GCS School Library Media News
March 2018
Belmont Middle Does It Again...
Belmont Middle wins 4th straight Battle of the Books competition in Gaston County. 12 students and Coaches L. Cathcart and Q. McAlister travel to Union County for the Regional Competition on March 20, 2018.
http://gastongazette.com/news/20180302/belmont-wins-fourth-straight-battle-of-books
Submitted by: Linda Cathcart, Belmont Middle SLMC
Library Makeover-Carr Elementary Edition
Carr Elementary’s media center has gotten a completely new look! Over the last few years, we have replaced nearly everything. First the walls were painted to brighten up the atmosphere. Then, new shelves were brought in to replace old, dingy wooden ones. Next, a new circulation desk was purchased, which completely updated and changed the whole room. And most recently, over Christmas break, brand new ceilings and light fixtures were installed, making the entire room brighter and more inviting. A Dr. Seuss chair was personally made for the media center, lots of flexible seating was made available, and brand new tables and chairs were added. There is still a little more work to be done. This summer the last of the old shelves will be replaced. We are so very excited about these changes, and the changes to come!
Submitted by: Lisa Hewlett, Carr Elementary SLMC
It says "Cold? Check out a book. You'll still be cold but you'll have a BOOK!"
Submitted by: Julie Overpeck, Holbrook Middle SLMC
Read Across America at Springfield
The staff and students of Springfield Elementary celebrated Read Across America. First, we had a book character dress up day. Then we had guest readers share stories with every classroom. Some of our guest readers were: GCS School Board Member Dot Cherry and Catherine Bailey Roberts, Sheriff Alan Cloninger, Mrs. Cathy Cloninger, Carrie Minich of GCS, Gaston County Commissioner Chad Brown, Mayor Denton of Stanley, along with several retired educators, local firefighters, police officers, and a local pastor. Springfield thanks all of guest readers for taking time out of a busy schedule to share the importance of reading with our students. It was a lot of fun and a huge success!
Bess Library Book Dedication
W.A. Bess just completed their annual Valentine Book Dedication. Students who participated received a special library Valentine on February 14th. On April 10th, there will be a schoolwide book dedication to present all the new books raised for the library from this fundraiser. This year, 215 new books will be dedicated to the library. Over the course of 24 years of book dedications, over 5,000 books have been dedicated to the W.A. Bess Library.
Submitted by: Julie Shatterly, W. A. Bess Elementary SLMC
NCSLMA Officer Elections
Elections for officers beginning with the 2018-2019 school year are now open.
Log into www.ncslma.org to cast your vote. Poll closes March 31st at 11:59 pm.
For a complete description of the slate of candidates, click here.
Book Fair Fun at Sadler
Sadler had a great book fair this past week! We celebrated Read Across America and Dr. Seuss' birthday in conjunction with our Book Fair and dressed up as Seuss characters each day. We even had a door decorating contest to show off our favorite Dr. Seuss' books.
Submitted by: Tiffany Suttles, Sadler Elementary SLMC
Robinson Elementary Enjoys Three Bs : Book Fair, Book Character Ball & Biography Boxes
The first full week of February was lots of fun at Robinson. On Monday, Feb. 5th, the Scholastic Book Fair began, and on Monday night we had our annual Book Character Ball. Students dressed as their favorite book character, and enjoyed music, refreshments, and dancing. The week of celebrating reading lasted through Friday, Feb. 9th.
In early March, third grade brought biography books to life. Each third grader chose a famous person and checked out a corresponding biography to read. They made boxes and computer presentations about their subject. On Tuesday, March 6th, they dressed as the person they chose and shared their work with visiting family members as well as other students.
Submitted by: Ilisa Jenkins, Robinson Elementary SLMC
Student Created Websites
Fourth grade students at W.A. Bess are creating animal websites using Google Sites. Students have selected an animal of their choosing, then they must research characteristics of their animal and craft it into a website designed to encourage someone to purchase their animal as a pet. Students must provide a number of facts about their animal as well as convince someone to seek out their animal. They have been having a good time exploring the capabilities of Google Sites and coming up with goofy dialog to promote their selected animals. Students must also cite all their resources used.
Submitted by: Julie Shatterly, W. A. Bess Elementary SLMC
Author Visit at York Chester
A small group of students from York Chester Middle School were able to meet author, Monika Schroeder. Each of the students participated in a lunch-time book club where they read one of her books: Saraswati's Way, My Brother's Shadow, The Dog in the Wood, or Be Light Like A Bird. The culminating activity was When Mrs. Schroeder visited and they were able to discuss her books with her in person. She talked to our students about her own life, in which she's lived all over the world teaching or being a librarian at American schools, and the real stories behind her novels. They loved talking to a published author and asked her many questions. It was a great experience for everyone!
Submitted by: Faith Huff, York Chester Middle, SLMC
Teaching and Learning Conference-Call For Proposals
What do you have to share? The Call for Proposals for the 2018 Teaching & Learning Conference is now open! The conference will be held on August 6 - 7 at the Dallas campus of Gaston College. Visit the conference website at tinyurl.com/tlc18gcs for more information about how to submit a proposal to present at #TLC18GCS!
Share the news about the 2018 Teaching & Learning Conference!
https://sites.google.com/gaston.k12.nc.us/tlc18gcs/share-the-news
Update: Putting Some “Pow” in Your Presentations
Last year I shared with all of you my lesson plans and tutorials for using Powtoon. Powtoon is always adding new features and changing some of the interface options. I’ve updated my tutorial to reflect many of the changes so I wanted to share that with the group. If you are new to Powtoon….keep reading...
If you and your students are bored with the usual presentation software like Powerpoint and Google Slides, give Powtoon a try. Powtoon is a cloud based presentation software that is fun to use and offers some really cool animation, narrator voiceover and audio options. It allows you to layer photos, clipart, videos and much more. Powtoon can be used for the same types of projects as Powerpoint but it is much more aesthetically pleasing, user friendly, and fun for students (and teachers)! I can think of so many neat ways to use it. A few right off the top of my head are:
creating commercials. introducing yourself to new classes. book reviews. animated video lessons. how to lessons. debate presentations. review games. informational presentations.
For anyone who has never used Powtoon, I’ve shared my directions with screenshots, as well as, the schedule I follow to teach Powtoon. The Powtoon lessons follow research in the media center so it does take several days for the students to complete the projects. Depending on the teacher’s timeframe, I usually allot 1 ½ -2 weeks for research and creating the Powtoon presentations.
Powtoon Tutorial (with screenshots)
Career Project Example (Using CFNC.org)
Submitted by: Holly Key, BCHS SLMC