Week in Review: Classes, Classes, Classes

We had a busy week of classes happening this week. All week long Ms. Eustace’s 6th grade English classes, Ms. Myer’s PE electives, and Ms. Nellis’ 9th grade history classes were in the library working on various projects.

Ms. Eustace’s 6th graders were working on their Passion Project research. Students set up their NoodleTools accounts, learned about evaluating websites, and found books and database articles based on their topics.

On Tuesday, the library was host to the LGBTQ Center for their Queer Voices presentation.  This presentation and performative expressions were in conjunction with Mr. Hinojosa’s 12 grade English class reading The Laramie Project.

Ms. Myer’s PE electives have been in the library working on their Healthy for Life projects where students choose real life health issues and use reputable websites (Mayo Clinic, NIH, CDC, Johns Hopkins, MedlinePlus, etc.) to determine situations related to the health issue in which you would use self-care, call a doctor or other professional, or call 911.

On Wednesday we had our last Book Club for the seniors and our penultimate Book Club for the school year. Check out what reading advice the seniors gave here. Stay tuned for the last book club in May when Ms B and Ms Nellis will give their reading advice before they retire.

Ms. Nellis’ 9th grade history class was in most of the week working on their World Heritage site projects. On Friday Ms. Nellis’ APUSH class got to visit the C-SPAN bus on campus and learn about research resources. Neat!

Bonus:
In case you didn’t already know, our library is the place to be for dog visits.

April Book Club

April’s Book Club celebrated our senior readers. Ms. Melinson started by reading the poem “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver, giving gifts to the graduating seniors, and giving bookmarks containing lists of their recommendations from over the years to everyone. Then she opened the floor to the seniors to share some advice and recommendations.

Grace started us off by suggesting that students read the books that are assigned in class, but to supplement them with other books (some that she calls “trash” books–as opposed to high literature or classics) to add balance. She reminded us to keep reading because reading actually helps improve vocabulary. One of her favorite series of books is Flavia de Luce.

Josh shared that it’s ok to take breaks from reading to avoid feeling burnt out later. He then talked about some high fantasy books he recently started reading, The Last Wish, The Final Empire (which he recommended for Tolkien fans), and The Golden Apple of Discord. After Josh talked about his recommendations, Ms. Batarseh said if she were stranded on a desert island that she would take Josh with her because of his ability to recall details about so many books and their plots (someone else also mentioned that he knows how to build a fire, which would also be helpful). Dune will always have his heart.

Luca said that it doesn’t matter what you read as long as you’re reading. He also said that it’s ok to stop reading books that you don’t like. His favorite book is The Gunslinger. Luca’s final words of wisdom were to get a Goodreads account to keep track of what you read as well and to find new books. And to read Skulduggery Pleasant.

For all the books these guys and others have talked about over the years, check out our Goodreads page!

Week in Review: Sophomore Symposium

We had quite the week here in the library. The Sophomore Symposium was held on Monday and Tuesday where the Top 10 projects were presented:

• Elijah: Phage Therapy and the Superbug Crisis
• Allie: The Feral Cat Crisis
• Lili: The Problems with Autism Diagnosis
• Kenyatta: Rancho Seco – Did It Cause Cancer?
• Anna: LGBT Representation in Television and Film
• Sarina: Superfund Sites
• Joanne: Human Trafficking and Its Solution
• Sydney: The Importance of Community in Sacramento
• Pragathi: Cerebral Organoids
• Ming: The Evolution of Jazz

Good job to all who presented and congratulations to Elijah, Ming, and Anna for placing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, respectively,

On Thursday the Room of Requirement was set up bookstore style for Mrs. Lacomb’s 8th grade English classes. Students perused mystery books like classics and thrillers before checking them out. Thursday was also Poem in Your Pocket Day where students who read a poem from their pocket (more often in their head or on their computer than in their pocket, but that name is a bit too long) were treated to a piece of candy. Some of our students really got into the spirit with dramatic readings!

On Thursday and Friday Ms. Myers PE class was in to learn how to be healthy for life. Ms. Melinson and Ms. Myers presented on how students can search for good websites to use for personal health and how to avoid the more sketchy sites. Friday was also another Glass Knife work night as we get closer to crunch time for putting the book together.

Bonus:

Dogs and art! We were visited by not one, but two library doggos this week!

Also, check out the new mural by the weight room. Thanks to Bella for adding some much needed color to the gym walls!

Week in Review: Passion Project Pitches

We had an English-heavy week this week in the Matthews Library. On Tuesday Ms. Eustace’s 8th grade English class was in to learn how to export their works cited page into NoodleTools and to continue working on their WWII technology papers. On Tuesday and Wednesday Mr. Wells’ English class was in learning the details about how to create citations for their Sophomore Projects.

On Thursday the library was transformed into ‘Starbucks Mode’ for Ms. Eustace’s 6th graders as they worked on and practiced their pitches for their Passion Projects.

The Book Elective class visited on Thursday to discuss summer reading ideas with Ms. Melinson. Also on Thursday Ms. Lang’s 2nd graders visited the library in search of where to best hang poetry. Happy Poetry Month!

On Friday the 6th grade English classes were back to present their Passion Project pitches to their classmates and the community.

All week long the Glass Knife continued their board meetings and on Friday had their first work night.

Bonus:

If you’re in the market for a new hairstyle, check Kaelan’s below, styled by Sarina. Sarina accepts Cheese-Its as payment.