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AASL NEWS
January 1999
Contact:  Steven Hofmann
Phone:  312-280-4389
E-mail:  <shofmann@ala.org>

AASL announces 1999 ICONnect ICPrize Winners

        The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has
announced five ICONnect ICPrize for Collaboration Through Technology
winners for 1999. The announcement was made January 30 at the American
Library Association's Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, Penn.

        The annual ICPrize is awarded as part of AASL's ICONnect
technology initiative. Prior to 1999, the ICPrize was known as the
ICONnect Mini-Grant. The new name reflects the true nature of the
prize.  The I and C represent the basic elements of the ICPrize:
Information, Integration, Innovation, Curriculum, Collaboration and
Connection -- all integral parts of an ICPrize-winning curriculum
unit.

        Each ICPrize recipient will receive $1,000 to be used toward
the purchase of technology for use in the library media center or to
support travel to attend a state or national conference. The applying
school library media specialist was required to be an ALA/AASL member
and to collaborate with a teacher on the curriculum project submitted.
The curriculum project had to include the use of Internet resources.

        The recipients and their projects are:

Patricia J. Hare, school library media specialist; Margene Ryberg,
Doug Ficker, Jeff Davis, Doug Fay, Mary Beth Martin and Gayley
Hautzenroeder, participating teachers - Northwest High School,
Cincinnati, Ohio.
        In an end-of-the-year, cross-curriculum unit entitled
"Community," Math, English, BioScience, Civics, and Fine Arts were
integrated and the curriculum taught in thematic units. Groups of five
students chose an incorporated community in the Greater Cincinnati
area to research. Students presented historical information, social
institutions and services, relevant statistics, environmental and
science concerns, and any fine arts opportunities of their community.
Each team presented their findings in a 20-minute multimedia
presentation plus a written analysis.

Michelle Kowalsky, school library media specialist; Victoria Erla,
participating teacher - Wayne Valley High School, Wayne, N.J.
        All students like to go on vacation, but if given the choice,
will they go to a foreign country? In this unit students chose a
Spanish-speaking country and planned a vacation to that country using
a fictitious budget of $5,000. After researching information on
cultural and historical sties, transportation, currency exchange, food
and lodging, and other items, students planned their itinerary,
budgeted their expenses, planned their routes, and wrote in their
"journal" as they went on their personalized excursion.

Patience Lea McGuire, school library media specialist; Suzanne
Arevalo, Cindy Erickson, Elizabeth Martinez, Elizabeth Minjarez and
Viola Moreno, participating teachers - Eduardo Villarreal Elementary
School, San Antonio, Tex.
        First grade teachers collaborating with the school library
media specialist developed an environmental science unit, "Hug the
Earth." They jointly planned to furnish fact-finding centers with
information on the earth's environment. Include were selections
readable by early readers, and also more difficult sources, valuable
because of illustrations. Students used the information they found to
produce fact-based drawings and writings about human interaction with
land, air and water. Students then formulated and enacted sound
environment practices for classrooms, for the school community, and
for their homes. Student work and photos of student environmental
projects may be accessed on the school's website
<http://www.northside.tenet.edu/villaww.html>.

Shayne Russell, library media specialist - Mt. Laurel Hartford
School, Mt. Laurel, N.J.; Diane Hallisey, library media specialists -
Plymouth River School, Hingham, Mass.; Suzy Calvert, Gifted & Talented
teacher - Maxwell Hill Gifted Center, Beckley, W.Va.; Moacyr Santizo,
2nd Grade Bilingual teacher - Potter Road Elementary School,
Framingham, Mass.
        Four teachers introduced a multidisciplinary study of Native
Americans to students at their respective schools using video they
filmed at an archaeological site in Arizona. The Big 6 was presented
in an archaeological context prior to students selecting topics
relating to today's Pueblo Indians, their ancestors, and archaeology,
to research using print, online, CD-ROM, and human resources. Final
projects included models, artwork, interviews, and written reports
reflecting an understanding of the chosen topic and Pueblo culture.
Scanners, digital cameras, and HTML editors were used to combine
content from the four schools into a collaborative website
<http://www.voicenet.com/~srussell/Casa.html>.

Constance Vidor, librarian; Ellen Baru, technology coordinator; Ted
Boesky, Social Studies teacher - The Cathedral School, New York, N.Y.
        To introduce a study of the Renaissance in Europe, students
wrote essays describing an imaginary time travel experience in which
they saw a specific place, encountered a person, and observed a meal
and some clothing typical of the period. Students used the World Wide
Web and library books to do their research and wrote their reports in
entertaining narrative format on the computer in two-column newspaper
form. This research experience gave students a glimpse of some aspects
of the Renaissance period to arouse their curiosity for the ensuing
unit of study.

        Members of the 1999 ICONnect ICPrize Subcommittee were Judy
Lira (chair), Pam Spencer, Elizabeth Miller, Allison Kaplan, Mary Anne
Parks, Cathy Berner and Suzy Hawley.

        Information about the ICONnect technology initiative is
available via the Internet at <http://www.ala.org/ICONN>. ICONnect
information packets are also available by mail from AASL. To request
an information packet, call 800-545-2433, ext. 4386, or e-mail
<ICONnect@ala.org>.

        AASL is a division of the American Library Association.

-30-

Steven Hofmann
Coordinator of Communications
American Association of School Librarians
a division of the American Library Association
50 E. Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60611-2795
800-545-2433 ext. 4389
Fax:  312-664-7459
E-mail:  shofmann@ala.org
WWW:  http://www.ala.org/aasl

The mission of the AASL is to advocate excellence, facilitate change,
and develop leaders in the school library media field.

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