BOOK TASTING

Four of our Language Arts classes participated in our first HCMS Library BOOK TASTING!

Here's how it went:

• we sent THIS video for the students to watch beforehand
• we pre-selected 6 genres and 6 books for each genre
• students were provided a Menu (listing all the books) and a Book Tasting log
• students spent 4-5 minutes "tasting" a book from each genre table and logged their tasting experience for each book.
• students were allotted time to check out any of the books they tasted

I got the idea from The Book Bug blog and The Unquiet Librarian.

I wanted to make it seem like a big deal, so tried to fancy it up with invitation, cupcakes, flowers, doilies, and fake tealight candles.

Most students said that they found at least one book that they want to check out, so success!

Changes for next Tasting: 

•  Don't have a set menu beforehand.  Some of the books were unavailable because they were checked out.  
•  Make sure to have trashcans around for cupcake trash
•  We are a 1:1 iPad school, so providing the tasting log as a pdf so students can annotate on it and can easily have a digital copy to reference later is a good option 
• I'd like to try the musical chairs version

The Invitation

Menu

Book Tasting Log (double sided)

I used Canva to create the menu and tasting log

The set up

Cupcakes always make things fun!

The set up

BOOK FAIR COMING SOON!

HAVE YOU READ ROBYN SCHNEIDER YET?

Well, it's about time! Get Reading!
Her two books:

And here is everything you need to know about EXTRAORDINARY MEANS.
Young love collides with tragic illness.

THE EXTRAORDINARY MEANS TRAILER

MORE POTTER? YES, PLEASE!

Next year, the magical world of Harry Potter will return to screens, with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, based on JK Rowling's book with the same title.  

Um, we're excited, to say the least.

Check out this Entertainment Weekly article about the secret project.

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

MAKE THESE PLEASE!

So I just found this amazing book and the chef/author will be at BookPeople on November 15!  

And the recipe below is in her new book.  Someone, please make them for the Library (and by Library, I mean me).  Except I don't want them to be textbooks, I want them to be book titles, like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, etc.

And, go!

 

GOOD AND EVIL VISIT

Today, Soman Chainani, author of the School for Good and Evil series, spoke to HCMS 6th graders.  We all had a blast and are pumped to start reading the series (if we haven't already).  

Soman began by telling us what inspired him to write the series.  When he attended Harvard, he was placed into a Seminar - Fairy Tales and Literary Culture of Childhood - which turned his understanding of fairy tales on their head.  You see, he grew up watching all of the Disney movies.  In fact, he thought Disney created these tales.  But thanks to this seminar, he soon realized that he had it wrong - Disney actually butchered these classic tales by Grimm & Anderson.  Disney sends unrealistic messages to children, undoing their original intent, to prepare children for adulthood and teach them lessons.  Yes, the classic versions may be a bit dark and bleak, but they were honest.  Soman talked about the difference between the Disney and original version of The Little Mermaid, claiming in the Disney version, girls are taught that it's ok to fall for a guy just based on his looks, even if you've never spoken to him before.  Whereas, the original version, said that you shouldn't run away and fall for a stranger, or you will die. 

So Soman set out to write a trilogy in the form of the classic tales.  And so The School for Good and Evil was born.  And the cool thing about it is that you're never quite sure who is good and who is evil.  

Soman dazzled us with fun videos, descriptions of his books, opened our eyes to the initial intent of fairy tales, and played a fun poll with us.  It was a fantastical visit!

So hold onto your hats and because this read will take you on a fantastical ride! 

We have signed copies of the books in the library for sale through next Friday, November 6.  Come and get them!

Here are some pictures from the visit today:

 Special shout out to Mr. Reilly for the amazing posters!

I NEED THIS BOOK!

THIEVES IN THE LIBRARY

Today 6th graders Skyped with author Paul Catanese!

They were super excited to "meet" Mr. Catanese, especially since they just finished reading his first novel, The Thief and the Beanstalk.

Mr. Catanese gave a brief introduction and then dove right in to answer student questions:

"Where did the idea for the book The Thief and the Beanstalk come from?"
Mr. Catanese use to read to his daughter every night and for an entire week she wanted to hear the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.  He began thinking about the description of the beanstalk growing, which is not told in the original story.  This prompted him to sit down and write a description of the beanstalk growing, which eventually turned into the sequel to the original story.

When asked about his revision process, he said it's his goal to go back and cut out unnecessary words in order to make his story "lean and muscular."  When revising, it's his goal to "make the book a little bit skinnier."

When asked about how to overcome writer's block, he said that it's important to "just keep writing."
 Some other tips:

• Skip over the place where you're stuck and move on.  You can always come back to it later.
•  Do research.
• Write biographies for your characters.
• Write an outline

One of the last questions was, "Is there going to be a sequel?"
He said that he had an idea to write a sequel involving vikings, a return to cloud island, and exploring beyond the castle.  But unfortunately, his editors wanted him to focus on the other stories in the series instead.  But as Mr. Catanese stated, at least the ending gives you a "feeling that the adventure can continue."  And the "hope of another adventure."

We ran out of time for all of the questions, so feel free to email Mr. Catanese your questions and he'd be more than happy to answer: pwcatanese@aol.com

Thank you Mr. Catanese!  

We have all of the other books in the Further Tales series as well as the Books of Umber.  Come check them out today!

Here are some pictures and a video of the event:

Mr. Catanese talking to the students

Student asking Mr. Catanese a question

Our "thank you!" and goodbye

6TH GRADE WIERDOS

Today the 6th grade LA classes skyped with author, Lee Wardlaw!!!

They just finished reading her novel, Seventh Grade Weirdo, and were full of interesting questions for the author.

She began her "visit" with a power point presentation riddled with interesting facts about her life, childhood, writing, and hilarious cat pictures!  You heard me right!  She's a HUGE cat lover!  Sorry dog fans.  She shared that she bases many of her characters and their struggles from real-life people and things she's experienced or heard about.  She, herself, was a seventh grade weirdo.  Or at least she felt like one when she was in middle school.  And the shark is based off a real-life bully that antagonized the students in her husband's middle school.  What real-life experiences and people can you write about?

Students then asked intriguing questions, many which she had never been asked before, like, "Have you ever considered writing the story from Winnie's point of view?"  Wardlaw conceded that she has never thought of that but it is definitely something to think about.  It would be interesting to hear what Winnie's been up to and how fame and fortune has changed her.

We also got the inside scoop, on what she's working on now: How to Bug Your Brothers & Sisters (#4 in the series) and an informational book about the history of humor and jokes!  She gave a sneak peek into a piece of information from the latter: The earliest recorded joke was a fart joke!  Ha!  

We had a great time visiting with Lee Wardlaw!

A huge THANK YOU to Lee Wardlaw for writing books that entertain us and visiting with us today!   

Check out these pictures and videos from today's visit:

Do you have more questions or comments for Lee Wardlaw?
Here's how to contact her:

For more information about Lee, her books
and how to purchase them
please contact Lee by visiting her new email page

You can also find out more about Lee by visiting her Blog.
Click here to visit her blog

or you can email Lee at