Revving Up for the Rooster Games

The Rooster Games have arrived at the CMS library!

Well, the MINI Rooster Games have!

Mrs. Mann has put together a mini Rooster Games presentation for the 5^th grade students to give them a little taste of the fun they will have on January 27^th! The fifth graders were divided into teams and jumped right into the competition.

The 5^th graders did a great job identifying illustrations from the Rooster books, unscrambling character names, identifying objects representing the books, and more!

At the end of the games, the student who had read the most books on each team received an "MVP" bookmark; Mrs. Mann reminded them all that the more books they read, the more valuable they'll be to their teams in January!  For those students who want to read more, there’s still plenty of time. The games for grade 5 are on January 27^th, and only 5 books need to be read to participate. Participants will not only have the chance to play games all day long, they will also get free ice cream provided by the PTO! 

Winter vacation is a great time to catch up on your Rooster books. Parents, encourage your kids to read this vacation so they can participate in the games!

The CMS library staff wishes you and your families a restful holiday break. 

Your Holiday Shopping Guide!

"A Book is a Gift You Can Open Again and Again."

-Garrison Keillor

The holiday season is upon us!  As you put together your shopping lists, here are some links to help you find the perfect match for the special people in your life...

RICBA Nominee

RICBA Nominee

If you're shopping for a 5th or 6th grader, consider selecting a book from this year's Rhode Island Children's Book Award nominee list.  All students in these grades have been challenged to read at least five of these books.  Students who do will qualify to participate in the "Rooster Games", so you'll be helping them along!  The link above will provide you with summaries as well as suggested grade levels for each book.






For 7th and 8th graders, there are some wonderful books to choose from on this year's Rhode Island Teen Book Award nominee list.  Students in these grades who read at least five of these books can participate in the "Teen Book Battle"!  These nominees cover a wide range of topics and include nonfiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction.

RITBA Nominees

For readers of all ages, take a look at the list of 2014 Notable Children's Books created by the Association for Library Service to Children.  This list is intended to contain "the best of the best in children's books".  The four sections include Younger Readers (preK-grade 2), Middle Readers (grades 3-5), Older Readers (grade 6-8), and All Ages. 





While you're searching for the perfect book, there are two websites that will not only provide a myriad of fantastic suggestions but also plenty of other great information as well.  You really can't go wrong spending some time exploring these:

A Mighty Girl is a website that was "founded on the belief that all children should have the opportunity to read books, play with toys, listen to music, and watch movies that offer positive messages about girls and honor their diverse capabilities.  Girls do not have to be relegated to the role of sidekick or damsel in distress; they can be the leaders, the heroes, the champions that save the day, find the cure, and go on the adventure."  Click here to go straight to their recommended books page!

Guys Read is a web site with a mission "to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers".  Founded by author Jon Scieszka, the site is filled with loads of recommended reading lists with titles like Creepy and Weird, People Being Transformed into Animals, and Realistic Kids in Realistic Situations.  There's also a section of reading lists created by authors like Dan Gutman and Gordon Korman called By Some Guys and For Other Guys.  There's lots of other great stuff to be found on this site, but you can click here to go straight to the Main Book Page.  

Whether it's a traditional book, an electronic book or an audio book, please consider sharing the joy of reading with someone you love this holiday season!

What’s going on in the library this week?

The CMS library has recovered from a very busy Book Fair last week. Our 5^th graders were excited to attend their first book fair at the middle school, while the 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders were eager to see what treasures awaited them this year!

Some of our bestsellers were: 

                           

We’d like to thank all students, staff, and families who supported the CMS library through the book fair. With the money we have earned, we will be able to beef up our own collection with new resources!

If your CMS student was not able to get books at this book fair, don’t panic! We will be holding another book fair from March 9^th-12^th. 

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In other news, this week the 5^th grade has come to the library to begin a new adventure! The students have learned all about how to use the Cornell Note Taking system to take effective notes about a European explorer. They will be using both print and digital sources to complete their research.

Take a look at the video below that we used to introduce the 5^th graders to the Cornell Note Taking System!

The Cornell Note Taking System is used by many classes in our school community. This system helps students to engage meaningfully with resources and remember material better. Ask your student about this system at home!

The Book Fair Arrives Next Week!

Next week, the Scholastic Book Fair will be taking over the CMS Library!  If you would like your child to participate, please send them to school with money on their scheduled day. The schedule is as 

follows:

Monday, November 10^th: Grade 5

Wednesday, November 12^th: Grade 6

Thursday, November 13^th: Grade 7 & RYSE

Friday, November 14^th: Grade 8

We will be open from 7:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.

Checks can be made out to “CMS Library.” Cash will also be accepted.

Parents, hoping to buy some holiday gifts for your child? Check out our online book fair here. Purchases may be made from November 7^th to the 17^th.

All proceeds from the book fair will benefit the Chariho Middle School Library Media Center. The success of prior book fairs has allowed the library to purchase curriculum related and student requested books.

Thank you for supporting the Chariho Middle School Library!

When In Doubt...Scan It!

Where will this QR code take you?

"Never judge a book by its cover."

Good advice, but how are you supposed to know if a book is going to interest you when you find it on the shelf?  Books will usually have a summary available, but there's a modern option that appeals to our media-savvy students even more.  Ms. Kelley has been hard at work creating QR codes for books in our media center and attaching them inside their covers.  Students with a QR reader installed on their devices can scan the code and be taken directly to an online book trailer for that title!  (A book trailer is like a commercial.  Click here to watch a book trailer for Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin.)

A student scanning a book's QR code using one of the library's iPads

What if a student doesn't have a device?  Well, we now have three iPads available for students to borrow!  They can ask for one at the circulation desk to be used while in the library.  (How cool is that?)












Miss DeVito has set up book displays to highlight the titles that have QR codes attached, and there are lots more on the way.  The books also have a spine label to indicate that they contain a code so the students can find them easily after they are shelved with the rest of the collection. 

We've begun letting students know about this exciting new option, and the response has been very positive!

Miss DeVito shows a class how to use a library iPad to scan a book's QR code