Presented at GaCOMO15 by Richard Horah. This presentation discusses the process and resources used to develop the library curriculum and instructional plans implemented at a Department of Defense school. The presenter shares strategies for developing students' transferable library skills, including school-to-home communications and programming

1. Empowering Students: Making Real World
Connections in Your School Library
Presented by
Richard H. Horah
Department of Defense Education Activity
Pierce Terrace Elementary School
Columbia, South Carolina

2. Education:
 M.Ed in Instructional Technology
Georgia Southern University
 MLIS in Information Science
University of North Texas – Georgia Cohort

3. Professional Experience:
 Pierce Terrace Elementary School - DoDEA
Information Specialist – K-1
 Armstrong State University
Head of Media Services
Instructional Technology Librarian
 Savannah/Chatham Public School System
School Media Specialist – K- 6

4. History of the Library Program
Pierce Terrace Elementary School

5. Program Objective:
To develop a library curriculum and instructional
plans focused on building students’ transferrable
library skills, which could be utilize in their
school library, home, classrooms, and local
public libraries.

6. Technically, my performance appraisal does not
require me to teach library/information literacy
skills to our students. I’ve chosen to teach these
them.

7. • Into the curriculum: lesson plans for library
media skills –
H. Thomas Walker and Paula K. Montgomery
Resources:
• Lesson Plans for the busy librarian: a
standards-based approach for the elementary
library media center – Joyce Keeling
• Complete Library Skills K-2 – Linda Turrell

8. These resources contained a “loose concept” of
library lesson planning.
Some of the lessons contained library skills, but
most were activities for reading and language arts.
In my library instruction, I wanted to teach my
students strictly library skills they could use in their
school library, but skills which also transferable to
their classroom, home and public library.

9. Elementarylibrarian.com
Jocelyn Sams – lesson plans and curriculum map
(Month and Grade Levels – K-6)
I quickly realized I was teaching a majority of the
library skills identified in her curriculum map for
K-1 grade AND they matched my goals for my
program.

10. http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/conte
nt/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL
_LearningStandards.pdf
I struggled with standards/objectives to use for
lesson planning. After a search, I located this PDF
abbreviated version of IP. It made adding standards
and objectives to my lessons much easier.

11. Instructional Units:
• Library Rules and Book Care –
Powerpoint presentation and
Library Rule Agreement/(Leo the Library Mouse)
• Using the Library –
Map (easy, fiction, non-fiction and reference)
Circulation Desk and Book Drop
• Book checkout –
Letter to parents, newsletter and library cards

12. • Finding a Reading Counts Book –
The three methods
• Biography/Autobiography –
Student interview, collect information and write a
biography
• On-line Book catalog – Print, eBook and Visual
Locate a book by author, title and subject
Author’s name, title, call number, due date, status

13. • Electronic Databases –
Locate information in a encyclopedia, magazine and
atlas
• Post Library Fieldtrip –
Predictions and compare/contrast differences
• Summer Reading Program –
Site visit from the post and off-post librarians
Program overview, student accounts, logging in
and reading logs

14. Communication:
→ Monthly library newsletter
→ Classroom newsletters
→ Library web page
→ Fort Jackson Leader

15. Collaboration with the Librarians
→ Open House
→ Family Library Night (Book Fair)
→ Special Area Night

16. QUESTIONS???
THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING MY
PRESENTATION!!
RICHARD.HORAH@AM.DODEA.EDU