On February 1st and 2nd, poet Hope Anita Smith visited and conducted six poetry writing workshops for the 7th and 8th graders.

It is not common when we have an author who prepares three different presentations when the audience is on the same level.   But Hope did.  The students had a great time working on a list poem: “The Cool Poem”, they definitely struggled a bit with coming up with working metaphors for “Seven Ways of Looking At ________”, and were engrossed in “reading” the names of the paint color chips that you brought and applying those to their own “Paint Me Like I Am” poems.

We thank Hope for her enthusiasm and energy.  Hopefully, some of the student poetry will be submitted and published in the Middle School Literary Magazine this coming spring.

Stay tuned for some video clips of the workshops!

• Wolf Rider by Avi
• The Sisters Grimm: Once Upon a Crime by Michael Buckley
• The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney
• Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery by John Feinstein
• Running Out of Time by Maragret Haddix
• Flush by Carl Hiaasen
• The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
• Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
• Regarding the Fountain: A Tale in Letters, of Liars and Leaks by Kate Klise
• Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• A Series of Unfortunate Events: A Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
  

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.