Disease Brochure with 7th Grade Science

First period students work on their brochures.

Students in Mr. Jaspering's 7th grade science classes are working on creating a brochure that features information about a disease of their choosing. Students began at Google Docs to work on the brochure, then accessed different medical sites from the MS Library Home Page, from where they could also access citation generation web sites like Easy Bib. One of the requirements is to include a print source as well, so students were able to use the many resources available to them in the library.

One table of the books available to students; they had three tables to browse in all.

Third period students work in the library on their disease brochures.

In third period, students work on the brochure and use Easy Bib.

Newbery Winner Announced!

Drum roll please. . . the Newbery Award winner for this year was announced earlier today, and I'm so happy to announce that it is The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate!

Here's a summary according to GoodReads.com. What it doesn't tell you is that you might want to have a tissue handy while you're reading it! (Or maybe that's just me!) Read the book and see what you think!

QR Codes in the Library, Take 2!

Last spring I posted an entry about QR codes in the library, but madamewells' photostream image of her QR codes library display inspired me to do it again!

Like the display says, QR codes are barcodes that you can scan using a free app--I use QR Reader from the App Store, but there are others to pick from. Using the app, line up the frame in your display screen to the QR code, and in this case, you will be taken to a book trailer for the book. If you scan The Maze Runner QR code, you can see this trailer:

You're welcome to check out the many QR codes for book trailers that are posted around the library! Bring in your smart phone, iPod, or tablet and watch some great, creative book trailers!

Look What's Coming to TV!

Lauren Oliver's book Delirium has been optioned as a television series for Fox television network! Here's what she had to say on her blog post:

If you want to read more about the announcement, you can click here.

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

Teenreads.com has joined the Children’s Book Council (CBC) and Every Child a Reader (ECAR) to give students the chance to let their voices be heard by voting for their five favorite books from 2012. The CBC’s 2013 Teen Choice Book of the Year will be one of the five titles that receives the most votes before Jan. 31, 2013. Once the five finalists have been determined, voting will be open starting on March 19 at BookWeekOnline.com; expect a winner to be announced in May 2013. Click here to see last year's finalists and winners.

Below are some of the nominees that may be familiar to you:

Finding Similar Books

Having problems finding that next great book to read? Are you looking for that book that will remind you of one of your favorites? At YourNextRead.com, you can enter the name of a book, and it will recommend several titles related to your search. You can search for books by age as well, or you can choose to browse their featured books. The site is also linked to the MS Library Home Page under the "Reading" section. Try it--you'll find all sorts of great recommendations!