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.

We media gals are very excited about starting the new school year. This year, the focus will be COLLABORATION, COLLABORATION, COLLABORATION. We hope that all of you will take advantage of the instructional activities and resources available to you and your students through the Belmont Hills Media Center. Here are some examples of the lessons and activities we offer:

• Learning to use Microsoft Word (Ex: to type a response to literature)

• Learning to use Microsoft PowerPoint (Ex: to create a presentation about something the class is studying)

• Learning to use Microsoft Publisher (Ex: to create a brochure)

• Learning to use MovieMaker/Adobe Premier Elements (Ex: to create and edit a video)

• Learning to use Kid Pix (Ex: to create pictures)

• Learning to use Inspiration (Ex: to create webs/Thinking Maps)

• Using the Media Center for research (atlas, encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus)

• Locating materials in the Media Center

• Using the Cobb Virtual Library (to research a topic)

• Using Destiny (to search for books and web sites)

• Learning about informational texts

• Reading the Book of the Month and complete accompanying activities

• Reading and voting for the Georgia Book Award Book (beginning in November)…

…and we are always open to new ideas and requests to ENGAGE your students in meaningful learning experiences!

For the past two months, students in Mrs. Cain’s second grade class have been learning how to use nonfiction books for research. Each student chose to research a different animal, and using the table of contents and index to find answers to their questions, they wrote a paragraph that contained the findings of their research. Now we’re using Microsoft Word to create a nonfiction book with pictures, adding our own table of contents and index. If you’re interested in doing a project like this with your own class, come see me or drop me an email at tina.launey@cobbk12.org!