Research with The Big 6

I worked with an 8th grade Mercury class today on research skills. I introduced The Big 6 to them for their project. Since we were using only print sources, I introduced encyclopedias and indexes to them. Amazingly, an 8th grader said it was her first time using an encyclopedia. I am not surprised, because this generation of students were raised on Google and computers.

It was nice to see some of them realizing that nonfiction books could help them just as much, if not more than, the computer. They seemed to like the simplicity of The Big 6. Hopefully, they’ll continue to use it for future assignments.

Poetry Reading

Today, I participated in a poetry reading with Mrs. Mac’s 7th grade class that simulated a book they’ve been reading where the Hispanic main character participates in a poetry reading with Tejano music. One of the counselors dressed in a Mexican dress for her portion, and played “Las Mananitas” on her ipod for the class as they read along with the song/poem. Another teacher, who is studying to become a bee keeper, read a poem about bees while Mrs. Mac read some love poems by Shakespeare.

For my portion, I spoke to the audience in Spanish and translated sentence by sentence to give the feel of being in the book’s setting. Afterwards, I read several poems in Spanish and English. When we were done, the students enjoyed a snack and a drink. It was very nicely done, and a first for the newly opened library. Thank you Mrs. Mac!

Poetry Month

April is Poetry Month and, on Monday, I will be discussing poetry styles with Mrs. O’s 8th grade Ranger ELA classes. I will be teaching students about Haiku, Couplets, Quatrains, Limericks, Shape Poems and Free Verse Poems. In addition to an assignment from Mrs. O, the students will be working in groups to complete web based activities where they create their own poetry following one of the styles we have discussed. It should be fun.

I will also be doing poetry readings with Mrs. Mac’s 7th grade Apollo Reading class later in the week.

More Open House news

The staff all pitched in today to decorate the library. Our slogan is “bloom @ your library” so, in keeping with that theme, flowers filled the air. Tables were covered with pastel colors, and a small flower bouquet was placed in the center of each one. Long flower strands and a large bouquet of flowers festoon the room. In addition, photos of YA authors that I took at the ALA conference last June are strategically placed near their books. Everything is all set for Monday morning.

Upcoming Scholastic Book Fair

In preparation for my first ever book fair, I had a very long meeting yesterday with 2 of the reps from Scholastic. The fair will open on April 29th, and close for School Picture Day on the 30th. It will reopen on May 1-2, then continue from May 5-8. The fair will be open for 5-8th graders, and will also be open after school so parents and students can shop comfortably without school traffic. Stop by and take a look. There will be something for everyone. Parent volunteers are needed. If interested, contact Mrs. McDermott at the IMC.

The Open House is coming

With 2 days left until our Open House on Monday, we’ve been working hard to get the library in shape. Just a few of the tasks we’ve been working on included cataloging our new Spanish language section, putting the last stickers onto the new YA collection, straightening out shelves and the magazine room, fixing up the magazine display, making new shelf labels, and hooking up the library computers.

Invitations were created and sent out to all teachers and staff today, and shopping for decorations and food will take place today and tomorrow. It’s an exciting time!

Staying fat for Sarah Brynes

I really like Chris Crutcher’s books. The latest YA one I just read is called “Staying fat for Sarah Brynes.” A fat kid in junior high nicknamed Moby becomes friends with a girl named Sarah Byrnes who is grossly disfigured with burns on her face and hands that were supposedly caused by a pot of spaghetti she tipped onto herself when she was young. Her father refused to let her get surgery to correct it. While Moby hides behind his fat and is too weak to stand up to bullying, she uses her fists and great wit to face up to her enemies. Together they make a great team and form a fast friendship.

Fast forward to high school where Sarah is now in a mental ward, and the reader learns that her burns were caused by her own father pushing her face into a wood stove when she was only 2 years old. Moby is now thin, due to years of being on the swim team. However, they are still friends and he is determined to rescue her from the years of her father’s abuse. However, he has to be careful because her crazy father has figured out that Sarah is only pretending to be crazy and he won’t stop until he gets his hands on her – even if it means killing Moby.

In the meantime, a compassionate teacher shows her class how to discuss issues that hurt or cause anger as the best way to get things rectified. With her help, Moby gets a plan to save Sarah from her dad. Read “Staying fat for Sarah Brynes” and see how these two great friends show bullies, and the whole school, that friendship is more than skin deep.

YA comes alive

Today I spent the day with Mrs. Mac’s 8th grade reading classes in Apollo and a 7th grade class. I discussed YA lit. with them, and we talked about the best ways to pick a book. Ideas such as looking at the cover, the author, title, pictures, whether or not the book was thin or thick, reading the blurb on the back or inside cover, and sitting down to read the book for at least 2-5 minutes were discussed. I also booktalked many of the titles I have in the Book Review section of this blog.

Afterwards, several of the classes were able to come to the library in between MCAS testing to take out their very first YA books. I told students about this blog and asked for their help in writing book reviews for it. Soon many will be making their debut as published authors on this site. Stay tuned for more YA book reviews from teens “in the know!”