Pathfinder for 7th Grade Language Arts Classes: Japan

7th Grade Lanhuage Arts Students, here are two webpages I found to help with your projects on Japanese culture.



http://www.japan-zone.com/
You will find red tabs at the top of the page, these tabs will link to information about, "Modern Japan", "Cultural Japan" and "Japan Omnibus". The omnibus tab will give you information about history, religion, climate and government. Remember this is a commercial site, so they are trying to "sell" you something. Please remember never to give out personal information(phone number, email, etc,) on these type of webpages.



www.atlanta.us.emb-japan.go.jp/cggreeting.htm
A link to the Japanese Embassy in the Metro Atlanta area, a wonderful resources for you to begin gathering information.

6th Grade Lunch Book Group

Just announced today the first meeting of the 6th Grade Lunch Book Groups:


Thursday, December 9, 2010
6th Grade Girls

Please join me in the library during lunch as we discuss Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes.

Summary: On a summer visit to her grandmother's cottage by the ocean, tweleve year old Martha gains perspective on the death of a classmate, on her relationship with her grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, and on her plans to be a writer.

Find more information about this book from the author's website. Click here.



Friday, December 10, 2010
6th Grade Boys

Please join me in the library during lunch as we discuss Go Bog or Go Home by Will Hobbs.

Summary: 14 year old Brady and his cousin Quinn love extreme sports, but nothing could prepare them for the aftermath of Brady's close encounter with a meteorite after it crashes into his Black Hills, South Dakota, bedroom.

Fine more information about this book from the author's website. Click here.



Copies of both titles can be checked out from the Middle School library, you may need to visit the public library to find a copy or purchase a personal copy from a bookstore. Please sign up in the library if you wish to attend.

GUYS READ

For a few years Jon Scieszka, a noted children's author has created a webpage www.guysread.com

This mission of this webpage is to make boys "self-motivated and live long readers". Jon and his fellow guys read authors have created wonderful lists of books, magazines, and cereal boxes for guys to read with the hope that we will create new readers.

I have decided The Davis Academy needs to get involved with the Guys Read project. Today I created a book display of Guys Read titles and strategically placed guys read logos in the hallways to spark conversation (it's worked so far...a few students have asked questions: YEA!)

I have printed off a Charter Application from the Guys Read webpage and invite all Guys to become charter members of The Davis Academy Chapter of Guys Read. Please stop by and sign the charter! Click here for a copy of the charter.

Renaissance Reader Challenge #3: One Million Words

Time for our 3rd challenge of the year: The One Million Word Challenge

This Challenge is open to all students, parents, family, faculty and staff to read ONE MILLION WORDS.


Challenge starts: September 28, 2010 and ends on May 14, 2011


Renaissance Reader Challenge Guidelines: One Million Words

1. Pick up a Word Count Form in the Middle School Library, or create a form of your own
2. Read age appropriate books
3. Determine word count for each book (see formula below)
4. Turn in your form to Mr. Williamson in the library upon completion of this challenge.
5. (For students only) Books must not be class assigned books.


How to determine your word count for each book:
1. Grab a calculator (unless you are a mental math genius)
2. Open your book toward the middle
3. Count the number of words in three lines
4. Average the number of words in the three lines (add three lines and divide by three)
5. Count the number of lines on a page
6. Multiply the average words per line by the number of lines per page. (this will give you an estimate of words on a page)
7. Find the total number of pages in your book
8. Multiply the number of pages in your book by the estimated number of words on a page.
9. This final number will be used to determine your number of words per book.

EXAMPLE:
The line word total =33 (average 11)
Number of Lines per page = 28
Number of pages per book = 118
11x28x118 = 36,344 words


Good Luck, I think you'll be surprised how fast your word count increases. You can complete this challenge in combination with the other challenges issued by combining books on more than one list.

September 25-October 2: Banned Book Week

The last week of September is a very important week in the lives of libraries across the United States. Each and every year this week is set aside to celebrate our freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. We celebrate our right to read, open access to information and to bring into the spotlight the harms of censorship.

Take a look at the American Library Association's webpage about Banned Books here and learn about the subtle differences between a banned book and a challenged book and find information about "challenged books" here (to include information about our 8th grade Summer Reading book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee).

Smile and enjoy your week of reading!

Georgia Children's Book Award Information and Video posts

Last Friday I spent the day with all of the 7th grade Language Arts classes and we discussed the Georgia Children's Book Award program and watched some cool videos about a handful of these books.

Today I get to talk to the 6th grade classes about this program; if you remember this is the program where all middle school students across Georgia are invited to read (up to) 20 selected books and then vote for their favorite.

Click here to access the 2010-2011 Nominees.

Remember you do not have to read all 20 titles to vote in the spring, but you have to read at least three (3) books to vote. Some books may not appeal to each and every student, select the books you want to read.



If you want to see some of the videos we watched in class, please click on the book title and that will link you to the specific video.


SAVVY by Ingrid Law SAVVY (Video #2)

Golly-Whopper Games by Jody Feldman

Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel Darkwing (Video #2)

Child of Dandelions by Shenaaz Nanji

Bird Lake Moon by Kevin Henkes

Bringing the Boy Home by N.A. Nelson



I hope you enjoy these books and this program. Look for lunch-time discussions of these books in the near future.

5 Week update

Today we start the 6th week of the school year and I wanted to give everyone an update on the library.

We have had 206 books checked out of the library (with 23 renewals) and 176 books have been used in the library giving us a total of 405 circulations thus far.

I spent last Friday with all of the 7th grade students talking about the Georgia Book Award Program and will be sharing this same information with the 6th graders on Tuesday.

Just a reminder this is the program where all middle school students across Georgia are invited to read a total of 20 selected titles and vote for their favorite title in the spring. To be eligible to vote a student has to read at least 3 of the 20 titles. Copies of the reading list are available in the media center as well as copies of the books to read. Click here for the nominated titles.

Right now I know which book I would be voting for, but sadly, I can not vote!

Renaissance Reader Challenge: Our Jewish Culture and History

Time for our second challenge for the school year:

This challenge is open to all Davis Academy students, families, faculty and staff.

Renaissance Reader Challenge Guidelines: Our Jewish Culture and History

1. The Challenge Starts on September 16, 2010 and ends on May 14, 2011
2. Read Two(2) novels about Jewish life or by a Jewish author
3. Read Two(2) books (history, biography, philosophy, etc) about Jewish Culture, History or Religion


Here's are the books on my list to read for this challenge:
1. The Chosen by Chaim Potok
2. Six Million Paper Clips: The Making of a Children's Holocaust Memorial by Peter Schroeder
3. A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel by Allis and Ronald Radosh
4. Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy


Please see me in the Middle School Library or post comments and I can help you find a book(s) to read to complete this challenge.

Happy Reading!

Renaissance Reader Challenge

Today is the first day of the Renaissance Reader Challenges.

I am challenging all students, faculty and parents of The Davis Academy to become a Renaissance Reader. To become a Renaissance Reader you have to meet one of the challenges posted to this Blog and bring the list of books to me in the Media Center for your certificate.

You may earn more than one Renaissance Reader certificate; in fact I hope you will earn multiple certificates during this school year.

The first challenge is simple, but there are a few guidelines:



Guidelines for Renaissance Readers: Introduction to Authors

1. The challenge starts on September 14, 2010 and ends on May 14, 2011
2. Select a level in which you want to participate
3. Read books by an author in which you have never read before.

Levels for Renaissance Readers: Introduction to Authors

Level 1: Beginning Reader: Read Books by 3 Authors
Level 2: Fledgling Reader: Read Books by 5 Authors
Level 3: Judicious Reader: Read Books by 7 Authors
Level 4: Prosperous Reader: Read Books by 10 Authors

Scripps National Spelling Bee

Mark Your Calendars

The Davis Academy Middle School is officially enrolled in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. We'll be having a school wide spelling bee to determine one student that will represent The Davis Academy at the county level in early February 2011.

More information will be forthcoming as we determine our school Spelling Bee date. Study materials will be made available for students as well.

Keep an eye on this BLOG as we move forward.

Deweyless Libraries

A while ago libraries in Maricopa County, Arizona announced that they were becoming a "Deweyless Library". What does that mean, you may ask?

For years, since 1876 to be exact, libraries have shelved and arranged their book collection to Dewey Decimal Classification. Books are grouped together in categories like Science, History, and Technology and then further broken down into small categories within the larger subsections.

The Dewey Decimal categories have reigned supreme in libraries everywhere; I know I can find a book on Shakespeare at 822.3 and books on specific dinosaurs at 567.91 (my son, Kyle even memorized this number at a young age to find books on dinosaurs all by himself) in each and every library I step into.

Now libraries are changing and perhaps headed into the book shelving areas of the super bookstore chains. Libraries are being awarded grants and recognition for their innovative ways to promote books and reading.

Are we headed in the direction of the Dewey Decimal Classification becoming a fossil? We, libraries and librarian are here to help our patrons(customers) to find materials they need and want, do they want Dewelyless Libraries? I guess some do.

Georgia Children's Book Award Nominees

Can't find anything to read, well here's a list of 20 titles that middle school students from every city from Abba to Zebulon will be reading this school year and then voting on their favorite title. Why not get started now and as John Mellencamp sings, "Get a Leg Up" on others.

Students must have read or listened to at least 3 of the 20 titles to be eligible to vote in March.

Please stop in the media center to check out a title, additional copies are on order and will arrive in a few short days. I'll let you know once they arrive.


Click "here" for the complete listing of titles.

Thank you sir, may I have another!

Given the chance most librarian across the world love to share with their patrons favorite books; as I type this I can look across the library and see a 7 foot tall bookshelf and on the top of the bookshelf the sign reads, "Mr. Williamson's Favorites".

But readers' advisory works both ways, our patrons share with us books they have read and inevitably I always add another title to my growing "I need to read list".

What a great way to start the afternoon and the week by getting a recommendation from a student...I promise I'll place your book at the top of my list and I'll get to it as soon as I finish the 3 or 4 I'm reading now.

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

One of my very favorite books, Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen is being released as a major motion picture. You can see the official movie trailer and information about the book and storyline here:

http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/vandraanen/content/books.html

My favorite scene is when Juli's father finds just the right way to comfort her after her favorite tree is cut down. Why not read the book before seeing the movie! Stop by the library and pick up a copy today.

8th Grade Science Classes: Database Usage

It was an honor to spend the day with all of the 8th grade classes in the computer lab learning about the databases all students and faculty have access too. Please remember to log into the Media Center's webpage and select "online resources" to start your database searches. We'll be using these databases all year long!

Beit Midrash

A big thank you to Mr. O'Dell's first period class, as well as to Rabbi Lapidus for inviting me to participate in Beit Midrash this morning. I hope my schedule allows me to continue to join you as the year continues.


As a reminder here's our Beit Midrash goals for the year:


1. Students will engage in memorable learning experiences that expose them to concept of Torah lishma(study for the sake of study).

2. Students will learn how to become good chevruta partners and will be inducted into this acient and particularly Jewish form of learning.

3. To build a community through the study of shared text.

4. To study rich text in a rich and progressive context.

5. Students will learn how to "read" and "do" text.

6. Assessment should be based on citizenship ranther than competency.

7. Learning activities should aspire to educate the whole student with an eye toward relevance and application.

8. Beit Midrash sessions are planned jointly by the Judaic faculty so that the planning of the lesson reflects the multivocality that we seek to create in the classroom.

9. All faculty members are encouraged to attend Davis Academy Beit Midrash and learn alongside students as a way of modeling adult learning and to help foster the goal of "one text-one community".

Rick Recht Visits the Media Center

The usually quiet and reserved media center was quickly turned into a Rock-n-Roll stadium as Rick Recht made his Davis Academy Middle School appearance by leading us in song and dance this morning and brought down the house with Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer".

If you missed the performances in the media center, then you missed students rockin' so hard they had to fix their ponytails afterwards!

Rick informed us that there will be a launch of http://www.jewishrockradio.com/ later this fall(September), keep an eye open for that release. Rock with your favorite Jewish rock artist from around the world along with interviews with teens sharing exciting ways they are engaging in Jewish life.

Welcome to the Media Center

Your Media Center is open and ready for your reading pleasure and to help you with classroom assignments.

Please stop by and see the display of a few of my favorite books found in our library and take a look at the library stats on the bulletin board in the hallway.

What books will make the Top Ten list this school year and how books will be checked out of the media center. Perhaps we'll hold a contest?