What's going on in the library lately? AND Your Holiday Shopping Guide!

In the weeks leading up to holiday break, the CMS library has been bustling with activity! Many classes have been coming into the library to take advantage of both our print and digital resources. Projects have ranged from explorers in grade 5, to looking at relationships in health in grade 8, to studying the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in grade 7. If you haven’t seen our new platform for curation of digital media, take a look at the “for students” tab here.

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Recently, the Library Media Specialists worked with a talented group of 8th grade students to put together a video for parents about using Google with their new laptops. During parent teacher conferences, parents could stop by any of the flatscreens at CMS and learn a bit more about Google Drive and Google Classroom.

Did you miss it? Watch the videos below!

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Are you doing some holiday shopping? Consider giving the gift of a book this holiday season! Rooster game books are popular for grades 5 & 6, while the Teen Book Battle books are great buys for grades 7 & 8! Find both of these lists on our Lib Guide here.

• Looking for great books for boys? Check out Guys Read
• What about empowering books for girls? Check out A Mighty Girl
• Or perhaps movies, games, or other media? Check out the reviews and suggestions from Common Sense Media.

Or, take a look at the New York Public Library’s list of Best Children’s books of 2015!

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Planning to get your student a device this holiday? Perfect timing! With a recent update in our catalogue, taking out free eBooks from CMS Library is easier than ever! Take a look at the directions below for an updated look at how to take out an eBook on your device. This is a great option for students who can’t wait to take out Rooster or Teen Book Battle books!

To take out an Ebook, have your student look it up on Destiny Quest. Ebooks will now have an "open" icon next to them.

Click the open icon. This will take you to the MackinVia sign in page. Sign in with your normal Chariho credentials.

Once you log in, you should have the option to click the "checkout" button. This will put the book in your MackinVia backpack, allowing you to access it from anywhere, including your new device! Download the MackinVia app on your device for easy access to your backpack from home or school.

Would you rather watch a video with these directions? Take a look at our "How do I" tab for the new screencast on checking out ebooks! 

Coming soon: Student made book trailers are used to advertise new books at CMS!

Happy Holidays from the CMS Library

Google Classroom at CMS

As more teachers are embracing Google Classroom you may find you are trying to assist your child at home with navigating through this new learning experience. On our Lib Guide, we have set up a page of resources that may be helpful. 

CMS Lib Guide

The best place to start is with the first link on the page below which will take you to a Youtube video "Student View Google Classroom - Basic Intro". Or, check out the video below: 

To access the Lib Guide at any time, the page is under the "Research Column" on the CMS media center webpage. Click on "CMS Lib Guides", then find the tab, "For Parents". We are constantly adding resources, so keep checking back! You can also refer to the "How Do I" page here on our blog. As always, do not hesitate to email us with further questions. 

Let's Make Bullying a Myth!

Did you know October is National Bully Prevention Month? 

At CMS we take the health and safety of our students very seriously. Bullying is something that affects too many middle school students today. We are joining the Washington County Coalition for Children by taking a stand against bullying. 

Along with a generous donation from the Washington County Coalition for Children, we have put together a display of books that can help your child to better understand bullying and how to prevent it. 

 

Some great suggestions from this display include: 

• Wonder and Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories by R.J. Polacio
• Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
• Where I Belong by Mary Downing Hawn
• Totally Joe and The Misfits by James Howe
• Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
• Better than Weird by Anna Kerz
• Schooled by Gordon Korman
• Confession of a Former Bully by Trudy Ludwig
• I Funny: A Middle School Story by James Patterson
• Crash and Loser by Jerry Spinelli 

       

           Join the Washington County Coalition for Children in partnership with local business, schools, organization, and hosting towns for the 3rd Annual Chalk It Up Against Bullying event. On October 17 from 11-2, Wakefield, Westerly and Wickford is inviting all chalk artists to create an illustration that speaks out against bullying. For more information or to register for the event, please go to www.washcokids.org 

Welcome to the CMS Library Media Center

     Welcome back to another exciting school year in the CMS Library Media Center!

     We were so thrilled to welcome our new fifth graders to the library during library orientation, in which they learned about what’s available in our library and how the CMS library works. We have already had many 5^th grade students chat with us about how excited they are to have such a big, beautiful library at their disposal-and we agree!!

                                                                         

     Is your child looking for a Rooster Game book or Teen Book Battle book? This year, we have MANY copies of these books in electronic format. If you have a computer, your child can check these books out and read them digitally! If you have a tablet, and iPod, or a smart phone, you can download the MACKIN VIA app for free. To access our books your child will have to sign in with their Chariho information. This is a free and easy option to get access to the Rooster Games and Teen Book Battle books, so please encourage your child to take advantage of it!

    To learn more about using MackinVia, watch the video below. If you still have questions, please feel free to contact any of the library media specialists.

**Please note that in order to avoid using excessive data on the MackinVia app, you should download the book so that it lives on your device, and will not require the use of data to access. **

All books that you check out will be stored in the green backpack in the top right corner, next to your name on the MackinVia page once you've signed in.

 

     This year we have a great selection of new books. To help students explore our new options, we will continue to put QR codes inside new books and allow our students to use the media center iPads to access book trailers! This year, we will also begin to play book trailers on our flatscreen TV to advertise our new, Teen Book Battle, and Rooster Game books. Check it out below! 

                                 

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to the winners of this year's Rhode Island Book Awards!

Students all over Rhode Island have voted on the Children's Book Award and the Teen Book Award. The winners are:

2015 Rhode Island Children's Book Award 

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library  by Chris Grabenstein

2015 Rhode Island Teen Book Award

 Eleanor & Park  by Rainbow Rowell

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson 

Congratulations to the winners! Nominee lists for RICBA and RITBA have also been released. If you are looking ahead to summer reading material, these are great resources to use! For more information about next year's nominees, check out the links below.

Rhode Island Children's Book Award

Rhode Island Teen Book Award

And the winner is...

The votes for the 2015 RI Children's Book Award have come in at CMS! At CMS, any 5th or 6th grade student who read at least 3 books was eligible to vote. Chariho Middle School had 347 votes!


And the winner at Chariho Middle School was.....

A TIE BETWEEN: 

         

                                   

Rump by Liesl Shurtliff and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

Coming in second was Athlete vs. Mathlete by W.C. Mack and in third was Doll Bones by Holly Black.

We look forward hearing the results from the rest of the state to determine which book will win the Rhode Island Children's Book Award for 2015! 

Women's History Month at CMS

In the month of March, CMS celebrates Women's History Month, honoring the contributions of all women throughout history.

This month the CMS library will showcase books from our collection honoring these women. Encourage your student to pick one up today! From our collection: 

        

Check out these sites for more information about National Women's History Month: 

National Women's History Project: http://www.nwhp.org 

Women's History Month from the Library of Congress: http://womenshistorymonth.gov 

Teen Book Battle and Rooster Games 2015

It's been a snowy winter here at CMS. But we didn’t let the snow stop us from having fun at the Teen Book Battle and the Rooster Games!

The Teen Book Battle for the 8^th grade was held on February 3. The 8^th graders who read five books from the RI Teen Book Award Nominee list were invited to participate in a whole day of fun and games surrounding the books. The nominees included:

Equipped with their knowledge of the Teen Book Nominee books, the 8^th graders dove into a day of games including memory, boggle, a true or false bean bag toss, a relay race, a QR code scavenger hunt, Pictionary, and Kahoot trivia. Check some of these rounds out below: 

When the fun and games came to an end, the 8^th grade wound down with ice cream generously provided by the PTO, an awards presentation for the top readers, and a presentation of snapshots from their day. Thank you to all who participated and the volunteers who made it possible!

The Rooster Games for grade 5 was held on February 10. We were thrilled to have almost the entire grade join us for the Rooster Games- that’s 20 teams!! These 5^th graders were required to read at least 5 books from the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award Nominees, which included:

The 5^th graders eagerly began the day with a illustration round in the auditorium, racing each other to identify the illustrations from each book.

This round was followed my many others, including the last lines, first lines, multiple choice, object, author, and creative rounds. Check out some pictures from our day: 

The day wound down with ice cream for all, as well as great slide show of snapshots from our day! Awards were also given out to those outstanding readers who went above and beyond the required reading. We even had a surprise visit from the Rooster himself, who congratulated all the fifth graders for their hard work! Thank you to all volunteers and educators who helped make this day possible- we couldn’t have done it without you!

We look forward to the 7th grade Teen Book Battle on May 28th and the 6th grade Rooster Games on June 9th.