Dalton Middle School Library

I’m back from the American Library Association’s midwinter conference.  This was the second year of my Notable Children’s Books Committee assignment.  After a 5-day-deliberation-and-voting process (and a year of reading and thinking about hundreds of books), we finally made our decisions and annotated the list yesterday.

The results have been posted on the web.  The books range from toddler board books to books for 7th and 8th graders, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, biographies, etc.
Here’s the link:

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/childrensnotable/notablechibooks/index.cfm

Enjoy!

Children’s Book Winners were announced this morning in a Press Conference at Denver.  (I am sitting in the Convention Center and reporting this post-Press Conference.)  For a step-by-step, at the moment report of my reactions to the announcements, go to: http://www.fairrosa.info/rj

Follow this link to see part the titles.

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/2009medawardwin.cfm

A more complete list will be here soon.

We looked at How A Book Is Made slideshow and made up a story and published it on the Web in December, 2008.  We made some observations and comments:

Similar:

1. Both have to go through editing.
2. They both have text.
3. Both books and web pages can be written by multiple people.
4. Both books and web pages can have different levels of qualities: good books/good web pages; bad books/bad web pages.

Different:

1. Web site did not get edited as much.  Actually, some web sites do not have to go through any editing process at all.
2. It was faster to publish a web page.  It’s instantaneous.
3. Books are printed on paper but web sites do not need paper. (Saving trees?)
4. Web sites have built-in spell checks.
5. You don’t have to PRINT things from the web to read them.
6. You don’t have to buy or sell the web stories.
7. The Book on the slide show came from one author but our story was made by the whole class.
8. Things on the web are very easy to find and access.

In December, 2008, we did two things in Library Classes: one, we looked at a slide show on how books are made; two, we made our own silly story that was published on this blog, on the Web.

We now are discussing the differences and similarities between these two media and two processes:

Similar:

1. You can read books AND web pages/ebook.
2. You can open a book and open a web page.
3. Publishing books and web pages in the 21st century takes TYPING/USING computers.

Different:

1. You can carry a book around easily but not always a computer, unless you have a laptop, internet connection, and electricity.
2. Publishing a web page does not take that many people and steps or as long as publishing a book.
3. Sometimes, it is easier to find your places (links, search, etc.) when you read a web page.
4. There is actually printing involved in making books (paper, printer, ink, etc.)  It takes longer to produce.
5. Publishing on the web saves paper.
6. Usually, you have to pay to buy books and their content, but there is a lot of free stuff on the Web, including stories, news, games, etc.
7. Almost anyone can put up web pages, but it still is not that common for everyone to publish books.
8. Web Publishing doesn’t always have to cost money, but book publishing ALWAYS costs money.
9. Web publishing does not always make money for the web authors.

After we examined the slide show of How A Book Is Made and made up a story as a class in December, 2008, we had a discussion of the differences and similarities between book publishing and Web Page publishing.  Also, some differences and similarities between a book and a web page.

1. Book publishing: you need a printer and illustrator, but you don’t really need it on the web.  You don’t HAVE to illustrate for the web pages.

2. The web page we made, we didn’t have to worry about whether it would sell.  For a book, you had to go through all the steps.  (This is true only for free web sites.)

3. Book Publishing can take longer.

4. When you publish on the Web/Net, you can make stuff up without worrying about it being true.  But when you make a book, you need to be more truthful.

5. As readers, we actually trust books a little more.  (Some people.)  Others trust web sites more.  Some people trust both.  Some people distrust both.

6. People can easily change and update a web page, but in a book, once it’s printed and published, it’s very hard (almost impossible) for these changes.

This is a concluding discussion after we looked at How a Book Is Made slide show and made up a story and published it on the Web in December.  Noble House students observed the following:

1. A book usually starts with an author’s idea.
2. A book has to be printed on paper, by a professional printer (printing company.)
3. A lot of people have to agree on making the book.
4. Someone has to edit it.
5. It takes at least a year to actually produce a book.
6. If illustrations are needed, an illustrator (professional) needs to work on it.
7. It did not take a year to make and publish our Web page.  It took about 20 minutes.
8. We did not need an illustrator or a professional printer.
9. It did not take so many steps to make the story and publish it.
10. We could not quite agree on a title so we compromised (or we didn’t!)
11. We did not need to discuss whether the “book” (story) will sell or worthy of publication.
12. We made the “story” on the computer via the internet, not printed on giant pieces of paper.
13. We did not really design the “book” in the traditional sense.
14. There is no front or back cover of the “book.”
15. It’s only one page long.
16. We did not have to figure whether to publish it as a HC or PB.
17. We did not have a big conference about it.

These are the many types of books that we have in the MS Library.  Many of them have special genre stickers.  Do you know where they all are?

Here is the list of most of the MS Library sections, grouped by location proximity:

Reference, Biography and Nonfiction

Horror, Suspense, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Paperback Fiction

Hardcover Fiction (in the Reading Room)

Classics and Humor (on the Balcony)

Every year in early spring, the Middle School 4th, 5th, and 6th graders have a chance to show off their knowledge of the books they’ve read in the fall at the MS Library’s Do You Know Books? Game Show Assembly.

This year, the questions will be based on 15 titles, listed below.  The students are encouraged to read and prepare themselves for this Game Show, but participation is voluntary.  The students can enter the game by themselves and they can have a partner or two.   We will start “registration” a week or two before the assembly — which is still months away.

All of these titles are available in paperback and for purchase at this year’s FALL BOOK FAIR in First Program.  The dates for the book fair for Middle Schoolers are: Sunday, November 9th and Monday, November 10th after school.  Please check your email for details.

Here it is, the book list:

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène Du Bois
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Mistakes that Worked by Charlotte Foltz Jones
A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
East by Edith Pattou
My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen
A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
So B. It by Sarah Weeks

On October 7th, Caldecott Medalist and author/illustrator of many excellent books for young people Mr. David Macaulay came to Dalton and talked about his new book, The Way We Work.  He also discussed his creative process, what he learned working on various different projects, and why art and art education is crucial in anyone’s learning process.  This event with the entire 7th grade was a Live WebCast and is now accessible (you’ll still have to fill out the registration form) via the web, here: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=49504

Here are some pictures that we took to capture the morning with Mr. Macaulay, who not only talked to the room of 7th graders, answering questions from both our students and people from around the country, but also visited with other members of the community.

The Library Balcony was turned into a video broadcast control center.

Four microphones, a sound mixer, and a couple of video monitors on the work station.

Cameraman #01 captured Mr. Macaulay’s every movement.

Moments before the arrival of the audience: the entire 7th grader, more than a dozen teachers, and the librarians.  Ms Stein stopped by and enjoyed part of the presentation as well.

The WebCast began!

After the WebCast event ended, some students and teachers remained to further chat with Mr. Macaulay.

Mr. Macaulay visited the Art Department.

A short visit with the 5th graders who just finished the book Motel of the Mysteries.

On Tuesday, October 7th, The Dalton Library is happy to host a WebCast event with Caldecott Award winning author/illustrator David Macaulay.  Mr. Macaulay will talk about his new book “The Way We Work” to the 7th graders whose year-long science study centers on human physiology.

You can read a New York Times review of the book.  And if you register now you can access the WebCast, live, starting 10:00 a.m. EST, on the event day.

Come back to the MS Library Blog for report on this exciting event.