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Media Center

The mission of the Symonds School Media Center is to provide an inviting, accessible environment, which empowers all students and staff to discover a love of reading, become effective and efficient users of a variety of information media, and develop a lifelong passion for learning.

Symonds’ students have one media class each cycle. Kindergarten students have a 35-minute class, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students have 75 minutes. Media class includes instruction in library, literacy, research, and technology skills. We use print media, audio media, video media, artifacts, and regularly work with Chromebooks and iPads. Each student has a Google account and we use the Google Suite. We use the Internet for research and other educational activities and teach the SAU Acceptable Use Policy in age-appropriate terminology.

Symonds Media Center contains over 16,000 items and there are often 1000 book checked out. Books are checked out for one 6-day school cycle. Kindergarten students check out one book at a time. All other students check out three books at a time. Instruction is given in choosing a “just right” book but student choices are not censored. Developing the ability to choose for your self is a crucial step in becoming a successful reader.

Our school media center teaches students about the multitude of ways our society communicates ideas and appropriate ways to interact with this information. We learn how to locate information, evaluate it critically, use it for a variety of purposes, and to enjoy it.

Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade

In library classes, students concentrate on becoming familiar with well-known authors/illustrators and experiencing the fairy tales and folktales around the world. As we study the variety of literature, we investigate the different cultures that are represented. We also spend time learning to choose a "just right" book from the 15,000 volumes in our school library. Learning how a library functions is another important job of the younger students.

Third Grade, Fourth Grade, Fifth Grade

In the upper grades, library and computer classes are often combined to explore some area of classroom curriculum in detail. The 3rd graders enhance their study of South America by each student studying in-depth one animal from the region. Fourth graders work on two New Hampshire research projects and create a PowerPoint on an Australian animal. Fifth graders participate in several small projects that bring together their many skills as well as one larger PowerPoint project that encourages their creativity. At all grade levels, we look for opportunities to collaborate with classroom teachers and these chances grow with the older students. In addition to the many research projects we have in the upper grades, there is still emphasis on reading for pleasure and trying new types of books that will help students become life-long readers.