Friday, September 19, 2014

Using Google Forms to Submit Book Requests

Students often want to make book suggestions, and keeping track of all of their ideas had become more management than I wanted to admit. Google Forms to the rescue!
Jennifer Carey, http://www.edudemic.com/5-great-ways-use-google-forms/
Now students may submit a book request from the library main page. The link will take students to a Google Form where they may enter the title of a book. 

You can also CLICK HERE to access the Google Form.

 Their responses are recoded, and when ordering time comes around, viola! Book suggestions are easy to access!

Having problems accessing the form? Just stop by the library, and we'll see what we can do to help. 

Monday, September 15, 2014

Pick Me! Pick Me!

There's a new library display! This time, the books featured all have a similar cover color. (Thanks to a pin on Pinterest from MEI Secondary Library!)

Some of the books include newer releases such as The Elite by Kiera Cass and Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony by Eion Colfer, as well as old favorites like Blood Fever by Charles Higson and Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Do you see any of your favorites with these colors on the cover? What books would you have liked to see included? Stop by and let me know!

Monday, September 8, 2014

QR Codes & the Iowa Teen Award Books

Each year language arts classes get a preview of the Iowa Teen Award nominees, and this year, students used iPads to learn about the 15 titles. Rather than sit and listen to a presentation about the books, students took control and moved about the library to scan QR codes linked to book trailers, presentations, and interviews related to the books.

The free QR code generating website Kaywa was simple to use and generated QR codes that could be screen-shotted and included on a document along with an image of the book cover and a permalink to  the code itself.

With each code/image/permalink was placed on a piece of card stock, and students were then able to move about the library to different tables to scan for information about the books. As they moved about, they were asked to make a few notes for themselves to track which books they found interesting.

At the end of our class rotations, nearly every 6th and 7th grader will have passed through the library to participate in the activity and learn more about our Iowa Teen Award books for the year!