Hour of Code

Every student will have two 30 minute library sessions dedicated to the Hour of Code. Kindergarten students will work together on both Angry Birds and Candy Quest learning the movement choices. Most Primary students have selected to work on Angry Birds. A few who have completed that series have chosen to try Bit by Bit. Intermediate students have been given the previous choices plus animating their names in Scratch or creating a Flappy Bird game.

I chose to limit their choices to the code lessons I have completed so I could answer questions. Additionally the Hour of Code website now has close to 200 choices. Seems like it could take an hour just to choose a tutorial.

If your child would like to spend more time on this site click HERE. 
To access the library catalog with the choices indicated above, click HERE.

Library Volunteers Needed!

Hi All,

The start to this school year has been wonderful. I love seeing the students' excitement at checking out books. We could certainly use some help with keeping the library running and organized. If you would ever like to help with check out time, shelving, book repair, or general organization of the library, please contact me or Miss Rica.

Here's a game that lets you practice putting books in library order. If you'd like to practice this skill take a look HERE. 

Thank you,
Mrs. Bolivar  

Is my child the old enough to see this movie?

Wondering if your child is old enough for a certain book, video game or movie. You can get age rated reviews at Common Sense Media. Type in the title of what you're curious about and you'll receive an age appropriate review. Better yet the review tells you why they've given the age recommendation. Then you, as the parent, can decide if you agree or not. Content is rated on language, sexuality, violence, message, commercialism.

Here's what the beginning of a review looks like. 

I found this site helpful until my son was about 14 years old.

Comparing Australian Animals in 2nd Grade

Today the 2nd graders had the chance to compare different Australian Animals using WorldBook Kids Online which is provided by the school district for all students to use.  Feel free to try it at home. Here are the directions they were given.

      If you would like the password information to MackinVia, you can contact me.

Search Engines

Google just released a kid friendly search engine called Kiddle. 

This site limits searches to safe site and reduces the number of "hits" significantly.

Even better for student use is WebPath Express which is linked to our school's library catalog.

 After searching the catalog on a topic, click on the Web Sites tab and then set the search buttons to the grade level, language, format of your choice.

I'm back

It's been a great year in the library so far filled with author studies, author visits, research, and learning. But it's been so long since I've posted that I can't get myself posting again because nothing seems flashy enough to be the post after so long a hiatus. So here's the first post. Nothing fascinating but a way to break the fear of starting again. Look for more posts with real library news in the near future.
 

Thank you Dav Pilkey

Wow! Dav Pilkey donated $1000 to our library! He presented at the University Bookstore on Friday, September 11th and left behind gift cards for two libraries. Our school was chosen on a very random basis- The mom of a woman who works at the store once tutored at our school! Yeah Dearborn Park International School, and thank you Dav Pilkey! The money will be used for books to support classroom curriculum.