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April 2003
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Past Issues
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Have a newsworthy item? Comments? Questions? Contact Paula Byrne, editor
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By Deb O'Brien and Mary Thulin
The Sandwich Public School libraries, in conjunction with the Sandwich Public Library, received a two-year grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners to develop a "Homework Zone" web page.
In Year One, 2001-02, we concentrated on high school assignments; in Year Two, 2002-03, we included Grades 5-8.
The project has three parts. One part is for the library staff to post mid- and long-term assignments for students and parents to view. Deb O'Brien and Mary Thulin, the High School librarians, Augusta Lynch, Cheryl Robb and Janet Vallee, the K-8 librarians, and Kathy Metrick, the Young Adult librarian from the Public Library, provided help with these assignments by listing additional resources, search tips, and help with online databases. These resource guides are designed to help build and enhance research skills.
The second part of this project connects our Homework Zone page to teacher daily assignment pages. Several of our teachers use Schoolnotes.com, some use e-Board and some have their own web pages. We link from the Homework Zone page directly to the teachers' assignments.
The third part of the Homework Zone page is an area that provides students with instructions for reserving library materials from CLAMS online, using online databases, district Guidelines for Research, examples of MLA documentation, library hours and other useful information.
Using the Homework Zone, students and parents can access school assignments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any computer with an Internet connection.
The address of the Sandwich Homework Zone is: http://www.sandwich.k12.ma.us/homeworkzone