- Montford Middle
- Media Center
- FPL: Culture of Reading
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Culture of Reading
The library media program creates a culture of reading where literacy and literature are championed, valued, respected, and integrated into the daily reading lives of all.
Literacy Leadership
New Book Table:
There is one table dedicated to new books the library acquires throughout the year. The media specialist orders monthly to ensure that there are always fresh titles for the student checkout.
Display Cabinet:
There is a cabinet with thematic books on display.
The 2024-2025 displays have been-
- August: Olympics and sports
- September: Presidential election and the history of presidents
- November: Cook books and history of food
- December: Tallahassee's 200th anniversary and student projects
- January: Other books by current SSYRA authors
- February: Romance books
Promoting SSYRA Books:
Every year, the LMS tries to promote the SSYRA books chosen by FAME. Students can earn prizes for reading the SSYRA books. Every third book they read earns a prize. The chart of prizes is advertised in the media center and on the news scroll. Students who read three SSYRA books are invited to the end of the year voting party. Anyone who reads an SSYRA book is also entered into a monthly blind drawing on the school news where they can win candy.
The media center also holds an annual pumpkin decoration contest where students can choose to decorate a pumpkin as a character from this year’s SSYRA books.
Research-Based Literacy Practices
FAME Conference:
The LMS has attended FAME every year she has been a media specialist. This helps keep up with the cutting edge of research-based literacy practices. Some memorable workshops included new teachers using Destiny, Lunch and Learn, and legislative updates. There are many other benefits of FAME including learning about new authors and titles to purchase for the library to keep the collection fresh. It is also a time of collaboration with people within and outside of the county.
Literacy Week:
The LMS and the reading coach work closely together to create and implement literary activities during literacy week for the entire school. The 2024-2025 plan revolved around "Building Literacy Skills." The media center had activities for language arts classes like madlibs and decorating the windows with literacy tips on printed out tools. There was also a school-wide scavenger hunt where students found literacy based questions they had to answer in the media center for prizes.
Reading Promotion and Guidance
Book Clubs:
There have been a few book clubs in collaboration with the media center. A U.S. History teacher, led by the media specialist, had their students read 5 different fiction books about the Civil War. They completed various tasks while reading the book. The reading teacher also collaborated with the media specialist to have a class time ‘book club’ where students were broken into groups and given an SSYRA book based on interest and reading level. Each group had an adult that facilitated the group (teacher, MS, Media Aide, and retired media specialist).
We are also having a silent reading book club (Silent Book Cafe) once a month for almost an hour before school. The library is set up in a ‘cafe’ decor. Students are given tea or hot chocolate. Teachers are encouraged to attend also.
Literature Appreciation and Literature-Based Instruction
Summer Reading:
The LMS chooses (with the blessing of the ELA department) the summer reading books for the entire school. For the past few years, there have been 3 SSYRA books and 2 "classic" books found in the ELA Florida Standards for the particular grade level.
The LMS purchases and makes available several copies of summer reading for students to check out over the summer. The LMS volunteers over the summer to return and check out books to students by coming into school every 2 weeks to remind students to return books when they finish their summer reading to make it available for others. The LMS creates charts with availability of the summer reading books at local libraries (both physical and audiobooks).