Parents are encouraged to check out books and become part of our community!It is my pleasure to help you find books and resources! Ms. Mary Alice Osborne, ISG School Librarian |
The ISG Library fosters the development of life-long learning abilities and a love of reading. It also provides teachers with instructional materials and professional resources.ISG LIBRARY NEWSLETTERS
Below are the Library sections of the ISG weekly NewsLetter (Newest First)
(6 October 2011) Dear Parents, I have been working on this ISG Library Website with links to information that our student, staff and parents will find helpful. The site is still a work in progress and I wanted to show it to you. Your feedback and suggestions are welcomed! To find this website just type this into your browser: isglibrary.info
I plan to add more information as the year goes on, and a link to the new online interactive library catalog (Follett Destiny) as soon as it is ready. Your ideas and comments are appreciated. Best Regards, Mary Alice Osborne ISG Librarian
(29 September 2011) In the Library this week, students in Grades PreK through grade 2 learned about the difference between Fiction and Nonfiction books as we explored the theme of “Frogs.” We looked at a nonfiction, factual book about the life cycle of frogs and compared and contrasted it to “Frog and Toad are Friends” by Arnold Lobel and the “Froggy” stories by Jonathan London. (See photo at top). I asked students to tell me how the books were different and the same. Answers included, “Fr ...On the Mediterranean in Italyogs don’t wear clothes!” and “Frogs don’t sleep in beds!” and “Frogs don’t go to school!”
Third to Fifth graders are excited to be working on an individual study of a well-loved author during Library time. They are reading the author’s books and researching their lives on the Internet to create a presentation and a poster. Authors students are studying include: the ever-popular Roald Dahl, Judy Bloom, Jacqueline Wilson, Dav Pilkey of “Captain Underpants” fame, and the Italian author of the 
Geronimo Stilton books, Elizabetta Dami. In the photos above, you can see students deeply engrossed in reading and exploring books, individually and during story-time. We are having a wonderful time in the library
!
Yours in Reading, Mary Alice Osborne ISG Librarian
The Accelerated Reading Program
ISG subscribes to an excellent program called Accelerated Reader. I would like to tell you a little bit about this highly effective reading tool. The AR program helps students advance in their reading abilities by providing data and information to teachers about their reading progress. Teachers may use AR to test student’s reading abilities, creating a baseline for their advancement, and keep track of their progress throughout the year. After reading a book, students take comprehension quizzes about their book. They select their book from the more than 25,000 titles on the AR list. Each book is assigned a point value based on the number of words it contains and its reading difficulty. The results are automatically placed in an online database, which teachers can access to see how each student is doing individually. They can use the information to provide guidance and support to help your child become a better, more fluent reader. Accelerated Reader provides:
- Frequent and detailed assessment in less time and with greater consistency
- Formative feedback for the student and the teacher
- Student development of metacognitive awareness
- Increased student motivation to read more
- Class-wide diagnostic information
ISG is excited to provide this wonderful tool to help your children become better readers!
Yours in Reading! Mary Alice Osborne ISG Library Media Specialist
This week elementary library classes have been doing some exciting activities to promote a love for reading and learning in the library. In Preschool, students listened to The Very Clumsy Clickbeetle by Eric Carle. This story helps children understand that it is ok to not be perfect at something, but they must keep trying in order to succeed. Afterwards, they participated in an activity to create their own click beetle. Kindergarteners have designed their own Elmer character after hearing the wonderful story of Elmer the elephant, who learned to celebrate his own individuality by David McKee. 1st and 2nd graders have been reviewing ABC order and listening and participating in fun Alphabet stories. These stories and activities help the children learn how to find books more easily in the library. Older students have been checking out many books and will soon be participating in the Accelerated Reader Program. I will explain the AR program in next week’s newsletter!
Yours in Reading, Mary Alice Osborne ISG Library Media Specialist
Hello!
I would like to introduce myself to you and welcome you to the library
this school year! I am Mary Alice Osborne, the new librarian at ISG. I am coming to ISG
from The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, where,
for the last two years, I helped set up the new libraries for the school. I am very excited to
be here at ISG and I look forward to a wonderful year promoting the love of reading and
learning through the library program!
Right now, we are working on reorganizing the collection to make it more user friendly. You are welcome to visit anytime and I look forward to meeting you and working with your children!
Sincerely, Mary Alice Osborne -- Library Media Specialist
