Mrs. B is reading...How to Survive Middle School

How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart

David Greenberg plans to be the next Jon Stewart but he first has to figure out how to survive Harman Middle School.

David produces his own show TalkTime and posts the videos on YouTube. His best friend Elliott used to help him with the show, but they had a falling out. Now David has to figure out a way to deal with:
        6.        Middle school (much scarier than it sounds!)
        5.         His best friend gone girl-crazy
        4.         A runaway mom who has no phone!
        3.         The threat of a swirlie on his birthday
        2.        A terrifying cousin
        1.         His # 1 fan, Bubbe (his Jewish grandmother)
1/2.        And Hammy, the hamster who’s determined to break David’s heart

David makes a new friend, the peppermint-smelling Sophie,while dealing with all of his issues. She loves David’s videos and shares them with a few friends, who share them with a few more friends. Before David knows it, TalkTime has gone viral and David is an internet superstar! You’d think he’d be thrilled, but instead he finds himself asking “What good does it to be famous online when in real life, I go to a school where all I am is ‘Lameberg’?”

Read How to Survive Middle School, and then join us at the January meeting of Cover2Cover to talk about the book and balancing an online life with a real life.

Cover2Cover Is Back!

Cover2Cover, our school’s book club, meets throughout the school year to discuss books. Anyone is welcome to join. We all read the same book and then get together to discuss it, participate in activities related to it, and have fun! Most meetings are after school. We will discuss How to Survive Middle School at the first meeting, which will take place on January 25th. If you are interested in joining Cover2Cover, have any questions about Cover2Cover, or need a copy of the first book, see Mrs. Barbarino.

That Sound You Hear is Learning!

The lmc was abuzz with the sounds of learning on Thursday when some of the Hurricanes paid a double visit to the Library Media Center. Some students were working on their energy presentations for Mr. Colbert and Mrs. Killmeyer, while others were typing scripts for book interviews for Ms. Paddick. Love it!

Big Mac Readers Wiki

Have you ever read a book and wanted to let other students know what you thought about it? Well now here’s your chance! Starting today, CMS students can submit book reviews for the Big Mac Readers wiki. The book review form is available on The CMS_lmc wants to hear from you! page of this blog.

Mrs. Wright’s period 11 class will be trying it out this week. Once their reviews have been approved, they will be posted on the Big Mac Readers wiki.

Mrs. B is reading...Uprising

Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix

“Do you know what it is like to work in a shirtwaist factory? In the wintertime, I’m there before the sun comes up, and if the boss wants to make me work until midnight, he can do that. What could I do to stop him? I’m just a girl. Just one girl. I can work, day in and day out, hour after hour at the sewing machines, and then at the end of the week if he decides he doesn’t want to pay me for all my work, what can I do? He can make all sorts of excuses--‘Oh, I had to charge you for the use of the sewing machine--for the electricity to run it--for the needles that broke....’ He can make up any excuse he wants, but if he doesn’t want to pay me what I’m owed, he doesn’t have to. What can I do? I’m just one girl.”
-Yetta

Yetta, a Russian immigrant along with hundreds of other immigrants, works long hours under awful conditions at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Yetta decides to join the fight for fair treatment and better working conditions by becoming a member of the newly formed labor union. Yetta joins the union members on the picket line and ends up meeting Bella, another immigrant who had to put up with the terrible working conditions in order to send money to her starving family in Italy. Jane, daughter of a wealthy businessman, leaves her privileged world in search of real meaning in her life and also joins the workers on the picket line. The three girls become close friends.

The strike ends in time, though little is resolved and working conditions are not much better. Yetta and Bella are back at work and Jane is visiting the factory on a fateful day in March 1911 when a spark from a careless worker’s cigarette starts a catastrophic fire. The fire ends up being one of the worst workplace disasters in history. Many do not survive.

Uprising is based on true events that took place during the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory strike during 1909-10 and the major fire that happened there on March 25, 1911, that resulted in the deaths of 146 workers. Yetta, Bella and Jane are fictional characters but the story of their friendship and empowering desire to make a difference brings the events to life.

Mrs. B is reading...Chasing Vermeer

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett, illustrated by Brett Helquist

“Dear Friend: I would like your help in identifying a crime that is now centuries old.” This simple anonymous letter left on the doorsteps of three different residents of the same town kicks off a complex mystery involving the theft of a Vermeer painting. Classmates Petra and Calder come together and find themselves at the center of this international art scandal.

A series of coincidences, unanswered questions and secret codes are a central part of this story which is part mystery, part puzzle and part adventure. Petra and Calder must put all the pieces together without knowing who can help because everyone is under suspicion. And they are racing against the clock so they can find the thief before he goes through with his threat and destroys the valuable piece of art.

This is a fun, slowly-unfolding story with lots of twists and turns.

Supernovas@theCMS_lmc

The Supernovas are finishing up their week in the lmc.  They have been planning their dream vacations and researching many exotic locales!

This week in the lmc...

The Supernovas will be spending the week in the lmc. After a quick review of the rules, policies and procedures, we’ll be starting our first research project of the year! What’s your travel destination?

Looking for images, music or sounds?

You can now find media to use for projects by clicking the Images, Music & Sounds link on the pathfinder page of this blog. Many sites on this pathfinder are copyright-friendly or include licensed Creative Commons media that you can share, use and remix.

LMC Orientations

This week the Titans were in the lmc for orientation and tomorrow the Sonic Booms are dropping in for a review. Next week I will welcome the Spartans & Hurricanes!

Library Aide Applications Are Due Friday

If you are interested in being a library aide, see Mrs. Barbarino for an application. Applications are due by the end of the day Friday.

Mrs. B is reading...Adam Canfield of the Slash

Adam Canfield of the Slash by Michael Winerip

“Our job as reporters is to tell the truth as we see it. It has to be backed by facts, but that’s what good newspapers do.” - Adam Canfield of the Slash

Adam Canfield went from finding out the facts to figuring out how the facts would end up in the Slash, the Harris Elementary/Middle School newspaper. He moves from star reporter to co-editor because Jennifer, a girl “with a pretty good smile”, asks him to help her out even though he really thinks digging up the details and writing a story is much better than being an editor.

“Adam Canfield of the Slash” by Michael Winerip tells the story of how what you think at first can become something totally different. Adam learns that adding another “program” to his “over-programmed” life actually puts Adam smack in the middle of local mysteries that he helps investigate, solve and report about and makes his decision totally worth it in the end.

Coming Soon...The Library Matters Crew

The Library Matters Crew is a new club at CMS. The members of this club will help to promote reading and the library media center. If you'd like to help with this blog, create book trailers, make posters, create displays, or produce advertisements for the morning announcements, this club is for you!

More information coming soon...

Mrs. B is reading...Okay for Now

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt


I didn’t think I would have any interest in reading an entire book about Doug Swieteck, a minor character from Gary D. Schmidt’s The Wednesday Wars. Was I ever wrong! I have to say, this is the best book I’ve read in awhile. I laughed. I cried. I wanted to build a time machine, travel back to Marysville, circa 1968, and work with Mr. Powell at the Marysville Free Public Library. Oh, and hang out at Spicer’s Deli and drink a really cold coke.

You don’t have to read The Wednesday Wars first to appreciate Okay for Now. It stands on its own. However, if you read both, you may be reminded that there is often more to a person than what you first see on the surface.

After his father is fired, Doug Swieteck moves with his family to “stupid” Marysville, New York. Life at the Swieteck home is less than desirable. Doug’s father is a jerk. His mother he loves dearly, but she is unable to stand up for herself, let alone her boys. His oldest brother is serving in Vietnam, and his other brother is a bit of a hoodlum. No wonder everyone thinks Doug must be a “skinny thug” too.

Lil Spicer is his first new friend in Marysville. She arranges for Doug to work for her father who owns a deli, making deliveries to some of the folks in town. As he begins to interact with the people of Marysville (on his delivery route, at school, and of course, at the library!) he experiences kindness and friendship that he hadn’t expected or even hoped for.

There’s so much more that I could say about this book, but why not stop in the library and check it out for yourself! Also, if you want to know more about birds than you ever thought you’d care to know...this is the book for you.

Mrs. B is reading...Okay for Now

Just started reading Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt.

Only about 10 pages in and my heart is breaking...
...10 more pages and Doug Swieteck (the main character) found the library. A bright spot!

Mrs. B is reading...The Wednesday Wars

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

“Of all the kids in the seventh grade at Camillo Junor High, there was one kid that Mrs. Baker hated with heat whiter than the sun.
Me.
And let me tell you, it wasn’t for anything I’d done.”
- Holling Hoodhood

Holling Hoodhood is sure that Mrs. Baker hates him. Why wouldn’t she? Instead of having Wednesday afternoon’s off, she’s stuck with him while his classmates leave for religion class. Of course she has it out for him! Why else would she make him read Shakespeare outside of class? And that’s not all he has to deal with. There’s the cream puff incident, crazed rats on the loose, yellow tights with feathers on the...well I won’t tell you where they were...a baseball hero who is less than a hero, and that’s just for starters. In spite of himself, Holing begins to learn who he is and who he wants to be.

The Wednesday Wars may take you a few chapters to get into it, but stick it out. As Holling Hoodhood would say: “Let me tell you, it was just swell.”