Category Archives: Resources

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Who is Your Favorite Librarian?

Nominations are still open for the 2009 Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award.

The award invites library users to recognize the accomplishments of librarians in public, school, college, community college and university libraries for their efforts to improve the lives of people in their community. Nominations will run through October 9 and are being accepted online at www.ilovelibraries.org/ilovemylibrarian

Up to 10 librarians will be selected. Each will receive a $5,000 cash award, a plaque and a $500 travel stipend to attend an awards ceremony and reception in New York, hosted by The New York Times in December.  In addition, a plaque will be given to each award winner’s library.

Each nominee must be a librarian with a master’s degree from a program accredited by the ALA in library and information studies or a master’s degree with a specialty in school library media from an educational unit accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.  Nominees must be currently working in the United States in a public library, a library at an accredited two- or four-year college or university or at an accredited K-12 school.

Nominees will be judged by a selection committee based on quality of service to library users, demonstrated knowledge of the library and its resources and commitment shown in helping library users.

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Author Podcasts

I’m a huge fan of going places where I can hear authors talk about their writing.  It’s inspires me to read more and to write more.  Thanks to the many forms of online resources, authors can come to us in the form of podcasts.  Harper Collins has a great site full of author podcasts.  Check it out and see if one of your favorite authors has something to say about his or her writing.  One of the featured authors is Sharon Creech.  We will be getting her book, The Unfinished Angel, very soon thanks to our Book Builder Program.

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Read Around the World

Our book fair is coming October 16-23.  To celebrate its arrival, we’re going to “Read Around the World” for the next month.  Students will receive a sheet on Monday that is their passport for the next 4 weeks.  Each section of our media center has been labeled with one of the 7 continents.  When you check out a book from that section, you earn a stamp.  Collect all 7 stamps in the next 4 weeks to have your name put into a drawing for free books at our book fair.  Also, on the back of the passport, keep track of how many minutes you read.  If you read a total of 600 minutes, you will have your name put in the drawing a second time.  If you earn all of your stamps and complete your 600 minutes of reading, you will also have a flag with your name on it hanging at the entrance to our book fair.


Do what works for you.  If you want to keep your       passport at school to collect stamps and have a piece of notebook paper at home to write down your reading minutes, then that is perfectly fine.  When you turn everything in, just attach all of the sheets together.  Your passport is due by October 13th.

What are you waiting for?   Let’s read around the world!  Stop by the media center as often as you can to check out great books for reading.  Families and teachers are welcome to participate, too!

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Cyberbullying

We are so fortunate to have access to countless resources online at our school. Students are becoming increasingly active using the technology we have and using the Internet to find information and connect with friends both online and at home. With this great resource comes the chance that students may experience cyberbullying among friends. We typically see this happen in our upper grades students. I wanted to let you know that we have a great new book in our library called Cyberbullying: Deal with it ctrl alt delete it. This book has scenarios, information, and even quizzes to tell if you are a cyberbully or if you are being bulled online. It is appropriate for students, but it’s also a great resource to read in a classroom or as a family.

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Let’s Take a Journey

I’m very excited to start off a new school year in the Barrow Media Center. We have many new faces at Barrow this year, and I look forward to meeting each one of you.

Our theme in the media center this year is “Take a Journey @ your Library”. I love to go on journeys. This summer, I traveled to Alaska and saw the beauty of that state. Every day was an adventure. I was only there for 7 days and I experienced only a small taste of what Alaska has to offer. There’s no way I could see all of that state, so what do I do about that….? Well, I can take a journey @ the library. I can read books that take place in Alaska like “The Good Dog” or “Akiak”. I can follow a blog of the Iditarod. I can research more about the wildlife that I saw on my trip. When the Iditarod starts, I can choose a favorite musher and track him/her on the trail. I can learn about the Natives of Alaska and how Alaska has changed through the years. These are just a few of the journeys I can take by exploring the resources in the library.  Visit our NetVibes page to see some of the resources I might research.

FireShot capture #2 - 'David C_ Barrow Elementary Media Center (20)' - www_netvibes_com_barrowmediacenter#Alaska

The library is my ticket and yours to journeys all around our world and beyond. What journeys have you taken this summer? Were they actual travels, travels in your imagination, travels on the Internet, or travels through a book?

Tell us about your journeys on here or stop by our journey bulletin board in the Barrow Media Center to display some information about your journey.

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What’s the Source?

I hope you are all continuing to have a great summer. Today, one of our favorite authors, Deborah Wiles, wrote on her blog about the difficulty of finding the sources for photographs. She also wrote about how it can be difficult to wait until the end of a piece of work to start tracking down all of the sources.

As we start to think about a new school year beginning, let’s explore ways of keeping track of the sources that we use for our research projects. If you already have a favorite way, post a comment and share what it is.  I’m sure we’ll come up with some creative ways to create bibliographies throughout the year.

Be sure to check out Deborah Wiles’s blog post, too.

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Visit a State Park

 

I hope you are all having a great summer. I’m busier than I expected to be, but I’m still finding time to read my stack of books that I showed everyone before the school year ended.

Today as I was visiting the Athens Regional Library’s webpage, I was reminded of a great resource that they have. You can check out a pass to visit any of GA’s state parks. All you need is your library card and a way to get to the park. Here are the details:

ParkPass Library Loan Program
Get out. Get dirty. Get fit.

With a valid library card you can borrow a Georgia State Parks Annual ParkPass and an individual Historic Sites Visitors Pass for up to 7 days. The ParkPass exempts you from paying the daily parking fee at state parks and the Historic Sites Visitors Pass exempts one visitor from admission fees to any state historic site in the state.

A copy of the Guide to Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites featuring descriptions, photos, directions and a map of all locations is included.

So take your family or yourself to a state park or historic site and see how much fun being outdoors can be. Come discover the treasures of Georgia in your own backyard.

For more information about this program, ask your librarian.

For more information about Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites visit http://www.GeorgiaStateParks.org.

For more information about outdoor activities and events visit http://www.GetOutdoorsGeorgia.org.

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Summer Reading Recommendations

The teachers at Barrow have been thinking about great books for summer reading. They put together a list, which I’ve included in these posts. These books are not required reading, instead the list shows favorite books that are recommended by teachers as great books to enjoy over the summer. Check some of them out at your public library.

Suggestions from Kindergarten Teachers
The Paper Boy by Dav Pilkey
Whistle For Willy by Ezra Jack Keats
May I Bring A Friend? by Beatrice DeRegniers
The Mitten, The Hat by Jan Brett
When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang

Suggestions from First Grade Teachers
Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells
What Game Shall We Play by Pat Hutchins
What will the Weather Be Like Today? by Paul Rogers
Stone Soup by Ann McGovern
Just Me and My Puppy by Mercer Mayer
Jillian Jiggs by P. Gilman
Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber
Junie B. Jones..Series by Barbara Park
Magic Schoool Bus Series by Joanna Cole
Superfudge by Judy Blume
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Two Under Par by Kevin Henkes
Gentle Ben by Walt Morey
Going Solo by Roald Dahl
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel
Honey I Love (poetry book) by Eloise Greenfield
The Chalk Box Kid (chapter book) by Clyde Robert Bulla

Suggestions from 2nd grade teachers
Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones by Judy Schachner
Charlie Cook’s Favorite Book by Julia Donaldson
Third Grade Detectives: The Clue of the Left Handed Envelope by George E. Stanley
Diary of a Wimpy Kid- The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney
Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend by Melanie Watt

Suggestions from 3rd grade teachers
Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingles Wilder
Freckle Juice by Judy Blume
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
Clementine by Sara Pennypacker (Battle of the Books selection)
The Report Card by Andrew Clements (Battle of the Books selection)
Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary (Battle of the Books selection)

Suggestions by 4th grade teachers
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories by Richard Peck
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
The Liberation of Gabriel King by K.L. Going
The Christmas Rat by Avi (Battle of the Books selection)
Fourth Grade Rats by Jerry Spinelli (Battle of the Books selection)
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Battle of the Books selection)

Suggestions by 5th grade teachers
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
Esperanza Rising by Pamela Munoz
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech
The Watson’s Go to Birmingham – 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
And some recommended Authors:
Brian Jacques
Christopher Paul Curtis
Deborah Wiles
Gary Paulsen
Jean Craighead George
Katherine Paterson
Lois Lowry
Madeleine L’Engle
Mildred Taylor
Roald Dahl
Walter Dean Myers

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What is Your Summer Reading Plan?

I’ve been working with students on making plans for summer reading. We’ve talked about the kinds of books we want to read, when we will read, how long we will read, what we need to create a reading atmosphere, and what we’ll do to make sure we’re understanding & enjoying our books. I’ve started my stack of books to read this summer, and I can’t wait to get started.

Athens Library 001

Today, Kim James from the Athens Regional Library came to talk about the summer reading program, Be Creative @ Your Library. I encourage all of you to visit your public library over the summer for some great books and fun book activities.

Athens Library 004

Summer is quickly approaching.  So…what’s your summer reading plan? Leave a comment below and let us know books that you plan to read or any type of plan you have created for yourself to make sure you have a summer filled with reading.

Athens Library 003

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New Kate DiCamillo Book

I am so excited! As I was working on an author study for fourth grade today, I visit Kate DiCamillo’s website. Most of you know that she is my favorite author. To my delight, there was information about a new novel coming out in the Fall called The Magician’s Elephant. Kate even has the first chapter available to read on her site. There’s also a video of her reading the first chapter.  Can this get any better?  I really want to drop everything and read this chapter right now, but I have work to do. I’ll definitely read it tonight.