GCS School Library Media News
September 2016
Starting the New Year Off Right
Submitted by Laura Pekarek, SLMC Springfield Elementary
Library Orientation at Belmont Middle
Submitted by Linda M. Cathcart, SLMC Belmont Middle
New Year = Fresh Start at East Gaston
Submitted by Shay Whitlow, SLMC East Gaston High
Give 5 Read 5
Participating schools asked for donations of new or gently used books to give to their students to read over the summer. The goal is to collect at least five books per student. The books are the students to keep, pass along to another reader, or return to school as part of the next years' Give 5 Read 5 campaign.
The Gaston County schools that reported their participation during last year are: Bessemer City Central, Bessemer City Primary, Brookside Elementary, Lowell Elementary, and Page Primary. Combined, these schools collected 8,501 books that were distributed to their students.
If you are interested in having your school participate in this year's campaign, information can be found at NCDPI's website (http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/give5read5/)
Give 5 Read 5 Summer Reading Store at Bessemer City Central.
Submitted by Sarah Putnam, SLMC Bessemer City Primary
HIghland shares their love of reading
Quick and easy promotion of Twitter and tweeting about reading at Highland. The QR code is a Twitter shortcut for students and teachers!
Submitted by Laura Long, SLMC Highland School of Technology
Students get a taste for a good book
Freshmen currently taking English 9 at Stuart W. Cramer High School were treated to a book tasting in the media center during the first week of school. Students rotated through several courses sampling a variety of genres to introduce them to the collection in their media center. Each group spent time reviewing their "dish" before moving to the next table and completed a reflection napkin at the conclusion of the tasting providing feedback on the experience. This activity helped many of our students find a just right book that interests them!
Submitted by Vanessa Griffith, SLMC Stuart W. Cramer High
Celebrate in your media center
Go Noodle
For those who have not yet discovered this gem, GoNoodle is a FREE site that allows access to tons of quick brain-break videos for kids. Although classes might not necessarily need a brain-break in the short time they are visiting the library, I've used this as a behavior incentive - i.e. if you all listen to directions the first time and are on task the entire time, then we will have a few extra minutes at the end to do GoNoodle!
The class earns points for every video they do, and once they've earned 10 points, their class "champ" goes through the "Transmogrifier" and morphs into a bigger, better GoNoodle Champ. The students (especially K-2) love it. I have a GoNoodle class set up for each class and they all start with the same Champ. When on the main screen, they can see their Champ compared to the other classes. My personal favorite "channel" is Koo Koo Kanga Roo, and the kids particularly like the "Milkshake" and "Pop See Ko" dances.
Of course, there's the procedural stuff - I tell them they have to stay beside their chairs to avoid crowding around the smartboard. I also don't force students to do it. Many are happy just to stand there and watch. Students know that this is a privilege, so if they were not making good behavior choices during class-time, they do not get to participate. And if the class in general was unruly, well then we "run out of time" and don't get to do it.
Check it out at https://www.gonoodle.com/.
Submitted by Nicole Pollard, SLMC Sadler Elementary
Notable September Literacy Event s
- September 1 - 30 - Library Card Sign-up Month - http://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/card or http://gastonlibrary.org/
- September 1 - November 30 - Fight Hunger with Crenshaw - http://www.mackidsbooks.com/crenshaw/fooddrive.html
- September 13 - Roald Dahl Day (100th Birthday) - https://www.roalddahl.com/roald-dahl/roald-dahl-100/party-pack-registration
- September 15ish - International Dot Day - http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/