Muskie Library eNews
October - November 2015
Just Read. And Let Them Just Listen: The Case for Reading Aloud to Students*
A classroom teacher friend recently asked me to recommend a book to read aloud to her 8th grade students to kick off the school year. The question immediately took me back to my own days as an English teacher and the precious 5-10 minutes I spent at the beginning of (almost) all class periods reading to my students. Back in those days, I felt guilty about giving away that much instructional time to an activity that I couldn't directly connect to my state standards and their ever looming test. Now, if I could go back and do it all over again, I'd spend more time reading to my students and I wouldn't spend a second worrying about whether or not it was the right move.
Reading aloud to students of all ages is a sound instructional practice for so many reasons. Here are just a few:
- Reading aloud to students models and helps develop a daily habit of reading as an essential part of life and learning.
- Reading aloud to students introduces them to books and authors they might not otherwise connect with.
- Reading aloud to students exposes them to new vocabulary and helps decrease existing word gaps among students living in poverty or those living in homes where English is not their first language.
- Reading aloud to students connects students to texts that help build empathy and community or that promote healing after a shared trauma.
- Reading aloud to students demonstrates how stories connect us.
- Reading aloud creates a shared, joyful experience between you and your students.
- Reading aloud to students is fun!
- Students, of all ages, love to be read to.
*An except from The Adventures of Library Girl blog, written by Jennifer LaGarde (a pretty awesome library superhero!). Read the entire post here.
"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library." - Jorge Luis Borges
Extended Library Hours for Finals
Library Hours during Finals Week:
Monday, January 4 7:30am-7:00pm *treats 5:00-7:00pm
Tuesday, January 5 7:30am-7:00pm *treats 5:00-7:00pm
Wednesday, January 6 7:30am-7:00pm *treats 5:00-7:00pm
Thursday, January 7 7:30am-4:00pm
Friday, January 8 7:30am-11:30am
New Arrivals...
The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve hours, Four Patient's Lives by Theresa Brown
Every day, Theresa Brown holds patients' lives in her hands. On this day there are four.
In a book as eye-opening as it is riveting, practicing nurse and New York Times columnist Theresa Brown invites us to experience not just a day in the life of a nurse but all the life that happens in just one day on a hospital’s cancer ward. In the span of twelve hours, lives can be lost, life-altering medical treatment decisions made, and dreams fulfilled or irrevocably stolen. We are given an unprecedented view into the individual struggles as well as the larger truths about medicine in this country, and by shift’s end, we have witnessed something profound about hope and healing and humanity.
(nonfiction - memoir)
Finding Fortune by Delia Ray
Based on Muscatine, Iowa History - Recommended for Grades 4-6+
Running away from home isn't as easy as Ren thinks it will be. At least she isn't running very far-just a few miles to the ghost town of Fortune . . . or Mis-Fortune as everyone else calls it. Mis-Fortune on the Mississippi. Supposedly, there's an abandoned school on the outskirts with cheap rooms for rent. Ren knows her plan sounds crazy. But with only a few more weeks until Dad comes home from his tour of duty in Afghanistan, she also knows she has to do something drastic so Mom will come to her senses and stop seeing that creep Rick Littleton for good. (historical fiction - mystery)
Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona
She's comin' for you, New York!
Marvel Comics presents the all-new Ms. Marvel, the groundbreaking heroine that has become an international sensation! Kamala Khan is an ordinary girl from Jersey City - until she is suddenly empowered with extraordinary gifts. But who truly is the all-new Ms. Marvel? Teenager? Muslim? Inhuman? Find out as she takes the Marvel Universe by storm! As Kamala discovers the dangers of her newfound powers, she unlocks a secret behind them as well. Is Kamala ready to wield these immense new gifts? Or will the weight of the legacy before her be too much to handle? Kamala has no idea either. (graphic novel)
Resources for Teachers // Video Collection
Videos are shelved in the backroom - ask library staff to show you where they are located!
Just a reminder:
Any videos shown in school for noneducational purposes (e.g. a bonus or reward movie) need to have a copyright license. Videos shown to a specific class to meet curriculum standards are covered by the US Copyright Office.
Connect with the Library!
Email: jen.keltner@mcsdonline.org
Website: https://sites.google.com/a/mcsdonline.org/muskielibrary/
Location: 2705 Cedar Street, Muscatine, IA, United States
Phone: 5632636141
Facebook: facebook.com/muskielibrary
Twitter: @muskielibrary