LRC News
Library News & Events!
National Poetry Day Winners!
7th November 2014
This year the English Department & the Library promoted National Poetry Day which resulted in several great poems from the students in many different year groups.
The winner was given a Waterstones gift voucher and all runners-up received a free book.
The winning poems are listed below, enjoy!
1.
Untitled
Car lights and midnight
Summer nights and city lights
My days have never been so bright
With you my life felt so right
My love for you will never die
When you’re always by my side
And on these lonely Friday nights
You never failed to make me smile
Your smile is brighter than the sun
Your eyes pierce me like a gun
And I know that you’re the only one
So remember that I love you, hun
2.
The English Class
Everybody is outside
Waiting for the monster
They call him the teacher
He has a loud voice and is strict on spelling
He has a reputation for giving detentions
They call him the teacher
Then as everybody lines outside the English class
We first encounter him
He is scarier than we thought
He has wide eyes, staring at us, the prey
The he beckons us into his prison
Now everyone is scared of the teacher
Whilst in our one hour prison
The teacher catches somebody talking
He yells as loud as a dinosaur’s roar
He asks the prey to hand out his planner
He gives a detention, the teacher has
Caught his first prey
Now we dread the teacher
Then the beast declares that we have a test
His favourite way of catching prey, spellings
We all want to moan and groan
But it’d only take the bravest of all
Just before he started to read the words
The bell goes
We all want to cry for joy
But the beast seeks its revenge
3.
Untitled
Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator!
Haikus can be fun
But the best ones are random
Ninja Potatoes!
Haikus are random
Like this one for example
I like butterflies
This may seem lazy
But I’m sure you’re entertained
By this Strange Haiku
“But it isn’t one!
Haikus only have three lines!”
I agree but…
Haikus are too short
That’s why I made this poem
More than one haiku
I think you know why
I like a good haiku
I can be random
Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator!
And the winning poem!
4.
Descent
Darkness
All around me.
Thick as tar.
Cold as Night.
Tide closing in.
Pushing. Pulling.
A world in turmoil.
Battle against it.
Inhale, Exhale
Fight the flow.
My heart pounding.
The melodious beat of a marching drum.
Bleeding, feeling.
Turning numb.
Crumbling to dust.
Ashes to Ashes.
Fading, falling.
Joining the flow
My entire world tumbling
Perpetual Descent.
Student Book Review: Half My Facebook Friends are Ferrets
Review by Sonny Ersser Winson 9L
This book by J.A. Buckle is great, and I would say it is aimed at teenagers. The language in this book would not please adults, in the sense that it is generally language that teenagers use.
This book is about a boy called ‘Josh Walker’, a wannabe metal-head and this is his diary. He calls himself Josh the Destroyer and he has ‘rock n roll’ dreams; but his Mum won't let him grow his hair long, all his friends are nerds or geeks and he has received 0 Valentine’s Day cards. He has five main goals to do before his 16th birthday:
•To kiss a girl who is not family or a close friend
•To own the best guitar, the Jackson with blue ghost flames
•To be half as cool as people say his Dad was
•Master ‘One’ by the legendary Metallica
•Get something pierced or tattooed
I suggest this book to anyone who falls in the 12-13/13-14 age group. READ IT NOW!
-Sonny
Manga Charades & More!
6th November 2014
During this week's manga club we played Manga charades and Manga Pictionary.
The group was divided into teams of two, each team nominated a leader and each leader was given a Manga title or character to act out.
We then played Manga Pictionary where the team leaders were asked to draw a Manga title or character while their team tries to guess the answer quicker than anyone else. This activity always draws the attention of other students, some of whom usually end up joining the club which is great.
When we were done we created Twitter status updates for our favourite Manga characters, see some of the results below.
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory Prize Winner!
5 November 2014
To celebrate Roald Dahl Day way, way back in September, we held a contest to see if students could name the chocolate bars based solely on a cross-section photo of their gooey innards!
Students who were successful were then asked a series of skill-testing questions about the novel Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. The lucky winner was given a free copy of the aforementioned book plus a box of Quality Street chocolates.
Se below for a pic of the chocolate bars, how many can you guess?
World War One Library Lessons
30th October 2014
This half term, Year 7 & 8 students will be studying different aspects of WWI during their English library lessons, including:
1. Trench Life
2. The Battle of the Somme
3. The Battle of Verdun
4. The Home Front
5. The Causes of WWI
6. The End of WWI
By the end of the term, students will create an imaginary soldier or citizen and create a "shoebox" filled with poems, letters, photos and stories about their experience.
The final aspect of the project will be a radio news story in the form of a short podcast,
#GlenthorneReads
28th October 2014
Every month I'm going to highlight the Top 10 most popular books here at Glenthorne!
I also put these up on the Library's Twitter feed: @glenthornelrc with the hashtag #glenthornereads
See the pictures below for the 10 most popular books in October!
#10
#9
#8
#7
#6
#5
#4
#3
#2
#1: Geek Girl by Holly Smale!
When You Close Your Eyes & Think of Peace, What Do You See?
27th October, 2014
This November we'll be doing some WWI activities in the Library and to compliment them I created this display.
I gave out multi-coloured Post-It notes for students to write their answers on. I had no idea how popular it would be but after one day it was almost completely full.
See below for an "after" picture of the board plus a small handful of the students' responses.
Library Statistics!
22 October 2014
A new display in the Library today outlines the borrowing statistics of the previous school year.
We had 10,087 books borrowed from the Library, well over £80,000 worth!
Girls borrowed just over 800 more books than boys and the most popular book last year was The Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
See below for even more statistics.
I'm excited to see what stats we produce this year!
A Morning With Darren Shan!
20th October 2014
On Monday, 20th October eight students from Glenthorne travelled to the Rose Theatre in Kingston to meet the master of horror, Darren Shan!
Darren Shan treated the crowd to a grisly, gut-wrenching snippet from his latest novel, Zom-B Family. He then went on to take several questions from the crowd, explaining that his favourite book is The Secret Garden, his favourite film is L.A. Confidential and that the novel Salem's Lot by Stephen King was his inspiration to start writing the kind of horror he does.
He also gave some excellent advice to young writers and signed his books at the end of the event.
Able Writers' Workshop
17th October 2014
The theme for the workshop was Black History Month, students were asked to choose someone that inspired them, brainstorm ideas and then write their poem. They also worked together to edit and polish their work.
At the end of the day, three students from Glenthorne had the chance to perform their poems in front of students from the three other schools that attended the workshop. All of the students did great work, their poems will be added to the newsletter soon. More photos of the event can be seen below.
Manga Club Fortune Cookies!
16th October 2014
At Manga Club this week we made our own paper fortune cookies. Students had a choice of colourful card stock to choose from, then were given a tutorial on how to make them. See here for a great set of instructions.
The club had a choice of pre-made fortunes to slip into them but they enjoyed making their own more in my opinion. After we had amassed a large pile of them we made posters advertising our Manga Book Swap on 12th November. See below for a couple of more pics from the fortune cookie making event.
Star Wars Reads Day Part III
13th Oct 2014
To celebrate the 3rd annual Star Wars Reads Day here at Glenthorne High School, we made a display made from Star Wars propaganda posters & had a Star Wars Quiz. Half of the display board were posters trying to recruit students to the Empire, the other half for the Rebel Alliance.
Several other propaganda posters were placed around the school. They advertised our Star Wars Reads Quiz and other events. We also made a Star Wars book display to promote the program
On the day of the quiz, I had students partake in an origami Yoda-making contest inspired by the book by author Tom Angelberger. The student who made their Yoda the fastest was given some bonus points that could be added to their total on the quiz.
The quiz was taken from the official Star Wars web site, I incorporated pics from the Star Wars films and books to accompany each question. The winner received a copy of Tom Angelberger’s The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, a Star Wars journal and a deluxe Star Wars stationary set.
The origami Yoda’s that were created in the contest were put up around the propaganda display.
See below for more pictures!
Bringing Books to Ghana
3rd October 2014
In June of 2013, the Library and the PSHE Department partnered with Promoting Global Learning, a local charity who’s aim is to provide books to schools in Ghana.
Students and staff rallied behind the cause and together we donated over 1,000 books! School supplies, uniforms and early learning material were also donated. Thank you to everyone who got involved to help in this much-needed cause.
Author Carina Axelsson visits the Glenthorne Library!
2nd October, 2014
On 30th Sept Glenthorne's Year 8's had a visit from author Carina Axelsson. Carina has written a series of teenage detective novels entitled Model Under Cover.
Carina spoke to the students in the LRC about her life as a former fashion model and provided insights into how she began writing her books. She also read excerpts from the first two books in the Model Under Cover series.
At the end of the event she held a lively Q & A session with the students and then signed books for them, all in all a great day for the students!
See below for more photos of her visit.
Manga Club Sith Warriors!
26th September, 2014
The GHMC (Glenthorne High Manga Club) took part in an early Star Wars Reads activity last Wednesday by incorporating their favourite Manga characters into their very own Sith warrior!
See below for more examples of their work.
Year 7 & 8 Research Lesson
23 September 2014
During the 2014 /15 school year, Year 7 & 8 will be taking part in a Library-based research project with their English teachers.
Students will be working in groups and will have choose between five different historical mysteries:
1. The Mary Celeste
2. Bigfoot
3. The Dancing Plague of 1518
4. Stonehenge
5. Atlantis
The students' task is to come up with a theory (or theories) that adequately explains or solves their mystery.
The goal is that they'll learn responsible researching skills using both print and online sources.
They will present their findings in front of their class after four library-based researched lesson.
See below for a pic of one class hard at work researching their mysteries!
Surprise Summer Reads
22 September 2014
Before school broke up for the summer, staff at Glenthorne were asked to provide me with their favourite book genre - it could be anything, fantasy, horror or even something like 'it has a lot of explosions in it.'
I then picked a book off of the library's shelves and wrapped it up for them to read over the holiday. I also asked them to write a brief review of the novel on a revision card.
Once they handed the books back to me in September, I re-wrapped the books and put them on display for the students to check out. I will update this post later to describe students' reactions but as I was typing this one already came off the shelf!
Bowling For Books!
16th September 2014
This year the Library Induction included a competitive scavenger hunt that pits Year 7 & Year 8 classes against each other.
To help students learn to find their way around the Library, the names of books and their authors were stuck to bowling pins. Each student in the class had to find the book associated with their pin, if they found it within the allocated time limit, they "won" the pin plus 1 point.
At the end, the pins that had been "won" were arranged just as you'd see in a bowling alley and their teacher had one chance to knock over as many pins as they could for their class for bonus points.
More photos can be seen below!
Book Bench Scavenger Hunt!
12th September 2014
This summer, students, staff and their families took part in the National Literacy Trusts book bench scavenger hunt. The benches were designed to look like open books and were painted in the form of classic novels.
See below for more photos!
Glenthorne High School Library
Email: lml@glenthorne.sutton.sch.uk
Website: http://www.glenthorne.sutton.sch.uk/index.phtml?d=106902
Phone: 020 8644 6307
Twitter: @glenthornelrc