Virtual Journal - Orion:Prelude

Card Catalog Guide/Pathfinder:

Card Catalog

My first webpage

http://middleschoolmedia.weebly.com/

Maze Fun - My First Game

Minion ELA Quiz

12 cell table

	2013 Public	2013 School	2014 Public	2014 School
Children's Hardcover (all titles)	$17.77	$19.43	$17.99	$19.47
Children's Trade Paperback	$7.12	$7.96	$7.01	$8.10
Children's Mass-Market Paperback	$6.38	$6.75	$6.09	$6.56

Basic Visual Presentation

This week our assignment for LIS 6303 was to create a Basic Visual Presentation to explain something.  I chose to demonstrate for my teachers how to access morning announcements.  My project was completed using Jing.

Goal:  To empower teachers to access morning announcements for students to watch each morning.

 Goal:  To demonstrate for teachers how to show morning announcements in all classrooms using safari montage.

Objective:  To guide teachers on how to access morning announcements in the classroom 95% of the time without additional assistance.



Morning Announcements

Data Visualization

This weeks class assignment is to present data visualization for learners.  I chose to complete my project on the Average Cost of Library Books in a public library vs. a school library.  For a PDF visit this link: Cost of Books.pdf

Goal:  Demonstrate the cost of public library books vs. school library books.

Goal:  To assist librarians in purchasing decisions.

Objective:  To assist librarians with a dedicated budget to help make informed decisions on the purchase of library books 50 percent of the time. 

Data Visualization

Average Cost of Library Books

The above graph depicts the average cost of books purchased for a public library during a three year period from 2012 to 2014.  As you can tell by looking at the graph, during the three year period books purchased for a public library have pretty much stayed the same.  An example, 2012 Children’s Hardcover Titles (all titles) cost an average of $17.82, in 2013 the average cost was $17.77 and then in 2014 the average cost went up to $17.99.  Averages are calculated by total number of all book sales divided by the number of books sold.

The above graph depicts the average cost of books purchased for a school library during a three year period from 2012 to 2014.  By looking at the graph you can see that the cost of Adult Trade books, both fiction and non-fiction, jumped up significantly in 2014.  The cost of the remainder of the books stayed relatively the same.  Averages are calculated by total number of all book sales divided by the number of books sold.

This graph depicts an overlay of the average book cost for a public library vs. a school library.  As you can see the cost of most books runs the same for a public library as a school library with the exception of adult trade books.  Adult trade books is significantly higher in price for a school library.  All data was pulled from the School Library Journal archives, produced in partnership with Baker and Taylor publishers.  Averages are calculated by total number of all book sales divided by the number of books sold.

Desktop Publishing

This week I am adding my handout on How to Connect a SMARTBoard in the classroom. This handout will assist teachers in installing the SMARTBoard and projector for viewing within the classroom.

Goal:  To provide directions to teachers on how to setup a SMARTBoard.

Objective:  Teachers will be able to use this handout to properly setup a SMARTBoard, in their classroom, 95% of the time without additional assistance.

Objective:  Teachers will be able to determine cables and inputs necessary to setup a SMARTBoard, in their classroom, 98% of the time without additional assistance.

 




How to Connect a SMARTBoard

Lions of Little Rock

This week we will be reading Lions of Little Rock, a historical fiction book that takes place just after the Little Rock Nine were introduced into "white" schools.



Twelve-year-old Marlee develops a strong friendship with Liz, the new girl in school, but when Liz suddenly stops attending school and Marlee hears a rumor that her friend is actually an African American girl passing herself off as white, the two young girls must decide whether their friendship is worth taking on integration and the dangers it could bring to their families.



Kirkus Review:
The remarkable story of the Little Rock Nine is familiar to many, but what happened next? In this quietly powerful page-turner, Levine focuses her attention on the events that unfolded in Little Rock the year after the integration of the city's public schools. Readers meet quiet, 12-year-old Marlee and her outgoing and warm-hearted best friend, Liz, who is instrumental in Marlee's burgeoning ability to speak her mind to anyone outside of her family. To Marlee's dismay, Liz suddenly vanishes from school, and the rumor is that she has been passing for white. Marlee initially feels betrayed by her friend, but her understanding of the complicated nature of race relations and politics matures. Levine sensitively portrays her process as she sorts out these feelings, finds a way to stay friends with Liz and becomes involves with the Womens' Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (WEC) after the city shuts down all of its public schools to prevent integration. When Marlee's father, a schoolteacher, is fired because of his pro-integration stance, the entire family becomes involved in the Stop This Outrageous Purge (STOP) campaign in an attempt to have all of the teachers rehired and the public schools reopened. This engaging story, with its emphasis on the impact of friendship and on finding one's voice when it is most important to be heard, will no doubt appeal to a broad range of readers and inspire many interesting conversations.

Study Guide:

Quizlet Study Guide

Discussion Questions and Reader Companion
 

This week's book will take student's a little longer to read, the book is Half Upon a Time by James Riley.   
 

 

In the village of Giant's Hand, Jack's grandfather has been pushing him to find a princess to rescue, so when a young lady falls out of the sky wearing a shirt that says "Punk Princess," and she tells Jack that her grandmother, who looks suspiciously like the long-missing Snow White, has been kidnapped, Jack decides to help her.


From the Publisher: Life's no fairy tale for Jack. After all, his father's been missing ever since that incident with the beanstalk and the giant, and his grandfather keeps pushing him to get out and find a princess to rescue. Who'd want to rescue a snobby, entitled princess anyway? Especially one that falls out of the sky wearing a shirt that says "Punk Princess," and still denies she's royalty. In fact, May doesn't even believe in magic. Yeah, what's that about? May does need help though--a huntsman is chasing her, her grandmother has been kidnapped, and Jack thinks it's all because of the Wicked Queen . . . mostly because May's grandmother might just be the long-lost Snow White. Jack and May's thrillingly hilarious adventure combines all the classic stories—fractured as a broken magic mirror—into one epic novel for the ages.

Study Guide:

http://quizlet.com/45752204/half-upon-a-time-flash-cards/

Discussion Questions:

1. Who is Jack’s father? His grandfather?
2. Who does Jack think May’s grandmother is? Why does he think that?
3. Jack, May, and Phillip are on a quest. What is their quest?
4. What happens the first time Jack and May fall asleep? How do they get away?
5. How do they meet Phillip? What is he doing? What fairy tale does he belong to?
6. What or who is the Eye? What does he give Jack?
7. Who do they meet in the Black Forest?
8. What happens when they find the mirror?
9. Who is Merriweather? How does she know May?
10. Who is Malevolent? How does she help the trio?
11. What happens at the Palace of the Snow Queen? What truth is revealed?
12. Jack and May are both strong characters. How are they alike? How are they different? How does Phillip fit into the story? What role does he play? How does he affect the relationship between Jack and May?
13. What do you predict will happen in the future? Which boy will betray May? Which will die?
14. What is the meaning of the title of the book?
15. What fairy tale characters are present in the book? Which fairy tales do they belong to?
16. Is May a character from a fairy tale? Who do you think she is?

Recommendations: 

A tale dark and grimm by Adam Gidwitz
A world without heroes by Brandon Mull
Emerald atlas by John Stephens
Tuesdays at the castle by Jessica Day George
Igraine the brave by Cornelia Funke
Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier
The flint heart by John Paterson
Ivy and the meanstalk by Dawn Lairamore
Where the mountain meets the moon by Grace Lin
Tales From The Brothers Grimm And The Sisters Weird by Vivian Vande Velde
  

Variant

This week's book is Variant.  Additionally, this week we will be ordering T-shirts and pizza for the day of the battle.  Students are working hard, studying and quizzing each other.  Our team has been adopted by a local business who will be providing snacks for our meetings.


From the Publisher:
Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.
He was wrong.
Now he's trapped in a school that's surrounded by a razor-wire fence. A school where video cameras monitor his every move. Where there are no adults. Where the kids have split into groups in order to survive.
Where breaking the rules equals death.
But when Benson stumbles upon the school's real secret, he realizes that playing by the rules could spell a fate worse than death, and that escape—his only real hope for survival—may be impossible.
                                                                                                                  - Titlewave

Booklist (October 15, 2011 (Vol. 108, No. 4))

Grades 8-11. Lots of YA novels begin with a character arriving at a new boarding school, but it is safe to say there has never been a boarding school like this. Perennial foster kid Benson arrives at Maxfield Academy armed with an unexpected scholarship and some cautious optimism, but within minutes of arriving he realizes something is terribly wrong. There are no adults. There are towering walls topped with barbed wire. Messages are sent by computer to instruct the teens in both academic pursuits and paintball war games. Most immediately worrisome is that the student body has split itself into three warring factions: the Society (tasked with keeping order), Havoc (food preparation as well as serious attitude), and the V’s (whose chief shared trait is a desire to escape). This is good old-fashioned paranoia taken to giddy extremes, especially when a totally implausible—but nonetheless enjoyably insane—twist upends the plot in the final act. Take Veronica Roth’s Divergent (2011), strip out the angst, add a Michael Grant–level storytelling pace, and you have this very satisfying series starter.

Study Guide:
http://quizlet.com/70522130/variant-flash-cards/

 

This week's book is I, Emma Freke by Elizabeth Atkinson





From the Publisher: I, Emma Freke is a charming search-for-identity story about Emma--the only normal member of her quirky family. While Emma desperately tries to find her niche, she discovers that perhaps it's better to be her own freak than someone else's Freke.

Full-Text Review

Booklist (November 1, 2010 (Vol. 107, No. 5))

Grades 4-7. Out of place and invisible at school and, apparently, at home, where she is in charge of most chores and the family bead store, 12-year-old Emma rues her excessive height and skinniness, her red hair, and, most of all, her name. Never having known her father, she is surprised by an invitation to a family reunion in Wisconsin, where she discovers she shares these characteristics with members of a family she never knew she had. Over the weekend, she also learns that there can be too much order and supervision, that she can make friends, and that the independence her quirky, freewheeling mother allows is something to value. This rich story of self-acceptance offers readers much to think about: contrasting family patterns, appropriate schooling for very bright children, conformity, and respecting differences. The first-person narrative moves along briskly, with believable dialogue and plenty of humor. Gently poking fun at the Wisconsin Frekes, the author also shows why Emma appreciates them. Readers will certainly sympathize with and root for Emma and celebrate the story’s satisfying ending.

Author on the Internet:

 

http://www.elizabethatkinson.com/



Additional resources: 

http://www.teachingbooks.net/qlz224t

http://quizlet.com/_153h83

Small as an Elephant (cont'd)

This week students were to read Small as an Elephant.  Our snack included marshmallows and trail mix.  Foods you might eat while camping.  Additionally, we reviewed vocabulary from the book and practiced drilling questions.  Most of the questions we reviewed came from quizlet.com, like why should I re-invent the wheel.

Quizlet Flashcards




Discussion Questions:
  Why does Jack’s mother leave him? Why does Jack worry that it is his fault?

 What do you think Jack means when he describes his mother as "spinning"? Why doesn’t he get help from someone like his grandmother when this happens?

 Why are elephants so important to Jack? What memories and/or stories from his past contribute to his love of elephants? Why is he determined to see the elephant, Lydia?

 What are some of the strategies Jack uses to survive on his own? Who are some of the people who help him along the way? Why do you think that they help Jack?

 Is Jack’s decision to look for his mom on his own the best choice? What would you do in this situation?  

Author on the Internet

http://jenniferjacobson.com/