Using MackinVIA

 One of the many online reading resources available to us from the Heartland AEA is the online library MackinVIA.

Literacy Studies students spent a couple of days exploring the audiobooks and ebooks available to them from MackinVIA and completed a scavenger hunt to direct some of their exploration. 

Many students found the MackinVIA had some of their old favorites--Alan Gratz & Gordon Korman titles, the Amulet series, A Dog's Purpose, and more!--and also found some new titles that interested them. Some of the books getting a lot of attention right now in the library include:

Students had class time to complete the scavenger hunt and check out any items of interest. Many found that while a title may be unavailable in our own MS library, they were able to check it out from MackinVIA and try the book in audio or ebook form.

You can take a look at the scavenger hunt below:

#MGBookTober 2020

It's been another fun and engaging #MGBookTober on Twitter! Each year a group of authors, teachers, and librarians prepare a list of prompts to promote reading and literacy among readers of middle grade books. This is the third October that I have participated, and this year was another great experience! 

Below are the prompts and my notes about my responses:

Because of others' responses, I've read Three Keys by Kelly Yang and Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson. I'm also excited to read Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros, a debut middle grade author in 2020. You can see some of my tweets below:

If you're interested in other #MGBookTober suggestions and responses, be sure to search for the hashtag on Twitter! Happy reading!

2020-2021 Iowa State Award Nominees

 In Literacy Studies classes we have been talking about this year's lists of Iowa Children's Choice Award and Iowa Teen Award nominees. In a post from the summer, students could see what titles were nominated for this year's awards, and recently in class, students have had the opportunity to watch book trailers for the titles and respond with their initial impressions of the books.

Curious about this year's nominees? You can watch trailers for the Iowa Children's Choice Award nominees below when you click on the caption.

CLICK HERE FOR TRAILERS

 You can also watch the Iowa Teen Award trailers--just click on the link in the cap:

CLICK HERE

Feel free to stop by and browse the cases for the state award books! :) Remember, you'll need to have read 2 of the titles from a list to be eligible to vote in the spring. Happy reading!