Joy Jensen

Collection Development Assignment

ITEC 7134 – Spring 2009
March 2, 2009

Description of Site and Learners:

Oglethorpe Point Elementary School opened its doors in August of 1994 on the north end
of Saint Simon’s Island. Our student population represents a diverse mix of children from the
affluent Saint Simons Island area attending as well as many students who are transported to our
island from lower socio-economic regions in Brunswick. We are a school of excellence and are
often cited for our high standardized test scores and best practices.
Our faculty is comprised of over 50 faculty members. Currently on staff we have a
fulltime principal, assistant principal, instructional coach, counselor, PE coach, art teacher, music
teacher and two secretaries.
Our Media Center is conveniently located in the center of the school, near the front
entrance. Our bookshelves house 18,263 books and 16 computers, including the circulation desk
computer. There are also two laptop carts that can be checked out with 20 laptops each.
We have one full time media specialist and part time clerk. There are also many parent
volunteers that offer assistance within the Media Center. In addition to the resources housed on
the shelves in the Media center, we are quite fortunate to also have a subscription to both Brain
Pop and Safari Montage, which feature streaming video to support our instruction, aligned to
standards. Each classroom in our school is equipped with an interactive white board (Smart
Board) which make these two resources especially useful.
We serve 596 students in Pre K through fifth grade. We have 274 female students and
322 male students. Our racial demographics break down as follows: 87 African American
students, 43 Hispanic students, 5 Asian students and 461 Caucasian students. Currently, we have
35 identified Special Education students and 22 ESOL students.
From a socioeconomic standpoint, there is a wide gap between our students with 114
qualifying for free lunch and 28 qualifying for reduced price lunch. The remaining 454 students
qualify for no financial assistance at all. This mix of backgrounds and resources creates a
wonderfully varied group of students who learn quite a lot from one another’s backgrounds and
experiences.

Oglethorpe Point Entire First

Elementary School
School Grade
Students 596 117
Female 274 62
Male 322 55
African American 87 15
Hispanic 43 8
Asian 5 3
White 461 91
Special Education 35 3
ESOL 22 7
Free Lunch 114 30
Reduced – Priced 28 2
Lunch
Curriculum Review:

After reviewing the materials available generally in our media center and speaking with

both teachers and students at multiple grade levels, I noticed an area of need emerging. As

mentioned above, our standardized test scores are quite high on average, which is due in large

part to a tireless focus on Reading / Language Arts and Math standards based instruction in the

lower grades. According to the lower grade teachers I spoke with, this focus often prevents them

from spending the necessary time on science and social studies standards. This oversight has not

gone without notice by the upper grade teachers. I heard complaints again and again from them

that the lower grade teachers are not giving a strong enough foundation in these areas since they

are not tested at the lower grade levels.

The focus of use for the media center in the lower grades is in the area of reading,

through Accelerated Reader Quizzes. Teachers, parents and students are all completely devoted

to the program and use it throughout the day to reinforce literacy acquisition. There is a constant

need for more titles and more quizzes to be made available to the students.

My goal with this Collection Development Plan is to bridge the gap between these two

areas of need. By narrowing in on the Earth Science standards in first grade, I am attempting to

exemplify a strategic format to build our collection and meeting both needs. Purchasing books

and related audio visual resources directly tied to our science standards that are on the

Accelerated Reading Level of our students and providing quizzes for these titles will increase

exposure to the concepts necessary for a solid foundation in science concepts, as requested by the

upper grade teachers and continue to increase our reading levels, to meet the needs of the lower

grade teachers.
 The standards below represent the specific science concepts in the areas of Earth Science to be

covered in first grade. The remaining science standards for first grade focus on the scientific method,

Physical Science and Life Science. For the purpose of this Collection Development Plan, I am focusing

on the need within this specific area of focus, with a school wide goal of increasing content based

Accelerated Reader titles that support standards’ based instruction in science and social studies.

S1E1
Grade: 1
Description: S1E1 Students will observe, measure, and communicate weather data to see
patterns in weather and climate.
Elements:
a. Identify different types of weather and the characteristics of each type.
b. Investigate weather by observing, measuring with simple weather instruments (thermometer,
wind vane, rain gauge), and recording weather data (temperature, precipitation, sky conditions,
and weather events) in a periodic journal or on a calendar seasonally.
c. Correlate weather data (temperature, precipitation, sky conditions, and weather events) to
seasonal changes.

S1E2
Grade: 1
Description: S1E2 Students will observe and record changes in water as it relates to
weather.
Elements:
a. Recognize changes in water when it freezes (ice) and when it melts (water).
b. Identify forms of precipitation such as rain, snow, sleet, and hailstones as either solid (ice) or
liquid (water).
c. Determine that the weight of water before freezing, after freezing, and after melting stays the
same.
d. Determine that water in an open container disappears into the air over time, but water in a
closed container does not.

Grade Standard Concept Tasks/Activities/Products Resources

1 S1E1 Observe, Students observe weather daily Picture books

Measure and illustrating
 Communicate Students record weather conditions daily types of
Weather data weather
Students make graphs of daily weather type
patterns Nonfiction
books about
Students identify the different types of types of
weather as a “Meteorologist of the day” weather and
Students present their weather observations to observing
their peers daily weather

Students will create a Power Point to identify DVD or VHS

and discuss the different types of weather tape about
weather
Students use a thermometer to determine
temperature and graph seasonal changes in
temperature on a class line graph

1 S1E2 Water Students will recognize changes in water Nonfiction

Changes in books about
Relation to Students will create a poster identifying the states of water
Weather different forms of precipitation and the
water cycle Digital videos
about states of
Students will observe and record changes in water
water with regards to temperature and type of
container holding water

Collection Evaluation:
Our print collection contains 18,263 titles, 26 titles within the specified Dewey section

met this area of focus. Of these books, only 5 have been checked out more than once this year.

The books are in good condition and arranged in an easily accessible area for students. While

these books are in good condition physically, they were quite dry in format and most were at a

higher reading level than first grade, where this topic is taught.
 In addition to these books, we also have 12 fictional books in the easy section that relate

to the topic of weather. These books were also in relatively good condition and many had

associated Accelerated Reader Quizzes. The circulation for these books was greatly increased

due to the Accelerated reader Quizzes associated with them.

As far as teacher resources go, there are 5 big books available to on this topic, only two

of which had been checked out this year. We also have three videos available on site to be used

by teachers and 7 streaming videos available through Safari Montage and Brain Pop for these

standards.

I found this to be quite a minimal representation of resources on this topic. Many of the

resources provided within the Media Center are at the wrong reading level for the targeted age

group. With this in mind, this Collection Development Plan will round out these offerings,

including fiction and nonfiction titles at the appropriate reading level with corresponding

Accelerated Reader Quizzes to encourage circulation and exposure to these key concepts as

discussed previously. Based on my discussions with both teachers and students, choosing these

types of resources will meet the needs of our students’ best.

The Collection Development Plan also brings in some different format resources such as

CD’s, audio books and E-Books to meet the needs of our diverse population. It also includes

Spanish titles and multicultural titles to create a welcoming and tolerant learning environment or

our ESOL learners.

Materials Order:
 The materials I have selected were chosen with our students and teachers in mind. These

titles represent easy books as well as fiction and nonfiction titles at varying reading levels to

reach all learners.

The majority of the print materials proposed have Accelerated Reader Quizzes included,

meeting the growing need for AR Titles correlated to science and social studies standards

expressed by both the teachers and students at Oglethorpe Point Elementary School. Spanish

titles, multicultural titles and lower reading level titles were included in this proposal as well to

meet the needs of our ever growing ESOL population and Special Education students.

Multiple resource formats were incorporated in this file, including CD’s, DVD’s, audio

books, and E-books, as requested by the administration, to continue our move to the 21st Century

Classroom. Items in this proposal were selected with the benefit of professional review

whenever possible. I feel that this proposed collection would greatly supplement the available

titles in our current collection and begin to bridge the gap between the reading and content area

study at our school, allowing for more in depth exploration and enrichment in relation to these

topics.

*For a complete listing of all materials proposed for consideration in this Collection

Development Plan, please see the three attached files from Title Wave, Bond to Stay Bound and

Perm-Bound. The related review details for applicable selections are noted on these attached

files.

Budget Summary:
Books and Accelerated Reader Quizzes: $3,364.93
EBooks: $73.78

Audio Visual: $537.33

TOTAL: $3,976.04