More Coding!

Second and third graders have been coding this week. Programming the lights on the Georgia Christmas tree in Washington, D.C. has been one of their favorite things. To see some of their pictures, scroll down to the December 10th entry.
In case you want to try this yourself, here is the web address to code the tree.

New Books, Databases and E-books!

We have lots of "presents" for our students and teachers! I just finished entering over a hundred new books that I purchased at the Scholastic Book Warehouse on Saturday. Some are already on the shelves and the rest will be as soon as we finish processing them. The titles have been added to the "New Books December 2014" resource list on Destiny Quest. There are over 200 new books on this month's list!!! Thanks to our PTA for funding this purchase!

We also now have two more awesome research databases - PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next. Students and teachers were asked to compare and help make the purchase decision (see entries about this below). You can connect to both of these databases either through the school website under "Quick Links" or through the home page on Destiny Quest (click "exit" then "home").

We also will soon have new e-books (electronic books) that can be accessed through Destiny Quest. These books all have unlimited access which means there are no limits on how many students or teachers can use them at one time - isn't that great? I was awarded a matching grant so I was able to purchase 42 new ebooks for the price of 21. As soon as we receive the computer records for the new ebooks, I will add them to a resource list - "New E-books" to make them easier to find in the system. Of course, just entering "ebooks" in the Destiny Quest search box will find ALL of our ebooks - so if your child is looking for something to read over the holidays, don't forget these books can be downloaded to your computer, tablet or phone and can then be read off-line. Students may check out as many ebooks as they like and they will automatically "return" to our library after two weeks - they are NEVER late - how cool is that? Again, thanks to out PTA for purchasing these e-books for our students and teachers!

Julie Cook's Visit

Author Julia Cook visited K - 3 in the media center at Brookwood today.  We enjoyed the stories and books she shared with us and learned some important lessons along the way. We liked the way students followed her instructions when leaving the media center, too - you could have heard a pin drop as all of the students and teachers excited back to their rooms! Be sure and ask your child about the program.  Orders for her books will be accepted until December 18th.  (Remember - free shipping and no tax when you place your order through the school.)  Mrs.Cook will autograph the books (and her dogs will, too, if you check that box) and mail the books to us after the Christmas break.  If you need an order form, either send a note to the media center or print one from her website: www.juliacook.com

 

Hour of Code

4th and 5th graders are participating in the Hour of Code in the media center this week. (Other grades may do this later, but they have been preparing for our author visit with Julia Cook.)  The purpose behind the Hour of Code is to expose students to coding and to generate interest in future careers in  computer science. I provided lots of choices for trying coding, but one of the favorites seemed to be programming lights for the Georgia Christmas tree near the White House in Washington, D.C.  The programs the students wrote for the lights will actually run and they were given the date and time that their program would be used when they submitted their finished program - how cool is that?!?!?

Keep checking back for more pictures after 4th grade classes on Friday.

December in the Media Center

The holidays are such a happy time - all the students are excited - and the media center looks so festive. Pre-k even had a special visitor!

Preparing for Julia Cook

We are getting ready for our next author visit.  Julia Cook will be at Brookwood on December 11th and will speak to kindergarten, first, second, and third grades in the Media Center.  Julia is a former school guidance counselor who writes books that help children deal with life issues, behavior skills, and overcoming fears among other things.   Kindergarten and first grades listened to and discussed several of her books in the Media Center and also with Mr. Bess in guidance. Mr. Bess also shared books with second and third graders, but in the Media Center those classes listened to a book and then used Julia's website to find out more about the author.  Then they entered the information they found on a Google Document.  They also learned some keyboarding shortcuts, such as cut & paste and find.  Three classes come next week and pictures will be added soon!

More New Books!

Stop by and check out our new books! We have added over 80 titles recently and still have more books to enter! You can see the list by clicking on Destiny Quest, finding the Resource Lists (middle of the home screen) and then scrolling down the public lists until you find the one titled "New Books December 2014."