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.
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!
As hinted at last week in the Final Week Feature post, we'll also have a First Week Flashback post over the summertime. So...without further ado...we'll start things with flashback to Harry Potter Hump Day posts from this blog and Hunger Games posts since both series/franchises have new material!
In the summertime of 2014, the blog posts featured different Harry Potter-related content. Looking for information about the Pottermore website? Or Harry Potter World? Online Harry Potter quizzes? All of those and more were part of the summertime blog reading. You can even see how J.K. Rowling planned some of the storytelling on notebook paper with notes and tables.
Over the course of the Hunger Games series in both written and cinematic form, we celebrated read-alikes and the release of the movies themselves.
Looking back on posts is all fine and good, but let's talk about the new material related to both series/authors! First, J.K. Rowling announced in late May that she was publishing online a new short story called The Ickabog.
“J.K. Rowling Introduces The Ickabog.” J.K. Rowling, 29 May 2020, www.jkrowling.com/j-k-rowling-introduces-the-ickabog/.
On her website, Rowling explains that the story was one she wrote between Harry Potter novels and would read to her two children. She intends to publish online at least one chapter every weekday between May 26 and July 10 on the Ickabog website. Rowling also announced that there is an illustration competition for the publication of the story in November 2020. You can find out more about the competition HERE. Finally, Rowling has said that all royalties from the sale of the book later this year will be donated to those who have been affected by the coronavirus.
The other big news is that a prequel to the Hunger Games series called The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was released in mid-May.
This book is from President Snow's perspective as a young man who serves as a student mentor in the tenth Hunger Games. Click on the link below the image to watch the official trailer from Scholastic:
Recently both sixth grade and seventh grade Literacy Studies students completed work that relied on them using our online databases to do a little nonfiction reading to gather information related to topics of their choice. Sixth graders completed the AEA online databases tic tac toe project (you can read about it HERE in an earlier post), and seventh graders created an "app" using Google Slides. (More to come in a future post!)
Both projects included accessing our AEA databases and doing some nonfiction reading. To reinforce this, a recent library display showed students that the realities of nonfiction topics often are reflected in the fiction books they more often gravitate toward. Take a look at some of the more popular nonfiction topics and their fiction counterparts.
Topics for the display included:
bullying
natural disasters
disease
war spies
paranormal activity
immigration
Holocaust
Vietnam War
extreme sports
autism
mental health
animals
Throughout the year, students watch book trailers in Literacy Studies class as part of our routine, and often nonfiction titles are included. Recently students watched these trailers:
Stay tuned! More books--including nonfiction reading--will be featured in an upcoming post. Happy reading!
Throughout the school year, students in Literacy Studies class created several book-related projects using a variety of online presentation tools. Of course, the Google Suite of apps was the most easily accessed and the most familiar for students, so many chose to use Slides or Draw when given the choice. Below is an example of a project in Draw:
And another example of a Slides project:
Students also created projects using tools that were maybe less familiar to them, including Thinglink and MySimpleShow. Because students could log into both sites using their Google accounts, initial work went smoothly. Below is a PDF of students' author study work using Thinglink:
MySimpleShow is a great site featuring templates that students can use to create videos showing their learning. You can read about students' work on this blog post. Literacy Studies students created book trailers using MySimpleShow; below is an example:
A lot of creating and a lot of variety in online presentation tools! Students also used old favorites like Flipgrid and tried new tools like Screencastify to share their learning and make book recommendations. Stay tuned--the coming school year promises more creating and sharing!
The ABCs of DCGMS Library brings to you the letter B today and features book trailers as a way to promote reading and pique students' interest in books and authors.
One of the regular components of the Literacy Studies class was showing book trailers to encourage students to try a new genre, new author, new series, or new book. Sometimes trailers featured newly published books recently added to the library; other times, the trailers highlighted titles that may have been in the collection for a while. While many trailers teased students with plot points and cliffhangers, some were author interviews.
Below are a few of students' favorite trailers--as determined by the holds and requests for the books!
We're always looking for ways to promote reading and books, and a popular choice among students and teachers is book trailers. Late in the third quarter, both sixth and seventh graders created book trailers using a "new to us" platform--MySimpleShow.
We found several things very helpful about introducing students to MySimpleShow: 1) students could log in using their Google accounts; 2) students were directed on the site to write their "scripts" before concerning themselves with images; 3) a number of templates were available, including a template designed to talk about books; and 4) students could easily access a shareable link so their reading teachers could also view their trailers.
We began our work with viewing sample book trailers and thinking about how we might write about one of our favorite books. The template we used included slides featuring information about the characters, setting, and plot of a book, and students also had the option to include additional information should they like to do so.
Once students were finished, we made use of a digital gallery walk to share their work. (You can read about a digital gallery walk from Matt Miller and Ditch That Textbook on this blog post.) Students' trailers were open and ready to play, and classmates viewed different examples, using sentence starters as response prompts, such as "I wanted to hear more about..." and "This book reminds me of..." and "I was interested in the plot when..." During class, students were able to look at 2-3 trailers and respond to the trailer creators.
It's that time of year again! Time to take a look at preview book trailers for our Iowa Children's Choice Award nominees and Iowa Teen Award nominees. Click on the caption below the picture to access the live document; that's where you'll be able to click on trailer links. Enjoy!
There's plenty of time to read two of the books in the categories; remember, to be eligible to vote in March, you need to have read at least two of the books on the lists. Happy reading!
Thank you to our parent volunteer who oversaw the spring Scholastic Book Fair! With her work and the generosity of our families, we were able to purchase several new books for the library, including those featured below.
Are you looking for a graphic novel? These four are now available in the library, including the long-awaited graphic novel for the Wings of Fire series.
Among the new books are new titles in popular series, like Gordon Kormans' Ungifted and its sequel Super Gifted. Book 3 in the Horizon series, A Warp in Time, is also now part of our collection. Not read the other two book in the Horizon series? Check out the trailer below.
Looking for mystery, action, or adventure? Popular authors Lois Ruby and Ally Carter are among the authors whose books were also recently added to the collection. You can read more about Not If I Save You First on author Ally Carter's website.
We're excited to talk with you about our new books--stop by the library soon to check out one of these new books or any of the others in the collection! See you soon!
With the close of our recent Scholastic Book Fair, you may notice quite a few new titles in the library. Want to try one of them? Here's some information--and book trailers--for some of our new books.
Patina, by Jason Reynolds, is the second book in his Track series that includes the book Ghost. This book follows Patty, one of the teammates on the track team. An African American middle schooler who lives with her aunt and uncle, Patty's life has the life skills to bring her relay team together, to make it in her all-white girls' school, and make the best of her unusual family arrangement.
Legend series author Marie Lu has a new series in the works with Warcross. Main character Emika is a teenage girl who not only plays the international sensation video game, but also hunts down the people who illegally bet on the game. Check out the trailer:
Want to try historical fiction? Dean Hughes' book Four-Four-Two features the 442nd Combat Regiment from World War II--a unit made up entirely of Japanese Americans.
Main character Yuki and his family are forced to live in a Japanese internment camp in Utah, but Yuki chooses to enlist in the army to serve the country that holds him. He and his friend ship out to Europe, where their friendship only grows stronger amid all the prejudices and battles.
Other titles are read-alikes for books you may have already read. Any of these look familiar?
So why not stop by the library soon to look at our book fair purchases and maybe check out something new? Hope to see you soon!
It's that time again--time for us to explore the state award books and start reading our way through the lists. To promote the titles and raise interest, this year's titles are featured in ThingLink images that connect to book trailers.
Let's start with the Iowa Children's Choice Award nominees:
You can also access trailers for the Iowa Teen Award nominees:
Enjoy the trailers--and when you're ready to try one of the nominees, be sure to stop by the library and check out a copy. Remember, you're eligible to vote for the building and state-wide winner when you read at least two books from either list.
Occasionally during the year we take the time to highlight new books or recommend old favorites using Pinterest. Both book trailers and cover images of many books are there if you're looking for something to read! Want to take a look? You can access the board by clicking in the caption below.
That's right--it's Scholastic Book Fair time again! Students and families can browse and shop the fair from Thurs. Mar. 2 - Thurs. Mar. 9, both during the school day and during parent teacher conferences.
Take a look at the preview video below:
You can also shop our book fair online, where many more titles are available, including titles for younger and/or older siblings. You can access our online fair here.
We'll be running a guessing contest during the fair. Students can guess the number of bears in the container, and the student who comes closest to the exact number will win a $10 gift certificate to use at the book fair. Stop by to enter!
Veronica Roth's official website has now moved to Tumbl: http://theartofnotwriting.tumblr.com/. There you can find many more Carve the Mark posts and pictures, like these designs:
Interested? Stop by the library to check out Carve the Mark!
With school starting soon, it's time to start thinking about the Iowa Teen Award nominees fro the coming year. Check out the Prezi below to see the titles and book trailers to pique your interest!
Any of the titles already familiar to you? Maybe you've already read some of them? We'll be talking about the nominees and promoting them throughout the year, so stay tuned. And happy reading!
Every year, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) puts together a list of Top 10 books as determined by teens. Last year, the top three books included Insurgent by Veronica Roth and The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen.
And the winner for 2013: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.
So what books made the list for this year's nominees? Check out the video below:
You might recognize a few of them as books we already own in the library--some of your favorites like these:
Want to see book trailers for all of the nominees? You can access them all at YALSA's YouTube Channel. Take a look--you might see something you like!
It's almost Book Fair time! Eager to see what's available or want to shop online? Check out the video below to see what we may find at our upcoming Book Fair:
We'll have the Book Fair in the library on Fri. Mar. 7 and it will be in the library until conferences are over. You will also be able to shop online--CLICK HERE to visit our Online Fair Home Page.
Gather that loose change, too! We'll again be supporting All for Books, an organization that helps students in need. Scholastic matches donations up to one million books to Kids In Distressed Situations & Kids in Need Foundation.
Looking for some historical fiction? Chelsey Kolpin has put together a great resource for us with her website Hi-Fi for Wi-Fi! When working on Master's project, she wrote, "In an effort to get more young adult students interested in historical fiction. . . I put together a website of book trailers and book descriptions for historical fiction."
On the website you can access historical fiction novels based on different periods in history, as well as video links:
Currently 15 books are featured on Kolpin's website, but she tells us that more may be coming soon. One of the featured books is What I Saw and How I Lied. Here's the description of the book:
You can also access book trailers:
Feel free to access the site to browse historical fiction titles. Many are found here in our library, and one of the featured titles--Between Shades of Gray--is an Iowa Teen Award nominee for this year!
