Professional Journal Entry #12 – BCCB

From the BCCB, I read the 2016 Blue Ribbon Award Books Brochure, for a link to the brochure click here. Summary: The brochure was a list of books which had received high ratings from the reviewers at BCCB. It included titles from fiction, nonfiction, picture books, and folklore. According to the brochure, the unofficial theme…

Inquiry Exercise #9

"I am looking for the historical fiction book about a small town girl who becomes a murder suspect. I think she is 12." The title of the book that I found that fits this description is Dovey Coe by Frances O'Roark Dowell. The description of the book from Kirkus Reviews can be found here. I…

ISLMA ListServ Activity

1) What posts/topics did you find most useful? I sent an e-mail regarding the Cricut I was interested in purchasing for my library. This led to productive suggestions on where to order from, and how to set up access in the media center. In addition, I've also relied on the book suggestions/recommendations from the ListServ…

Professional Journal Entry #11 – Kirkus Reviews

Summary: I've used Kirkus Reviews to evaluate books for my library. This time I narrowed my search to middle school and browsed through the books they had listed. I read a review for the book THE FANTASTIC BODY: WHAT MAKES YOU TICK & HOW YOU GET SICK . After reading the review, I've decided to…

Inquiry Exercise #8

"I have a parent of a gifted eighth grader who has asked me for information on websites that would appeal for making and editing videos, coding, computers, and other tech-y things.  He used Scratch last year which he enjoyed but is beyond now.  Any suggestions?" The two sites I found that would be helpful for…

Professional Journal Entry #10 – Twitter

For another class, we had an assignment where we had to create a Twitter account. I have been negligent in monitoring the activity on this account, but with this assignment I made sure that I followed many of the authors featured at the YA Literature Conference I attended this weekend. Likes/Dislikes: I liked that it was…

Inquiry Exercise #7

"Our fifth grade has a lot of students reading at a 2nd grade level. The teachers need a hi-lo novel about the Holocaust that is not from the I Survived series.  Any great suggestions?" To begin this process, I wondered whether or not the novel would be read aloud with the students or if the students…

Professional Journal Entry #9 – YouTube

I created a short playlist of songs to accompany the 2018 Rebecca Caudill Nominees. View the short list here. Likes/Dislikes: I like that this is a platform that I would be able to connect with my students. So many follow (or subscribe to) different YouTube channels, there were 2 books available at my Scholastic Book…

Readers Advisory #6

The two databases I suggested for my middle school (6th Grade-8th Grade) are ProQuest SIRS Discoverer and ProQuest Culture Grams.  Summary for ProQuest Sirs Discoverer: I first heard about ProQuest SIRS Discoverer through a guest speaker in my Reference and Information class through this program. After listening to representative explain the features and accessibility of…

Professional Journal Entry #8 – Horn Book

Summary: For this week, I reviewed The Horn Book, specifically an article reviewing the app "Stop, Breathe, and Think Kids." The app is designed to help kids relax and practice mindfulness. The app provides information for parents on how to use with children. It guides kids through "missions" based on how they feel at the…