GCS School Library Media News
December 2017
We Wish You A Merry Christmas!
Our Future!
Kindergarten students at Pleasant Ridge began learning that coding is a way to write instructions for telling computers and other machines what to do. In order to make that concept a little more relatable they wrote "code" that gives instructions on how to plant a seed using an activity from code.org. They had to put the steps in order and debug their algorithm by taking out the steps they didn't need. They had a great time working together to make sure their algorithm worked.
Submitted by Kelly Lawniczak, SLMC
Read-A-Thon
Holbrook Middle School held a Readathon in October. Students raised enough money to buy 100 new books, which will be available to students starting in January. Way to go, Holbrook
Speed Dating with Books
Freshman students searched for a nonfiction love connection in the Stuart W. Cramer media center for an English 9 reading assignment. Students were asked to select a narrative/creative nonfiction title to read and use during book discussions each week. Students went through six rounds of introductions and recorded their first impressions using a comment card. As students moved around the tables, they were able to keep dating any book they loved to get to know it better. Some students elected to double date and select the same book as a classmate. After students found their perfect match, they checked it out at the circulation desk and received a Hersey Kiss.
Submitted by: Vanessa Griffith, SLMC
STUDENT CHOICE AWARDS
Belmont Middle School students wrote book recommendations to encourage students to try other books and series that were not checked out regularly.
The sign reads "Give me a night by the fire with a book in my hand" by Mark Helprin from Winter's Tale.
Submitted by: Elaine Gentry, SLCM
Deck The Halls
Submitted by: Audra Pressley, SLMC
YCMS Gets Global
York Chester Middle School participated in the Global Read Aloud as a school this year! The Global Read Aloud is an annual international event started by Pernille Ripp in which classrooms from around the world choose to read the same book (lists provided each year) and connect in various ways. Some groups send postcards or letters, some share final products, but what you do is completely up to you and your partner teacher. York Chester connected with a school in Vallentuna, Sweden through FlipGrid. Our sixth graders read and discussed The Wild Robot by Peter Brown with their Swedish counterparts, seventh graders read and discussed A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, and eighth A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. Each week, they would summarize the text and ask questions of the students in Sweden on FlipGrid, then respond to summaries and questions posed by the students in Sweden. We learned a lot about what diversity looks like in Sweden, a few Swedish phrases, and that middle schoolers in Sweden love fidget spinners and dabbing (that blew our student's minds!). Swedish students enjoyed our videos attempting to pronounce items at Ikea! It was a blast and, while ours has lasted past the six week marker, it's been fun and is something I will definately do again!
Here's a link to one of the classes in Sweden introducing themselves to us: https://flipgrid.com/9cb07f
Here's a link to one of our classes introducing themselves to Sweden: https://flipgrid.com/aab901
Submitted by: Faith Huff, SLMC
DON'T MISS A MINUTE . . .
Missed any of the monthly highlight? Check out past issues to see what has been going on in the media centers in Gaston County: