Belmont Hills Media Center Blog

In preparation for Earth Day on Wednesday, April 22, 2009, Scholastic has put a wealth of Earth Day activities and teaching ideas online. On the Scholastic Book Flix web site, you can access the following pair of books: Joseph Has a Little Overcoat and Recycle That! This pair of titles introduces students to the concept of recycling, reusing, and taking care of our environment. Below are some ideas for activities that tie into these stories. You can also access a wealth of games, activities, and “Think Green” ideas on the Scholastic Act Green web site.

• Using the story Joseph Had a Little Overcoat as a model, and the information from the nonfiction title Recycle That!, have groups of children write a new story that features an item that is transformed many times like a plastic water or soda bottle.
• Promote reading and reusing together by letting each child make their own book holders by cutting the top and one corner off a cereal box. Let the children paint and decorate their cereal boxes for their own book, magazine or assignment holders.
• Remind older readers that the story has a moral, or a lesson, that needs to be learned. After reading Recycle That!, ask students or patrons what they think the moral of Joseph Has a Little Overcoat is and why it relates to recycling.

The end of the year is fast approaching — which means it’s time to start thinking about due dates for all library materials. Please see below for a list of important dates. After May 8, the media center will be closed for inventory and end-of-the-year procedures.

We’ve spent the last few months reading the picture book nominees for the 2008-2009 Georgia Book Awards, and now the time to vote for our favorite Georgia Book Award book is almost here! We will begin voting in the Media Center on Monday, April 13, and voting will run through Wednesday, April 22.

Whether your class has heard one book or 13 books, we hope you’ll sign up for the chance to vote. We will announce the winner of this year’s Georgia Book Award on Friday, April 24, and we will send our school’s winner to the University of Georgia, where the winner for the whole state of Georgia will be decided!

To schedule your class to vote, you will need to sign up for a 15-minute slot, during which we will review the nominated books, and each student will get to cast his or her vote online.

For a complete list of nominees and descriptions of the books, go directly to our blog post located here.

Happy voting!

We are so honored that Marilyn Valenzuela, the Belmont Hills Media Center Clerk, has been chosen as the Classified Employee of the Year for the 2008-2009 school year! Marilyn’s dedication shines through in everything she does, from making the Media Center a fun, interactive place for students to learn, to teaching the Family Literacy program to parents of Cobb County students … and all the while, she keeps a smile on her face!

Marilyn joined a list of outstanding nominees for Classified Employee of the Year, all of whom exhibit their passion and dedication to Belmont Hills every single day. Congratulations to all the wonderful nominees!

Monday, March 2, is Theodore S. Geisel’s birthday — or, as you know him, Dr. Seuss! It also happens to be Read Across America Day. We will be celebrating both events all day long in the Media Center. We will be holding a free book distribution so that every student will get to choose a free book in honor of Read Across America Day. In addition, we will run The Best of Dr. Seuss via closed circuit continuously throughout the day.

If you’re looking for additional ways to celebrate Read Across America and Dr. Seuss’ birthday, please visit http://www.seussville.com/ for more great ideas and activities.

Beginning January 12, 2009, we will begin reading the books that have been nominated for the 2008-09 Georgia Book Award in the Media Center. Twenty books have been nominated for the award, and we will continue to read them to classes up until Spring Break. These books will take the place of the Book of the Month for the next several months.

Please sign your classes up to hear the nominated books — you will need a half-hour time slot to hear a story and do class checkout. See the table below for information about the 20 books that have been nominated for this year’s award!

	Winters, Kay (2006) An introduction to Lincoln’s childhood that concentrates on his education.
	Wheeler, Lisa (2004) After a variety of animals get stuck one by one in bubble gum melting in the road, they must survive encounters with a big blue truck and a burly black bear.
	Woodson, Jacqueline (2004) After Mama takes a job in Chicago during World War II, Ada Ruth stays with Grandma but misses her mother who loves her more than rain and snow.
	Chambers, Veronica (2005) In this picture-book biography, Chambers offers a brief, lyrical tribute to salsa superstar Celia Cruz.
	Kurtz, Jane (2005) On a visit to the zoo, a little boy imagines what it would be like to be various animals, such as a hippopotamus or a penguin, and listens as his mother explains how all parents keep their young ones safe.
	Birtha, Becky (2005) While on a trip in 1956 to visit her grandmother in the South, six-year-old Sarah Marie experiences segregation for the first time, but discovers that things have changed by the time she returns the following year.
	Diakite, Penda (2006) While visiting her father’s family in Mali, a young girl loses a tooth, places it under a calabash, and receives a hen and a rooster from the African Tooth Fairy.
	Roberts, Brenda (2004) On a beautiful evening, Miz Mozetta puts on her red dress and blue shoes and dances the jitterbug just like she did many years before.
	Knudsen, Michelle (2006) A lion starts visiting the local library but runs into trouble as he tries to both obey the rules and help his librarian friend.
	Henkes, Kevin (2006) When her teacher announces that he is getting married, Lilly the mouse sets her heart on being the flower girl at his wedding.
	Adler, David (2003) Young Amy helps her mother to get a job as a player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League while Amy’s father is serving in the Army during World War II.
	Paul, Ann Whitford (2005) Iguana, Conejo, Tortuga, and Culebra are excited about having a spring party, but only Iguana is willing to do any of the work. Includes a glossary of Spanish words used.
	Crum, Shutta (2004) One summer day on her great-grandparents’ Kentucky farm, a squabble with her cousin Melvin spurs Brenda Gail to begin choosing the moments that will become her own special song made of memories.
	Portis, Antoinette (2006) To an imaginative bunny, a box is not always just a box.
	MacLachlan, Patricia and Emily MacLachlan Charest (2006) Thirteen dogs tell their stories in simple poems.
	Stroud, Bettye (2007) While her father leads her toward Canada and away from the plantation where they have been slaves, a young girl thinks of the quilt her mother used to teach her a code that will help guide them to freedom.
	Saltzberg, Barney (2006) Excited about being “star of the week” at school, Stanley spends a lot of time choosing and preparing his favorite things to share, but becomes discouraged when his classmates make fun of what he likes.
	Palatini, Margie (2004) Stewart’s loud, obnoxious sweet tooth constantly gets him into trouble, until Stewart uses a healthy diet to take control of the situation.
	Asher, Sandy (2005) Rabbit’s comfortable nightly routine is disturbed by exuberant Froggie, who settles in for a snack and a story without being invited.
	Bowen, Anne (2004) Sally the Tooth Fairy’s first day on the job is a challenge when a toothless little girl hides her tooth and makes Sally follow a series of clues to find it.

In honor of the EXCITING political events taking place this November, our November Book of the Month is Duck for President. While we are reading the book, we will discuss democracy and the election process. When we complete the book, we will use the CPS devices to answer some questions about the story. We hope you will sign your class up to hear Duck for President. Plan to sign up for a 45-minute block of time so your students will have plenty of time to hear the story, complete the activity, and check out books.

About the book:
“Our fellow Americans: It is our pleasure, our honor, our duty as citizens to present to you Duck for President. Here is a duck who began in a humble pond. Who worked his way to farmer. To governor. And now, perhaps, to the highest office in the land.

“Some say, if he walks like a duck and talks like a duck, he is a duck.

“We say, if he walks like a duck and talks like a duck, he will be the next president of the United States of America.”

Related extension activities: (from www.scholastic.com)
To extend students’ understanding of the story, try these activities in your classroom. Or talk to Mrs. Launey about collaborating on one of these fun activities!

• I Need Your Vote: Pretend you are Duck running for head of the farm. Give a short speech telling the other animals why they should vote for you.
• Sketch It Out: With your students help, list on the board ten major events in the story. Then create a large storyboard with ten frames. Have volunteers draw each of the events in the correct frame and add a speech bubble to show what the main character is saying. Retell the story using the finished storyboard.
• Read Other Books: Read aloud to the class an appropriate grade-level biography of a former president. Talk about the accomplishments and disappointments that president had on the job.
• Make it Real: Ask students to find pictures in newspapers and magazines showing candidates electioneering. Which of these strategies are similar to those in Duck for President?
• Go to the Polls: Create a poster encouraging people to get out and vote in the next presidential election. Talk about the elements that make a good poster. Display the posters in the classroom or corridor.
• Do the Research: To run for president of the United States, a person must meet certain requirements to hold office (be a natural citizen of the U.S.; be 35 years old; be a resident of the country). Read aloud a book that explains these and talk it over.
• Vote for Me!: Hold an election for class president and vice president. First discuss the duties and responsibilities of the job, and its duration. Accept nominations, do some electioneering, and hold the election itself. Later, have the elected officials write about the pros and cons of the job. Invite classmates to write about their view of the officials performances.

We’re please to announce the arrival of a variety of new library books that were purchased with the Laura Bush Foundation Grant we received in May. Among the new titles are fiction and nonfiction math books to meet K-2 math standards, nonfiction titles in Spanish, other teacher requests, and the Georgia Book Award picture books for 2008-2009. You can browse these books on the revolving New Book shelf near the circulation desk!

As always, if you have specific requests for books, please see Mrs. Launey or Ms. Valenzuela. Happy reading!

The literary world was saddened this September to learn that Colleen Salley, author of the Epossumondas books, had passed away. In honor of Ms. Salley and her wonderful contribution to children’s literature, this month we will be featuring Epossumondas as our Book of the Month. We hope you will sign your class up to hear Epossumondas and complete the accompanying organization activity. Plan to sign up for a 45-minute block of time so your students will have plenty of time to hear the story, complete the activity, and check out books.

About the book:
“Who’s Epossumondas? Why, he’s his mama’s and his auntie’s sweet little patootie, that’s who. He’s also the silliest, most lovable, most muddleheaded possum south of the Mason Dixon line!

“Better choose your words wisely when he’s around, ’cause otherwise you never know WHAT you’ll get. Epossumondas just might bring you a fist full of crumbs — or a soaking wet puppy — or a scruffy wad of bread — oh, you just wouldn’t believe it!

“Renowned storyteller Colleen Salley and Caldecott Honor illustrator Janet Stevens team up for this outrageous twist on the Southern story of the noodlehead who takes everything WAY too literally. (Or is that just Epossumondas just pulling his mama’s leg?)”

Organization activity: Help poor Epossumondas!
Let’s rewrite the story and help Epossumondas do everything RIGHT this time!

On the Promethean board, we will write down each item that auntie gave Epossumondas:
• A piece of rich gold cake
• Freshly churned butter
• A sweet little puppy
• A freshly baked loaf of bread

We will also record each of mama’s directions to Epossumondas:
• The way to carry cake is to put the cake on your head, put a hat on your head, and come along home.

• The way to carry butter is to wrap it up in some leaves and carry it down to the brook, and you cool it in the water … and then you take it up carefully in your hands and come along home.

• The way to carry a puppy is to put the puppy on the ground, tie a piece of string around the puppy dog’s neck, and take the piece of string and come along home.

This time, we will put the story in the right order by putting the directions BEFORE the items so that Epossumondas doesn’t make so many mistakes and all the goodies get home safely!

We’re very excited to announce the arrival of about 80 new videos to enhance your social studies, science, and health curriculum. These wonderful new resources cover topics such as American history, earth science, ecosystems, energy, weather, plant life, and more. Hopefully you will find these videos to be a wonderful complement to your lessons.

In the coming months, we will also be adding a wide array of new audio books and some new books that address your math standards. Stay tuned!