tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57259979747996451532023-11-16T02:36:07.179-08:00OWS Library Learning CommonsLaura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.comBlogger376125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-62492137967879945562017-06-14T09:50:00.000-07:002017-06-15T12:54:16.953-07:00Summer reading list 2017!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_djGHseMKM1R4OCqgdLLAz_scNFgdD1PNwB80pWTcNc0OQPnS57V8YFTVOYXrQlddB-gCVqsCuYZ9l4o9-gC8OjQ8r5x1rSiwy3yTS7ZF38a6HkRrFFBlZRM7dRv0aJh7_Jo9grLvnfF1/s1600/spring2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_djGHseMKM1R4OCqgdLLAz_scNFgdD1PNwB80pWTcNc0OQPnS57V8YFTVOYXrQlddB-gCVqsCuYZ9l4o9-gC8OjQ8r5x1rSiwy3yTS7ZF38a6HkRrFFBlZRM7dRv0aJh7_Jo9grLvnfF1/s320/spring2.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just as every June, I find myself wondering what on earth could have happened to the school year that stretched ahead so tantalizingly! It feels like I blinked and it was over...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Summer is the perfect time for catching up on reading for fun. <a href="https://kcls.org/resources-types/audiobooks/">Audiobooks</a> are a <a href="https://twitter.com/OWS_LLC/status/803684574538543104">perfect accompaniment</a> to a car or plane ride, or to have on in the background during art projects or while playing with Legos.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I regularly <a href="https://twitter.com/OWS_LLC">tweet</a> links to recommended reading lists (follow me, or check them out <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=ows_llc%20lists&src=typd&lang=en">here</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=ows_llc%20reading%20list&src=typd&lang=en">here</a>), but below are a few books I'm especially delighted to recommend. Every OWS student was given a souvenir OWS library summer reading bookmark to bring home that featured some of the titles below. We hope you enjoy it!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy51nZwEH1dVEQ0_vj6O-2tB4WG_1IPM6osHQU06S9QW3TfhfqYxiH0JYn3E2-Fub5QLLwGRbdnzAADHU8ZkKsTwkg-oSFMuCvgTq_ibNzXzIoF9PcDlFhbk4_ISRlj5g8IGo6TunqI8xB/s1600/reading-without-walls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy51nZwEH1dVEQ0_vj6O-2tB4WG_1IPM6osHQU06S9QW3TfhfqYxiH0JYn3E2-Fub5QLLwGRbdnzAADHU8ZkKsTwkg-oSFMuCvgTq_ibNzXzIoF9PcDlFhbk4_ISRlj5g8IGo6TunqI8xB/s320/reading-without-walls.jpg" width="253" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Remember to give National Ambassador for Young People's Literature's Gene Luen Yang's <a href="http://geneyang.com/the-reading-without-walls-challenge">Reading without Walls</a> challenge a try! It's a fun way to structure your reading if you don't know where to begin. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not sure if one of the titles below is for you? Check out professional review sources (<i>Booklist, Kirkus, School Library Journal</i>) available via the public library and online bookstore sites for more details, including recommended ages.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Picture books (fiction and nonfiction) for ALL ages!</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2rK5ncNnvRHjIuqS7FGF8k_BeYfAHR98das0UsZrzv0p9DrJElt8rGf8_0xYrhX5f79WM7BhHvn4zCfevIfpqzu9bGlKMFAlQ68ozcAYTCe440lx95V9nmwzB8ryzmCi575m02-9S4Mcu/s1600/Away.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="375" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2rK5ncNnvRHjIuqS7FGF8k_BeYfAHR98das0UsZrzv0p9DrJElt8rGf8_0xYrhX5f79WM7BhHvn4zCfevIfpqzu9bGlKMFAlQ68ozcAYTCe440lx95V9nmwzB8ryzmCi575m02-9S4Mcu/s320/Away.jpg" width="320" /></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Away </i>by Emil Sher</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCvHp4lj2_6GM3U9UhfKeVFGOeaAPbP_s5au5I-6RqCauunHl72gtEc4X_DjXEfg6XjZhA013hYa4hdyOJXZPhY042d-rEIuFcrL8VDxFQDb2dakRKcT5T4nzSGUDkGKRCognvLHhayXn/s1600/Josephine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCvHp4lj2_6GM3U9UhfKeVFGOeaAPbP_s5au5I-6RqCauunHl72gtEc4X_DjXEfg6XjZhA013hYa4hdyOJXZPhY042d-rEIuFcrL8VDxFQDb2dakRKcT5T4nzSGUDkGKRCognvLHhayXn/s320/Josephine.jpg" width="223" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Josephine </i>by Patricia Hruby Powell</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD85cNBEuqIE_T-jf8AXZs2x9knqJVJ4lZt1tUzfI6PUgpG2_w20l4Uw4jZL-Krf20KY82RsAdRu8sACYxDXeRnJbziKvXo1ncbKSQ0ZjV5Qo7YaqXz-tom7OYDSGhBOyp6WXZsrkJN5Sn/s1600/Lesser+Spotted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD85cNBEuqIE_T-jf8AXZs2x9knqJVJ4lZt1tUzfI6PUgpG2_w20l4Uw4jZL-Krf20KY82RsAdRu8sACYxDXeRnJbziKvXo1ncbKSQ0ZjV5Qo7YaqXz-tom7OYDSGhBOyp6WXZsrkJN5Sn/s320/Lesser+Spotted.jpg" width="277" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Lesser Spotted Animals </i>by Martin Brown</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrzPLMlSIydd4U8MXixVHYPumMFUHwR3nFRFiWSfT_HhZ-OG3-Qnctr23ymkGbE0obPzS3pDTgJ2BXs-fYa9pdSOhJ3odXeWrJxotpjJGtzOgDRnnq_ErkBR6BekONuglxtvmb_vOYSIAr/s1600/Tidy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrzPLMlSIydd4U8MXixVHYPumMFUHwR3nFRFiWSfT_HhZ-OG3-Qnctr23ymkGbE0obPzS3pDTgJ2BXs-fYa9pdSOhJ3odXeWrJxotpjJGtzOgDRnnq_ErkBR6BekONuglxtvmb_vOYSIAr/s1600/Tidy.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Tidy</i> by Emily Gravett</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDB4Xxj5kHq-xG4HXAtezPBbHbIyTvQw-GJu55MzsXF4tWUu4k2z850kH1QB3cEQhovy6RBZb62GtE-ntMxObvtn30sG8I1HSJOFfau0CoWl4zLk9uiwjELSIMBnfkP1-1x3GK5ar8w1z/s1600/The+Way+Home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDB4Xxj5kHq-xG4HXAtezPBbHbIyTvQw-GJu55MzsXF4tWUu4k2z850kH1QB3cEQhovy6RBZb62GtE-ntMxObvtn30sG8I1HSJOFfau0CoWl4zLk9uiwjELSIMBnfkP1-1x3GK5ar8w1z/s320/The+Way+Home.jpg" width="222" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Way Home in the Night</i> by Akiko Miyakoshi</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTBD5vdsBVk0U7K3zCjq_X6qhnPsO9YCFYAOfMJ2ab00Jdna-hlDLm7OYTQbcjfNncoS0FRDa0NeFzW3bEUmdohMCmEhHhiZif7V-M72SnpN7TVhsQ69U8N7uLTWRsgDHsFl1vONMKrCic/s1600/Wild+Animals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTBD5vdsBVk0U7K3zCjq_X6qhnPsO9YCFYAOfMJ2ab00Jdna-hlDLm7OYTQbcjfNncoS0FRDa0NeFzW3bEUmdohMCmEhHhiZif7V-M72SnpN7TVhsQ69U8N7uLTWRsgDHsFl1vONMKrCic/s320/Wild+Animals.jpg" width="222" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Wild Animals of the South </i>by Dieter Braun</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Upper Elementary & Middle School</u></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhnH0BE8i325uj5UjyWt9nj9Hsl3WLKCJmemOXmP_MuPO4VqCZdRJB-ZGpEWxnZ6Ug-2TuUxlf8AkGKhdDEQDVatClb8d6iEkbhZ3rluYnO4669dEMD3DbZ53fo1EVHHAhI1bcXEVpSizp/s1600/Amina%2527s+Voice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhnH0BE8i325uj5UjyWt9nj9Hsl3WLKCJmemOXmP_MuPO4VqCZdRJB-ZGpEWxnZ6Ug-2TuUxlf8AkGKhdDEQDVatClb8d6iEkbhZ3rluYnO4669dEMD3DbZ53fo1EVHHAhI1bcXEVpSizp/s320/Amina%2527s+Voice.jpg" width="222" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Amina's Voice </i>by Hena Khan</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjaKldMbGG0cbEjITvlrID2z3EgNLpCaMCcA5FI8rFx2b6B9GR4prdDeZ5RuEmrBb-ddN-DtfL1S9HnkOdntuQa-7Zq_fOI7r-hKCw2ryPfszCJWkJpRzFl4cDu_3VEp8w8MddPBcAjOn/s1600/Clayton+Byrd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="329" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjaKldMbGG0cbEjITvlrID2z3EgNLpCaMCcA5FI8rFx2b6B9GR4prdDeZ5RuEmrBb-ddN-DtfL1S9HnkOdntuQa-7Zq_fOI7r-hKCw2ryPfszCJWkJpRzFl4cDu_3VEp8w8MddPBcAjOn/s320/Clayton+Byrd.jpg" width="220" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Clayton Byrd Goes Underground </i>by Rita Williams-Garcia</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUyzUg-8cUiNSVtDw59gVA41TngTew7uICNO57HcL9RZXaz0tmHjM782ads48bTKa8tNIateYZSoMurBMNGH6sPAfKq36riT1dB7Iibkqx3ECWL5p2uiT54v8d3PFz6ae07K2-PdLFu5qi/s1600/Click+Here+to+Start.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="462" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUyzUg-8cUiNSVtDw59gVA41TngTew7uICNO57HcL9RZXaz0tmHjM782ads48bTKa8tNIateYZSoMurBMNGH6sPAfKq36riT1dB7Iibkqx3ECWL5p2uiT54v8d3PFz6ae07K2-PdLFu5qi/s320/Click+Here+to+Start.jpg" width="211" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Click Here to Start </i>by Denis Markell</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjS2-2h6CgoyKmYCqEUr5fH-Hc3Y71hqQueZ-irFTLBGKfhjA2NGzUWKsYmOEGpHBD6q5r5joS1nQcpsKmLM7VwolPFRQ4EhTze6ZKZFZuo94BFp-eVd4JyIAXrIhASgDmr6Xr3UPDmWap/s1600/Hello+Universe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjS2-2h6CgoyKmYCqEUr5fH-Hc3Y71hqQueZ-irFTLBGKfhjA2NGzUWKsYmOEGpHBD6q5r5joS1nQcpsKmLM7VwolPFRQ4EhTze6ZKZFZuo94BFp-eVd4JyIAXrIhASgDmr6Xr3UPDmWap/s320/Hello+Universe.jpg" width="223" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Hello, Universe </i>by Erin Entrada Kelly</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcoI0hFf20X7tblD-QDuXuzzCuPsISDsKFxyzJZvkbGuIMLYEhiJP-_DhQozXzr0a-eob3ZIMQT7y60-d8kiFcURJhFxHEKrU5GbMp6o-35GLQp_FmOtii4vTE6U7i6ukZ1-MbOfqVRm4/s1600/In+the+Shadow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcoI0hFf20X7tblD-QDuXuzzCuPsISDsKFxyzJZvkbGuIMLYEhiJP-_DhQozXzr0a-eob3ZIMQT7y60-d8kiFcURJhFxHEKrU5GbMp6o-35GLQp_FmOtii4vTE6U7i6ukZ1-MbOfqVRm4/s320/In+the+Shadow.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>In the Shadow of the Sun</i> by Anne Sibley O'Brien</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj15kPyu57onJeQCNSr-b1g4VzXjZsO5A8xIkasr-wpu07o6sGV1FXMN9Kbfr6PgJcGDsAVOU4dJdkFAzko2ugf-DsIyyyWncxQZU405jOHh8HPyaLnzOZij8mYrBEtWHLJNeVRiEfzZKHi/s1600/One+Last+Word.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj15kPyu57onJeQCNSr-b1g4VzXjZsO5A8xIkasr-wpu07o6sGV1FXMN9Kbfr6PgJcGDsAVOU4dJdkFAzko2ugf-DsIyyyWncxQZU405jOHh8HPyaLnzOZij8mYrBEtWHLJNeVRiEfzZKHi/s320/One+Last+Word.jpg" width="221" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>One Last Word </i>by Nikki Grimes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrN0RNEnqta1Jlfq7C4tMyfhyB24JzMXmkHeiApi1CYcbezaFOt-Am6qv9pPgWv_csdSYhyphenhyphen8WvpGb39sXaVmr2UPbTMWQxEAulaVnYdNN4td1pBcalYv-NfiFsI6xHph2cgqwDM8tp6Sua/s1600/Orphan+Island.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="588" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrN0RNEnqta1Jlfq7C4tMyfhyB24JzMXmkHeiApi1CYcbezaFOt-Am6qv9pPgWv_csdSYhyphenhyphen8WvpGb39sXaVmr2UPbTMWQxEAulaVnYdNN4td1pBcalYv-NfiFsI6xHph2cgqwDM8tp6Sua/s320/Orphan+Island.jpg" width="221" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Orphan Island</i> by Laurel Snyder</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqCtXgs1_7Lumi7NxzI9Ujhv6a1AMryNbXHwTzihJ-kvVGBUVPHkMcgYknhV_kJAcja4u7hXEm9qWFDC_ZcbzxAmvQ7m9vFSV_2J0lsaUa3raL7VPzvB7k1qE0Cc4MteRnYyl31UxnDk9/s1600/Sunny+Side+Up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqCtXgs1_7Lumi7NxzI9Ujhv6a1AMryNbXHwTzihJ-kvVGBUVPHkMcgYknhV_kJAcja4u7hXEm9qWFDC_ZcbzxAmvQ7m9vFSV_2J0lsaUa3raL7VPzvB7k1qE0Cc4MteRnYyl31UxnDk9/s320/Sunny+Side+Up.jpg" width="222" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Sunny Side Up </i>by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyY6y1RKcObtTjygwAnnulF7cWq4aebnHXY6azzkriMOS8cb8HWhEjKVMhdhKx_cRz8fyDf1jfaINJ3OH_WDZnwRUIdITrnvlcxtdQKVF7U8UrfFWtEb0qniNlSVat_voFd5n7hIMy6g9f/s1600/This+is+Just.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyY6y1RKcObtTjygwAnnulF7cWq4aebnHXY6azzkriMOS8cb8HWhEjKVMhdhKx_cRz8fyDf1jfaINJ3OH_WDZnwRUIdITrnvlcxtdQKVF7U8UrfFWtEb0qniNlSVat_voFd5n7hIMy6g9f/s320/This+is+Just.jpg" width="211" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>This Is Just a Test </i>by Madelyn Rosenberg & Wendy Wan-Long Shang</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Middle & High School</u></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCodujslzFM0LpxAu0HmSNET7Oh6mQVFyUl105RdM-yq3IPio6yX68804eeNiJygp9wNGGQzzmTdkA83d9Bn6NSuzES-bsTMylW_zsG93uwP8XscLMWpBtuTsQBsE6EP7cDBD1sbZg8tE/s1600/Between+Two+Skies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCodujslzFM0LpxAu0HmSNET7Oh6mQVFyUl105RdM-yq3IPio6yX68804eeNiJygp9wNGGQzzmTdkA83d9Bn6NSuzES-bsTMylW_zsG93uwP8XscLMWpBtuTsQBsE6EP7cDBD1sbZg8tE/s320/Between+Two+Skies.jpg" width="212" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <i>Between Two Skies</i> by Joanne O'Sullivan</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXJaZqJg4fvmw0VyX_7TFuv97EsXbJDfiwIDMI7hEijIidL9R8z4agjwa3dyzgi_-OI1bOEGlrqeM5DENig65hr_L0Pm1yFifrgI8t5IOcKWwzobw9XJL85r2mTmyqLj9AK1N-MYpFQdh/s1600/Every+Falling+Star.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="332" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXJaZqJg4fvmw0VyX_7TFuv97EsXbJDfiwIDMI7hEijIidL9R8z4agjwa3dyzgi_-OI1bOEGlrqeM5DENig65hr_L0Pm1yFifrgI8t5IOcKWwzobw9XJL85r2mTmyqLj9AK1N-MYpFQdh/s320/Every+Falling+Star.jpg" width="222" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <i>Every Falling Star</i> by Sungju Lee</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyKDwywmcoLBd8vCaWk2cbGO_ajtR4JjQ42AwzCGBaBoXLe6XgEklJotOoU1RZwOOYFnahuD3KpyyPZR-VzxVhNxhhJTh9XIGKIX7Bu4ifqD2SWQKByUCAsZAvHU0rh4pOc6QymSxlB6a/s1600/My+Sister.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyKDwywmcoLBd8vCaWk2cbGO_ajtR4JjQ42AwzCGBaBoXLe6XgEklJotOoU1RZwOOYFnahuD3KpyyPZR-VzxVhNxhhJTh9XIGKIX7Bu4ifqD2SWQKByUCAsZAvHU0rh4pOc6QymSxlB6a/s320/My+Sister.jpg" width="217" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <i>My Sister Rosa </i>by Justine Larbalestier</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKD_9AMPuk_kBAFkXawDUuy8cskyjuIGvle00X-9T95XauT_MzYnPDmEzVuLQGhltfRvrVZY4NkQwy9Nu7eaCo6-sVM0hQV-O8RI4VgalXx_0yNlINUeDNMYyCRZqovk52c_BcgTzxQbdx/s1600/Piecing+Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKD_9AMPuk_kBAFkXawDUuy8cskyjuIGvle00X-9T95XauT_MzYnPDmEzVuLQGhltfRvrVZY4NkQwy9Nu7eaCo6-sVM0hQV-O8RI4VgalXx_0yNlINUeDNMYyCRZqovk52c_BcgTzxQbdx/s320/Piecing+Me.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <i>Piecing Me Together</i> by Renée Watson</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLsTb8y3kimePu1ivaVNQLQzsK8NBBN4pge3qZteLXBV6W6VX8M-3vZPA0UJ-OEINsfL77odZeGIzXWwOWciw9-Gk1li8tBjfyyjFFk6fIkkVDdiWpcEkrVrEnq0St0HfFKVYYh3Dkx5MV/s1600/Singing+Bones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLsTb8y3kimePu1ivaVNQLQzsK8NBBN4pge3qZteLXBV6W6VX8M-3vZPA0UJ-OEINsfL77odZeGIzXWwOWciw9-Gk1li8tBjfyyjFFk6fIkkVDdiWpcEkrVrEnq0St0HfFKVYYh3Dkx5MV/s320/Singing+Bones.jpg" width="244" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <i>The Singing Bones</i> by Shaun Tan</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJolezwuNIzoO0agV5cpwL_LM1xRWjRm7hNveWzvQWJxfvrEmQM3UYtX4NlYxokLOxfqimwmwivoGRvtW_peTGrILjP0WqMYgmIQhp6wVoiGD-uwoZQa4fLB5Kaj2ZnaYfxBoiW0BQmaK/s1600/Undefeated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="329" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJolezwuNIzoO0agV5cpwL_LM1xRWjRm7hNveWzvQWJxfvrEmQM3UYtX4NlYxokLOxfqimwmwivoGRvtW_peTGrILjP0WqMYgmIQhp6wVoiGD-uwoZQa4fLB5Kaj2ZnaYfxBoiW0BQmaK/s320/Undefeated.jpg" width="224" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team</i> by Steve Sheinkin</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHwlBS5VV6wvQ-gRYr5S2EQjAEuT8T8nVgVHkUcxS7nJtqJrLIMhqsJs-tv8X30DRVNCHZ1R4LQ8b9jsTpIcInJgd5c_p3w22wzJJ-JjY5BBsZrEtsEQNoOAIhyphenhyphenxqLyQqQDvtFmnFc8tcT/s1600/Wonderful.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHwlBS5VV6wvQ-gRYr5S2EQjAEuT8T8nVgVHkUcxS7nJtqJrLIMhqsJs-tv8X30DRVNCHZ1R4LQ8b9jsTpIcInJgd5c_p3w22wzJJ-JjY5BBsZrEtsEQNoOAIhyphenhyphenxqLyQqQDvtFmnFc8tcT/s320/Wonderful.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Wonderful Feels Like This </i>by Sara Lövestam</span></div>
Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-22716365611160419102017-01-11T14:20:00.006-08:002017-01-11T14:20:57.987-08:00Battle of the Books 2017!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our middle schoolers had so much fun at their first Battle of the Books last year (kindly hosted by <a href="https://www.overlake.org/">Overlake School</a>) that we're inviting students from Overlake as well as <a href="https://www.stthomasschool.org/">St. Thomas School</a> to come to our campus in early March this year to engage in (friendly) battle!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfrw13VZrCj6AB-BF35vpjEQu9f-4SxmyT2F8-sbgieyTXsvCEW6Cxy88oqSBvrfp3aC2untMLY8MZmwDA5iseIDCR9_vFLRyl02VwdbK0N0QGGy-QqmurozhoLj7SiamtC8K88LR-wid9/s1600/boys+in+boat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfrw13VZrCj6AB-BF35vpjEQu9f-4SxmyT2F8-sbgieyTXsvCEW6Cxy88oqSBvrfp3aC2untMLY8MZmwDA5iseIDCR9_vFLRyl02VwdbK0N0QGGy-QqmurozhoLj7SiamtC8K88LR-wid9/s200/boys+in+boat.jpg" width="155" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLobQIvFYnVSS4eYpE-AiFk1_IlIsDDFEsI01YQBoMhatClMl-PX_S2tc3ghYozTat96rhiLMPe7LlRpIYfuTeiw7xY36DjuXq7QZHe5WVO9iln4M5jaZ8CwjmV8_mvuJgTJM7tqpc6bAI/s1600/drank+the+moon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLobQIvFYnVSS4eYpE-AiFk1_IlIsDDFEsI01YQBoMhatClMl-PX_S2tc3ghYozTat96rhiLMPe7LlRpIYfuTeiw7xY36DjuXq7QZHe5WVO9iln4M5jaZ8CwjmV8_mvuJgTJM7tqpc6bAI/s200/drank+the+moon.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">The goal of Battle of the Books, a popular activity nationwide, is to encourage students to branch out and read adventurously. The questions aren't nitpicky ones that take the joy out of reading by expecting you to remember minute details about each title; instead they aim to pique your interest by highlighting what is fun, interesting and unusual about each book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The thirteen books shown here were chosen by students and librarians at all three schools. They represent a range of genres and exemplify high-quality writing and strong appeal for readers in grades 5 and up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You don't have to plan to participate to enjoy reading these titles. We have multiple copies of each in the Library Learning Commons - stop by sometime and take one home! But if you <i>do</i> want to join Team Bobcat, come to the LLC during lunch on Monday, February 13th for our last meeting before the Battle commences!</span></div>
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<br />Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-5350133136199006972016-11-04T10:42:00.002-07:002017-02-06T13:47:45.009-08:005th graders promote the Washington Children's Choice Award with Animoto videos!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As part of our annual participation in the <a href="http://childrenschoiceaward.wikispaces.com/">Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award</a>, our 5th graders used <a href="https://animoto.com/">Animoto</a> to make short video trailers to get Kindergarten through 3rd graders even more excited about voting!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Working in pairs, 5th graders chose a book they especially liked, read and analyzed it (What is the hook? How can we build interest in it?), searched for images using <a href="http://search.creativecommons.org/">Creative Commons</a>, then crafted a video that suited both the atmosphere of the book and the needs of their audience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">They peer-reviewed their work and then made improvements based on the feedback. (Some sample comments: "The slides go by too fast," "You need to include less big words," and "Make the book title more obvious").</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We finished up with a video viewing party to celebrate. Check out their great videos (and read the books too)!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> And two videos by Ms. Richey, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">our Library Learning Commons Assistant, since we didn't have enough 5th graders to go around!</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="306" id="vp1U2DtO" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/embed.animoto.com/play.html?w=swf/production/vp1&e=1478279811&f=U2DtOAvt5bQc1o9g5PJ74w&d=0&m=a&r=360p&volume=100&start_res=360p&i=m&asset_domain=s3-p.animoto.com&animoto_domain=animoto.com&options=" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;" title="Video Player" width="544"></iframe></div>
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Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-87671974203053147312016-11-03T11:38:00.005-07:002016-11-03T11:38:55.517-07:00Mock Newbery Challenge!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The </span><a href="http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Newbery Medal</a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> is o</span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">ne of the most prestigious literary awards, given annually to a work that exhibits excellence in writing for young people by a citizen or resident of the US. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHp_OGqlQMru6CcWJwM7066ZeQwa0iLKLt_DBuspORHAA2VsWw_-La9afC_lNaniTvEiI_TtXA1cw9XP1GsUCCdrFi6kUKfoRxXU7Ahm4O91eroT1o-Ho0qomi13sqSkR1ohIOJ_ZKAjC0/s1600/nominees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHp_OGqlQMru6CcWJwM7066ZeQwa0iLKLt_DBuspORHAA2VsWw_-La9afC_lNaniTvEiI_TtXA1cw9XP1GsUCCdrFi6kUKfoRxXU7Ahm4O91eroT1o-Ho0qomi13sqSkR1ohIOJ_ZKAjC0/s400/nominees.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Mock Newbery is a fun way to get involved in trying to guess the next winner (which</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"> will be announced</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"> at the American Library Association's Midwinter Conference this January)!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">The five titles we're reading are: </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://www.slj.com/2016/05/books-media/as-brave-as-you-by-jason-reynolds-slj-review/#_">As Brave As You</a></i> by Jason Reynolds, <i><a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/richard-peck/the-best-man/">The Best Man</a></i> by Richard Peck, <i><a href="http://www.slj.com/2016/07/reviews/books/the-girl-who-drank-the-moon-by-kelly-barnhill-slj-review/">The Girl Who Drank the Moon</a></i> by Kelly Regan Barnhill, <i><a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kate-dicamillo/raymie-nightingale/">Raymie Nightingale</a></i> by Kate DiCamillo, and <i><a href="http://www.slj.com/2016/04/reviews/books/wolf-hollow-by-lauren-wolk-slj-review/">Wolf Hollow</a></i> by Lauren Wolk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Each of these titles received starred reviews from four or five professional reviewers and are considered strong contenders. They represent a range of genres and subject matters.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhucdDOSEzIDY8BfY6nMMQYLuZmSgqhaAkg6hxYZzKxgXN6OII8vY8V-kSSqLH_r925iAhlDda_o_qcJ1xpjcE3P9x1NJj4RTcQt4im8-X1i1UK55abmOuhrNNsSLMlC9ZdahnbwlISXovp/s1600/newbery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhucdDOSEzIDY8BfY6nMMQYLuZmSgqhaAkg6hxYZzKxgXN6OII8vY8V-kSSqLH_r925iAhlDda_o_qcJ1xpjcE3P9x1NJj4RTcQt4im8-X1i1UK55abmOuhrNNsSLMlC9ZdahnbwlISXovp/s400/newbery.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Any OWS student who would like to participate just needs to read two or more of these books. As you finish, let Ms. Simeon or Ms. Richey know. We'll keep track of your progress and record your vote before the winner is announced. Remember, the winner may not be one of these books: the Newbery committee chooses from thousands of eligible titles each year. Sometimes the winner is quite a surprise and sometimes it’s one many had tipped to win. We’ll just have to wait and find out... </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ms. Simeon will be tweeting from the ALA conference, so stay tuned!</span></div>
Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-13580140640317419192016-09-19T10:47:00.000-07:002016-10-19T09:42:42.475-07:00Bobcat Book Bingo!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last year I challenged students to <a href="http://owslibrary.blogspot.com/2016/06/ows-bobcats-read-their-way-around-world.html">read their way around the world</a> by reading one book set in or authored by someone from <a href="http://owslibrary.blogspot.com/2015/11/rufus-reads-reading-our-way-around-world.html">every continent</a>. This school year there's a new challenge: Bobcat Book Bingo!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">Even with thousands of new books published each year, it's possible to fall into a rut. This is a fun and easy way to expand your reading horizons.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">These 5th graders can't wait to get started:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Ua1MIg0L5SHzEXjRV8N7nUr-0IbNcWaH8ZuL2WwNwsTP6hy8dfTRFSQc8pSEv3Gua4uhZtlabWb4-E982Qjlwkjr5oXCuCduKfh-IuV0lvZCJTNQG7Gtc7MEMzjTFNefO9P7xO2sx34P/s1600/IMG_2531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Ua1MIg0L5SHzEXjRV8N7nUr-0IbNcWaH8ZuL2WwNwsTP6hy8dfTRFSQc8pSEv3Gua4uhZtlabWb4-E982Qjlwkjr5oXCuCduKfh-IuV0lvZCJTNQG7Gtc7MEMzjTFNefO9P7xO2sx34P/s320/IMG_2531.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's our bulletin board with a few suggested titles:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokuoD-38t7292CBSFI8LVYyffURFn6wmcCnNMF8NsC0Xd-HPgw43-gah2dOSTOzSAd8DvH_-3fx0P6usg1wNgfnwndfbGtCgrcyaZFzg1Me7duKqT-s4_5PdV15MjZ96SkGxhYVttctOA/s1600/IMG_2541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokuoD-38t7292CBSFI8LVYyffURFn6wmcCnNMF8NsC0Xd-HPgw43-gah2dOSTOzSAd8DvH_-3fx0P6usg1wNgfnwndfbGtCgrcyaZFzg1Me7duKqT-s4_5PdV15MjZ96SkGxhYVttctOA/s320/IMG_2541.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">Want to participate? Just stop by the Library Learning Commons to fill out an entry form and pick up a book (or two or three...). There are 25 different categories to choose from.* Record your books as you go!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">The challenge is open to K-8, and parents and staff are welcome to join in. The first person </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">at each grade level </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">to get a BINGO will win a $15 <a href="http://www.bookstore.washington.edu/home/home.taf?">University Book Store</a> gift card!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">Happy reading!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">*A list of categories in case you're wondering...</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Graphic
novel</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Translated
from another language</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Published
this year</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Novel in
verse</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Biography
or memoir</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Published
before 1990</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Narrative
nonfiction</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fantasy
or science fiction</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mystery
or suspense</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">National
award winner</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wilderness
adventure</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Book
that's been made into a movie</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Scary
book</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Short
story collection</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Set in another
country</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sports
fiction</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Humorous
fiction</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Book
with animal protagonists</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Realistic
fiction</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On a
topic you don't know much about</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Story
set during wartime</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In a
format you don't usually read</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Realistic
book about someone who doesn't look like or live like you</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Set in
the Pacific Northwest</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Free
choice (in the middle)</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><br /></span>Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-3112385139950473202016-06-06T09:05:00.002-07:002016-06-06T09:06:38.285-07:00OWS Bobcats read their way around the world! <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In November 2015 I set the <a href="http://owslibrary.blogspot.com/2015/11/rufus-reads-reading-our-way-around-world.html">Rufus Reads Challenge</a>, inviting our students and staff to read one book set in or written by an author from every continent (Antarctica was optional). Seven months later I am pleased to report that nearly a third of our students took part, reading books from <a href="https://ows-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lauras_ows_org/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?guestaccesstoken=GrjONaWPcKVk1AvHGRoZaULY7YA3Xt%2fE41ou%2fBknwjM%3d&folderid=0a31c64e246b0447486d8c65a9e44ded2">about 50 countries</a>! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Big congratulations to this 5th grader, the first person in the <i>whole school </i>to complete the challenge! She's even started <a href="http://thebookwormsworld.weebly.com/">her own blog</a> of reviews by and for young people! See her list of fantastic fiction books below.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgng53Imnjc7Mmje2BFWPX2vMagbYjW5POdtT6tdUkzSku5K46QiCaK0p6Ol7TdI11xL8Bvd7Rqt9E_BukNXM31Z4_HidG3uik_wi4h7vHnqySkrV1zt6JxtYfX2KOxUCBbfxetiZpmTMUr/s1600/IMG_1420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgng53Imnjc7Mmje2BFWPX2vMagbYjW5POdtT6tdUkzSku5K46QiCaK0p6Ol7TdI11xL8Bvd7Rqt9E_BukNXM31Z4_HidG3uik_wi4h7vHnqySkrV1zt6JxtYfX2KOxUCBbfxetiZpmTMUr/s400/IMG_1420.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Daughter of Xanadu</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">
by Dori Jones Yang (China)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Endangered</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">
by Eliot Schrefer (Democratic Republic of the Congo)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Journey to the River Sea</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> by Eva Ibbotson (Brazil)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">The London Eye Mystery</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> by Siobhan Dowd (England)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Lost</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">
by Jacqueline Davies (US)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">The Whale Rider</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">
by Witi Tame Ihimaera (New Zealand)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">The Winter Pony</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">
by Iain Lawrence (Antarctica)</span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Special recognition to this Kindergartner, who was the second person to finish and the first in all of the Lower School! She read so much wonderful nonfiction, she's ready to plan quite the holiday!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBRLO4UyHZLptTFxfcLVbRfkJKG_aI8Pw11LkESjbaSiad8kYzv_FqSJQI0ZZ4mb6Ajuvww17Tv6nI2NqWNE_7QUG3wh-Q6Se0qTn6XP0q5mzU7BbQdmWycf8h4SVYrI0VZpOMPvaRXQ4e/s1600/IMG_1825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBRLO4UyHZLptTFxfcLVbRfkJKG_aI8Pw11LkESjbaSiad8kYzv_FqSJQI0ZZ4mb6Ajuvww17Tv6nI2NqWNE_7QUG3wh-Q6Se0qTn6XP0q5mzU7BbQdmWycf8h4SVYrI0VZpOMPvaRXQ4e/s320/IMG_1825.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">The Capstone Press One
Nation series: </span><i style="line-height: 107%;">Alabama</i><span style="line-height: 107%;">, </span><i style="line-height: 107%;">California,</i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span><i style="line-height: 107%;">Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, and Texas</i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> (US)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">I Lost My Tooth in Africa</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> by Penda Diakité (Mali)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Lost City: The Discovery of Machu Picchu</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> by Ted Lewin (Peru)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Not For Parents Australia: Everything You Ever
Wanted to Know</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> by Janine Scott (Australia)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Not For Parents Paris: Everything You Ever Wanted to
Know</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> by Klay Lamprell
(France)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">The Story of Divaali</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> by Jatinder Nath Verma (India)</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ms. Bonning, one of our newest teachers, was the first staff member to read her way around the world! Check out her incredible list of titles...</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Americanah</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> by
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: A Novel </span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">by Dai Sijie (China)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">The Light between Oceans</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> by M.L. Stedman (Australia)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">The Miniaturist</span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> by
Jessie Burton (Netherlands)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Twenty Love Poems </span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">by
Pablo Neruda (Chile)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Where’d You Go, Bernadette? </span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">by Maria Semple (US & Antarctica)</span></span></li>
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Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-58795092761584322652016-06-01T11:30:00.002-07:002016-06-01T11:32:04.542-07:00Summer reading adventures: a suggested book list & selfie challenge<div class="paragraph" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Can you believe summer break is nearly here? Check out some of these great titles! Why not take National Ambassador of Young People's Literature Gene Luen Yang's <a href="http://geneyang.com/the-reading-without-walls-challenge">#ReadingWithoutWalls</a> challenge? Post a selfie with your book on Twitter and Instagram - and tag OWS so we can see what you're reading!</span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkj_s2UyXkipYEZXXNbz1IJSOIqGFIm5k87MAJYVrxhNoKSryWimyxnbIfijuS41mCdj5E3zaoabfWwU1L66yDS5onKhz0_vzd-9fmVRVsW48yJlWSiWsTFifv8NbXH5Vqi_S_sIzVYmF/s1600/RWW-Criteria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkj_s2UyXkipYEZXXNbz1IJSOIqGFIm5k87MAJYVrxhNoKSryWimyxnbIfijuS41mCdj5E3zaoabfWwU1L66yDS5onKhz0_vzd-9fmVRVsW48yJlWSiWsTFifv8NbXH5Vqi_S_sIzVYmF/s320/RWW-Criteria.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHwLJm4Z7XLKooC0-e2TeNSlBK4B7wPaOqGrgx2yqRWRzrqovFzwWf7kxgB-GHgUToZeV8Bfia7Suxs2C-9Jzw2c_CDztinL6j2tvDS6AinhYsH7ib-FUcB1nMIXX48yuOFxfnRT4LU4xo/s1600/auntie+yang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHwLJm4Z7XLKooC0-e2TeNSlBK4B7wPaOqGrgx2yqRWRzrqovFzwWf7kxgB-GHgUToZeV8Bfia7Suxs2C-9Jzw2c_CDztinL6j2tvDS6AinhYsH7ib-FUcB1nMIXX48yuOFxfnRT4LU4xo/s200/auntie+yang.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span class="normaltextrun"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><span style="font-size: large;">PICTURE BOOKS FOR ALL AGES</span></span></b></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{e34598ff-0b03-4893-bf1a-ff5eef5fca14}{144}" paraid="19529901" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.leeandlow.com/books/439/hc/auntie_yangs_great_soybean_picnic">Auntie
Yang's Great Soybean Picnic<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Ginnie Lo</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/charlotte-moundlic/bathing-costume/">The
Bathing Costume: Or the Worst Vacation of My Life<span style="font-style: normal;"> by
Charlotte Moundlic</span></a></span></i></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{e34598ff-0b03-4893-bf1a-ff5eef5fca14}{157}" paraid="1828768238" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://peachtree-online.com/index.php/book/boy-who-cried-ninja.html" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">The Boy Who Cried Ninja<span style="font-style: normal;"> by
Alex Latimer</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/234029/bug-vacuum#9781770496453">Bug
in a Vacuum<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Mélanie Watt</span></a></span></i></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{e34598ff-0b03-4893-bf1a-ff5eef5fca14}{176}" paraid="1806344326" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.aquapup.com/#/cockatoo/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">Cockatoo, Too<span style="font-style: normal;"> by
Bethanie Deeney Murguia</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{e34598ff-0b03-4893-bf1a-ff5eef5fca14}{188}" paraid="53443820" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.margaritaengle.com/latambooks.html#drum" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Margarita Engle</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{e34598ff-0b03-4893-bf1a-ff5eef5fca14}{197}" paraid="2009094206" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh1YPVC2nys9grc25ydahZjhYgLYAE4dvOtZGTRLkBHmG2Gp5YwGgMjrPLEIgIFd2Yh-ox9doeg_3CjHm2sSp7OTsZkhGKLJH_4fhWQ4Z3RYjuODJCmcEG3FBonv5Xqu680WJRoCQ2kjid/s1600/drum+dream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh1YPVC2nys9grc25ydahZjhYgLYAE4dvOtZGTRLkBHmG2Gp5YwGgMjrPLEIgIFd2Yh-ox9doeg_3CjHm2sSp7OTsZkhGKLJH_4fhWQ4Z3RYjuODJCmcEG3FBonv5Xqu680WJRoCQ2kjid/s200/drum+dream.jpg" width="165" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh1YPVC2nys9grc25ydahZjhYgLYAE4dvOtZGTRLkBHmG2Gp5YwGgMjrPLEIgIFd2Yh-ox9doeg_3CjHm2sSp7OTsZkhGKLJH_4fhWQ4Z3RYjuODJCmcEG3FBonv5Xqu680WJRoCQ2kjid/s1600/drum+dream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="https://www.leeandlow.com/books/514/hc/the_hula_hoopin_queen" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">The Hula-Hoopin' Queen<span style="font-style: normal;"> by
Thelma Lynne Godin</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{e34598ff-0b03-4893-bf1a-ff5eef5fca14}{207}" paraid="1996152352" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="spellingerror"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.lizwongillustration.com/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">Quackers<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Liz
Wong</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{e34598ff-0b03-4893-bf1a-ff5eef5fca14}{215}" paraid="217109048" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://houseofanansi.com/products/sidewalk-flowers" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">Sidewalk Flowers<span style="font-style: normal;"> by JonArno Lawson</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{e34598ff-0b03-4893-bf1a-ff5eef5fca14}{225}" paraid="989531732" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.phoebewahl.com/new-page/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">Sonya's Chickens<span style="font-style: normal;"> by
Phoebe Wahl</span></a></span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{e34598ff-0b03-4893-bf1a-ff5eef5fca14}{234}" paraid="696401893" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<b style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">BEGINNING CHAPTER BOOKS</b><br />
<b style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></b>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.nikkigrimes.com/books/bkday.html"><i>A Day with Daddy </i>by Nikki Grimes</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.carmenberniergrand.com/"><i>Juan Bobo: Four Folktales from Puerto Rico </i>by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.gracelin.com/content.php?page=lingandtingtwiceassilly"><i>Ling and Ting: Twice as Silly! </i>by Grace Lin</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.hilarymckay.co.uk/schol.php"><i>Lulu and the Hedgehog in the Rain </i>by Hilary McKay</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>CHAPTER BOOKS</b></span><br />
<span class="normaltextrun" style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span class="normaltextrun" style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.readkiddoread.com/books/better-nate-than-ever">Better Nate Than Ever<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Tim Federle</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 4-7</span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{e34598ff-0b03-4893-bf1a-ff5eef5fca14}{249}" paraid="1891583274" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/karen-harrington/courage-for-beginners/9780316210461/#desc">Courage for Beginners<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Karen Harrington</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 5-8</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAekQjsihjI53H6lrgeFvaAbXcEMPxmRCfH_3jgcCA3Jb9P_nkLETrXV92334_uo5JufEhzb30CUDAaP1tvnrC5Xd6GUxmmWS8XOfTLCdoqKs-1wlbpj4ccwwdWBpu3dybsjF0CWDNtpr/s1600/just+like+me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJAekQjsihjI53H6lrgeFvaAbXcEMPxmRCfH_3jgcCA3Jb9P_nkLETrXV92334_uo5JufEhzb30CUDAaP1tvnrC5Xd6GUxmmWS8XOfTLCdoqKs-1wlbpj4ccwwdWBpu3dybsjF0CWDNtpr/s200/just+like+me.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.cynthialord.com/handful-of-stars.html" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">A Handful of Stars<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Cynthia
Lord</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 4-6</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{3}" paraid="2100069842" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/i-lived-butterfly-hill" style="cursor: text; font-style: italic;"><span style="cursor: text;">I Lived on Butterfly Hill</span><span style="cursor: text; font-style: normal;"> by Marjorie Agosin</span></a><i> - </i>Grades 5-8</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.nancyjcavanaugh.com/books.htm" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">Just Like Me<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Nancy
Cavanaugh</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 4-7</span></span></span><br />
<span class="normaltextrun" style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><span class="normaltextrun" style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.rohangavin.com/book/knightley-and-son/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">Knightley and Son<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Rohan Gavin</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 7+</span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{11}" paraid="291894639" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.leagueofunexceptionalchildren.com/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">The League of Unexceptional Children <span style="font-style: normal;">by Gitty Daneshvari</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 4-6</span></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{43}" paraid="194376094" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLvaW_wyJ26ZvOqAJW4bADVO-4hc3-F4HDt9SFXZkta2lNpoP0q4UVP_lLco7g_yNLbzd1shW-zNj0oQLgPyLxByvka0TKdwU3Jt1xd1AnNR4Tw-NdQpLZwyKZzwYMIAP1FVzdvieQR6m/s1600/simon+vs.+the.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLvaW_wyJ26ZvOqAJW4bADVO-4hc3-F4HDt9SFXZkta2lNpoP0q4UVP_lLco7g_yNLbzd1shW-zNj0oQLgPyLxByvka0TKdwU3Jt1xd1AnNR4Tw-NdQpLZwyKZzwYMIAP1FVzdvieQR6m/s200/simon+vs.+the.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{61}" paraid="1669288558" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.beckyalbertalli.com/books/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Becky Albertalli</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 7+</span></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{72}" paraid="1794448064" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://alibenjamin.com/site/books/the-thing-about-jellyfish-a-novel/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">The Thing about Jellyfish<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Ali Benjamin</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 5-8</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/236937/unusual-chickens-for-the-exceptional-poultry-farmer-by-kelly-jones-illustrated-by-katie-kath/9780385755559/" style="cursor: text; font-style: italic;"><span style="cursor: text;">Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer</span><span style="cursor: text; font-style: normal;"> by Kelly Jones</span></a><i> - </i>Grades 4-6</span></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{80}" paraid="409686175" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text;"><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><b>GRAPHIC NOVELS</b> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{89}" paraid="1324268404" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPLR9zdRcUxXdHhRsMVXiRYXS7VXTqMP1ZrgWrpTJipfVZ_YNfaeaWuZTQ5hgC0DKWqHqn8m_GOXRg4eqdtEtCMKQOf8Zn9H1ZDueR94Cw8L-bkjWIs0w-hTkpKANOnPl0VSSQwNTbUPUl/s1600/akissi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPLR9zdRcUxXdHhRsMVXiRYXS7VXTqMP1ZrgWrpTJipfVZ_YNfaeaWuZTQ5hgC0DKWqHqn8m_GOXRg4eqdtEtCMKQOf8Zn9H1ZDueR94Cw8L-bkjWIs0w-hTkpKANOnPl0VSSQwNTbUPUl/s200/akissi.jpg" width="153" /></a><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; background-position: 0% 100%; border-bottom-color: transparent;"><span class="spellingerror"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://100scopenotes.com/2013/04/22/review-akissi-by-marguerite-abouet/">Akissi:
Cat Invasion<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Marguerite Abouet</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades K-2</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{94}" paraid="585219529" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="spellingerror"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.abramsbooks.com/product/hereville_9781419708008/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">Hereville: How Mirka Caught a Fish<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Barry Deutsch</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 4-6</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{105}" paraid="527389794" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/lost-boy-0#cart/cleanup" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">The Lost Boy<span style="font-style: normal;"> by
Greg Ruth</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 4-7</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{113}" paraid="12269083" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvQkv2tfPWUc5sHOYNfpvm8JOlc7nWJNFXGUlE4XQqrhIqU4PTHcJhzSZJ8Vm66gcipoMQfOTYMrtnidxlDC94BlrdOv_Euh5sNx5uQWfpoeHciTcjParvDVhcRn16somMfQZS3LZcfcED/s1600/hereville.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvQkv2tfPWUc5sHOYNfpvm8JOlc7nWJNFXGUlE4XQqrhIqU4PTHcJhzSZJ8Vm66gcipoMQfOTYMrtnidxlDC94BlrdOv_Euh5sNx5uQWfpoeHciTcjParvDVhcRn16somMfQZS3LZcfcED/s200/hereville.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://spacedumplins.scholastic.com/books" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">Space Dumplins<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Craig
Thompson</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 3-6</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{122}" paraid="213005115" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://houseofanansi.com/products/a-year-without-mom" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">A Year without Mom<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Dasha Tolstikova</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 5+</span></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{133}" paraid="1565473188" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>NONFICTION</b></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{140}" paraid="1785438089" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/stephanie-spinner/alex-parrot/">Alex
the Parrot: No Ordinary Bird<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Stephanie
Spinner</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 1-4</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{144}" paraid="1631749417" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://lauriethompson.com/books/changemaker-start-something-matters/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">Be a Changemaker: How to Start Something That
Matters<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Laurie Thompson</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 6+</span></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{154}" paraid="392568991" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-rRDIX14GUTKZyrwJ-7WYJOHnmK4bNtBYLBwfAHoIUFB7qjaAX_Fxx_mmRg1a3ANk2GgBNBXOqHY52pXOVa5aA2GEOzRNewh0gKz_rM14ezsNfkvh3N8VpVnmCtvisAcjv8ZI4im7Gi7/s1600/taj+mahal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-rRDIX14GUTKZyrwJ-7WYJOHnmK4bNtBYLBwfAHoIUFB7qjaAX_Fxx_mmRg1a3ANk2GgBNBXOqHY52pXOVa5aA2GEOzRNewh0gKz_rM14ezsNfkvh3N8VpVnmCtvisAcjv8ZI4im7Gi7/s200/taj+mahal.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.margaritaengle.com/latambooks.html#enchanted" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Margarita Engle</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 6+</span></span></span></div>
<div class="paragraph" paraeid="{0c796dac-3103-4d60-ac4b-d2b02752e2d9}{162}" paraid="1409893065" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.outcastsunited.com/home" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-user-select: text; cursor: text;">Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team
That Changed a Town<span style="font-style: normal;"> by Warren St. John</span></a></span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"> - Grades 7+</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="eop"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";"><a href="http://www.varshabajaj.com/tajmahal.html"><i>T is for Taj Mahal: An India Alphabet </i>by Varsha Bajab - Grades K-3</a></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/198143/what-the-world-eats-by-faith-daluisio/9781582462462/" style="cursor: text; font-style: italic;">What the World Eats<span style="font-style: normal;"> by
Faith D'Aluisio</span></a><i> -</i> all ages</span>Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-1559595252280803022016-04-28T15:46:00.002-07:002016-04-28T15:46:47.970-07:00Research skills + geography + programming = lots of library fun!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjme1uTDv9-ecbgXkJyycIpPcY14HjA8AGt7FFH8iPCBjtOrcjrAuDPmMVr8y35z1WHS3xdLKxLTf-T2i3SLSxSauFP9s6b3Y2K1RNst3wBQLuOIEomlPzweH06shR2ajxpABwYDPZWJY2n/s1600/Isaac+Scratch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline !important; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjme1uTDv9-ecbgXkJyycIpPcY14HjA8AGt7FFH8iPCBjtOrcjrAuDPmMVr8y35z1WHS3xdLKxLTf-T2i3SLSxSauFP9s6b3Y2K1RNst3wBQLuOIEomlPzweH06shR2ajxpABwYDPZWJY2n/s320/Isaac+Scratch.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Learning research skills is critical to success in middle school - and life in general! We have no shortage of easy access to information, but being able to evaluate and critically select the information that is most relevant and appropriate for your purpose takes practice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In library classes, 4th graders created Scratch games after using the CultureGrams database and Capstone's One Nation book series to locate information about a US state. They selected 12 "just right" (not too obvious, not too obscure) facts about their state, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">wrote them down in their own words, selected their best clues, and put them into </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/2001829/">Scratch games</a> they programmed themselves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">This project honed many important skills: research, critical thinking, nonfiction comprehension, and paraphrasing! </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our culminating activity was playing one another's games (and leaving complimentary feedback). It was great to have our Head of School and other staff members show up to join in the fun! Follow the link above to try them out yourself!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-35911608944282669492016-04-12T14:32:00.004-07:002016-04-12T14:32:56.962-07:00The power of storytelling: our visit from Donald Davis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Storytelling is an ancient and powerful art, one that long predates our relatively recent experimentation with the written word. Satisfying the universal human need for connection with others, it continues to flourish today. Storytelling is not an exact recitation of memorized lines; the storyteller observes and responds to each audience. No two tellings of the same story are exactly alike.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ddavisstoryteller.com/">Donald Davis</a> is legendary in the international storytelling circuit as a master of the craft; someone who vividly shares the particulars of his upbringing in rural North Carolina in a way that has his listeners laughing, crying, and nodding along in recognition, recalling their own family stories. In addition to his many <a href="http://www.augusthouse.com/#!Donald-Davis/c1rrl/i9u9rrg250">recordings</a> and books, he also runs workshops at many of the festivals where he performs. If you missed him at Open Window this week, or if you'd like to see him again, mark July 22-23 on your calendar for the <a href="http://powellswoodfestival.com/">PowellsWood Storytelling Festival</a> in Federal Way, WA where there will be a great line-up of tellers!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Watching gifted tellers at work (our school has hosted <a href="https://carmenagradeedy.com/">Carmen Agra Deedy</a>, <a href="http://www.altonchung.com/">Alton Chung</a>, <a href="http://www.folkmusic.com/">John McCutcheon</a> and <a href="http://www.antoniosacre.com/story.html#">Antonio Sacre</a>) and engaging in <a href="http://owslibrary.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-joys-of-storytelling.html">storytelling games</a> is joyful <i>and</i> educational. I've heard professionals - people working in law and business - say that what matters </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">is being able to tell the most persuasive and memorable story. Teachers, politicians, and historians know this to be true as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We were incredibly fortunate to be able to host Donald Davis at our school this year. Check out the photos below: the students' faces really say it all!</span><br />
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<br />Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-70581994894906422592016-03-28T14:36:00.001-07:002016-03-28T14:36:56.177-07:00The Garden of My Imaan: a universal story with contemporary relevance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For our most recent 3rd/4th grade book club we read <a href="http://www.fziastories.com/">Farhana Zia</a>'s <i>The Garden of My Imaan</i>, a charming work of realistic fiction that covers topics many kids will connect with: dealing with the popular crowd and the mean kid at school, figuring out what religious faith means to you, what to do when some of your friends are growing up a bit more quickly than you are, making a rash decision you later regret...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At the same time, it covers very specific experiences that other readers will be overjoyed to encounter as mirrors to their lives, such as </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">what it feels like to internalize negative messages about a group you belong to and how these feelings, when unexamined, can drive a wedge between you and members of your community; and </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">what it's like to be lumped together with people you actually are quite different from in important ways.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://geneyang.com/american-born-chinese">American Born Chinese</a></i> by Gene Luen Yang handles these complexities very well for older readers, but a book like <i>Garden</i>,<i> </i>which makes them accessible to younger students, is a treasure indeed!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">One student launched our conversation by asking, "Why are some people mean to Muslims?" Some of the answers these 8-10 year olds generated: "People don't ask questions so they feel uncomfortable and scared," "They think that 'different' means 'wrong'," and "They are insecure about their own lives, so they take it out on other people."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of our activities was acting out scenes from the book:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Inspired by Aliya's "Dear Allah" letters, they wrote to someone of their choice. One student chose Fumiko Ishioka, director of the <a href="http://www.ne.jp/asahi/holocaust/tokyo/english01.html">Tokyo Holocaust Education Resource Center</a>, a person she admires from having read <i><a href="http://www.hanassuitcase.ca/">Hana's Suitcase</a></i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For our last meeting, we celebrated with Indian food! The mouth-watering descriptions in the book made this the perfect ending to a great book club! </span></div>
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<br />Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-17392983287509706402016-03-03T10:20:00.004-08:002016-03-03T15:19:22.773-08:00Visual literacy in 5th grade<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Visual literacy is a critical skill in the 21st century, defined by the </span><a href="http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/visualliteracy" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Association of College and Research Libraries</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> as follows:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Visual literacy is a set of abilities that enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media. Visual literacy skills equip a learner to understand and analyze the contextual, cultural, ethical, aesthetic, intellectual, and technical components involved in the production and use of visual materials. A visually literate individual is both a critical consumer of visual media and a competent contributor to a body of shared knowledge and culture."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Visual literacy played a major part in helping historian Scott Reynolds Nelson crack the mystery of the historical figure behind the tall tale as revealed in <i><a href="http://srnels.people.wm.edu/anbam.html">Ain't Nothing but a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry</a></i>, the young readers' version of his fantastic work of historical detection, <i><a href="http://srnels.people.wm.edu/steel.html">Steel Drivin' Man</a></i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The <i>New York Times</i>' Learning Blog runs a feature called <a href="http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/category/lesson-plans/whats-going-on-in-this-picture/?_r=0">What's Going on in this Picture?</a> to help educators cultivate this skill. During our 5th grade Information Literacy classes we've been using their images to engage in online discussions that not only develop visual literacy, but also help students learn and practice appropriate digital citizenship skills.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Below are a few excerpts from our discussion of the <a href="http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/05/whats-going-on-in-this-picture-oct-5-2015/">photo above</a>. The online format highlights a strength of technology: it allows <u>all</u> students to have a voice, including those who might be reluctant to speak up in a face-to-face discussion, and those who prefer more time to think before making a contribution. Students can build on one another's responses even after some have moved on to other thoughts. They also see that asking thoughtful questions is in itself a valuable contribution - it's not just about having answers!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"The two people are kind of on a Segway, why?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"I wonder why one of the guys is barefoot. It looks like that he's either getting ready for a track meet or he's done with the track meet."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"I think that Usain Bolt accidentally tripped on the camera man and when this photo was taken it was probably in London in 2012 because his claim to fame is from the Olympics and the most recent one was in London. and by the clarity of the photo I can tell it was recent."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Why are his cleats in his hands? Ideas?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"I think that the camera man had the wheelie thing and was using it to video the athletic guy that was playing the sport. I think this happened after the race/competition/sport, because the athletic-looking person is holding his shoes, meaning he is either about to or just finished a race. He may have been playing on grass, because it looks like he has cleats. I think the man riding was riding because of his legs' positions."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"I think there's some kind of race going on, because the people are really sweaty, and they seem to be putting a lot of effort in. Also, I'm wondering what the big thing attached to the eyes of the guy who seems to be falling. Anyone have an idea?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"I think the guy that has athletic wear is playing some Olympic sport. I think this because he is wearing Jamaican colors and has Jamaica written on his shirt. I think the other guy is a camera man who is filming the sport, because he has a big camera."</span></div>
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Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-77871500824435081582016-02-05T12:59:00.003-08:002016-02-05T12:59:54.494-08:004th graders rescue books!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9afLFZBPXOraRpCu3vUBgU-iEpO__z8zIvenVwUEd6yLdW00RbD2kC_WKdM8ix2cSFrAH7ECNDJtP1kBf6xYlZeFcWGwvEE_f699aaYIDoYcjSe7jGgyq1phWjWp7fXuS_2dbXwoCVrh/s1600/Up.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9afLFZBPXOraRpCu3vUBgU-iEpO__z8zIvenVwUEd6yLdW00RbD2kC_WKdM8ix2cSFrAH7ECNDJtP1kBf6xYlZeFcWGwvEE_f699aaYIDoYcjSe7jGgyq1phWjWp7fXuS_2dbXwoCVrh/s320/Up.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Two conference sessions - one by school librarian <a href="http://librarygarden.net/author/aprilbunn/">April Bunn</a> at <a href="http://www.ala.org/aasl/">AASL</a> and one by <a href="http://zhaolearning.com/">Yong Zhao</a> at <a href="http://www.nwais.org/">NWAIS</a> - inspired our 4th grade Lonely Book project. As Zhao said in <a href="http://bie.org/blog/yong_zhao_makes_the_case_for_creativity">another keynote</a>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“First, a good project has to have an authentic audience, an authentic purpose. When students create anything, it has to matter to someone. It has to touch emotions.” </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Through project experiences... “students have to learn to understand their own strengths and weaknesses so they can seek partnership with someone else.” </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally... “a project has to help a student understand someone else’s needs.”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">First, students talked about how they choose books to read - what makes a book appealing and why? Next, they read sample professional reviews and learned about the typical structure of a book review (a brief plot summary followed by evaluative comments that include a recommended audience). This was new to most of them - and they now have a new way of deciding which books they might want to read as they browse library catalogs or online bookstores.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdZeajdo7FWo8VYhl20ct4pv_BwOimjy-QRot3fa-17zq_0-p8obdTQFaUkO_Bkskzws50EBFN7QTXnX8LhkTfsem9sDIf5spa2GFhHVqXUnZk_ViVMH_k3ZE0MRMygr5uenC3_sWggjM/s1600/The+Secret+Shortcut.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdZeajdo7FWo8VYhl20ct4pv_BwOimjy-QRot3fa-17zq_0-p8obdTQFaUkO_Bkskzws50EBFN7QTXnX8LhkTfsem9sDIf5spa2GFhHVqXUnZk_ViVMH_k3ZE0MRMygr5uenC3_sWggjM/s320/The+Secret+Shortcut.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Second, they selected "lonely books," ones that have not been checked </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">out as much as they deserve, wrote and peer-edited reviews, and designed new covers they thought would be appealing to other students. They then hid the original covers under wrapping paper to make them more tantalizing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the final stage of the project, we will read the books and reviews to younger students and ask them to vote on their fate. If a book gets more "no" than "yes" votes, it will be discarded from our collection. Students became very attached to their books - and that fueled their motivation to write engaging reviews and design appealing covers that will encourage their audiences to give them a try.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This project included an authentic audience and purpose, and it required 4th graders to think about the needs and interests of Kindergarten through 3rd graders. The Library Learning Commons was a happy buzz of activity throughout, and emotion has also played a role, as they wait in anticipation to hear the final verdict on the books they chose to promote!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span>Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-76312457555665572942016-01-05T17:29:00.002-08:002016-01-05T17:36:24.326-08:00Book reviews: whose opinions count?<div class="MsoNormal tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s often said that
books are critical as <a href="http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/multicultural/mirrors-windows-and-sliding-glass-doors.htm">windows
and mirrors</a> – opening up new worlds and reflecting back your own reality – and
also as <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/opinion/sunday/the-apartheid-of-childrens-literature.html">maps</a>
that show you possibilities for the future. This realization inspired <a href="http://weneeddiversebooks.org/">We Need Diverse Books</a>, an organization whose mission it is to increase the diversity of characters in books for young people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Often the conversations focus on supporting more authors and illustrators from diverse backgrounds, but another area now coming to the forefront is the diversity of the <i>book reviewers </i>themselves. A recent <a href="http://www.slj.com/2015/04/industry-news/survey-reveals-demographic-of-slj-reviewers/">survey</a> by <i>School Library Journal</i>, one of the largest sources of reviews of material for youth, found that 88.8% of their reviewers are white. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why does this matter? As Megan Schliesman writes in "<a href="http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/2015/12/are-we-privileging-white-voices-in.html">Are We Privileging White Voices in Criticism?</a>"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"...it’s more than a matter of taste. It’s a matter of knowledge and experience, and we need to be willing to listen to one another, and especially to the voices of those who are speaking from positions of knowledge and experience..."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">YA author Malinda Lo's article "<a href="http://www.diversityinya.com/2015/02/perceptions-of-diversity-in-book-reviews/">Perceptions of Diversity in Book Reviews</a>," points out a number of problems she's observed when reading reviews of diverse literature (do read her eloquent and passionate post in full, as it is well worth your time):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"These reviews reveal a few specific issues or perceptions about diversity: the idea that diversity in a book is contrived; the critique that a book contains too many issues; the question of believability; the demand for glossaries; and finally, unsupported assumptions relating to race. ...All of these microaggressions add up to support an environment in which particular beliefs are held as given: that readers are predominantly white; that books should explain their diverse content to those white readers; that too much diversity is unbelievable. ...Book reviews are one visible place where it’s possible to see these beliefs written in plain English.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">"</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Book reviews matter because they form the basis of reading and purchasing decisions by parents, teachers, and librarians. A book review has significant power to shape perceptions of a book. It can open a reader's eyes to nuances they might otherwise have missed, offering much-needed context and awareness. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Critical evaluation is also part of every award selection process.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was thrilled to be granted a spot in this year's <a href="http://www.ala.org/alsc/morrisseminar">Bill Morris Seminar: Book Evaluation Training</a>, intended to "result in new and emerging leaders for future Association for Library Service to Children evaluation committees," which include the Newbery, Caldecott, Sibert, Wilder, Carnegie, Batchelder, Belpré, Geisel, and Odyssey awards. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">While my personal background and experiences include a fairly broad range of types of diversity, we <i>all </i>have room to learn and grow in this area. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As a reviewer for </span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">School Library Journal</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, I am often sent books that have themes relating to diversity or that were originally published in another country. Conversations such as the ones inspired by the articles above have helped me to be more aware of my own blind spots, as well as the responsibility I bear to the creators of these works, and their potential readers. Whether the Bill Morris Seminar eventually leads me to the great honor of serving on an ALSC award committee or not, I know that I will learn much of value that I can then offer to those I serve as I choose books for our collection, advise teachers on materials for lessons, design my own curriculum, and recommend titles to students.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As you read book reviews and consider the assessments they put forth, I encourage you to bear in mind the fact that they were filtered through someone else's perspective and experiences which may or may not fit with your own. Well-intentioned though reviewers overwhelmingly may be, this is ultimately a very human process and we can only benefit from bringing more voices to the table.</span><br />
<br />Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-18582503139083192032015-12-01T10:17:00.000-08:002016-01-12T05:05:48.043-08:00Random thoughts on balancing choice and challenge<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As is obvious from a few of my previous posts, I am a huge advocate of allowing children to make free reading choices:</span><br />
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<li><a href="http://owslibrary.blogspot.com/2009/10/importance-of-independent-reading.html"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The importance of independent reading choices</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://owslibrary.blogspot.com/2011/12/what-makes-book-challenging-enough.html"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What makes a book "challenging enough"?</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://owslibrary.blogspot.com/2013/04/matt-haigs-30-things-to-tell-book-snob.html"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Matt Haig's 30 Things to Tell a Book Snob</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://owslibrary.blogspot.com/2013/10/neil-gaiman-speaks-his-mind-let.html"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Neil Gaiman speaks his mind: Let children read the books they love</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://owslibrary.blogspot.com/2011/08/comfort-books.html"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Comfort books</span></a></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not only is this a proven strategy for improving reading ability, it also develops a positive association with reading, which is more likely to lead someone to identify as a reader than if it becomes a source of anxiety because adults decide that the books you like are not "the right ones."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">These lines from <a href="http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/">Jacqueline Woodson</a>'s gorgeous memoir, the National Book Award winner <i><a href="http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2014_ypl_woodson.html#.Vl3Wh3arTIU">Brown Girl Dreaming</a></i>, poignantly speak to this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Every Monday, my mother takes us<br />to the library around the corner. We are allowed<br />to take out seven books each. On those days,<br />no one complains<br />that all I want are picture books.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Those days, no one tells me to read faster<br />to read harder books<br />to read like Dell.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />No one is there to say, <i>Not that book,</i><br />when I stop in front of the small paperback<br />with a brown boy on the cover.<br /><i>Stevie</i>."</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWGOSfWxpOMb-AXjYn94z8lmM1arkdip4LqNQyMyUZce3cFsGdcW56539jCdsW0Q4pXyzdZImPPntX5UFGxj0WgApmNSWLG03mtjzNJFYjDzHkkOlohPd5UHlfqISP3vgPFZ3tNABUU64/s1600/jacqueline+woodson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWGOSfWxpOMb-AXjYn94z8lmM1arkdip4LqNQyMyUZce3cFsGdcW56539jCdsW0Q4pXyzdZImPPntX5UFGxj0WgApmNSWLG03mtjzNJFYjDzHkkOlohPd5UHlfqISP3vgPFZ3tNABUU64/s320/jacqueline+woodson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Challenge is a great thing, but it's different when you choose a challenging book because it excites you. And of course "challenge" can mean many different things. We all pick up books for many reasons - relaxation, escape, nostalgia, to learn about a subject that excites us, to be able to talk with peers, to appreciate beautiful art, to laugh, to cry - and it's crucial that we let children explore </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>all </i></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">these types of reading.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Still, there are times when readers of all ages can get stuck in a rut - and there are ways to make stepping outside your usual comfort zone fun and engaging. Lately much of my kid and teen reading list has come from two sources:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">homework for the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ala.org/alsc/morrisseminar">Bill Morris Seminar: Book Evaluation Training</a> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">the Middle Grade book club I joined this fall</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was thrilled to be given a spot in the Bill Morris Seminar, and my desire to participate is motivation enough for me to engage even with the titles I might not have picked up on my own, some of which are turning out to be new favorites</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />The same goes for the book club, whose members include authors, school librarians and children's booksellers. Each month's host chooses the book we'll read, so I'm discovering new books there as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have a few ways of offering kids choices <i>and</i> nudging them to challenge themselves with something different. One is the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://battleofthebooks.com/">Battle of the Books</a>, which our Middle School is trying for the first time this year in a competition against <a href="http://library.overlake.org/battle">Overlake School</a> in February. Students select most of the titles on the list, and must read at least 4 of the 12 to participate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Book clubs, which I run during lunch and recess or breaks for grades 3 and up, also expose students to a variety of books and genres they might not otherwise try - but the fun of sharing with peers is encouragement enough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you're concerned about your child's limited reading choices, instead of saying "no" to the ones they're choosing, try to find fun ways to help them say "yes" to other books <i>too</i>:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">play audiobooks in the car or at home</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">read together (you don't stop eating together when your child can feed herself, so don't stop reading aloud once they can read independently!)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">spend more leisurely time browsing in a library or bookstore</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">join or start a parent-child book club</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">start reading some of these other books yourself and share your excitement in a dinner table conversation</span></li>
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Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-79142103647755785682015-11-02T14:54:00.000-08:002016-10-19T09:43:35.554-07:00Rufus Reads: reading our way around the world!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">https://flic.kr/p/85Joc7<br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The <a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/">Geography Bee</a> is a big deal at our school. One of our students made it to the <a href="https://youtu.be/7kzEqza6zUE">national</a> level for the state of Washington, and another represented our school at the <a href="http://www.bellevuereporter.com/news/296081341.html">state</a> finals! </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Reading is also a huge passion of among our students. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Inspired by London writer Ann Morgan's blog "<a href="http://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/">A year of reading the world</a>," I'm setting a challenge for our students and staff. Those who choose to participate will:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Read a book set on each continent or by an author from each continent (Antarctica is optional)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Track their progress on the maps hanging up in the Library Learning Commons (we'll draw a line from place to place so you can see where your journey takes you!)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let the LLC staff know which books they read, so we can update our <a href="https://ows-my.sharepoint.com/personal/lauras_ows_org/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?guestaccesstoken=GrjONaWPcKVk1AvHGRoZaULY7YA3Xt%2fE41ou%2fBknwjM%3d&folderid=0a31c64e246b0447486d8c65a9e44ded2">ongoing list</a></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Other guidelines:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fiction and nonfiction are fine</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Everyone will choose a book that's "just right" for their reading level</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Listening to audiobooks definitely counts!</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Between all of us, let's see how many different countries we can visit! Feel free to comment here with your favorite books from around the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy reading and armchair traveling!</span></div>
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<br />Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-71072024483829394402015-09-24T12:27:00.000-07:002015-09-24T12:27:14.920-07:00Food literacy month + haikus = mouth-watering fun!<br />
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<a href="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1367340365l/17347345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1367340365l/17347345.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1367340365l/17347345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Governor Jay Inslee proclaimed September <a href="http://www.lwptsa.net/wp-content/uploads/Food-Literacy-Month-2015.pdf">Food Literacy Month</a> here in Washington state. The objectives are to "promote food education, inspire food choices that are good for people and good for the planet, encourage parental involvement, and motivate communitywide support." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We honored this proclamation by using books to spark conversation in Kindergarten through 3rd grade about the impact of food choices, awareness of where our food comes from, appreciation for those who help bring food to our tables, and the importance of being open to trying new foods.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">An especially inspirational and informative book was Jacqueline Briggs Martin's<i> Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table </i>from local publisher and food literacy advocates, <a href="http://www.readerstoeaters.com/">Readers to Eaters</a>. It tells the true story of a professional basketball player who saw a need in the community and worked tirelessly, using his expertise and drawing people together, to make tremendous things happen. This story connected well with o</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">ur own school garden and</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"> composting initiative.</span><br />
<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61B6rOqehOL._SX409_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61B6rOqehOL._SX409_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="263" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 2nd and 3rd grades we used the lively and colorful <i>Yum! MmMm! Qué</i></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i> Rico! Americas' Sproutings</i> by <a href="http://www.patmora.com/">Pat Mora</a> to create our own food haiku, accompanied by <a href="http://www.tagxedo.com/">Tagxedo</a> word clouds. Here are a few for you to enjoy!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcMVUkxHRejJ6C4A802lIiqdMta4i8dJVGfQK0Nb_KyFfs3HE8xjiBcA4qf1vikTsgcBkOMdHcvclzDoIDiA7B_UMl5QASbjN4IObhTPkok8NPpaTCvFMj9LWnzu2EZMuWfXeSpbFvQxU3/s1600/Audrey+-+3I.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcMVUkxHRejJ6C4A802lIiqdMta4i8dJVGfQK0Nb_KyFfs3HE8xjiBcA4qf1vikTsgcBkOMdHcvclzDoIDiA7B_UMl5QASbjN4IObhTPkok8NPpaTCvFMj9LWnzu2EZMuWfXeSpbFvQxU3/s320/Audrey+-+3I.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Party in your mouth</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A burst of herbs on my tongue</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It says, “Eat me now!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Audrey</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5svfnCDyRc4RH_4AbfVEG-aiM1GSauwbel_HfOh88i_1i4HC2VjXvNTJWdziRD8hMwUkCxMmCNtNirHht97xFOlfq_xp7zLcAmvjHwpua1kiH3uk7FPxt_JzJ4Op06hUnyfwZAQER0W5C/s1600/kyson+3I.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5svfnCDyRc4RH_4AbfVEG-aiM1GSauwbel_HfOh88i_1i4HC2VjXvNTJWdziRD8hMwUkCxMmCNtNirHht97xFOlfq_xp7zLcAmvjHwpua1kiH3uk7FPxt_JzJ4Op06hUnyfwZAQER0W5C/s320/kyson+3I.png" width="234" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sweet burst in your mouth</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy passion, bumpy seeds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Red and white makes pink.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Kyson</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK5Hm_aQAvRi-Hlzyb41WdBKoSZ6jtJ-H7zhyphenhyphenOgOJKBN9woBku0Zyly8gUyX4tHIgc51DtGRBxxn9z-vaBvVsoopO4le-dhUJM7ghlkxo_hzl5ldZGl2-kUIPOKIBfrFjyBZgi2PitRVG/s1600/nATHAN3I.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK5Hm_aQAvRi-Hlzyb41WdBKoSZ6jtJ-H7zhyphenhyphenOgOJKBN9woBku0Zyly8gUyX4tHIgc51DtGRBxxn9z-vaBvVsoopO4le-dhUJM7ghlkxo_hzl5ldZGl2-kUIPOKIBfrFjyBZgi2PitRVG/s320/nATHAN3I.png" width="291" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yummy cheesy bits</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Shredded bits of parmesan</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bubbling cheese bread</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">- Nathan</span></div>
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Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-60257143404938912852015-06-08T13:16:00.002-07:002015-06-08T13:16:46.687-07:00Improving Wikipedia, one article at a time<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After dabbling a bit with <a href="http://blogs.office.com/onenote/education/">OneNote</a>, I decided to give it a try with our second Simple English Wikipedia <a href="http://owslibrary.blogspot.com/2014/06/5th-graders-help-make-web-less-biased.html">project</a> which challenges fifth grade students to counteract the pervasive <a href="http://geography.oii.ox.ac.uk/?page=the-geographically-uneven-coverage-of-wikipedia">geographical</a> and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/business/media/31link.html">gender</a> bias in this popular resource. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I chose <a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/">Simple English Wikipedia</a> (SEW) because it serves young readers and English language learners so the expectations for the complexity of the work was more realistic for a group of 10- and 11-year-olds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Working in their table groups, students compared the treatment of a single topic in regular and SEW and recorded their comments in a Venn diagram:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Gk31cDsjF6E9H7h1Xil5tGTudvgWyEyddgHB_R5YLUfVkxU1EFb-D23JB8rAzFW6klDOVwNOeBuGm1CNdnoW3SzFVMaT4MxivtNMgswnGyZn5xu7S7ksJ0Vtd-WkluKaYP7jiAM4s69N/s1600/SEW+Venn+diagram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Gk31cDsjF6E9H7h1Xil5tGTudvgWyEyddgHB_R5YLUfVkxU1EFb-D23JB8rAzFW6klDOVwNOeBuGm1CNdnoW3SzFVMaT4MxivtNMgswnGyZn5xu7S7ksJ0Vtd-WkluKaYP7jiAM4s69N/s400/SEW+Venn+diagram.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next, they brainstormed the likely audiences for each version so they would have their readers in mind as they wrote. Working in pairs or individually, students selected topics that would help rectify the imbalances they had learned about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another aspect of this project was improving their research skills by requiring them to use the wonderful <a href="http://www.kcls.org/learning/databases/">databases</a> from the public library to gather information:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJWQHqRou1iRChhgQq0VQwkwUw8LGWmeuapA4XBBBtF7_nO-8eyiNNwV8bFOh2z-QJzsknOM43NeS_xlAhyphenhyphen32GJU7EYGq2vPpRe9etDdsq7FOwQfF_RvSKXvLveZEr35ENAY-P4XjjQzTV/s1600/SEW+databases.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJWQHqRou1iRChhgQq0VQwkwUw8LGWmeuapA4XBBBtF7_nO-8eyiNNwV8bFOh2z-QJzsknOM43NeS_xlAhyphenhyphen32GJU7EYGq2vPpRe9etDdsq7FOwQfF_RvSKXvLveZEr35ENAY-P4XjjQzTV/s400/SEW+databases.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The final step was writing their articles in OneNote. Here is what part of one team's work looked like: </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-O4LIJUumX8WBAKnsmpjMy1luBh0diljb-AT-s8jR-zqqB8_rU8g9cZECUkpLxaNvZMdBAVsunyxkib9LonvSyDsWOf8v7LxxnSIfppfw6pWkXFwn3Nd0i0iP2g7h9_Z7-XBvdFCP3sAX/s1600/SEW+article.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-O4LIJUumX8WBAKnsmpjMy1luBh0diljb-AT-s8jR-zqqB8_rU8g9cZECUkpLxaNvZMdBAVsunyxkib9LonvSyDsWOf8v7LxxnSIfppfw6pWkXFwn3Nd0i0iP2g7h9_Z7-XBvdFCP3sAX/s400/SEW+article.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was an interesting experience moving this unit to the OneNote environment! This change made it a lot easier for the students to collaborate in a meaningful and efficient way. I'm sure I can find ways to take this even further next year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Want to see what they produced? Keep in mind that due to the nature of a wiki, what you read now has likely been edited by other users (which builds in another information literacy lesson for the students!) but I am delighted that this site that is accessed by millions worldwide is now broader and more inclusive.</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Aiona">James "Duke" Aiona</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Armistead">James Armistead</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudette_Colvin">Claudette Colvin</a></span></li>
<li><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_Copeland"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Misty Copeland</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Boyd_Granville">Evelyn Boyd Granville</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhur_Jaffrey">Madhur Jaffrey</a></span></li>
<li><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_James,_Jr."><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Daniel James, Jr.</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_Ludington">Sybil Ludington</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilma_Mankiller">Wilma Mankiller</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marissa_Mayer">Marissa Mayer</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._M._Pei">I.M. Pei</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Pitcher">Molly Pitcher</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raj_Reddy">Raj Reddy</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonia_Sotomayor">Sonia Sotomayor</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Tallchief">Maria Tallchief</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienne_Tam">Vivienne Tam</a></span></li>
<li><a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Zewail"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ahmed Zewail</span></a></li>
</ul>
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<br />Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-9357228595215739912015-06-08T10:57:00.000-07:002015-06-08T10:57:29.825-07:00The joys of storytelling!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Storytelling is experiencing a revival these days, from exposure on podcasts such as <a href="http://themoth.org/">The Moth</a> to the thousands of attendees at the <a href="http://www.storytellingcenter.net/festival/">National Storytelling Festival</a> to local guilds and events, such as our own <a href="http://powellswoodfestival.com/">PowellsWood Storytelling Festival</a> every July.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRF9HUdEhJ1NKUTNICuAnhbdPquGkPG4UQPj50W9WMLqZ99aIaINXjwlJnO93vmSXTJboriRChnBQy2CR6YGQw6h32nbS4nn9UCVLVPWY6oCeDEozwuqhZXjgQj9A5QZ3bCDlZ7aqFCyi1/s1600/IMG_0972.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRF9HUdEhJ1NKUTNICuAnhbdPquGkPG4UQPj50W9WMLqZ99aIaINXjwlJnO93vmSXTJboriRChnBQy2CR6YGQw6h32nbS4nn9UCVLVPWY6oCeDEozwuqhZXjgQj9A5QZ3bCDlZ7aqFCyi1/s320/IMG_0972.JPG" width="312" /></a> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbsvThd3vIi2ttCktU-j9gGVfYZja3wBQODOQY460RSycvX_N82A0KNGvhuDHDoJh0oLnNMstOa0sAsou2gxf7o2OswaE4snIOAKkDefzC49TOoD48O6fZxALSPRX_waaey-MRahBvxNKr/s1600/IMG_0966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbsvThd3vIi2ttCktU-j9gGVfYZja3wBQODOQY460RSycvX_N82A0KNGvhuDHDoJh0oLnNMstOa0sAsou2gxf7o2OswaE4snIOAKkDefzC49TOoD48O6fZxALSPRX_waaey-MRahBvxNKr/s320/IMG_0966.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I bring one or two storytellers to campus every year to expose students to this wonderful art, and also engage students as active tellers through games and activities.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRKdMaH1dUqTTtF3W5Z6BUkAYEHg-ZOs-R-tq-XBEvTYsqwMkEgFiiV7FDkwz6tDJp9MycVdvxRx-wO_ASYqhZhR3ZkMcX0ytZqOxw9YshPYAeQ2q2-IRJpWSuv0vV7eJzLXdDtsp1xxh/s1600/IMG_1006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRKdMaH1dUqTTtF3W5Z6BUkAYEHg-ZOs-R-tq-XBEvTYsqwMkEgFiiV7FDkwz6tDJp9MycVdvxRx-wO_ASYqhZhR3ZkMcX0ytZqOxw9YshPYAeQ2q2-IRJpWSuv0vV7eJzLXdDtsp1xxh/s320/IMG_1006.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The <a href="http://www.storynet.org/index.html">National Storytelling Network</a>'s position paper on the <a href="http://www.storynet.org/resources/YES%20Position%20Paper.pdf">importance of storytelling in education</a>, says that "Storytelling helps students be active not only in presenting but also in focused listening and reacting, enhancing the vital skills of communication. Storytelling is an ancient art that strengthens and enhances skills that children need to acquire to function in today’s world." Of course, it is also a great deal of fun!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBlY0GtSVChREb4UwZjqUbkA40d3XoTeouFolDz7iQ2vNHDIbSAbX67IxMlv2XBFNgrDHRb1hzgjgi-xls7qULLyVls-E0jTmgjO64rQuC-7YgC57GO35ySC6oJxmfQnujh7te-8QZoPD/s1600/IMG_1103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBlY0GtSVChREb4UwZjqUbkA40d3XoTeouFolDz7iQ2vNHDIbSAbX67IxMlv2XBFNgrDHRb1hzgjgi-xls7qULLyVls-E0jTmgjO64rQuC-7YgC57GO35ySC6oJxmfQnujh7te-8QZoPD/s320/IMG_1103.JPG" width="286" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGLfUip1dkyqGK28s5TV13iUNhwVYgYsKqo81bC_QqnhOmk2_c9jbi0GeHIdhoUdtmyx8mxbRhi27ycLXJMQDJTfwzvQWKAd8HV3SI9OFzVS02KRhH55D4CQR0zi2VeX2bDWcNW3dklZMK/s1600/IMG_1126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGLfUip1dkyqGK28s5TV13iUNhwVYgYsKqo81bC_QqnhOmk2_c9jbi0GeHIdhoUdtmyx8mxbRhi27ycLXJMQDJTfwzvQWKAd8HV3SI9OFzVS02KRhH55D4CQR0zi2VeX2bDWcNW3dklZMK/s320/IMG_1126.JPG" width="242" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fourth graders spent a couple of weeks playing storytelling games in pairs and circles. Finally they each learned and performed - <i>in one class session</i> - a Russian folktale from one of <a href="http://beautyandthebeaststorytellers.com/index.php">Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss</a>' books. First they practiced telling the story to the wall, then to a partner (see above). Next, some volunteers shared their versions with the whole class. Check out these wonderful examples:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVFeyJ4XJNQYBHPyVLcFRC0RN1qD25ZuK2glZNX2AtcI0wxxRdVwYPMBsJZFTfxYlIOO-oDqNCN7cO2aGR20ha1USROXTCQTjdS0TsbZxFnyTOjlotqqqr8XkJ-IcYLtQuPl_OnAt5Sksp/s1600/IMG_1144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVFeyJ4XJNQYBHPyVLcFRC0RN1qD25ZuK2glZNX2AtcI0wxxRdVwYPMBsJZFTfxYlIOO-oDqNCN7cO2aGR20ha1USROXTCQTjdS0TsbZxFnyTOjlotqqqr8XkJ-IcYLtQuPl_OnAt5Sksp/s320/IMG_1144.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://youtu.be/X4PKTE75X1U">The Biggest Lie, version 1</a> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPtJnmqRR4-WmGEfp11n88vKculS7waARnvgGAzZWBOan9Psxd8K-jOeydu7oiZvdotxrSc5GW_naidcRfTR8CAvXHm8eVH5-d1kZ98L23X7fdLfFY5f3HhrMcB44MQi0XrzPe_tgAGlt/s1600/IMG_1154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPtJnmqRR4-WmGEfp11n88vKculS7waARnvgGAzZWBOan9Psxd8K-jOeydu7oiZvdotxrSc5GW_naidcRfTR8CAvXHm8eVH5-d1kZ98L23X7fdLfFY5f3HhrMcB44MQi0XrzPe_tgAGlt/s320/IMG_1154.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://youtu.be/cE51DXVVNzM"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Biggest Lie, version 2</span></a></div>
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<br />Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-34977533868170358962015-06-01T11:50:00.001-07:002015-06-01T11:54:20.257-07:00The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake.. and the OWS kids who were hot on its trail!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><a href="https://youtu.be/wrDGOcVg_NE">The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake</a> </i>by <a href="https://robinnewmanbooks.wordpress.com/">Robin Newman</a> is a new beginning chapter book that introduces a pair of intrepid mouse detectives hot on the trail of a dastardly cake thief! In Kindergarten and First Grade we spent several fun weeks on this story which is full of clever puns and word play. Readers also have to pay close attention to the clues to figure out who might be guilty...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">First we discussed the mystery genre and some specialized vocabulary words. To test students' skills as witnesses, I asked them what Ms. Bishop, our LLC Assistant, was wearing as they'd walked past her just a few minutes before. Here is a typical set of answers and a shot of what </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ms. Bishop was actually wearing that day</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7iA33mD8gJok40NG5jXs4P-eO6ZdIyLFhzNnqEFyGBEPngktcexRn6YyGehyphenhyphenuyUGzs-MePfA7YP53xJjLneBoxYvFN7m7xnycNMWiHGRg_RTg9rgvtjFqR_wL3v2AuYyN3eeq_0RK_ziW/s1600/Amanda.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7iA33mD8gJok40NG5jXs4P-eO6ZdIyLFhzNnqEFyGBEPngktcexRn6YyGehyphenhyphenuyUGzs-MePfA7YP53xJjLneBoxYvFN7m7xnycNMWiHGRg_RTg9rgvtjFqR_wL3v2AuYyN3eeq_0RK_ziW/s320/Amanda.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next, we started reading the book, taking notes about the various suspects in our detective notebooks:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">We discussed our suspicions with classmates and wrote down our conclusions before reading the final chapter and discovering whodunit... (You'll have to read the book yourself to see if this guess is correct!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The real icing on the cake was our video chat with the author! Students were full of great questions and Robin gave us an interesting glimpse behind the scenes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here they react with stunned surprise upon discovering that the process of writing and publishing the book took <i>8 years</i>! (Not the "couple of months" they had guessed!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not only did we have a lot of fun with <i>The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake</i>, but students learned the importance of paying close attention to information in texts and making predictions, as well as a better understanding of all the hard work that goes into being an author!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-16228671545613657262015-04-24T15:08:00.000-07:002015-04-24T15:08:53.888-07:00Hands-on fun: Roald Dahl meets the makerspace!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It seems like no coincidence that even as advances in technology make many aspects of life more intangible, deeply satisfying traditional pursuits such as oral <a href="http://powellswoodfestival.com/">storytelling</a> and handicrafts are gaining tremendous popularity and respect. Very often this results in an intriguing fusion of old and new: listening to personal stories not around a campfire or on a neighbor's porch, but via a podcast that brings you voices of people you'd never otherwise cross paths with. Similarly, <a href="http://library-maker-culture.weebly.com/what-are-they.html">makerspaces</a> meld remarkable new materials with time-honored skills.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSP9DAhX8oXUHUP7JO5nnM0b2_wz_-kOZxKfdjHvhSt691TqhI3074djD42OSZp4qMoukU7N9LBWOP04toXKVvl-ZF5SFssH5Nrxw8ZzgY2qkIhMjDRzHXzWiujUVMT-pQa01FoBq3cTEJ/s1600/danny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSP9DAhX8oXUHUP7JO5nnM0b2_wz_-kOZxKfdjHvhSt691TqhI3074djD42OSZp4qMoukU7N9LBWOP04toXKVvl-ZF5SFssH5Nrxw8ZzgY2qkIhMjDRzHXzWiujUVMT-pQa01FoBq3cTEJ/s1600/danny.jpg" height="200" width="128" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 3rd grade we combined literature appreciation (my personal favorite <a href="http://www.roalddahl.com/museum">Roald Dahl</a> novel, <i>Danny the Champion of the World</i>) with <a href="http://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift/">Design Thinking</a> and a big dose of makerspace fun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I don't want to spoil the end of the book for anyone who is unlucky enough not to have read it, but the challenge we took on was designing a better <strike>mouse</strike> pheasant trap!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Step one: researching and taking notes about pheasants. Danny's father is a poacher, which means he has a deep understanding of the animals he hunts and the environment they inhabit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Step two: collaborate with your partner to design a trap that will foil greedy Mr. Hazell's plans but <i>not </i>do excess damage to the pheasants or their habitat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Step three: receive constructive criticism from another team. Offer the same in return. Does your trap show creative use of limited resources? Does it exhibit knowledge of pheasant biology? Respect for the earth? Is it likely to work? Consider the feedback and make improvements!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Step four: build, test, tweak, repeat!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some of our young makers will be exhibiting their traps at the <a href="http://www.nwaisfellowship.org/nwais-makerfest/">NWAIS Makerfest</a> next month. Several teams are already hard at work creating extensions to their projects--programming simulations, using 3D printers, and more!</span></div>
Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-36000016912244997702015-04-03T07:00:00.000-07:002015-04-03T08:50:06.939-07:00Brendan Buckley's Book Club & Everything in It<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Multiracial people represented the <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/race/cb12-182.html">fastest growing group</a> in the 2010 census, showing how far we've come since <a href="http://lovingfilm.com/importance-of-loving/">Loving v. Virginia</a>, which in 1967 made interracial marriages legal everywhere in the US! My own parents' interracial marriage took place two years before this date - and <a href="http://www.sundeefrazier.com/index.php">Sundee Frazier</a>'s parents' one year after it. Her writing is rooted in a deep understanding of identity and shifting social values.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was excited to bring Sundee to one of our faculty meetings a few years ago, to discuss how we can create the most welcoming and supportive environment for our multiracial students. And it was a thrill to bring her back to meet some of our kids!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our second 3rd/4th grade book club focused on her book <i>Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It</i>, a funny and moving middle grade novel that is all about curiosity and discovery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Imagining a different personal history - one in which her interracial family had a less harmonious relationship - Sundee wrote about Brendan, a biracial boy growing up in Tacoma. His passion for rocks and minerals forges a bond with the grandfather he'd never met and in the process helps to heal old family wounds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This book sparked some thought-provoking discussions among the students on prejudice, learning from mistakes, blame and forgiveness. We also had the thrill of welcoming Sundee to our final meeting. She showed up with a rock and mineral collection and was even wearing a necklace made from the famous Ellensburg blue agate! Sundee described her path to fulfilling her dream of becoming an author, and shared some of her early work from childhood and grad school. The conversation was lively!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />During an earlier book club meeting, students were inspired by Brendan's own "Book of Big Questions about Life, the Universe and Everything in It" (in which he wrote down all the questions he was musing about). Here are some of the ones they came up with for their own books:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How long have people been reading books?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What is the area of the earth?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How do people make hot chocolate powder mix?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How many languages are there in the world?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why do people act differently to please others?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why do people do mean things?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why do some people hate math?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why isn't there school on Saturday?</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Brendan's story is a reminder to all of us to remain curious and open-hearted as we go through life.</span>
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"Empathy" is a popular buzzword of late. Articles explaining how reading <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201412/can-reading-fictional-story-make-you-more-empathetic">fiction develops empathy</a> pop up regularly in the news. That said, other voices remind us that <a href="http://bostonreview.net/forum/paul-bloom-against-empathy">empathy is not a magic cure-all</a>:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Empathy is biased; we are more prone</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">our ethnic or national background."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">All of which is complex and intriguing, especially when you encounter a book that has huge kid appeal <i>and </i>exemplifies the sort of empathy that helps us connect across differences as <a href="http://stevenarntson.com/">Steven Arntson</a>'s <i>The Wrap-Up List </i>does.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlyfQ8geRW2rxhAsEBPXpn4FGjhGH74OPGi4ajzvIkcmYAQb5jINFkmyNNoOvmKoKGMSTx2PgbCVQV4rq7n52ClS12lRhoruVG_E6nFnK8XguXcnsSx9N9sTQbVB8N0sd5kjyaAe8YxFR/s1600/wrap-up+list.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlyfQ8geRW2rxhAsEBPXpn4FGjhGH74OPGi4ajzvIkcmYAQb5jINFkmyNNoOvmKoKGMSTx2PgbCVQV4rq7n52ClS12lRhoruVG_E6nFnK8XguXcnsSx9N9sTQbVB8N0sd5kjyaAe8YxFR/s1600/wrap-up+list.jpg" height="200" width="141" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">My new article, "Growing Empathic Readers," appears in the <a href="http://issuu.com/wlmamedium/docs/wlma_medium_spring_with_cover_pdf">spring issue of <i>The Medium</i></a>, pp. 22-23. In it, I describe a conversation with Steven in which he describes, among other things, how he successfully bridges gaps and how he's challenged students to question their own beliefs. His insights offer something for all of us to ponder!</span></div>
Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-51105821867391978522015-03-26T13:41:00.002-07:002015-03-30T13:44:09.126-07:00Middle school videos support K-3 contest!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A highlight of the year for Kindergarten through 3rd grade students is the <a href="http://childrenschoiceaward.wikispaces.com/">Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award</a>, which allows students to select from 20 nominees. Over 100,000 students across the state take part, and everyone waits with great anticipation to see whether their favorite will emerge victorious!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-kku3GdcIyOXXFQFKMmSvV8U_yf5r_l9Tlo1B9_qynOFgHMJrmHIFB7HuY0cZ_TUHHCrYh6QeJgVUkiipnNn-fPFlPTkDOdj7guSm_XpS-UoytuZjFjEdI7uWYPxHvO0No_IWciExNneB/s1600/WCCPBA+ballot+boxes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-kku3GdcIyOXXFQFKMmSvV8U_yf5r_l9Tlo1B9_qynOFgHMJrmHIFB7HuY0cZ_TUHHCrYh6QeJgVUkiipnNn-fPFlPTkDOdj7guSm_XpS-UoytuZjFjEdI7uWYPxHvO0No_IWciExNneB/s1600/WCCPBA+ballot+boxes.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Adding to the excitement, 5th graders created video book trailers to promote each title. In the process they practiced important information literacy skills, such as:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Respecting copyright by using images licensed by Creative Commons</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Effectively conveying the essence of a book (using "hooks," revealing <i>just enough</i> of the plot, and choosing images and music that fit the story)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Keeping your intended audience in mind when crafting a promotional item (how much text to use and how quickly should it scroll by?)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Proofreading your own work and offering constructive criticism to others</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The results were very impressive! I wish I had room to share all 33 video trailers with you, but since I don't, here are just a couple for you to enjoy!</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe id="vp133HsF" title="Video Player" width="432" height="243" frameborder="0" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/embed.animoto.com/play.html?w=swf/production/vp1&e=1427747963&f=33HsFp0peuHW7d1kT4i5jQ&d=0&m=a&r=360p&volume=100&start_res=360p&i=m&asset_domain=s3-p.animoto.com&animoto_domain=animoto.com&options=" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<iframe id="vp1JbF94" title="Video Player" width="432" height="243" frameborder="0" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/embed.animoto.com/play.html?w=swf/production/vp1&e=1427748231&f=JbF94CzQRvXIn7g58P1GfA&d=0&m=a&r=360p&volume=100&start_res=360p&i=m&asset_domain=s3-p.animoto.com&animoto_domain=animoto.com&options=" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<br /></div>Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-37368533638287093112015-02-27T15:23:00.000-08:002015-02-27T15:23:56.661-08:00What should I read next?!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You know that sinking feeling that sets in when you've caught up with your favorite author's works and have to wait impatiently for the next one to come out? Or, even worse, your favorite author is no longer living? What to do? </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBnCgrH92Ck0F46BAdXoDIge_0UDFXIuZPMA6yww6Hc4f0An7LxPaNRlr-ykCqAmZBw_dFUd1fM-QgF5P32oYXP_lERaEFuuk8CYsf7YT2KbYLH2mOzj-FFHklwdfdMRsnkjQrjCGzQj9h/s1600/100_0703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBnCgrH92Ck0F46BAdXoDIge_0UDFXIuZPMA6yww6Hc4f0An7LxPaNRlr-ykCqAmZBw_dFUd1fM-QgF5P32oYXP_lERaEFuuk8CYsf7YT2KbYLH2mOzj-FFHklwdfdMRsnkjQrjCGzQj9h/s1600/100_0703.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I spend a fair amount of my readers' advisory time comforting and coaxing die-hard fans of <insert here="" latest="" name="" of="" popular="" series=""> into trying something different. </insert></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">But if you need more reading suggestions and aren't able to rush to the nearest library for in-person help, here are some things you can do instead:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Do a web search for the author, title or series plus "readalikes" or "read alikes." Very likely you'll get a number of results.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Check out the database <a href="http://www.kcls.org/learning/databases/">Novelist</a> through the public library. It's full of fabulous suggestions!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Take advantage of Seattle Public Library's <a href="https://www.spl.org/using-the-library/get-help/your-next-5-books">Your Next 5 Books</a> service. You describe what you like; their librarians generously suggest more reading matter!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/">Goodreads</a> is a social networking site for readers. Use it to keep track of your reading wish list, rate books you've read, and find more titles. I have <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/mssimeon">an account</a> where I put books on virtual shelves by genre and age level.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are also a number of websites designed to fill this role, such as <a href="http://www.yournextread.com/us/">YourNextRead</a>, <a href="http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/">What Should I Read Next?</a> and <a href="http://www.openingthebook.com/whichbook/">Whichbook</a>.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy reading!</span></div>
Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5725997974799645153.post-23707570939091381412015-01-27T15:24:00.001-08:002015-01-27T15:24:35.131-08:00The best middle school fiction of 2014!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKYK1vRC5LYdIf0MSTXtnGjvgV8a1PaCuJuLoEgUPr7h03ZUT3VFPC4KL3nYY-5J3_ib3NAU9ipLDtlgQyp1d2ZOPeMrXEDSenowpUZy6Lf9DXHEzeowC_r1tLtKZuG3oDlIGzapZgclqz/s1600/voya+feb+15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKYK1vRC5LYdIf0MSTXtnGjvgV8a1PaCuJuLoEgUPr7h03ZUT3VFPC4KL3nYY-5J3_ib3NAU9ipLDtlgQyp1d2ZOPeMrXEDSenowpUZy6Lf9DXHEzeowC_r1tLtKZuG3oDlIGzapZgclqz/s1600/voya+feb+15.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's been a tremendous pleasure to serve on VOYA magazine's Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers selection committees for 2013 & 2014! We four librarians, plus one teacher, read over one hundred books and devoted many hours of time online and in person to discussing, sorting and ranking them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our goal was to come up with at most 30 books that we could put forward as the best of the year for ages 11-14, bearing in mind literary merit, appeal to kids, relevance to curriculum, and the diversity of North American readers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Apart from getting to read these books, another source of fun was recruiting student volunteers to review them for us! Without their honest feedback the list would have been sorely lacking. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Check out <a href="http://www.voyamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Top-Shelf-2014.pdf">this year's list</a> and <a href="http://www.voyamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Top-Shelf.pdf">last year's</a> too, if you missed it! There's a bit of something in there for everyone. Some titles are appropriate for middle grade elementary readers, while those on the older end overlap with high school.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Laura Simeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00084301008985084347noreply@blogger.com0