The TIE Creative Writing Book Club Dec. 1 Dec. 2 Dec. 17 Dec. 8 Dec. 9 Free Choice Meeting Dec. 15 Dec. 16 Book Trailers Jan. 5 Jan. 6 Club Meetings read About other cultures When I read for pleasure, I like to immerse myself into the worlds of the characters in the novel. As I get to know them and become involved in their conflicts and dilemmas, I also pay attention to their surroundings. Setting often has a grand effect on the story as a whole. Can you imagine Harry Potter without the magical world of Hogwart’s? Many authors write about countries and cultures that are very different from my Massachusetts home. Three of my favorite writers have set their novels in fascinating places like Paris, Botswana and even Bethlehem If you would like to learn more about a different culture through your joy reading, try one of these titles: Luncheon of the Boating Party: (Susan Vreeland) In her best-selling novel, Susan Vreeland vividly portrays the lives of Impressionist artist Renoir and the models who posed for his famous painting, Luncheon of the Boating Party. She recreates 19th century Paris and brings Renoir's amazing work of art to life. I especially enjoyed the scenes set on the terrace of the riverside restaurant. As Renoir painted certain areas of the group portrait, I continually flipped the book closed to compare Vreeland's descriptions to the cover illustration. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency: (Alexander McCall Smith) The No. 1 Lady Detective, Precious Ramotswe, is clever, practical and enterprising. She solves puzzling mysteries for her neighbors, outwitting dishonest husbands, con artists and thieves. The setting of Botswana plays a fascinating role in the story too. I love Alexander McCall Smith's witty and insightful style. The Handmaid and the Carpenter: (Elizabeth Berg) A touching retelling of the marriage of Mary and Joseph, including the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Elizabeth Berg does a wonderful job of capturing the Biblical culture and recreating the ancient world in which her characters lived. Mary is a spirited and independent woman and her husband, Joseph is an strict but kind man who truly loves his wife. I especially appreciated Mary's belief that there are miracles happening every day all around us. Research Across the Curriculum 2 Imagine Enhancing your Lessons 2 VHS Star of the Month 3 Discover Untried Resources 3 Recent Acquisitions 3 Book Review 4 Learn 4 Book Club News 4 SJP Library READ, IMAGINE, DISCOVER AND LEARN NOVEMBER 2014 Julianna and Vivan weave friendship bracelets in the Makerspace.
Transcript
The TIE Creative Writing Book Club Dec. 1 Dec. 2 Dec. 17 Dec. 8 Dec. 9 Free Choice Meeting Dec. 15 Dec. 16 Book Trailers Jan. 5 Jan. 6
Club Meetings
read About other cultures
When I read for pleasure, I like to immerse myself into the worlds of the characters in the novel. As I get to know them and become involved in their conflicts and dilemmas, I also pay attention to their surroundings. Setting often has a grand effect on the story as a whole. Can you imagine Harry Potter without the magical world of Hogwart’s?
Many authors write about countries and cultures that are very different from my Massachusetts home. Three of my favorite writers have set their novels in fascinating places like Paris, Botswana and even Bethlehem If you would like to learn more about a different culture through your joy reading, try one of these titles:
Luncheon of the Boating Party: (Susan Vreeland) In her best-selling novel, Susan Vreeland vividly portrays the lives of
Impressionist artist Renoir and the models who posed for his famous painting, Luncheon of the Boating Party. She recreates 19th century Paris and brings Renoir's amazing work of art to life. I especially enjoyed the scenes set on the terrace of the riverside restaurant. As Renoir painted certain areas of the group portrait, I continually flipped the book closed to compare Vreeland's descriptions to the cover illustration.
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency: (Alexander McCall Smith) The No. 1 Lady Detective, Precious Ramotswe, is clever, practical and enterprising. She solves puzzling mysteries for her neighbors, outwitting dishonest husbands, con artists and thieves. The setting of Botswana plays a fascinating role in the story too. I love Alexander McCall Smith's witty and insightful style.
The Handmaid and the Carpenter: (Elizabeth Berg) A touching retelling of the marriage of Mary and Joseph, including the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Elizabeth Berg does a wonderful job of capturing the Biblical culture and recreating the ancient world in which her characters lived. Mary is a spirited and independent woman and her husband, Joseph is an strict but kind man who truly loves his wife. I especially appreciated Mary's belief that there are miracles happening every day all around us.
Research Across the Curriculum 2 Imagine Enhancing your Lessons 2 VHS Star of the Month 3 Discover Untried Resources 3 Recent Acquisitions 3 Book Review 4 Learn 4 Book Club News 4
SJP
Libra
ryREAD,
IMAGINE,
DISCOVER
AND
LEARN
NOVEMBER 2014
Julianna and Vivan weave friendship bracelets in the Makerspace.
Research Across the Curriculum
The freshmen are scheduled to visit the Library with their World History class during the second quarter. After reinforcing the premise that the purpose of conducting research (and not just “Googling it”) is to read about a topic in a wide variety of print and electronic resources in order to educate yourself on the subject, I will teach the ninth graders how to effectively use the Gale databases. They will learn about the vast col lection of periodical and reference articles available with practically just one click and practice different search techniques to refine their results.
I look forward to working with Mr. Scarlata and his World History scholars when we return from Christmas break.
Boston’s public television station, WGBH, which is right around the corner from SJP, has formed a partnership with PBS to provide classroom media through an interactive website, PBS Learning Media. Educators can search for, save and share digital resources to use in their PreK to Grade 12 classrooms. All resources are aligned to the Common Core and national standards.
The content is organized by grade level and subject area. I previewed several of the resources including two videos Today in Math: the Odds of Finding Life and Love and Today in Theater : Use Great Performances to Analyze Character, as well as an interactive digital lesson called You Decide: The Roaring Twenties. When I searched for “Elizabethan England” my results included a vast collection of more than 3000 images, websites and documents, along with videos and audio files. I found that doing a general search without narrowing the parameters provided a lot of extraneous hits that were not on point. However, by filtering
the results by grade level subject area, media type and language (English or Spanish) I was able to find exactly what I wanted: a video collection from Shakespeare Uncovered about the Globe Theater. When I clicked on the “Newest Content” link, I found an Interactive digital lesson on Interpreting Depression-Era Photography, which would test the students’ critical thinking skills and spark some interesting discussion. All resources include a link to educational standards and many also provide lesson plans.
By creating a PBS educator account, teachers can share the resources provided by PBS Learning Media with their students. If you explore this site and decide it is just the right thing for your classroom, you may want to consider apply ing for the 2015 PBS LearningMedia Digital Innovators Program.
November 20142
The High School Quiz Show team prepares for Super Sunday!
IMAGINE enhancing your lessons with PBS Learning Media
Congratulations to the staff of The TIE on the publication of the
November issue. Read about the fall play, girls’ sports, the High School
Congratulations to Franck Zhou, who is our VHS Star for the Month of November. He is taking a very challenging course through the Virtual High School: AP Physics C.
His VHS course is divided into weeks with each week devoted to a new topic. This quarter, Franck has studied principles and concepts like a n g u l a r m o m e n t u m a n d i t s conservation, static equilibrium and the law of universal gravitation.
A motivated and diligent student, Franck has consistently dem-onstrated his knowledge of the course content and his abilities as an independent learner not only during this month, but throughout the entire semester.
I am confident that Franck will be well-prepared to sit for the AP exam in May. With all he is learning in this VHS course, he will also have a strong knowledge base for his science classes in college.
Overdrive Digital Library
Are you an ebook reader? Have you explored our Overdrive digital library? Our collection of books and resources extends beyond the shelves on the fifth floor. On the electronic resources page of the Library website, everyone in the SJP community can access the growing ebook collection. I have created Overdrive Accounts for all students and faculty members to access the digital library. To log-in see me for your password
The Overdrive collection includes a variety of books covering many disciplines. Are you teaching your students about life in Ancient Rome? Take a look at Popular Culture in Ancient Rome by Jerry Toner. Is Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby on your syllabus? Download Fashion in the Time of The Great Gatsby by Lalonnie Lehman. Do you want to catch up on some of our summer reading titles? Borrow Gifted Hands by Gregg Lewis or Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. These are just a few of the fiction and non-fiction titles available through
Overdrive. Today, I borrowed a book of travel essays called The Best Travel Writing, which might be a good selection if you are looking for some non-fiction reading for your students. We also have access to some audio books and the entire Project Gutenberg collection of classics. Books can be borrowed for 21 days.
All borrowed titles will be added to your electronic bookshelf. You can then download the titles onto your iPad and access the ebook or audio book using the Overdrive Media Console app. In order to use the app, you need to create an Overdrive account separate from the library account I created for you and then link your account to the SJP Library. I am happy to provide a tutorial to anyone who wants to give this resource a try.
Once you begin using Overdrive, please recommend it to all of your students!
November 2014 3
X: a novel by Ilyasah Shabazz Diamond Boy by Michael Williams Strike! The Farm Workers' Fight for their Rights by Larry Dane Brimner Beware the Wild by Natalie C. Parker
Striking the Gridiron by Greg Nichols Guilty? Crime, Punishment and the Changing Face of Justice by Teri Kanefield Frida & Diego by Catherine Reef The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski (audio book) She is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick
Lexie and Kylie film their "newscast" using the the Touchcast app and the new green screen in the Library.
DISCOVER untried Resources
Recent Acquisitions
BOOK REVIEWOrphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
This compelling historical novel goes back in forth in time telling two parallel stories. One takes place in present day Maine and the other begins in the 1920s in Ireland.
I enjoyed both stories and admired the two main characters. Molly Ayer is a lonely teen trying to survive the foster care system. Vivian Daly is a 91-year-old lady who was sent from New York City to the midwest on an orphan train when she was a young girl. The two meet and form an unlikely friendship.
Reading about Vivian's experiences on the orphan train piqued my curiosity, so I did some research. I learned that from approximately 1854 to 1929 more than 200,000 destitute children from east coast cities were sent west to be placed with families who needed domestic servants or farmhands. Surprisingly, a good number of these children still had at least one living parent, but were sent away to be raised by strangers. Eventually, the trains fell out of favor and were discontinued.
In the novel, Vivian sorts through the keepsakes in her attic with Molly's help. Slowly, she reveals her story to the troubled teen and comes to terms with her part in this little known bit of American history, which must have had an indelible impact on the lives of thousands of children.
Have you ever been curious about a particular religion like Hinduism, Buddhism or Judaism? There is no better place to learn about these different faiths than in the Library!
Here in the SJP Library we have a variety of excellent resources covering religions from around the world. Whether you prefer print (World Religions Today), online (Exploring the LIfe, Myth and Art of Ancient China, a Follett ebook) or multimedia (Religions of the World, a DVD set narrated by Ben Kingsley) sources, we have something for everyone.
Do the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece and Rome hold a certain fascination? Peruse our shelves for one of the following titles: Gods,
Heroes and Men of Ancient Greece or Metamorphoses by Ovid. We also have books on Native American, Norse and Persian mythology among others.
Do you want to learn more about the traditions and beliefs of Hindus or Buddhists? Search for interesting titles in our OPAC (online public access catalog) and borrow books and DVDs from our collection. Or turn to the online encyclopedias and databases to find pertinent articles.
Read, imagine, discover and learn at the library. The SJP Library is a great place to expand your knowledge about world religions!
November 2014 4
The Book Club reads and discusses "Our Town" in preparation for the Phoenix Players production.
LEARN about world religions
Book Club News
In solidarity with our own Phoenix Players, the SJP Book Club read and talked about Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Our Town in November. Although it was written and first produced in the late 1930s, the powerful story of small-town America still resonates with readers and audiences today.
At our meeting on November 19, members of the Book Club described their own home towns and answered the question, "If after death, you could relive just one day, which would you choose?" Most of us would select a day we had spent with our extended families.
We also talked about our favorite scene from the play. We were all quite taken with the scene in Act II in which George and Emily declare their love for each other at the soda counter.
If you are looking for something new to read, a play like Our Town or another classic work by any of our great American dramatists is always a terrific choice!
Our next meeting on December 17 will be a Free Choice meeting and we will have a Book Trailer film festival! New members are always welcome.
