BRUCE COVILLE

Recently, Zack posted a wonderful book recommendation on Bruce Coville's book, My Teach is an Alien... (one of my favorites too!)... and Bruce Coville came up again today...

As I was just helping a student find a great book, I also found a book that I want to add to my reading pile!

I love the author, Bruce Coville... I've read plenty of his books... both when I was in middle school and since I've "grown up" (I'm SO old! haha).

The student I was helping decided to go with Bruce's book,  

ALIENS STOLE MY BODY...

The book that I found and am excited to read is Bruce's book,  

THE MONSTERS OF MORLEY MANOR. 

I've never heard of this book by him and look forward to it - I haven't met a book yet that is written by Bruce Coville and I didn't like.  :)

AND - fun fact: Bruce Coville lives in Syracuse, New York (United States) - which is very close to where Miss Stacia grew up!

Spotlight on book series...

Are you looking for a great series to get into?

Below are some book series that are very popular and great reads...

 Looking for a funny series? 

I love Lemony Snicket's, A Series of Unfortunate Events - wonderful books about the unfortunate lives and weird happenings to two orphans.

The first book in this series is, The Bad Beginning.

 Erin Hunter's series, SEEKERS... these books follow the adventures of four wild bear cubs.

Erin Hunter's other big book series: WARRIORS. Read about the warring adventures between wild cat clans!

Have you seen the movie,  

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief?

Did you know that it was originally written as a book? 

(And in my humble opinion... like most books that have been made into movies... the book is better!)

The Percy Jackson books are fabulous, can't-put-them-down, action-packed, fantasy reads!

I do suggest you read these books in order, starting with the first: 

The Lightning Thief.

The author of the Percy Jackson books is Rick Riordan... he also wrote the first book, The Maze of Bones, in the 39 Clues series (another great adventure series!)

We shelve the 39 Clues books by the last window (end of non-fiction and beginning of fiction) because each book in the series is actually written by a different author... very cool.  

New signage

Ms. Phuong has made it even easier for students to find books in the fiction section! She has added large letters along the shelves to help when looking for a specific book.

How are fiction books organized??

That's right -- by the 1st three letters of the author's last name.  :)

Halloween and the Library!

A big THANK YOU to the seventh graders in D-block study hall yesterday for decorating the library for Halloween. They did a fabulous job and I've really enjoyed seeing students peak into the library... not sure if they can (or want to) enter because of the spooky decorations! Nicely done.  :)

Tony and Tom - Guest Speakers :)

Yesterday afternoon, 7th graders -- Tom and Tony -- went with Miss Stacia to the elementary school. The two boys were special guest speakers to Miss Saleshni's 5th-grade class. They prepared a great presentation to introduce their upcoming unit on electricity.

Tom and Tony created a wonderful PowerPoint presentation with interesting and important facts and even a fun review game at the end! The 5th graders were very engaged and excited about the information. Tom then showed the class about his robots and how these machines use electricity and how he creates circuits. Some of the students even got to create their own!

Creating static electricity with balloons... and hair!

Beginning the crossword review game!

Then Tom began showing the class the robots and machines he makes. He passed various pieces around and the class learned about circuits and motors... and more!

Thank you to Miss Saleshni and her class for having us come visit her classroom! We had a lot of fun and both Tom and Tony did a wonderful job giving a fun and interesting presentation on electricity!  :)

Into the Woods

Did you read the “The Secret School” book and answer the questions? Well, if you didn’t, just read this book and find the answer for the question for this book first then you can answer the question for the “The Secret School” book!  :)

The 6^th graders and the 7^th graders at Joyce Kilmer Middle School spent a week at Camp Einstein, a science camp in the woods. All of the 6^th graders can’t wait because they heard the 7^th graders say the science camp is really fun. 

1 thing that made Jenny worried is that she can’t leave without her “middleschoolsurvival.com” website. Things get bad when Jenny, Sam and Chloe (Jenny’s friends) have to spend their science week with the Pops Addie. They even have to share their cabin with Pops Addie and Dana. Things are getting worse and worse when the counselors and the teachers pair Pops Addie with Jenny for trust exercises. 

How will Jenny and her best friends survive their sleep in the cabin with the Pops Addie? How can Jenny survive without the “middleschoolsurvival.com” website and how can Jenny trust Pops Addie at the trust exercise?

Well, I think you need to find out the answer for these questions on your own and things will get easier for you when you read this hint:

·         Read the “Into the Woods: How I Survived In Middle School #10”, by Nancy E. Krulik.

·         Look at how the Pops acts.

·         Answer the question at the front page.

·         Also, answer the question at the last page after you read the book.

·         Then, you will find out the answers.

Good luck to you!

Jenny Tran Ly My Uyen