MJHS Media Center Newsletter
October 2018
Celebrate Teen Read Week - Bring your classes!
The 2018 Teen Read Week will be held Oct. 7 - 13th, featuring the theme "It's Written in the Stars: READ." Please help us to use this theme to encourage students to think and read outside of the box, as well as seek out fantasy, science fiction and other out-of- this-world reads. Join the conversation on Twitter with #TRW18.
I would love, love, love to host as many classes as possible for book checkout on this week! Please contact me if you are interested. :)
(Teen Read Week™ is a national adolescent literacy initiative created by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). It began in 1998 and its purpose is to encourage teens to be regular readers and library users.)
Vocabulary.com
Did you know that APS has provided us with a paid subscription to Vocabulary.com for 2018-2019?
You can easily access already created vocab lessons simply by searching for the topic you want your students to learn. For example, here is a sample of what a search for “chemical reactions” yields: balance, base, binary compound, boiling point, Boyle's Law, etc.
Students love the format of the website and it is suitable for any subject area. Odds are that there is already a test/game for any subject you can imagine, but if not, you can create one!
This quick 3 minute “How to Get Started as a Teacher” video will show you everything you need to know to get started!
https://www.vocabulary.com/help/videos/
How to:
· Create a new class
· Invite students to your class (email invite or url that they click)
· Choose a vocab list or create an assignment
If I can help, please feel free to stop by the Media Center and I can walk you through the website. It is easy and the kids really like it! :)
Salem Press Databases
Just a friendly reminder of our research subscriptions that are available through Salem Press. Our databases cover everything from Literature to Physics to Careers!
These are accessible via the MJHS Library page (under Research tab) or here: https://online.salempress.com/home.do
Username: mjhs
Password: mjhs
Please take advantage of these valuable resources!
Don't forget about Current Events!
Website: https://nieonline.com/ajc/studentconnect.cfm
Username: mjhs
Password: readmore
Sprint 1 Million Project Returns to MJHS!
The mission of the program is to help 1 million high school students who do not have reliable Internet access at home reach their full potential by giving them mobile devices and free high-speed Internet access. 70% of America’s school teachers assign homework to be completed online, but more than 5 million families with school-aged children do not have reliable internet connectivity at home. This disconnect leads to dramatically inequitable outcomes among our students. It is our hope that by providing these devices to students, we can help to bridge the gap!
Ninth graders in need were identified at the middle school level last year. (Please note, I cannot add students to this list). Students will receive their devices during the first week of October (I will pull them out of class one by one). If you have any questions, please contact the Media Center.
New Books!
Nothing Left to Burn
Over the course of the next twenty-four hours, as Audrey wrestles with the possibility of losing her family home, she also recalls her early, easy summer days with Brooks, the charming, passionate, but troubled volunteer firefighter who enchants Audrey--and who is just as enthralled by her. But as secrets from Brooks's dark past come to light, Audrey can't help but wonder if there's danger in the pull she feels--both toward this boy, and toward the fire burning in the distance.
Evicted
The Beauty That Remains
Isolated by three untimely deaths, a diverse assortment of teen millennials seeks healing in friendship and music.
Shy Autumn, a Korean-American adoptee, was stunned when her best friend, Tavia, a lively Latinx extrovert, died in a one-car accident returning from a party. Autumn’s guilt over having skipped the party to hang out with Tavia’s brother, Dante, threatens to derail their dawning romance. Bram died months after he’d left Logan for Latinx Yara, a girl. In pain, blocked emotionally and creatively, Logan, a white, singer/songwriter, self-medicates with alcohol. Black identical twins Shay and Sasha were close until leukemia took Sasha’s life. Their intersecting stories chart how the void left by death reshapes relationships among survivors: friends, parents, children.
TeachingBooks.net for The Hate U Give
There are excerpts, reading lists, lesson plans and author interviews for The Hate U Give and other books on Teachingbooks.net. If you've never utilized this resource, then you're missing out on lesson plans, vocab lists, author interviews and more!
You can view them here: https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=53310 . Note: It may ask you to register with your school login. You’ll use your email and choose a password and then you’ll have to enter in the confirmation code they send you, but you’ll only have to do this once. Then you’ll have access forever via MyBackpack.
Black Poetry Day is October 17th
Black Poetry Day is observed annually on October 17. This is a day to honor past and present black poets.Black Poetry Day celebrates the importance of black heritage and literacy and the contributions made by black poets.
Lesson Plans from Read, Write and Think
Grade 9 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
A Harlem Renaissance Retrospective: Connecting Art, Music, Dance, and Poetry
Students research, evaluate, and synthesize information about the Harlem Renaissance from varied resources, create an exhibit, and highlight connections across disciplines (i.e., art, music, and poetry) using a Venn diagram.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Childhood Remembrances: Life and Art Intersect in Nikki Giovanni's "Nikki-Rosa"
Students explore what Carol Jago calls the place "where life and art intersect" by reading Nikki Giovanni's poem, "Nikki-Rosa," and then writing about childhood memories of their own.
Grades 9 – 12 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Discovering a Passion for Poetry With Langston Hughes
Through a study of Langston Hughes' poetry, students connect his writing to his place in history.
Grades K – 2 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Poetry Portfolios: Using Poetry to Teach Reading
Teach your students about sentence structure, rhyming words, sight words, vocabulary, and print concepts using a weekly poem.