Week in Review: 4/29-5/3

The arrival of May adds a frenetic sort of restlessness to the school’s campus, as a year of learning and creativity reaches its zenith. From students and staff to faculty and families, we all sense the impending end to the school year. Soon, exams will be passed out, turned in, and graded; final projects and presentations will be lauded; yearbooks will be signed; well wishes and requests to keep in touch will be offered to our graduating seniors; summer break will begin. In the last month before we close out the ’23-’24 school year, the Matthews Library will accomplish plenty, as was the case this past week.

Tuesday was Poem in Your Pocket day, which brought smiles to all our faces. Students read poetry to us in exchange for a piece of candy. Many chose to read poems they wrote. The day overflowed with creativity, art, and sweets. What more could you want?

All week, Ms. Melinson taught the 8th grade history classes how to sift through web searches to find nuggets of gold amidst the silt. As advertisements, paid search results, misinformation, and AI-generated articles have cluttered the top results of most google searches, fact checking and website evaluation have become vital skills for our students to learn. In addition, she walked them through citing their research using NoodleTools, the citation and outline software that the school uses to streamline the research learning process for Country Day students. Now, they’ll be on even more sturdy ground as they enter the world of high school-level research assignments in just a few months.

On Wednesday we hosted the last High School Book Club of the year, which was bitter sweet as we had to say our goodbyes to the seniors. To learn more about what we discussed, check out the post about it here.

Ms. Melinson’s advisory has deviated from its donut norm these past two Thursdays. Last week, Ashly brought cream puffs, and this week Jaq brought cinnamon rolls.

Enjoy the weekend, Country Day. All physical copies of our books will be due back on May 22nd, but our virtual library has hundreds of eBooks and eAudiobooks that are available to peruse 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year (or 366 as was the case this year). Check out the eBooks tab of our website for instructions on how to use it!

April Book Club

It was a balmy 75F out and Ms. Melinson still served hot apple cider. We drank it all though, so hard to say who’s nuttier. (The brownies flew off the plate as well, but they weren’t nutty; only very chocolatey.)

Ms. Melinson gave us quite a few excellent recommendations. She started with The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, which is penned in the style of a reference book and covers over 1,200 fantastical locations from myths, legends, novels, and the like. She then gave us several recommendations for celebrating National Poetry Month, which happens every April. The poetry books and anthologies included Please Excuse this Poem: 100 New Poets for the Next Generation, Gentefication, the princess saves herself in this one, Citizen, Date & Time, B, and To This Day. She also mentioned a pamphlet-style book she read over break called Humility, which reminded her of the kinds of books Radha would usually pick up because it gives business advice.

Ash plugged their appreciation for Marissa Meyer’s works, having just completed a re-read of Gilded. This high fantasy novel is, according to Ash, a “more interesting” retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. They later lauded the beauty of the Lunar Chronicles, which is also by Meyer.

Jess (counter to the idiom) picked up a book because of its pretty cover. It then proved to be a deeply disturbing read. As a warning to anyone looking into this story, Jess noted that the book comes with more than a full page of trigger warnings, which she highly recommended we take seriously.

Jordyn is back to fantasy after a bit of time in the world of realistic fiction. She returned to the world of The Cruel Prince with the new duology Holly Black just published, starting with The Stolen Heir.

Jenny and Suketa both agreed that The Marrow of Tradition was the best assigned reading they’ve had in a while.

Ms. Z-S read the novella Pax recommended, A Psalm for the Wild-Built, and its sequel, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, and heartily seconded the recommendation.

Mr. Wells is reading Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver’s modern Appalachian take on Dickens’ David Copperfield.

For a list of all the books discussed in the High School Book Club, check out our GoodReads here!

Week in Review: Sophomore Symposium, Book Club, and Poem in Your Pocket

The library had a busy week of events. The Sophomore Symposium took place on Monday and Wednesday, a culmination of the tenth grader’s almost year-long interdisciplinary research project. Students presented on a variety of topics. Check them out below!

The Connection: Literacy and Socio-Economic Status—Jennifer F.
Concrete and Its Effects on the Environment—Sundiata D.
Quarantine Tech Transition: How Education Changed During the Coronavirus Pandemic—Linda Z.
AlphaFold: Deep Learning and Structural Biology—Ryan P.
How Barbie Has Stayed Relevant—Anniston M.

Reducing Food Waste: A Key Step Toward a Sustainable Future—Ava E.
Enhanced Mineral Weathering: The Key to Weathering Climate Change?—Saheb G.
The Social and Political Impact of Hip Hop—Garrett X.
Google’s Sustainability Efforts Against Climate Change—Aaryan G.
Applying Economic Principles to Help Solve California Agriculture’s Existential Water Crisis—Andrew B.

The library also held its monthly high school book club this week. Ms. Melinson shared that she read White Out, the companion book to Black Out. She didn’t like it quite as much as Black Out, finding it more melodramatic. Ms. Melinson is also reading The Carrying: Poems by the current U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón.

Dylan is reading a cookbook that’s part recipes and part tips for becoming a better chef. Jess read The Betrayal and enjoyed it. Suketa is reading The Joy Luck Club for English class. Siri is reading a book of poems called Allegria she picked up from the famous beat poet bookstore Citylights Books. She likes that both the English and Italian versions of the poems are side by side on the page.

Mr. Comer mentioned Borderlands, a sci-fi/fantasy/horror bookstore in San Francisco where he got the short story The Lady Astronauts of Mars and the follow-up, The Calculating Stars. Jordyn read Song of Achilles and described it as “amazing and full of angst.”

Friday was Poem in Your Pocket Day where students were encouraged to bring a poem or write one of their own and present it for a treat. We got several fun poems, including two about gerrymandering. You never know what you’ll get here!

Week in Review: Poetry & Free Audiobooks for the Summer!

For the month of April, which is National Poetry Month, we’ve been sharing our favorite poetry and novels in verse on our Instagram page. These books can be found on our Overdrive ebook collection here. As some of you might know, one of the events we do to celebrate poetry is Poem in Your Pocket Day – students read favorite or original poems (and often, poems thought up on the spot) and then get a piece of candy. Because we’re all at home this year, students submitted videos of themselves reading poetry. Check them out below:

We shared a video of Grace reading a poem on our Instagram yesterday to close out National Poetry Month. Thanks Anika, Kai, and Grace for sharing your poems!

Audiobook Sync shares free audiobooks every summer and they’ve kicked off with Monday’s Not Coming and The 57 Bus, both books highly recommended by Ms. Melinson and Mrs. Strong.

To access these books, you’ll need the Sora app from Overdrive. Follow this link for instructions on how to get Sora and for answers to other questions you may have. If you need help, email Ms. Melinson or Mrs. Strong.

Audiobooks are only available to add to your Sora account for 1 week so be sure to sign up for email or text alerts for when new books are released. Once you add a book to your Sora shelf, that’s where it stays; borrowed audiobooks don’t expire.

Check below for the list of audiobooks to expect this summer and when they’ll be available:

Happy listening!

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: Poem in Your Pocket edition

It’s been go, go, go in the library this week! Starting with Monday when Ms. Nellis brought in her 9th graders to work on their World Heritage Site projects. Then the library played host to a presentation on Queer Voices for Mr. Hinojosa’s 12th graders as part of their Laramie Project unit. Speakers from the Sacramento LGBT Community Center spoke about their experiences and services they provide at the Community Center. Later in the day, a group of high schoolers helped out kindergartners in the Winters Library with Poem in Your Pocket activities: cutest day of the year.

On Tuesday Ms. Nellis’ class was back for more World Heritage fun. Tuesday was also Mrs. Eustace’s birthday, and she was very excited to have ice cream cake. Wednesday was the all-school Poem in Your Pocket Day. Students with poems in their pockets (or on their phones, computers, or brains) shared poems in exchange for a piece of candy. After lunch we were visited by the Four Horsemen of the Poem-acalypse to share their poems and after school some middle schoolers came running in to read their poems before it was too late.

At Thursday’s “C” day meeting, a panel of seniors talked to the juniors about the college application process and their college choices. And Friday was another work night for The Glass Knife staff as they worked hard on completing this year’s book.

(Last) Week in Review

We’ve been moving right along this week as we head into the last month or so of school!

On Monday Brandy presented during our Leadership Lunch series. She talked about why she loves her church and the many roles she plays in it.

The 6th graders returned at the beginning of the week to continue their research for their passion projects. Check out some of the topics they’re researching!

On Tuesday we had a Speakeasy en Espanol, with students from Doctora Portillo’s class reading poems in Spanish.

Also visiting this week were Ms. Lyon’s and Mr. Kuipers’ 7th graders, who began looking at sources for their China and Japan cultural projects.

And to cap off National Poetry Month, Thursday was Poem in Your Pocket Day. Students with poems in their pockets (or their head or their phone) were rewarded with a piece of candy.

Week in Review: Poetry Edition

This week we had a little bit of rain, a little bit of sunshine, and lots of fun stuff going on in the library!

Throughout the week we had the 7th Grade History classes working on their China/Japan culture documentaries. And we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to snap a photo of one of the 7th Graders, Olivia, checking out our copy of Olivia: 

The Sophomore Project Presentation Battles happened Monday and Tuesday, where Sophomores enlightened us with their chosen topics. We had quite the variety this year—from dog breeds, to sports psychology, to dreams, to Mount Everest!

Thursday we celebrated Poem in Your Pocket Day, where we gave out candy to anyone with a poem in their pocket. Some of our High Schoolers visited the Lower School library to work with Kindergarteners on some interactive activities. Some of the poems involved acting like a tree (Ben was a very convincing tree!), drawing bugs, and pretending to be corn (shout out to Christian for making a map of where corn grows in the U.S.!). Ms. Melinson snapped a bunch of photos of our kids in action:

We were honored to have the Matthews family stop by for a visit on Thursday. It was kind of like getting visited by royalty. If the name sounds familiar…

Friday we had a Leadership Lunch, where members of the Latinx Student Union talked about their recent trip to the Latinx Youth Summit in San Francisco, where they attended workshops, heard some powerful keynote speakers, and were able to bring back some great ideas to promote diversity on campus. Plus, they got to dance on stage. We’re a bit jealous.

And one last shout out goes to Tim M., for winning the 7th Grade March Madness competition with his book Son of a Gun by Anne De Graaf, which is a book about child soldiers in Liberia. Every day the 7th Graders checked the “progress” of their book reviews on the bracket, and if they stayed on it they were rewarded…with candy! Tim’s review wow’d the judges and he received the ultimate prize: more candy!

April Book Club

 

Last week we had our last High School Book Club for the Class of 2016 (where did the year go!?). Ms. Melinson traditionally reads a poem for the Seniors, the lovely “Summer Day” by Mary Oliver. In the spirit of National Poetry Month, Anny read a couple of poems by Robert Louis Stevenson, and Dr. Bell read “My Father is a Simple Man,” by Luis Omar Salinas.

Ms. Melinson asked the Seniors to share any reading advice they might have for the younger book club attendees. Amelia said she highly recommended reading short stories, because it’s a great way to get an idea of a writer’s style before reading their larger bodies of work. Vanessa and Jake agreed, adding that it’s also a good way to “find your genre” and discover new ones that you might not otherwise try.

Everyone agreed that it’s always a a great idea to venture outside of your favorite literary genres. Dr. Bell said that he enjoyed reading a book by Dean Koontz that he picked up randomly in a coffee shop one day—someone had left it with a note saying “Read and leave for someone else to enjoy.” Ms. Nellis said that when she was traveling in Europe as a student, her peers would often trade books with each other, and this is how she ended up reading Jaws. Fels said that she found herself reading “big books” like Dune when she was spending time in Mexico.

Saachi offered some very insightful advice, which was to “read poems for inspiration” before a writing assignment or a test. Zoe D. said she loves reading books with illustrations and art, such as The Phantom Tollbooth, which she plans to take with her to college. Everyone shared the sentiment and agreed that it’s fun to go back to our “comfort books” every now and then.

For a complete list of books recommended during this book club and previous book clubs, check out our Goodreads list here!

TED Talk for Poetry Month

In honor of National Poetry Month, we watched a TED Talk by former U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins. The video presents animated versions of several of his poems and a reading of a very funny poem at the end.