Week in Review: Book Talks & Work Days

This week was all about Fall Book Talks with the middle schoolers and work days with the high schoolers. Book Talks are where Ms. Melinson talks about 60+ books and then students pick out books that sound most interesting to them. Monday’s Book Talks began with Mrs. Eustace’s 6th and 8th graders, with the 8th graders having a mystery slant. Tuesday was a work day for Ms. Nellis’ 9th graders as they continue to work on their Ancient Egypt research project. Wednesday was a Sophomore Project work day for Mr. Wells’ 10th graders. Thursday was a Book Talk extravaganza with 7th and 8th classes in all day long. Friday was a day off for students, but an in-service day for teachers. Ms. Melinson and I went on a field trip to the Sacramento History Museum in Old Sacramento. Check out our pictures on Instagram!

October Book Club

We had our first Book Club of Fall on Wednesday, which featured the return of warm apple cider (and brownies, of course).

Ms. Melinson started us off by sharing that she re-read The Little Prince and how she enjoys going back and re-reading books from her childhood. Then she shared some new additions to the library: Resurrection (the tenth book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series), Fugitive Six (the second book in the Lorien Legacies Reborn series), Crazy Rich Asians, and A Reaper at the Gates (the third book in the An Ember in the Ashes series). Ms. Melinson said she was still reading Factfulness and had started Little Paris Bookshop, which she was finding to be a little bit like chick-lit.

Ms. Batarseh talked about how she once met the former California State Librarian, Kevin Starr, and found him to be “enchanting”. She was reading one of his books, Golden Gate: The Life and Times of America’s Greatest Bridge and said she couldn’t put it down.

Chardonnay read the graphic novel Maus and really enjoyed it. Grace was reading The Shadow of the Wind (in Spanish!), which turned out to be an audience favorite. Luca re-read the Bone series of graphic novels, a favorite of his when he was younger, and said it still holds up. He also re-read Two Gentlemen of Verona, his favorite Shakespeare play.

Sarina read Monday’s Not Coming and said the back and forth narration was a little confusing, but made her want to go back and re-read it. Mr. Wells read Walking to Listen and “finally” read Between the World and Me, which he described as profound. Doctora Portillo read The Body is Not an Apology and found it uplifting and thought-provoking, but also a little repetitive and maybe preachy.

To learn about all of the books we talked about, visit our Goodreads page!

Week in Review: World Food Day

We had a Middle Schooler-free week this week as the 6th-8th graders were away on their trips. And while the Middle Schoolers are away…the High Schoolers will continue to take over the library! Just kidding 😀 😉

On Monday Mr. Crabb’s 10th graders were in for a Sophomore Project work day. On Tuesday we honored World Food Day by hosting Amber Stott, CEO and Chief Food Genius at The Food Literacy Center. Amber spoke to students about what food literacy is, how our food choices have an impact on things like the economy and the environment, and the work the Food Literacy Center does with local schools.

On Wednesday we had our monthly Book Club, which you can read about here. On Thursday Mr. Wells’ 10th graders were in to work on notecards and find books for their Sophomore Project and Ms. Nellis’ 9th graders were in for their Ancient Egypt research project. In between classes, Ms. Melinson was interviewed by Pre-K students about her job and role in the Country Day community. On Friday Mr. Crabb’s 10th graders were back to learn about databases, keywords, and how to use Wikipedia in a research project.

 

 

Week in Review: Projects

The week started out with Mrs. Eustace’s 8th graders presenting their Ignite speeches on Tuesday, having spent the previous week researching topics relating to the Salem Witch Trials. At lunch time, the library hosted Cookies, Coloring, and Conversation.

Wednesday was the Senior Moratorium where the Seniors spent most of their day working on their college applications and essays with college counselors Mrs. Bauman and Mr. Kuipers and listening to presentations by visiting colleges. On Thursday Mr. Wells’ 10th graders were in the library looking for local sources for their Sophomore Project topics. Mr. Crabb’s 10th graders were in on Friday to learn how to correctly quote sources and work on notecards for their Sophomore Project.

 

Teen Read Week Raffle Winners!

Agamemnon and friends had a pizza party before picking out the Teen Read Week Raffle winners!

Our High School winners are: Becca and Anu
High School honorable mentions: Erin, Lindsay, Arikta, Emma B., Sarina, Brian, Emily H., and Ming.

Our Middle School winners are: Mia G. and Milly
Middle School honorable mentions: Mattias, Eliana, Natalie, London, Addison, Bree, Jojo, Mia C., and Eva.

Congrats, readers! Remember to stop by the library to claim your prize!

Week in Review: MS takeover!

While the High School is away…the Middle Schoolers will play! This week the High Schoolers were away on their trips, which gave the 6th graders a chance to really get to the know the Matthews Library.

All this week, the 6th graders had their library orientation where they learned how to read a shelf, find some of our more unusually labeled books, arrange books according to the Dewey Decimal System, navigate databases, and evaluate websites for content, authority, bias, and design. Student then got to show off their website evaluation knowledge with a game of Friendly Feud.

Also in the library all week were Mrs. Eustace’s 8th graders. They were in to research for their Salem Witch projects, which will culminate in an Ignite Speech next week.