to contact Ms. Burman, please email me at: ruth_burman@waylandps.org
Mrs. Burman has a Master's Degree in Education/Library Science and a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education. She is certified in both areas. Mrs. Burman loves teaching and the students at Claypit Hill inspire her daily!
The library program focuses on three areas: literary appreciation, information literacy, and lifelong learning.
In Kindergarten, students learn about taking care of books, the parts of a book,
and how to choose a book. Students should begin to recognize how a library is
organized. They should begin to recognize that a library has an order, and begin
to recognize the difference between fiction and nonfiction books.
Kindergarten students enjoy many diverse and entertaining read alouds.
In first grade, students broaden their experience and enjoyment of literature, from read-alouds to independent choices. Students should know how a library is organized and how to access and use resources for information needs. They should recognize that nonfiction is arranged by subject matter in the library. First grade students should be able to identify the main character, setting and main idea in stories; predict outcomes; retell stories; recognize and choose books by specific authors and illustrators; recognize folktales from different ethnic and cultural heritage; and recognize key nonfiction authors. Students should also be able to use terminology about the parts of a book, locate books by author's last name, know how the library is organized, and practice choosing "just right" books. In second grade, students expand their literary appreciation, choosing books independently and exploring multicultural literature. Students should be able to identify the beginning, middle, and end in stories; appreciate use of humor; recognize and choose "just-right" books; recognize folk and fairy tales from different cultures; identify the Caldecott award and realize it's importance; make story predictions; use table of contents and indexes and beginning reference sources for research such as encylopedia, atlas, dictionaries and periodicals. In third grade, students build on their prior knowledge and expand familiarity with important authors in age appropriate literature and genres. They use beginning reference materials for classroom research, learn to use tools for organizing and presenting information, and select materials on the basis of relevancy, currency and authority. Students should be able to identify famous authors and illustrators, especially those indicated by the Massachusetts Language Arts frameworks; choose fiction from a variety of genres; define biography; use poetry, plays and reader's theatre to enjoy literature; identify elements of a folktale; identify plot elements in fiction; evaluate cause, effect and inference in a work of fiction; evaluate the effect of illustrations in a picture book; understand the difference between illustrations in fiction and nonfiction; locate fiction by an author's last name; understand that there is a system to classify materials; use maps, globes and atlases to locate information; use organizers to display information; use table of contents, headings, indexes and keywords; understand the function of a dictionary and thesaurus; use text features such as captions and illustrations to make predictions about informational texts; and understand the basic organization of magazines. In fourth grade, students expand their knowledge and enjoyment of a variety of fiction and nonfiction books. They will become effective users of a wide variety of information. Students will be able to share insightful responses to literature; recognize and choose quality fiction by award winning authors; define the major genres of children's literature; read a variety of literature for enjoyment; recognize mythology; recognize figurative language in poetry; utilize dictionaries, atlases, almanacs, encyclopedia; develop online search skills; begin to construct a bibliography; organize information effectively to assist in report writing; recognize the purpose of copyright; and evaluate an information resource effectively. In fifth grade, students should be able to write, speak and present about books. Students should independently choose books for reading by author, genre, and appropriateness. Students will be able to access, absorb, evaluate, organize and synthesize information from a variety of resources. Students should be able to clearly communicate ideas about literature; choose quality books for classroom assignments; appreciate poets from the Massachusetts Language Arts frameworks; distinguish between fiction and historical fiction; read a nonfiction work for information; recognize styles of authors; understand setting, sensory details and figurative language; find materials independently; use and evaluate nonfiction materials effectively; use graphic organizers to display information; create a simple outline from notes; present research in their own words; quote and identify sources; demonstrate an understanding of expository text; and identify and analyze main ideas, supporting ideas and supporting details in an expository text.