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Assignment 1

Michele Sherman September 24, 2009 Assignment One: Information Literacy Bulletin Board

2. a. How/why will this title provoke interest? “A Splendid Book Indeed! Books about Friendship” will provoke interest because it is a play on words of the title of the book, //A Splendid Friend, Indeed// by Suzanne Bloom. I feel that it’s a fun title that will lead students to search for books about friendship.

b. Who is your audience? Elementary students are the main audience. I feel that the large drawing of the bear and duck reading together will captivate their interest, and make them look for books to read that are about friendship, but if they want to read a book about polar bears that would be alright too. Teachers can use as a reference as well since some examples of books are displayed on the board.

c. Where and when will this bulletin board be displayed? This bulletin board will be displayed in the library at the beginning of the year when school is just starting to encourage new friendships or at any time throughout the year. Winter can be good time for this display as well because the blue and white colors of the polar bear coincide with the cold weather.

d. What important message/ understanding are you trying to convey? How do you expect your audience to respond? What questions will your bulletin board raise? How will this bulletin board illuminate literacy? The important message that I’m trying to convey is that the act of friendship is an important life skill to learn. The theme of friendship is so strong in children’s literature that students can certainly relate to many of the stories and characters. I thought that it would be interesting to combine the theme of friendship with the importance of reading in order for students to enjoy, and to learn to have an appreciation of both. I’m hoping that students will want to read many of the books displayed and maybe add a few titles of their own. I would provide a blank book page so they can add their book to the board. I expect that students will find the display visually appealing and fun to look at. Questions that the board will raise will be: What makes a good friend, how to be a friend, how to make and keep good friends. Also, where can we find these books? They look like fun! I would also like them to ask, “I know of a book on friendship can I add it to the bulletin board?” This board illuminates information literacy by providing reading guidance and motivation to read and report on their reading. It also exposes students to different themes, like friendship in stories.

e. Reflection: In creating this bulletin board, what was easy? What was hard? What did you learn? I found it hard to pick one topic for the bulletin board. There were so many good display ideas to choose from. The coloring and designing part I found fun to do. However, finding the time to put the whole display together can be time consuming. I suppose that I would keep a list of more simple boards to do when time was an issue. Overall, I had fun and would hope that students would find it useful.