Welcome to the Saint Andrew Library!
Greetings! I am Mrs. Wikoff, Saint Andrew School librarian. I am very excited to be teaching library and research skills to our students and instill in them a love of reading!
The Saint Andrew’s library has over 20,000 books available to our students. Grades K-5 may check out books every 2 weeks. Grades 6-8 may check out books anytime.
Each class section from K-8 has access to a Google Classroom for Library, where activities, links to information resources, assignments and requests for research and library help may be posted. All students may request books using the Library Catalog right from their Chromebook logins and through Library Google Classroom. Mrs. Wikoff works closely with all of the faculty to assist in finding information for cross-curricular projects and assignments.
Grades K-5 attend a weekly class in the library. Grades 6-8 may come to the library as needed and request library and research services throughout the year. Technology is integrated as much as possible with every library lesson, using videos, online quizzes, and other educational technologies to reinforce learning. Students also participate in games such as Dewey Decimal Bingo, Seeker of the Day and Global March Book Madness so they know that libraries and reading can be fun!
Kindergarten: Kindergarten students learn about how libraries work, library manners, parts of a book and especially library book care. In kindergarten, we read lots of stories! Students learn about famous authors and become more familiar with different types of books. We also learn about the 5-Finger rule for selecting books, so students learn to select books just right for them!
1st Grade: In first grade, we review many of the things students learned in kindergarten, but students learn much more about the way that books are organized in the library. They learn the differences between fiction and non-fiction books. They also begin transitioning from picture books to chapter books, again learning how to select books just right for their reading level.
2nd Grade: In second grade, students learn how fiction and non-fiction are organized in the library. They learn about the Dewey Decimal System and how fiction books are shelved, so they will know how to use any public or school library in the future!
3rd Grade: In third grade, students work hard to identify and understand various genres of literature (fantasy, realistic fiction, biography, historical fiction, poetry, graphic novels). We spend the better part of the year exploring genres and their unique qualities.
4th Grade: In fourth grade, Mrs. Wikoff assists the teachers by helping students select books for their monthly oral book reports. Each month, they select a book on a different genre or theme and discover many books they have never read before! They also start learning to do research projects, by putting together their first group Google Slides presentations. They learn about presentation skills, how to document their resources and keep track of their research. Fourth graders also receive a library grade, which is part of their ELA grade each trimester.
5th Grade: In fifth grade, students learn much more about research skills. They learn how to identify primary and secondary resources, searching the Internet effectively and safely and how to create MLA citations. They will complete at least 2-3 research projects during the year to prepare them for the middle school grades. As in fourth grade, fifth graders also receive a library grade, which is part of their ELA grade each trimester.
6th-8th Grade: Sixth to eighth grade students may come and use the library as time permits. Mrs. Wikoff conducts push-in lectures on advanced library skills on all subjects to further students' knowledge of MLA citations, copyright law and research skills. In particular, Mrs. Wikoff assists the eighth grade with the annual capstone research project. This project is assigned at the end of seventh grade and completed in the first trimester of eighth grade in order to ensure students are fully prepared for high school research projects. Mrs. Wikoff also assigns the “We are Saint Andrew” poem to all eighth grade students, one of which is selected for the school yearbook.
