Mrs. Rebecca Joyal
Media Specialist
Mrs. Therese Kowalski
Media Paraprofessional
My name is Becky Joyal, and this is my 23rd year working at Somers Elementary School! (WOAH!!) I graduated with my Bachelor's degree from Saint Joseph University, a Master's from Walden University, and my Media Specialist certification from Southern Connecticut State University. When I began in Somers, I initially taught fourth grade , and then became our school's Media Specialist. When Covid closed our Media Center, I went back to teaching 4th grade for one year, but I have been back in the Media Center ever since. I love my job! I live here in Somers with my wonderful husband and our six amazing children.
Through the VERY generous support of our PTO, our students have met and had the opportunity to be influenced by many authors and illustrators over the years. We appreciate their support and know how very lucky we are!
Click here to see just a few of the wonderful authors that have dropped by!
This year in the Media Center will be a busy one for your students! Our Media Paraprofessional, Mrs. Therese Kowalski, and I are so excited to work with your children! Each week in grades pre-K thru 2, students will interact with a plethora of both fiction and non fiction texts. They will complete author and genre studies, and will continually increase their comfort level with navigating the countless shelves in our Media Center. Students in grades 3-5 will also learn how to utilize technology to be more productive, and will produce more "professional-looking" documents and presentations. They will also continue to hone their research skills. We strive to teach your children to feel comfortable with technology, to be lifelong learners and to experiment with new technologies as they emerge. We are very excited to be able to put devices into the hands of every student at SES, by way of iPads or Chromebooks, in order to enhance your child's learning.
Third graders will begin keyboarding, with correct touch typing finger placement. Any practice they can have at home will be beneficial for them. Visit our keyboarding links for online practice. They will learn how to log onto our district network with a username and password, save their documents to Google Drive, and access that document for further work. They will learn how to use our online catalog to search for information and resources. Word processing and keyboarding are ongoing throughout the year.
Fourth graders will be honing their keyboarding skills all year! Practice at home would be most helpful, as these students are frequently on their Chromebooks. They will master word processing, including editing and revising. They will conduct directed research on the Internet. They will create digital presentations, using a variety of applications. We will be making tables, graphs and charts to support their learning experience and to help them create professional documents to share.
Fifth graders will use the Internet for research. They will begin to learn how to evaluate websites to ensure they are drawing from reliable sources for research projects. Much of their time in the media center will be spent focusing on different ways to communicate information, both written and oral. They will be using Chromebooks to create tables, graphs and digital presentations.
ALL students in grades 3-5 will receive instruction about Internet safety and cyberbullying.
As always, remember to
"So many books, so little time!"
Please call or email with any comments or questions you might have. We look forward to working with your children.
rebecca.joyal@somers.k12.ct.us
(860)749-2270 x6145