Library & Technology

Library

The Green Acres library is a beautiful sunlit space with a 20,000-item multicultural print collection and multiple instructional areas, including a computer lab. Diversity, inclusion, and social justice provide the framework for the spiraling library/information literacy curriculum, which includes library skills, literature appreciation, and research skills and strategies.

Students come to the library for scheduled classes and also to browse displays and bookshelves, get hands-on research assistance, participate in social justice book clubs, and find a cozy spot for reading and research work. The library can accommodate several groups concurrently for instruction, independent reading, and project collaborations and is a place that inspires joyful, lifelong reading and learning throughout the grades.

Early Childhood Unit (Pre-K & K)

Pre-K and Kindergarten students strengthen their literacy skills and start to discern author and illustrator styles and genres during read-alouds and discussions of picture books, chapter books, biographies, and poetry. The children begin to grasp social justice concepts that are introduced in relation to setting, characters, and plot. Using early-reader nonfiction connected with classroom thematic units, students explore basic research language and tools and take part in simple mini-research activities.

Kindergartners browse with assistance and check books out regularly.

Lower School (Grades 1–4)

Students in grades 1-4 continue to expand their literacy skills and their understanding of bias and stereotypes through read-alouds and scaffolded discussions of fiction and nonfiction, often in connection with classroom thematic units.

Students learn about the online library catalog in 1st grade and develop gradually increasing skill and independence in searching for and locating books. First and 2nd graders enjoy early-reader series and chapter books. Second and 3rd graders become familiar with STEAM picture books, picture-book biographies, and graphic literature. Third and 4th graders discover memoirs and verse fiction. Fourth graders hone critical thinking skills with discussions of sophisticated picture books about complex realistic, global issues. Lower School students check books out regularly.

Research lessons and mini-research activities, sometimes led by students, support classroom themes. Student volunteers in 3rd and 4th grades deepen their library skills as they help with book processing, signage, and other tasks.

The head librarian partners with classroom teachers to lead 3rd and 4th grade social justice book clubs throughout the year.

Middle School (Grades 5–8)

Fifth through 8th grade students come to the library independently and with classes to work on research and to select books for assignments and pleasure reading. Many students volunteer frequently during free periods and become skilled library assistants.

The head librarian collaborates with classroom teachers to plan and implement relevant library orientations, instruction, and mini-research activities (e.g., on the online catalog, plagiarism and citation, research tools and strategies, and use of specific digital learning resources), sometimes student-led.

Students select books from extensive fiction and nonfiction collections of various genres and formats, including short stories, narrative nonfiction, memoirs, verse literature, and graphic literature. YA literature is noted in the catalog and on spine labels.

The head librarian leads social justice book clubs for all Middle School grades on a rotating schedule throughout the school year.

Technology

Students collaborating in the computer lab

At Green Acres, we aim to create a healthy, age-appropriate balance between time spent outdoors and interacting with classmates and time spent honing skills for success in the digital age. We firmly believe in the value of teaching our students to use technology ethically and critically; we also believe that technology is an incredible supplement to enhance and enrich curriculum—but not to be the vehicle by which curriculum is delivered.

In our earliest grades, we intentionally create a limited-screen environment in which students can learn, play, refine motor skills, and collaborate with peers in a way that makes most sense for their developmental stage. In 1st and 2nd grade, students begin to learn what it means to be a "digital citizen" and have structured classroom opportunities with iPads to use child-friendly search engines to locate answers to class-generated questions. Typing is taught in 3rd grade, and, by 4th grade, the use of computers to conduct sustained research projects is a regular feature of the program.

Technology is a much more prominent feature in Middle School, with each child benefitting from our one-to-one laptop program. Students dive more deeply into digital citizenship in their advisory and techxplorations classes, and technology is used as a tool to promote design thinking, coding, and programming skills. Students also have access to the computer lab, located in the library, where they become skilled at navigating databases to conduct research for class projects and papers. Online textbooks for Middle School students allow us to be more eco-friendly in our practices, while hands-on classwork keeps students grounded and engaged in the physical world.

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