2017-2018 Battle of the Books Titles

We are so proud of the sixty-six students who participated in Battle of the Books this year! Now it's time to start reading for next year. The first five titles have been released!

Grade 4-6

• Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova (Yen Press, 2015)
• Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (Square Fish, 2016)
• Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar (Delacorte, 2015)
• Masterminds by Gordon Korman (Balzer and Bray, 2015)
• A Poem for Peter by Andrea Davis Pinkney (Viking, 2016)

                                         Grade 7-8

• Flying Lessons and Other Stories by Ellen Oh (Crown Books, 2017)
• The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (Algonquin YR, 2016)
• One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes (Bloomsbury 2017)
• The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz (Simon and Schuster, 2016)
• We Will Not Be Silent by Russell Freedman (Clarion, 2016)

Reading Without Walls Challenge

Students (and teachers! and parents!)  are being encouraged to participate in the Reading Without Walls Challenge.

To participate you can:

1) Read a book about a character who doesn't look like you or live like you

2) Read a book about a topic you don't know much about

3) Read a book in a format that you don't normally read for fun (a chapter book, a graphic novel, a book in verse, or an audio book)


What book are you going to read?

Congratulations Disney Battle of the Books Teams!!

Both the 4-6 and 7-8 grade teams qualified for the City Finals! 217 teams competed and only the top 15 team in each age group advance to the City Finals. Congratulations!

Breatkout EDU: Attack of the Locks

As I'm getting geared up for our next round of Breakout Box lessons, I realized I hadn't shared the pictures of my sixth, seventh and eighth graders first try at breaking into the box!  

 

Some of the groups that successfully solved the puzzles and "broke in" to the box:

Only ONE group out of the many that participated got in without a single hint from me:

#theypersisted

2017 Rebecca Caudill Award Winner!

Our winner of the Rebecca Caudill Award has been chosen. Fourth through eighth graders who read at least three of the nominated titles were able to vote.

And the Disney winner is...

And the official state winner was just announced. The Illinois 2017 Rebecca Caudill Award Winner is...

(For anyone who's interested, The War that Saved My Life  came in second for the state.)

Thank you to all who voted!

Breakout EDU: Getting Started

For the past year or so I've been hearing a lot about Breakout EDU from other librarians. Breakout EDU calls itself an "immersive learning games platform." The idea is that students work together to solve puzzles using critical thinking skills. The puzzles help them open a locked box called a Breakout box. Teachers around the country design Breakout activities that are tied to curriculum.

I kept hearing from other librarians and our wonderful school social worker how amazing Breakout boxes are for student engagement and for working on all of those collaborative skills that are integral to our library standards.  I was thrilled to find out that my Donors Choose grant for Breakout boxes had been funded and that we were receiving the supplies needed for three Breakout boxes.

In the past couple of weeks all of my sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classes have had the chance to participate in their first Breakout. Students discovered it can be quite challenging to solve all of the puzzles and "break into" the box. In fact, only one group of seventh grade girls successfully got into the Breakout box without a single hint! In the next few weeks, fourth and fifth grade students will begin their first Breakout on this year's Global Read Aloud book The BFG.

Illinois Student Choice Book Awards

Every year we are thrilled to participate in Illinois's Student Choice Book Awards.  In order to participate, students have to read a certain number of nominated titles in order to vote in February (the Rebecca Caudill) or March (the Bluestem or Monarch.)

All second and third grade classes at Disney are reading books from the Monarch nominee list.  There are some fabulous books this year!  As we read the books we also have lessons related to the books including research and writing responses.  We are keeping track of what we've read using a poster for each class.

Find this year's list of titles here.

The Bluestem Award is for 3rd-5th graders and opens up a world of chapter books.

Find this year's list of titles here.

The Rebecca Caudill is for 4th-8th graders and includes longer and more in-depth works.

Find this year's list of titles here.

Students have been hearing book talks about the nominated titles and have been practicing their note-taking skills as they write down what each book is about.  Students can check these books out from our library, the public library, or can even find them as e-books in both collections.  As they read these books, students can sign their names to the Bluestem and Caudill Hall of Fames in our library.

  

Calling All Readers! We want YOU!

We hope to have a Battle of the Books program again next year!  If we do, we hope to see interested 4th-8th graders join us in reading fabulous books and participating in competitions about those books.  (That means if you're going to be a fourth grader next year, you would be able to participate.)

Here's a sneak peak at some of the titles that will be on next year's list.  It's never too early to start reading!

Grade 4-6

                

·         28 Days: Moments in Black History that Changed the World. By Charles R. Smith Jr.  Roaring Brook Press, 2015.

·         Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff.  Puffin Books, 2015.

·         Funny Bones: Posada and his Day of the Dead Calaveras by Duncan Tonatiuh. Abrams, 2015.

• Slacker by Gordon Korman.  Scholastic, 2016.

·         Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford. Candlewick, 2015.

    

Grade 7-8

• Booked by Kwame Alexander HMH Books, 2016.

·         Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir by Margarita Engle. Atheneum, 2015.

• The Marvels by Brian Selznick. Scholastic Press, 2015.
• Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip through the Motown Sound by Andrea Davis Pinkney.  Roaring Brook Press, 2015.
• The Smoking Mirror: Garza Twins Book One by David Bowles. IFWG Publishing, 2015. 

Battle of the Books City Finals

Battle of the Books City Finals was this past weekend.  I am so proud of our teams.  This is the first year Disney participated in Battle of the Books and both our 4th-6th grade teams and 7th-8th grade teams qualified to go to the City Finals this past weekend.  (This means that both teams were in the top 15 scoring teams of all the participating schools.  There were originally 98 4th-6th grade teams and 81 7th-8th grade teams.)

Both teams worked incredibly hard and it was a joy to work with them for Battle of the Books.  Eighth graders we will miss you next year!

(Thanks to Ms. Herceg for this picture.)

And the winners are: Rebecca Caudill Award

Disney's choices for the Rebecca Caudill Award:

Third Place Tie:
Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans
and
Rump by Liesl Shurtliff

Second Place:  See You at Harry's by Jo Knowles

First Place:  Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Illinois's Rebecca Caudill Winners:

Third Place: Hidden by Helen Frost

Second Place: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

First Place: Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans

Battle of the Books City Finals

Congratulations to BOTH of our Battle of the Books teams!  The 4th-6th grade team and 7th-8th grade team both qualified for the City Finals.  Only 15 teams in each age group qualified for the upcoming City Finals battle and we are so proud.  Good luck!

Monarch Nominee: The Girl Who Heard Colors

This book is so interesting and we had such a good time working with it.  I will try to post later about the cool project we did with this very special book.  The main character in this book has no idea that she has synesthesia; she just knows that she can hear colors.  The reader discovers that there's a name for her condition as the girl in the story does.  We were all fascinated by this book.  Those students that created their posters about this book had a lot of fun playing with the idea of hearing colors.

Online Databases

Fifth and sixth graders have been using the CPS online databases to research their assigned scientists.  We define a database as a "searchable online collection of information."  The databases are fabulous because they are full of reliable information.  They are often easier for students to use because they do not have to spend as much time evaluating the information as they would if using a search engine to search online.

Online databases are accessible via the library wiki via the right hand navigation bar under the heading "Databases."  Most do require a password to be used outside of school.  If your child cannot remember the password, please feel free to contact the school library.

Disney Library Database Page

More Book Art

Several of my seventh graders have asked if I could share more of their book art.  They've really enjoyed seeing the work that other students have created out of recycled books.  So...as requested, more student book art:

Battle of the Books

I'm very excited that this year we are starting our very own Disney Battle of the Books teams!  Students in grades 4-6 and 7-8 are invited to turn in permission slips to participate in Battle of the Books.  

Battle of the Books is a team competition in which students are asked a series of questions pulled from a specific list of books.  Students will work together throughout the year to better understand the books and prepare for a school battle in late March.  At that point, a final Disney 4^th-6^th grade team and Disney 7^th-8^th grade team will be decided.  Those teams will compete against other schools in early April.  The top 30 teams in each age group will then move on to the City Finals Competition in early May.  The team that correctly answers the most questions about the books wins!

Here at Disney we will be meeting weekly with our preliminary Battle of the Books teams for students to engage in fun activities about the books as they work toward our goal of the school battle in March!  Students will be expected to set personal goals for reading the titles on the list.   Ms. Herceg and I will be coaching the 4-6 grade team and Mr. Fernandez and I will be coaching the 7-8 grade team.

If you have any questions please email me at gerowe@cps.edu or give me a call at the school.

CPS Battle of the Books Wiki

Bluestem and Rebecca Caudill Hall of Fame!

Wondering who has been reading the Bluestem and Rebecca Caudill Nominees?  Check out the hall of fame posters in the front of the library to see.

Illinois Children's Choice Awards

The Disney library is happy to be providing our students the opportunity to participate in the Illinois Children's Choice Awards.  These awards ask students to read a certain number of books from a list of nominated titles and then vote for their favorites.

The Monarch Award is open to students in Illinois in K-3 who have read at least 5 of the nominated titles.  I will be sharing these books with my second and third grade classes.

The Bluestem Award is open to students in Illinois in grades 3-5 who have read at least 4 of the nominated titles.  I am book talking these titles to my students and they will have the choice to read the books in time for the vote in March.  

   

Bluestem Nominees

Bluestem Nominee Spines

The Rebecca Caudill Award is open to students in Illinois in grades 4-8 who have read at least 3 of the nominated titles.  I have book talked these books to my 6th-8th graders and they will have the choice to read the books in time for the vote in February. 

Rebecca Caudill Nominees

Rebecca Caudill Nominee Spines

We have several copies of the books here in our library and they can be found at the public library as well.

The links to the individual award sites as well as past Disney winners are on our library wiki.

Library Wiki Bluestem, Caudill, Monarch Awards

Happy reading!

Dry But Important: Citations

Middle school students have been learning APA style citations at the request of their teachers.  They will be required to use APA style for an upcoming science project/paper.  Remember that you must cite EVERY source you use for a paper.

Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders have been practicing completing APA style citations and reference lists.  In the coming week(s) they will learn how to quote something that they are reading using an in-text citation.


To find resources related to citations please visit the Bibliography Tools page on the library website.