Special Visitor

Pre-K had a special visitor in the Media Center this week! A big thank you to Mrs. Claus for taking time out of her busy schedule to read to our students!

Thank you, Chris Rumble!

Thanks to Chris Rumble and the Brookwood PTA, we have a beautiful new mural in the Media Center!

Mr. Rumble spent about 13 hours painting this mural for us, the first 6 hours over two afternoon/evenings when the students had already left for the day and the final 7 hours during a school day. I created a time-lapse video so that everyone could watch the amazing process of how our mural was created.

Hour of Code

We have been having fun with the Hour of Code in the Media Center.  This is a global project that touches tens of millions of students each year. There are lots of links for students (and parents) to try their hand at coding on the media wiki.  You can link to them here. 

However, I have also introduced many of the classes to "unplugged coding" this year.  We have been using simple symbols to think through the code with pencil and paper in order to learn the logic and sequencing needed for successful coding.  With kindergarten and pre-k, we pretended to be robots and verbally coded our robots to do the Hokey-Pokey.

Hour of Code - Unplugged pictures (I wish I had some of the Hokey-Pokey, but alas - I cannot dance, code, and take photos at the same time!)


Hour of Code

We love to Rumble!!!

Wow! What a great visit our K - 3rd graders had with Chris Rumble today! They left the media center energized, encouraged, and very enthusiastic! They are fired up about READING! Check back in a few days to see the mural that Chris is creating in the media center, too.

Students who ordered books or CDs received them today - those that ordered guitar picks will receive them on Wednesday.

Ready to Rumble!

It may look a little crazy, but we are getting ready for our next author visit! Chris Rumble visits on Monday, December 7th. Kindergarten students are dancing as they listen to clips from a few of his songs!

Chris Rumble will be at Brookwood on December 7th.

Letter to Parents from Mr. Rumble:

Dear Parents,

My name is Chris Rumble. I am so looking forward to my Author Visit with the great kids at Brookwood Elementary on December 7th.

I believe I was put on this planet to encourage the next generation to realize their greatness. Reading is a big part of that equation.

During our event, I will give all that is in me to get the kids fired up about diving into great books in order to feed their minds and broaden their horizons!

You can help by getting your child excited about our event. Letting them know what a GREAT DAY it is going to be and that we are going to have a lot of fun with music and illustrating and audience participation!

Also, let me encourage you to use this event as a reason to experience great books together with your child. Please see my “Seven Great Reasons to Read to Your Child” included in the post-script.

Also, please visit www.chrisrumble.com where you can watch my 6-minute video blog entitled, "How to End Your Child's Day with Joy and Happiness."

The day of our event, they will be especially motivated to explore the books that I have written and illustrated.

At $10, my books are relatively inexpensive. If the school is doing a book sale, the books can be purchased there. I autograph every book and include a personal note of encouragement to each child. If the school is not having a book sale, you can obtain the books at my web site at chrisrumble.com.

Thanks for investing in your child by getting them excited about our event!

I can’t wait to see the great kids at your school face-to-face!

We are going to have a BLAST…and inspire your child at the same time!

For the kids,

Chris Rumble

Author, Illustrator, Musician

P.S. Here are the basics of a talk I give entitled “Seven Great Reasons to Read to Your Child:”

WHEN YOU READ WITH YOUR CHILD, YOU WILL…

1. OPEN THEIR MINDS.

Books are the best way to introduce new and valuable concepts and ideas to your child's rapidly developing mind.

2. BROADEN THEIR WORLD.

Books introduce our children to heroes and take our children to amazing places and cultures to which most of us do not have the time or resources to take them.


3. MODEL READING FOR THEM.

Children do what they SEE us doing. When they see you enjoying books, they will, too.


4. HELP THEM WIND DOWN.

One of my children was extremely high-energy! Reading together helped her slow down and fall asleep.

5. END THEIR DAY WITH HAPPINESS.

In all that our world offers, what they REALLY want is one-on-one time with YOU.

6. ENJOY A HEART CONNECTION WITH THEM.

No other activity creates a heart connection like reading a book together in a quiet room at the end of a day.

7. GAIN THEIR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION.

In those heart-connected moments, you have your child’s full an undivided attention to say the things their hearts long to hear. Things like, “You are so precious and valuable to me. I am proud of you. I believe in you. I love you.”

Centers

This past week, I had some centers set up for first grade for the first time this year. I hope to incorporate centers more often - especially as I get ready to introduce a Makerspace concept to our students. This will also be a great way for everyone to get some "hands on" time and learn to use our Makey Makey, Little Bits, Kodable, and Nabi Big Tab, too.

Banned Book Week

Today, we celebrated Banned Books Week in the 5th grade. This is just a brief introduction and 5th grade is the only grade that I do this lesson with. I started out with a puzzle for the students - what do all the books on the tables have in common? How are these books different from other books in the library?



They walked around and looked at the books and tried hard to figure it out. They were really surprised to find out that all of the books have been banned or challenged in libraries across the country Almost every fifth grader had read one or more of the books. We learn some of the facts and figures about banned books and have some interesting and thought provoking discussions.

We had a wonderful visit with author Lois Ruby and her husband, Dr. Tom Ruby today. We were especially excited to learn that her next book, due out in early 2017, is set in DALTON!






Mrs. Ruby signed copies of her books, too. We may be placing a second order as many students are asking to purchase signed books after meeting the author!

Lois Ruby Visit for 4th & 5th Grades

We are getting excited! Lois Ruby, author of "Steal Away Home," "The Doll Graveyard," "The Secret of Laurel Oaks," and many other books will be at Brookwood on Monday, September 28th. We will have two author visit sessions, one for 4th grade and one for 5th grade in the morning. In the afternoon, Mrs. Ruby will hold a writing workshop for each grade and several students from each homeroom will attend.

Bookfair ONLINE until 9/18!

Thanks to everyone who shopped, browsed, and especially volunteered at our Monster Book Fair!
If you forgot something or just still want to shop, our online book fair is open until midnight on Friday, September 18th!

Open until 7 pm at Ballyhoo!!

The book fair will be here all week. We will also be open from 5 - 7pm during Ballyhoo!
We have a great selection and there are lots of great values.

Fall Newsletter

See the Media Center Fall Newsletter

Come to the Book Fair!

Summer Reading Celebration

Students who turned in their summer reading logs and/or sent a summer reading picture were invited to celebrate in the Media Center today.  Students were allowed to pick their own prizes - everyone could choose a hard cover book, two paperbacks, plus several "trinkets." Students who turned in both the log and picture received an extra hardcover book. AND twenty students had their name drawn to receive their choice of door prizes.  A good time was had by all!

If you are viewing on an iOS device, click HERE to see the photos.

Back to School

We are back! The two big changes in the library this year are not things you can check out. Mrs. Shaw is now the Media Center Paraprofessional.  Mrs. King retired at the end of last school.  While we miss her, we are blessed to have Mrs. Shaw as she already knows the students and is quickly learning her way around the library.  The other change is that we have "gone green" and are no longer printing library cards for most students (kindergarten and pre-k do not check out yet and they might have cards). Students enter their student number (lunch number) on our new key pad. We can quickly look up students by name if they do not know this number, too.  So far, it is working very well and students seem to like it, too.

Summer 2015 Reading Pics

If you are viewing on an iOS device and the slideshow does not appear, please click here.

We have had such a great time seeing what and where students and teachers are reading in the summer, that this has become an annual tradition. Whether your child participates in our summer reading program or not, please consider snapping a photo of your child reading this summer and email it to me. We will publish photos of students and staff enjoying their books on the Media Center Blog to encourage others to read. If the name of the book is not visible in the photo, please be sure and include it in the email! And if the picture is taken on a trip, try to include something in the background of the picture, so we will know where it was taken. It's always fun to see where our students and staff travel on vacation! Emailing a picture grants permission for use on the Media Center Blog. Students will only be identified by first name. Students will receive a special award for sending a picture (one prize per student). 

Students who complete and return a summer reading log will be invited to a Summer Reading Celebration when school resumes in August.  Forms and information were sent home with students the last week of school.  If you can't locate the form, the list may be written on any piece of paper or you can download it here.

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who supported our BOGO book fair.  There were lots of great deals and I hope you were able to pick up some wonderful books for summer reading. Information about our summer reading program will be sent home with students next week. Pictured above: Monique is shopping the book fair to stock up on summer reading materials!

BOGO Book Fair

Our BOGO (Buy One Get One Free) Book Fair is coming on May 6th. We will be open during field days on the 6th and 7th, so if you are coming to watch your student either of those day, don't forget to stop in and see us!  We will close at noon on Monday, May 11th.  This is a great way to stock up on summer reading material!  Click here for more info!

Evaluating Web Sites

Fifth grade students have been learning how to evaluate websites. We use the simple to remember "Who,What,When,Where and Why?" method.  Even though we have lessons on the Internet and digital citizenship on a regular basis, it always surprises them somewhat to find out that they can't always tell a real website from a hoax on their own. When they used the 5 W's though, they did a better job of finding reliable sites that they can trust.

Brookwood Bird Cam

Update: 4/23/15
Sadly, a predator attacked the nest today taking off with three eggs and damaging the fourth. We have moved the camera to a classroom that is raising some baby quails.

Update: 4/30/15  We are NOT currently broadcasting. But if you click HERE, you can still watch some of the videos we recorded of the robin's nest. Look to the right of the video screen for a link to the recordings.



Our bird cam is live!


Live streaming video by Ustream


You can also watch it by clicking here. (FYI - There will be occasional commercials which we have no control over.I recommend just turning off the sound as there is not any sound for the bird cam.)

Donations Needed for the LFL

The Brookwood Library is working with the United Way to keep the Little Free Library (LFL) in Lakeshore Park stocked with books. If you have any books that you would like to donate, please send them to Mrs. Wagner in the Media Center. We can use all kinds of books - adult, juvenile, fiction, or non-fiction. Please send a note with the books that they may be used for the LFL. Thank you!

Kindergarten E-book added

Miss Hendon's Kindergarten Class has written an ebook and it can be accessed through our library's online catalog, Destiny Quest. The name of the book is "Colors at Lakeshore." Type the title in Destiny's search box, click on the book, and then click once again on "open" to read the book online. Enjoy!

Butterfly Garden Movies

Two of the first grade classes chose to make movies about their butterfly gardens. We recently completed these and you can watch the movies by clicking the links below. One more class is still working on their project. Mrs. Hitchen's class is making a game and we may even try our hand at creating several short apps - so it is taking a little longer for this interesting project. Stay tuned for more information when their project is completed!

Mrs. Bramlett's Class Video

Mrs. Brown's Class Video

Butterfly Garden E-Books

All of the first grade classes have been working on projects in the media center about their butterfly gardens. Two of our first grade classes chose to write books and we completed them this week. They are available as e-books on the Internet and I have also made them accessible in our Destiny Quest online patron catalog. You can click on this link for Destiny Quest and search by the book name. When you find the book icon, click it and then click on "open" and the book will open in another window where you can read it.

Or you can click the links below to take you directly to the books:

Mrs. McClain's Butterfly Garden by Mrs. McClain's Class

In our Butterfly Garden by Mrs. Jaume's Class

Voting Results for GCBA

The 2015 GCBA winners have been announced.


The picture book winner is “Ol’ Clip Clip” by Patricia McKissack.


The chapter book winner is “Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell Block 25” by Richard Paul Evans.




Brookwood’s favorite picture book was “The Dark” by Lemony Snicket.


The chapter book winner at Brookwood was “Mr. Lemoncello’s Library” by Chris Grabenstein.


Students in kindergarten through 4th grade vote for their favorite picture book. Classroom teachers have been reading these books to their classes since September. Fourth and fifth grade students who wish to vote on chapter books read from the list independently. They must read at least two of the books to vote. The books on the nominee list are also the ones that are used in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl that our 5th grade "Battle of the Books" team competed in recently. Fourth graders will be forming a team to compete with the 5th graders in May.

Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss!

What a great time we had this morning with all of our guest readers! Thank you so much to everyone who took time out of their busy day to read to a class. Look for more pictures to be posted soon!

Tomorrow...

We are so excited about Read Across America and Dr. Seuss' Birthday tomorrow! With mid-winter break, snow days, a media specialist meeting on February 23rd, and a staff only day last Friday, it has been 2 weeks since I've seen students and I miss then! We have lots of guest readers coming in the morning to read to homeroom classes and many teachers have additional guests coming throughout the day, too! What a great way to welcome everyone back to school!

"You’re never too old,
Too wacky, too wild,
To pick up a book
And read to a child."
-Dr. Seuss

Kindergarteners Check it Out!

All of our kindergarten classes have now been "trained" to use shelf markers (also called red strips) and are now finding and choosing their own picture books. They are doing a great job and having fun, too!

Battle of the Books!

Yesterday our Battle of the Books Team traveled to Gainseville, Georgia to compete in our very first Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl(HRRB). This competition uses the chapter books that have been nominated for this year's Georgia Children's Book Award. We owe a huge thank you to Dalton City Schools for providing our bus and to Mrs. Bliss Jones and Mr. Bob Wagner for chaperoning this trip. Thank you to all of the parents for supporting us throughout this experience, too. I also need to thank Kelley Mitchell, Media Specialist at Blue Ridge, for her help and support as she is a HRRB veteran. Brookwood and Blue Ridge shared the bus and the whole day's adventures. We had a wonderful time and stopped at Amicalola Falls on the way back for a mile hike on the Appalachian Trail and dinner. I am SO PROUD of these kids!!!

Little Free Library

Have you visited the new library yet? We have partnered with United Way and are taking care of the new Little Free Library (LFL) located at Lakeshore Park. The concept is simple - take a book - return a book. If you have any books you would like to donate, you may send them to our media center so we can replenish the LFL as needed. Of course, you are also welcome to add books directly to the library itself and maybe choose a book to take while you are there!

Thanks for Your Support!

The book fair closed at noon today, but if you missed out or still want to shop, our ONLINE BOOK FAIR will be open until February 10th. If you purchase books online, they will be shipped to your child at school and should be received just before our mid-winter break. Thank you to everyone who shopped at the book fair!