Hello,
This week I want to let you know about a great website that will help you in numerous ways. Do you want to teach digital citizenship? Review digital citizenship? Learn if a book or movie or video game is appropriate for your child or students? You can do all this at https://www.commonsensemedia.org/. There is a place to click if you are a parent or an educator. Lesson plans along with activities are available. This week I have had my students working on the Digital Citizenship site. For us, it is a review over some of the lessons we have learned this quarter. It looks like just fun and games, but there is still some learning that can happen.
Another thing I like about this website is that there are book reviews available. If you see that a student of yours is reading a book that appears to be inappropriate for school, you can type the title in and usually a review will come up that gives a lot of information about the content. The books are rated for educational value, positive messages, positive role models and representations, violence, sex, language, consumerism, and drinking/drugs/ and smoking. An age level that the book would be appropriate for is also given. There is a summary of the book and usually reviews from parents who have read the book and also kids who have read the book. Parents can give an age recommendation and kids can give age recommendations, too. Another section gives subjects that families can talk about with their kids regarding the book.
I have been hearing a lot about the game Fortnite, so I looked it up on Commonsense. The age level that Commonsense gives for this game is 13+. Parents say age 11+ and kids say 10+. Here are the other scores for that particular game.
Educational Value 2/5
Positive messages 3/5
Postivie role models 2/5
Ease of Play 3/5
Violence 3/5
Sex not present
Language 1/5
Consumerism 3/5
Drinking/drugs not present
The “What Parents Need to Know’ section has a nice long paragraph telling about the game and the players.
Reviews of the game by one parent says that the game is ‘gun violence sugar-coated’ and give the age for the game as 18+. One 12 year old student reviews the game and grades it as age 6+. It is interesting to read the reviews and see what different opinions people have. It also helps someone who is having questions or issues about a game to know more about it without having to play it for hours personally.
This website also gives articles to read such as “!0 Most Violent Video Games of 2014 (and What to Play Instead).
All in all, I really like this website. It is full of great advice and information. I recommend that you let parents know about this site so they have the opportunity to make better choices for their children.
Have a great week,
Audrey
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Monday, October 15, 2018
Books Boys (and Girls!) Like
Note: I wrote and sent this post in March 2015, but the subject comes up fairly often asking for books for boys to read. I am repeating this post simply because it is relevant, but I have also updated and added to it. So, if you read it before, there are some differences this time! amc
Greetings!
Have you ever wondered why it is so hard to find books that boys like and will read? I hate to label books as ‘boy books’ or ‘girl books’, but face it, books about cupcakes and girls being unkind to other girls in school really don’t appeal to most boys. It seems that girls who are readers will read anything – books that appeal to both girls and boys. Boys will seldom pick up a book with girls as the main character. So, I went looking for authors and titles that appeal to many boys in my school. One real plus for purchasing these is that the girls will probably read them, too!
One suggestion was the author Ralph Moody (1898 – 1982). You or your parents may have read his books as young people. Little Britches, Man of the Family, and The Home Ranch are three of his books. Most of his books are set in the American West and the ones I mentioned above are autobiographical. If you like these, they continue with Mary Emma & Company, The Fields of Home, Shaking the Nickel Bush, The Dry Divide, and Horse of a Different Color. You may even already have some of these in your library, but they may look old and dry. I suggest you begin with Little Britches and just start reading that book aloud to your students. This is very likely to get them started and interested in reading more from Ralph Moody.
Another author that was suggested to me is John D. Fitzgerald (1906 – 1988). He wrote a series called The Great Brain which are also loosely based on his childhood. The main character – The Great Brain – is based on his mischievous older brother, Tom. There is a movie of the first book on YouTube with Jimmy Osmond playing the main character.
Roland Smith (1951 - ) is really one of my favorite authors. He writes exciting adventures and I haven’t noticed any problems with language in the ones that I have. Roland lives near Portland, Oregon. He has had some very interesting jobs over his lifetime which translate into his books. He was a zookeeper and also was one of those who worked to save wildlife after Exxon Valdez spill. His book Sea Otter Rescue is the story of his work helping to rescuing sea otters during that particular adventure. He writes both fiction and nonfiction. My favorites are Peak, Jack’s Run, Zach’s Lie, The Storm Runner series, and Legwork (only available in Kindle edition). There are two sequels or companion books to Peak called The Edge and Ascent. Smith has also written a few alphabet books that are beautifully illustrated. Don’t be put off by some of his titles that may appear to be inappropriate. I wondered about Sasquatch, read it, and found it to be a great story.
Will Hobbs is an author I happened upon in the public library. I picked up one of his books and read it, then returned to see what else he had written. Then I bought a bunch of them for our school library. He writes for upper elementary, middle school, and young adult readers. When students need to read an adventure story, I point them to his books. So far, he has written nineteen books for young people and two picture books for younger ones. His goal is to “take young people into the outdoors and engage their sense of wonder” so he sets his stories in wild places he knows from firsthand experience. He has won multiple awards for some of his books and some have been translated into other languages. I suggest Crossing the Wire, Far North, Jason’s Gold, Take Me to the River, River Thunder, and Leaving Protection but there are many more to choose from.
If your boys and girls like to read about war, what about a true story about a Seventh-day Adventist man? The Seventh Escape by Jan Doward will fit that requirement. This is the story of Walter Loge’s escape from a prison camp hoping to reunite with his wife and children and might be a great read aloud when studying World War 2 (or any other time). The Adventist Book Center sells this book and if you go online, to their site, you can read the first chapter.
Another World War 2 true story is the story of John Weidner, a Seventh-day Adventist who helped save the lives of Jews and other who were fleeing the Nazis. Check out Flee the Captor by Herbert Ford.
Don’t forget The Hero of Hacksaw Ridge. Desmond Doss’ life is truly exciting and amazing. Older titles about Doss are The Unlikeliest Hero and Desmond Doss: Conscientious Objector. I believe all of these are available at the ABC.
If you haven’t read any books by Farley Mowat, you really must find one and get started. I recommend beginning with Owls in the Family. This is the story of Farley’s boyhood and the animals he collected in his Canadian prairie hometown. Be prepared to laugh and even cry as you read it. It is a wonderful read aloud, but I have a difficult time not bawling at the end when I read it aloud. No spoilers here. The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be has a few of the same incidents in it, but focuses more on his dog than the owls. Lost in the Barrens is a wonderful survival story about a Canadian teen and an Inuit teen who decide to go on a quick adventure rather than staying in the spot where they were told.
Keep in mind the classic ‘captured by Indians’ stories. You really must have a copy of Swift Arrow by Josephine Cunnington Edwards and Spotted Boy and the Comanches by Mabel Earp Cason. Countless SDA teachers have read these stories to their students and loved them. Students then check these books out and read them again. (and again!) I used to wonder what I would do if I were captured by Indians, but was pretty sure the chances were slim in Orlando, Florida.
I have a set of books that I can barely keep on the shelves. Students check them out again and again and just love them. I originally bought them for the middle grades, but they have also descended into the 3rd grade and even some 2nd graders love to read them. They are books from the I Survived . . . series by Lauren Tarshis. I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii AD 79, I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic 1912, I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens 1980, and more. There is usually a new title out each year. This year the title just published is I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies 1967. Ms. Tarshis researches famous disasters and writes an exciting story of survival from the point of view of a young person who was there. I actually haven’t read one since they are usually all checked out.
Another kind of book that I just can’t keep on the shelves is the Choose Your Own Adventure book. This kind of book is one that you read and get to a point where you actually choose how the story will continue on. You may have read this kind of story years ago, but the children at my school almost fight over these. I often see some very sad faces when they learn that all those books are checked out.
I hope you can find some books here that will appeal to your boys (and girls) and get them started reading. If you have other suggestions, I would love to add them to my list.
Have a great week.
Audrey
Greetings!
Have you ever wondered why it is so hard to find books that boys like and will read? I hate to label books as ‘boy books’ or ‘girl books’, but face it, books about cupcakes and girls being unkind to other girls in school really don’t appeal to most boys. It seems that girls who are readers will read anything – books that appeal to both girls and boys. Boys will seldom pick up a book with girls as the main character. So, I went looking for authors and titles that appeal to many boys in my school. One real plus for purchasing these is that the girls will probably read them, too!
One suggestion was the author Ralph Moody (1898 – 1982). You or your parents may have read his books as young people. Little Britches, Man of the Family, and The Home Ranch are three of his books. Most of his books are set in the American West and the ones I mentioned above are autobiographical. If you like these, they continue with Mary Emma & Company, The Fields of Home, Shaking the Nickel Bush, The Dry Divide, and Horse of a Different Color. You may even already have some of these in your library, but they may look old and dry. I suggest you begin with Little Britches and just start reading that book aloud to your students. This is very likely to get them started and interested in reading more from Ralph Moody.
Another author that was suggested to me is John D. Fitzgerald (1906 – 1988). He wrote a series called The Great Brain which are also loosely based on his childhood. The main character – The Great Brain – is based on his mischievous older brother, Tom. There is a movie of the first book on YouTube with Jimmy Osmond playing the main character.
Roland Smith (1951 - ) is really one of my favorite authors. He writes exciting adventures and I haven’t noticed any problems with language in the ones that I have. Roland lives near Portland, Oregon. He has had some very interesting jobs over his lifetime which translate into his books. He was a zookeeper and also was one of those who worked to save wildlife after Exxon Valdez spill. His book Sea Otter Rescue is the story of his work helping to rescuing sea otters during that particular adventure. He writes both fiction and nonfiction. My favorites are Peak, Jack’s Run, Zach’s Lie, The Storm Runner series, and Legwork (only available in Kindle edition). There are two sequels or companion books to Peak called The Edge and Ascent. Smith has also written a few alphabet books that are beautifully illustrated. Don’t be put off by some of his titles that may appear to be inappropriate. I wondered about Sasquatch, read it, and found it to be a great story.
Will Hobbs is an author I happened upon in the public library. I picked up one of his books and read it, then returned to see what else he had written. Then I bought a bunch of them for our school library. He writes for upper elementary, middle school, and young adult readers. When students need to read an adventure story, I point them to his books. So far, he has written nineteen books for young people and two picture books for younger ones. His goal is to “take young people into the outdoors and engage their sense of wonder” so he sets his stories in wild places he knows from firsthand experience. He has won multiple awards for some of his books and some have been translated into other languages. I suggest Crossing the Wire, Far North, Jason’s Gold, Take Me to the River, River Thunder, and Leaving Protection but there are many more to choose from.
If your boys and girls like to read about war, what about a true story about a Seventh-day Adventist man? The Seventh Escape by Jan Doward will fit that requirement. This is the story of Walter Loge’s escape from a prison camp hoping to reunite with his wife and children and might be a great read aloud when studying World War 2 (or any other time). The Adventist Book Center sells this book and if you go online, to their site, you can read the first chapter.
Another World War 2 true story is the story of John Weidner, a Seventh-day Adventist who helped save the lives of Jews and other who were fleeing the Nazis. Check out Flee the Captor by Herbert Ford.
Don’t forget The Hero of Hacksaw Ridge. Desmond Doss’ life is truly exciting and amazing. Older titles about Doss are The Unlikeliest Hero and Desmond Doss: Conscientious Objector. I believe all of these are available at the ABC.
If you haven’t read any books by Farley Mowat, you really must find one and get started. I recommend beginning with Owls in the Family. This is the story of Farley’s boyhood and the animals he collected in his Canadian prairie hometown. Be prepared to laugh and even cry as you read it. It is a wonderful read aloud, but I have a difficult time not bawling at the end when I read it aloud. No spoilers here. The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be has a few of the same incidents in it, but focuses more on his dog than the owls. Lost in the Barrens is a wonderful survival story about a Canadian teen and an Inuit teen who decide to go on a quick adventure rather than staying in the spot where they were told.
Keep in mind the classic ‘captured by Indians’ stories. You really must have a copy of Swift Arrow by Josephine Cunnington Edwards and Spotted Boy and the Comanches by Mabel Earp Cason. Countless SDA teachers have read these stories to their students and loved them. Students then check these books out and read them again. (and again!) I used to wonder what I would do if I were captured by Indians, but was pretty sure the chances were slim in Orlando, Florida.
I have a set of books that I can barely keep on the shelves. Students check them out again and again and just love them. I originally bought them for the middle grades, but they have also descended into the 3rd grade and even some 2nd graders love to read them. They are books from the I Survived . . . series by Lauren Tarshis. I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii AD 79, I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic 1912, I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens 1980, and more. There is usually a new title out each year. This year the title just published is I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies 1967. Ms. Tarshis researches famous disasters and writes an exciting story of survival from the point of view of a young person who was there. I actually haven’t read one since they are usually all checked out.
Another kind of book that I just can’t keep on the shelves is the Choose Your Own Adventure book. This kind of book is one that you read and get to a point where you actually choose how the story will continue on. You may have read this kind of story years ago, but the children at my school almost fight over these. I often see some very sad faces when they learn that all those books are checked out.
I hope you can find some books here that will appeal to your boys (and girls) and get them started reading. If you have other suggestions, I would love to add them to my list.
Have a great week.
Audrey
Monday, October 8, 2018
Library Club
Hello,
It’s been a while since I sent a post about using student helpers in your library. Most of us are very busy and many of you have small schools or very little help in the library so I knew that we could all benefit from student helpers. It may be that you are already benefitting from student help in your classrooms.
Due to a change in schedules about twelve years ago here at Rogers, I knew that I would be losing some of my help in the library. I did a little research and found that many schools have a Library Club of some kind. I saw elementary students through high school students helping in their school libraries and decided to try it. Here we are in our 13th year with Library Club.
This is a service club. In looking at my schedule, I realized that the best time for me to have students come in to help would be from 11:30 – 11:50. This happens to be lunch recess for our 5th and 6th graders, so that is the group that I started working with. I would like to use 7th and 8th graders, but the timing just doesn’t work at our school.
At first I advertised by mentioning it in library class periods, but I don’t do that any longer. I don’t need to. Students who want to be in Library Club come and ask me about it at the beginning of the school year. Students who were in the club last year come and ask when Library Club starts. They are my commercials for this. I used to have an application form for the students to fill out including a parent signature and a teacher signature, but this year I decided to see what would happen if we just started and didn’t worry about all that. The main thing is that the teacher knows where the students are when they come here to work. Students do need to keep up with their schoolwork in order to stay in Library Club.
I have found that my limit of Library Club members is right around the dozen mark. I really can’t manage more than that easily. If that many are all in the library at the same time, it tends to gravitate toward chaos rather than help.
I ask students to come at least twice a week during their lunch recess, but some of them come every day. The students receive training in shelving books and we can keep up with all the books that are returned each week. They come all week when we are having a book fair and they help with that. They also learn to straighten the shelves, ‘read’ the shelves, and keep the magazines, DVDs, and all other materials in order.
Library Club members receive some little perks such as coming to have lunch in the library once each week, free books at book fair time and Christmas, occasional treats, and a special party at the end of the school year.
This system might work for you, too. Think about it and see if you can train a few students to help you with your work.
Have a great week!
Audrey
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