SMS Learning Commons
December Update
Unicorn Food and a Great Book Fair!
The answer was 1,773! That's how many pieces of unicorn food were in the jar. No one guessed the exact number during our book fair, but one student's estimate was within just a few pieces! The seven students with the closest guesses each won a book from the fair.
Thank you to everyone who supported our book fair! Despite the short week and the snow days we still had a great time and will be able to buy some more new books for our library! We really appreciate all who came in and purchased books. We are so thankful for the parent volunteers/PTO for all their help! And, we want to say a big THANK YOU to Miss Patti and our students, Curtis, Dante, Hope, and Nadia- the amazing creative and artistic team behind our enchanting book fair decor!
How many pieces of unicorn food is in the jar?
Some of our unicorn food winners!
Several members of our creative design team!
Get to Know Maine's Online Resource Library!
Over the last couple of months, we have been introducing students and teachers throughout SMS to some of the different resources available on the Digital Maine Library. Check out our curated page of resources. You can also link to our SMS library catalog and to the larger array of Digital Maine Library resources by clicking onto the icons on the top of right hand side of our page.
You may be familiar with Maine's first online resource, MARVEL, which was developed in 2004. Last year, the Maine State Library and Maine InfoNet introduced MARVEL's replacement, the Digital Maine Library.
There are so many great resources available. We'll spotlight several in our next newsletter.
Have You Tasted Any Good Books Lately?
Sixth graders spend time looking at our 2018 Children's Choices (CC) books and seventh and eighth graders choose from our newest Young Adult Choice (YAC) books. Both CC and YAC are special programs where schools apply to participate. In return for receiving these books, the International Literacy Alliance asks for feedback from the students on whether they like the books or not. Our students are part of only 12,500 students across the entire US who read and vote on these books. The winners of these groups of books can be counted on as books kids really enjoy reading!
Invitation to Dine
A group of 7th Graders Getting Ready to Sup!
Aren't You Jealous?
Genrefication!
Genrefication helps promote literacy because it encourages and empowers the students to select books they are interested in and explore other authors in the same genre. Reorganizing the library by this model also helps us better understand our entire collection, fill in the gaps, and provides us more of an opportunity to share that knowledge with students when they are looking for a book. Instead of spending time helping them search we are spending time engaging in conversations about different books and genres.
Don't Forget to Visit The Learning Commons and Pick Up a Good Book For Winter Break!
SMS Learning Commons
Email: kawirth@sacoschools.org
Website: http://sacomiddleschoollibrary.weebly.com/
Location: 40 Buxton Road, Saco, ME, USA
Phone: (207) 282-4181
Miss Patti is currently reading Bright We Burn by Kiersten White
Ms. Kathleen is currently reading Saving Winslow by Sharon Creech