Week In Review: Books+ Elective, Sophomore Project, Sixth Grade Orientation, and Clubs galore!

Happy (almost) October! Here at the Matthews Library we’ve found quite a few fun ways to spend this last week of September.

The Middle School Books+ Elective met with their teacher Ms. Ponce to discuss their most recent reads and prepare to write their book review.

The Sophomores progressed to the primary source consultation phase of their Sophomore Project with assistance from Sacramento Public Librarian Jen Harmonson. She came to us on Wednesday to talk with the students about resources available to them at SPL. On Thursday, the Sophomore class took a field trip to the public library to visit the Sacramento Room, a special archive in the library that focuses primarily on local history. Students perused books and artifacts on subjects ranging from Victorian era fashion standards to Country Fair blue ribbon swine.

On Friday, Ms. Melinson oriented the 6th graders to the library. She gave them the scoop on our resources. Students even got to dance the Silent Conga through our shelves to ensure they could easily locate (and dance to) the various sections of our material catalog.

Throughout the week, we also had some club activity. The South Asian club enjoyed samosas and conversation in the library on Wednesday, and on Thursday, Siri stopped by at lunchtime to plan for the club she leads, Model UN.

As autumn really takes shape, we here at the Matthews Library hope you find the time to cuddle up with a good book and a cozy cup of tea. Enjoy your class trips next week middle and high school students!

Week in Review: Sophomore Project, College Applications, and Advisory

Happy Autumn! The weather cools down in the evenings, the fall harvest rapidly ripens in the garden, and the Matthews Library continues to welcome all kinds of student and staffulty activity.

Throughout the week, sophomores continued their efforts on the Sophomore Project with guidance from Ms. Melinson and Ms. Leavy. This project is a major undertaking for our Sophomores, as it is their first foray into an intensive research project. The assignment stretches the process out to ensure that students have the support to feel confident in their capabilities in each step of a successful research paper.

The seniors came in at lunch on Tuesday for their C Day meeting with Ms. Perla. They continued to discuss the college application process. With early decision deadlines approaching, our seniors have dedicated much of their time and energy towards these intensive applications.

On Thursday, Ms. Melinson’s advisory discussed The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. They also enjoyed pastries from Freeport Bakery. A wonderful way to spend advisory all around.

Enjoy your first weekend of autumn!

Week in Review: College apps, All-read lectures, Summer Reading Raffle, Book Club, Ancil Hoffman, and more!

It was the first five-day week of the school year, and here in the Matthews Library we found plenty to fill our days.

On Monday, Ms. Perla spoke with the seniors about the ongoing college applications process. Stay strong seniors; you’ve got this!

Mr. French and Mr. Arns presented to each of the high school classes Monday-Thursday on how to have a compassionate debate. They used the summer all-read The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green as the backdrop for this presentation.

Freshmen learned the Ancil Hoffman Day Capture the Flag rules on Tuesday during lunch. This knowledge must have come in handy because their team won the game on Friday!

On Wednesday we celebrated the Middle School students who participated in our summer reading activities with a raffle. Check out what our students got up to here.

Wednesday was our first High School book club of the year. Find out what we talked about and get some excellent book recommendations here.

Friday was Ancil Hoffman day! Congratulations to the black team for their win. We hope everyone had a wonderful day out in the sunshine!

September Book Club

We had a great turn out for our first book club of the new year! We discussed the merits of spoilers and whether reading the last page of a book is a viable way to choose if it should go in your TBR pile or not. There was also a spirited compassionate debate regarding which of Rick Riordan’s many series deserved to be considered “great.” (Everyone involved in the debate agreed they were all at least good.) Aarushi felt that if you like Greek Mythology that much you should read The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.

Ms. Melinson and Mr. Wells both recommended Admissions: A Memoir of Surviving Boarding School by Kendra James. It was the summer staff read, and it deals with themes of white privilege and elitism within college preparatory private schools. Ms. Melinson also recommended the graphic novel version of Bomb by Steve Sheinkin, which we recently added to our collection. She showed off two other books we recently put in circulation: Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng and Nightbird by Kate J Armstrong. In addition, she discussed her love of Neil Gaiman’s indescribable “skinny book” The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Mr. Wells also recommended two poetry books by his “agnostic pagan godfather” John Purser who dwells on an isle off the coast of Scotland: This Much Endures and There is No Night.

Jordyn (a passionate proponent of Percy Jackson) enthused over the novel Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett as well as the TV show adaptation, which is currently in its second season. Rachel was skeptical of the TV show, but shared her own appreciation of Terry Pratchett and recommended his Discworld series. She also recommended The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which novel has the Ms. Melinson stamp of approval.

Isaac, Radha, Gabriel, and Lila have all been on a non-fiction kick. Isaac has been reading up on the war of 1812 and Tecumseh’s role in it. Radha has stayed in her “business books” groove with How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Gabriel recently enjoyed Viola Davis’s memoir: Finding Me. Lila has a strong appreciation for urban planning, so despite its dry nature in certain parts has enjoyed Pave Paradise: How Parking Explains the World, a book by Henry Grabar.

Julianna has been reading books by the author of Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn. She recommended Sharp Objects and Dark Places.

Suketa really enjoyed the student summer read: The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green.

Dylan recommended Dry by Neil Shusterman, explaining that it was “not what I was expecting at all” and “kept on taking dark turns.” Jordyn added that Shusterman writes dark and unexpected very well, recalling how much she enjoyed Unwind, also by him.

We ate the entire plate of brownies this time around. Come on by the library at lunch time on Wednesday October 18th for your own taste of the famous brownies spirited and lively discussion of books with your peers.

For a list of all the books we’ve had recommended in High School book club, check out our goodreads page here.

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Week in Review: Leadership Lunch, The Glass Knife Meeting, Sophomore Project Introduction, and Sip ‘n Slides staffulty PD

Happy second week of classes Country Day! Here in the Matthews Library, we’ve had quite the full week.

On Wednesday, Ishaan Sekhon and Katie Espinoza put on their first Leadership Lunch as coordinators. Ishaan presented what he has learned as a volunteer with the Alzheimer’s Association of Sacramento.

The staff of the school’s literary magazine, The Glass Knife, met for the first time this year during lunch on Thursday.

Friday at lunch we hosted the entire sophomore class to introduce them to the Sophomore Project, a research project that they’ll be working on this year. Don’t worry, we distracted them with ice cream at the end so they wouldn’t get too overwhelmed.

On Friday afternoon the Secret PD Society hosted Sip ‘n Slides, a professional development event that invited staffulty to share their favorite tips and tricks for slideshow presentations. Ms. Michel told us all about her favorite movies and TV shows from different eras of her life while reminding us that interactive presentations can really increase audience attention. Ms. Melinson showed us how to use SlidesCarnival to keep our presentations clean and consistent all while tricking us with facts that seem fake and falsities that seem true. Ms. Monahan gave us important information about the upcoming solar eclipses as well as how to easily switch between tabs and access links while in the middle of a presentation.

Week in Review: Welcome Back!

With classes back in session, the library has been abuzz with activity!

Students stopped in at lunch and during flex time for coloring and games as part of our programming aimed at breaking the ice for students as we begin the new school year.

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Middle school students taking the Books+ elective perused our shelves and found a few gems.

A few of them even discovered our chairs.

Of course, even some of our older students find the floor more reliable anyway.

And, lucky for us, Ruby and Ms. Adams popped in for a morale-boosting visit. If any other furry friends wanted to come by, our doors are open every school day 8am-4:30pm.

Happy first week back, Country Day!