Learning Resource Center

Books about Friendship, Mortality and Grief: In Loving Memory of Hank Maher

2012-02-09T06:10:00.030-06:00

“I have only slipped away into the next room, I am I and you are you. Whatever we were to each other, that we still are. Call me by my old familiar name. Speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Play, smile, think of me. All is well.” ~ Henry Scott Holland (shortened from What is Death?)

The five books below address death, friendship and love in ways you will always remember.

Straight Talk About Death for Teenagers: How to Cope with Losing Someone You Love
by Earl A. Grollman
This non fiction book suggests how-to live through the grieving process and suggest ways to deal with the emotional loss felt after the death of someone close to you. Grollman writes not only about the grieving process but also about discovering in yourself how to go on living.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Jess Aarrons a ten year old living in rural Virginia doesn’t quite know what to think about his new neighbor Leslie Burke. It doesn’t take the two very long to become friends since they were so alike yet from all appearances opposites.The two form a bonding friendship when Leslie creates an imaginary land for them called Terabithia. An untimely death makes this story not easy to forget.

All Rivers Flow to the Sea by Alison McGhee
Seventeen year old Rose and her older sister Ivy where in a terrible car accident leaving Ivy in a coma. Rose must go on living and is back to school but missing the constant companionship of her older sister. Rose struggles with her grief and guilt as she slowly learns to let her sister go.

After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings, and Flew Away
by Joyce Carol Oates
Although this story is written around death, it is truly a story about living.
“In the raw was how the world felt now. My feelings were raw, my thoughts were raw and hurtful like knife blades...In the blue had been my place to hide, now in the raw there was nowhere to hide” Fifteen year old Jenna Abbott barely survives a car crash, her mother doesn’t. Read how Jenna deals with loss, guilt, and a new life.

February’s Book Club Pick: Looking for Alaska
by John Green
(Join us every 2nd and 4th Thursday morning for book selection and discussion)

The Cooperative Childrens Book Center (University of Wisconsin) has compiled a list of 50 books on grieving and loss for children of all ages.

Tech Tip Tuesday ~ QR Codes

2012-02-07T09:04:00.007-06:00

So What Exactly is a QR Code?

QR codes have actually been around since the late 1990’s and originated in tech savvy Japan. Today’s uses are endless from business’ promoting their products to teachers using QR codes in their classrooms to link to homework or classroom blogs. Students are using Skanz Bands to create their digital fingerprints and share the QR code on the band with their friends smart phones.

How do you make QR codes?

QR codes can be made in three steps.

First you need to copy the link and paste it into a QR code maker such as Wasp (If your link is too long it can be shortened by TinyURL ) and then copied and pasted into your code maker.

Second click create QR code and your code is ready for step three which is copying and pasting your QR code to your website or saving it to a file for future use.

How to you read a QR code?

These two dimensional barcodes can be scanned by your smart phone. You will need to load a free barcode reader such as Barcode App for Android

Try It

This QR code was created so you can vote for your favorite Abe Award Nominee of 2011-2012.

Vote for Your Favorite Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee

2012-02-06T07:49:00.008-06:00

Voting takes place this week (Feb.6th - Feb.10th). Click on this Link and vote for your favorite Abe Book.

On Feb.12th (Lincoln's Birthday) votes from West Chicago High School will be counted among the votes of participating high schools throughout the State of Illinois to select the New Abraham Lincoln Award Winner for 2011-2012.

If any of you have read all 22 titles and would like to be listed on the ISLMA website with the Abe's Double Deuces from all over Illinois, please see Mrs. Leahy or Mr. Bodwell in the LRC this week.

Author Spotlight: Gabrielle Zevin

2012-02-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

Gabrielle Zevin is a novelist and screenplay writer who has written three novels for teenagers (so far) and has had several screenplays optioned to be made into movies. Growing up, she loved to type on her grandmother's typewriter. She started writing plays at around age 8 and always thought she would grow up to be a playwright, not a novelist. She is a graduate of Harvard and lives in New York City.

F Zevin,G
Zevin, Gabrielle. All These Things I've Done.
Anya Balanchine's dead father was the head of Balanchine Chocolate and the head of one of New York City's most notorious crime families. It is 2083 and chocolate has been outlawed. When the crush worthy new boy turns out to be the new district attorney's son, she might have to choose between her family or true love.

F Zevin,G
Zevin, Gabrielle. Elsewhere.
When she wakes up on a cruise ship that she doesn't remember boarding, Liz Hall thinks she is having a strange dream. But it's no dream. She has died and is going to a place called Elsewhere, the place you go when you die. It looks and feels just like Earth, except you can't die and you age backwards from the age at which you died. She was only 15. How will she live the rest of her life?

F Zevin,G
Zevin, Gabrielle. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac.
Naomi Porter has amnesia. When she wakes up in the hospital after a nasty fall, she can't remember the past four years of her life. As she puts together the story of who she was before the accident, nothing makes sense. What did she ever see in her boyfriend Ace? What was so great about being the co-editor of the yearbook? Are we the sum total of our memories and experiences or are we something more?

Search School: Use nouns and proper nouns

2012-01-31T11:02:00.002-06:00

Last time, I wrote about creating search queries that use a few essential words or short phrases instead of whole sentences. A strategy using a few, well thought out terms is generally the most effective way to narrow your search to find the information you need.

Once you narrow down your search to just a few concepts, you should then look at the words you have chosen. As a general rule, it is best to use nouns, especially proper nouns, in your search. Nouns are more concrete and specific than other words whose job it is to describe, modify or otherwise help out the nouns.

Proper nouns are even better because, while nouns name a person, place, thing or idea, proper nouns refer to a specific person, place, thing or idea.

The more specific and concrete your search terms, the better the search results.
Here is an example research question:

Why do we have Global Warming?

The first step is break the question into the essential components.

"Global Warming" AND [why do we have]

Global Warming is specific and would work great as a search term. The second part of the question is a problem. "Why do we have" is too general, so we need to find a noun that has a more precise meaning.

causes
reasons

These two would work. If we know a little about the topic, we might able to predict that we might find information on CO2 emissions or pollution as possible reasons for global warming. We might also know (or find out) that some people refer to Global Warming with the broader term Climate Change.

These specific terms would give you different results, depending on which ones you use. It is a good idea to try out several different terms in your search to see what works best.

Practice Exercise:Use your favorite search engine do a search for the research question above. Try picking one term from each colum for each search. Which combination gives you most relevant results in the first 2 pages of results.

Search Term 1	Search Term 2
"global warming" "climate change"	causes reasons "CO2 emissions" Pollution

From the WEGO Stacks…Oldies but Goodies

2012-01-26T06:38:00.015-06:00

Here are three great books published within the last five years that you might have missed because you were oh, I don’t know … too busy, too young or afraid of libraries? All teasing aside here are three books you don’t want to miss.

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, published in 2006

Miranda enjoys keeping a diary and writing about school, friends, family and skating. Lately she’s been writing about the forecast predicting a meteor shower about to hit the earth. Life on earth changes forever when one of the meteors rains down on the moon shifting it off course from its normal orbit pattern. At first the changes on earth seem subtle but quickly move into a cataclysmic events changing climate, food supply, power shortages and causing life to shift into survival mode for Miranda and her family very quickly. Is life as Miranda knew it, gone for good?

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak also published in 2006

If death could narrate a novel, what would it say? Find out by reading Markus Zusak’s unique introduction from deaths point of view. This is a novel of cruelty, poverty, but most of all hope for Liesel Meminger living through war. As a young girl Liesel and her brother where given over to foster care by their mother to avoid the ravages of war. On the train to their new home sickness overcomes her brother and he dies on the train. Traumatized by the loss of her entire family Liesel’s foster father begins teaching her to read. Liesel soon finds comfort in books while the world around her is ravaged by war.

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher published 2001

Although I read this book six years ago I can still remember the characters Chris Crutcher gave life to in Whale Talk. A bunch of high school misfits labeled by their peers as the loner, the fat kid, the dumb kid, you get the idea. This motley crew becomes the first ever high school swim team at Cutter High School. Leading the crew is T.J. Jones, an adopted mixed-race natural athlete with heart and a sarcastic sense of humor. No one especially the elitists “Good ol Boy” club expects them to succeed. Under T.J. the crew shapes up into a competitive team and achieves much more than was ever expected.

Digital Learning Day-February 1st

2012-01-24T07:08:00.017-06:00

The first ever Digital Learning Day is being celebrated on February 1st as a yearlong culminating event which empowers teachers and promotes innovation in the classroom. Participate in this national event celebrating technology in your classroom by trying one new thing. Their website has has a plethora of toolkits with full lesson plans for you to use.

On Feb. 1st there will be a Webcast featuring best classroom practices and Live Chat discussions featuring educators across our great nation. Register for the day at http://www.digitallearningday.org/ or just peruse the site for ideas. Whether your a teacher, parent or administrator their is something for everyone. So celebrate technology and teaching in the 21st Century by celebrating Digital Learning Day.

Finals Week: LRC is open until 4:00pm

2012-01-17T08:47:00.001-06:00

Bad Romance: Stories about Guys Trying to Find Love and Failing Hilariously

2012-01-12T08:00:00.000-06:00

Here are five stories about high school guys trying to find trying to get a girlfriend and avoid totally embarassing themselves at the same time--but failing miserably at both. Each one endures awkward momeents and hilarious humiliations while trying to keep their cool.

F Crawford,B
Crawford, Brent. Carter Finally Gets It Will Carter is obsessed with only two things during his freshman year—looking cool and getting a girlfriend. Unfortunately, neither comes easy as he hilariously screws up one chance after another to have either one.

F Doyle,L
Doyle, Larry. I love you, Beth Cooper. Denis Cooverman, graduating senior and captain of the debate team, declares his love for gorgeous head cheerleader Beth Cooper (who doesn't even know he exists) right in the middle of giving a graduation speech in front of the whole school. The craziest night of his life soon follows.

F Koertge,R
Koertge, Ronald. Where the Kissing Never StopsLife is already hard for 16 year old Walker. His dad has died and his girlfriend has moved away. To make matters worse, his mother decides to take a job as a stripper to support the family. There goes his social life—especially if the cute new girl in school who he has a crush on finds out..

F Korman,G
Korman, Gordon. Son of the MobViice Luca has the hardest time finding and keeping a girlfriend. What's the deal? He is a nice, good looking 17 year old guy, but he also the son of a powerful Mafia boss. After finally finding a girl with potential, it turns out she is the daughter of an FBI agent investigating his family.

F Wizner,J
Wizner, Jake. Spanking Shakespeare. Shakespeare Shapiro's parents cursed him with a name that has caused him humiliation all through school. At least he's a good writer like his namesake. It is senior year and all students at his school have to write a memoir of their life so far as a final project. He hopes that his will win the prize for best memoir, and possibly get him a girlfriend (or at least a prom date).

Search School: Words and Phrases, Not Sentences

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

Searchers usually take one of two approaches to doing a search. Beginning or less experienced searchers usually try typing a whole sentence or question into the search box This is called a natural language search because it mirrors how we naturally speak. For instance, a student using a natural language who is looking for information on the causes of the Second World War might use this query:

What were the causes of World War II?

On the other hand, a more experienced student searcher might use a keyword search. This type of search uses just one or two important (or key) words that the search engine will match against it index of pages.

causes "World War II"

A keyword search is usually more effective for a few reasons.

Non-essential Words: Remember that search engines look for all the words in your search query. If you said what were the major underlying causes of World War II, Google would assume that the words major and underlying have to be somewhere on each of the pages in your results.

Stop Words: Words like a, an, the, of, who, whom and similar words that do not have any meaning by themselves are usually ignored when you include them in your search. These are called stop words.

Precision: Focusing on just the essential concepts in your question allows you to be more precise in your thinking. Look at your search. Are your search terms too vague? Can you add a few words to tweak the search? This is harder to do with a sentence instead of a handful of words.

Phrases Searching: By default, a search engine will look for all of your words anywhere in the page. For instance, a search for World War II causes might return a page where all of your words show up different places in the page. So, the page might be one that says

The European powers divided up the world into various colonies…They were constantly at war…Two causes for this were…

This page might come from a web page about European Exploration instead of World War II.

For well-known phrases like World War II, the search engine will return relevant pages, but we want to eliminate irrelevant pages if we can. Putting quotations around any concept that has more than one word tells the search engine to make sure that only pages where the words are right next to each other on the page should be included in the results.

Practice Exercise

Here is a simple technique for modifying your search so that it only includes what you need for a good search.

1) Write out what you want to know in question form (natural language). Make sure to be as precise and specific as possible.

2) Go back and circle the most important concepts in the question—the 2 or 3 words that are the main ideas of the question.

3) On a piece of scrap paper, write down the concepts from your question. Using your background knowledge, or after skimming a reference article (an encyclopedia article, Wikipedia, etc.) or textbook, brainstorm any synonyms or more general/specific ways to state the main ideas or relevant related concepts.

You now have several different ways to search for the same question.

For more posts in this series, check out: How Search Engines Work and Crafting a Better Keyword Strategy

Down Loading Free Music

2012-01-04T14:47:00.000-06:00

Just recently I was asked to build a pathfinder for students that would provide "free music" or sounds that can easily be downloaded from the internet without copyright worries. These sites offer easy downloads and can accessorize any PowerPoint.

Finding music and sounds that are easy to download plus are in the Public Domain or Creative Commons arena are not always easy to find. Here are some of my favorite links that you may find useful: Jamendo Brainy Betty Presentation Magazine for sound effects and Template Wise Music Loops

Winter Break (Dec. 20 - Jan.3)

2011-12-20T08:00:00.002-06:00

Picture provided by Library of Congress

Hoyt's A Midnight Bell. 1896. Stonebridge Lithograph Co., New York. Library of Congress. Web. 19 Dec. 2011

Can You Spare Some Change?

2011-12-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

According to the Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness, every year between 2.5 and 3.5 million people will live on the streets or in a homeless shelter. On any one night, about 750,000 men, women, and children are part of that homeless population. The books below tell the story of 5 people who struggled and overcame homelessness, dysfunctional families, and sometimes drugs, to have a normal life.

362.5 SHE
Shepard, Adam. Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream.
When he graduated from college, Adam Shepard started an experiment. Could he drop himself in the middle of nowhere with just $25 in cash, an empty gym bag, a sleeping bag, a tarp and the clothes on his back, and one year later, obtain a car, a furnished apartment and $2500 in savings just by living and working on the road? He starts with a new identity, one that doesn't include his college education, financial history or anyone he knew in his previous life.

362.74 ERL
Erlbaum, Janice. Have You Found Her: A Memoir.
Twenty years after the author lived at a homeless shelter for teens, she went back to volunteer. She was now a successful writer and she wanted to help a girl who was in the same situation she was back then. She meets brilliant but troubled 19 year old junkie Sam. She has been living on the streets since she was 12. Erlbaum tries to help her, but she may be too late.

362.74 MUR
Murray, Liz. Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard.
At the age of 15, Liz Murray was born to drug-addicted parents in New York City. By fifteen, when her family falls apart, she ends up homeless. When her mother dies of AIDS, Liz decides to chart her own destiny by going back to high school, completing her homework in the school hallways and sleeping in subway stations. Against all odds, she eventually makes it to Harvard.

362.74 PAS
S., Tina. Living at the Edge of the World: How I Survived the Tunnels of Grand Central Station.
When she met runaway teenager April, Tina S. left her dysfunctional family behind and lived for four years in the train tunnels underneath Grand Central Station in New York. Soon after she arrived, she became addicted to crack and did whatever she had to do to support her addiction. Finally, after several tragedies and arrests, she realizes she might not live through another day on the streets. With a team of caring adults in her life, she slowly straightened out her life.

B Gardner, C
Gardner, Chris. The Pursuit of Happyness.
At the age of 20, Chris Gardener had already had a hard life growing up in poverty in a dysfunctional home. With only a high school education, he applies and gets accepted to a training program for stockbrokers. Because of the low salary and a series of unfortunate events, he and his toddler son became homeless. They spent the next year sleeping in shelters. He eventually went on to become a successful stockbroker and multi-millionaire.

Search School: Crafting a Better Keyword Strategy

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

Last time I talked about how a search engine works behind the scenes to return search results. Please go back and review that post if you haven't read it yet.

Over the next several posts, I want to talk about picking the right keywords for your search so that you get more relevant search results.

Searching for information can be difficult because we often need to find answers for topics we don't know anything about in the first place. The best searchers use focused and specific keywords along with strategies to compensate for what they don't know about their topic.

Over the next several weeks, I will post information about 6 different techniques to help you craft a better keyword strategy.

Here is the list of strategies:
1) Words and phrases, not sentences
2) Use nouns and proper nouns
3) Use unique words
4) Make predictions
5) Start specific and then go general
6) Use your results

Holiday Cookbooks and More...

2011-12-08T14:05:00.000-06:00

Winter break is just around the corner and the festivities of the season are beginning to take place. Want to bring that special dish to pass but really can't bake? We have your solution with some of the best resources available right in your school library to assist you and yours this season.
On display for the next two weeks will be this list of cookbooks to help you celebrate the season.

Spot Light on Cooking provides a list of working links to some of the greatest food sites on the internet.

Enjoy!

Tech Tuesday: Learning Can Be Fun

2011-12-05T13:43:00.001-06:00

Images can say a thousand words, try Big Huge Labs to say it better. The image below was created using one of many applications on the site called Motivator. You can create your own inspirational, funny, parody or motivational poster to announce school or club events and it's free.

To begin, click on the browse button to find and upload your image. Next enter the title of your poster and the motivational text. Add credit if the image belongs to someone else. (This image was created for our LRC by a talented graphic design student, who also happens to be my daughter.)

If You Liked Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

You just finished the Hunger Games books and you are itching for another cool story just like it. Well, you are in luck. Here are five books that you might like if you enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy.

F Roth,V

Divergent by Veronica Roth

In the future, the world is divided into 5 groups, the members of which spend their lives cultivating a particular virtue--selflessness, honesty, intelligence, and peacefulness. Each 16 year old has to pick a group to which he or she will devote the rest of his or her life by enduring a series of extreme tests of physical endurance and intense psychological simulations. The system helps to create a "perfect" world for its inhabitants. For Beatrice Prior, it is her time to choose her path. She can choose to stay with her family or be true to who she really is--she can't do both.

F Dashner, J

Maze Runner by James Dashner

When Thomas wakes up in a giant dark elevator, he has no memory of his life before he woke up. He just knows his name is Thomas--or is it? The doors of the elevator suddenly open and he finds himself looking out on The Glade, a huge outdoor area surrounded by giant stone walls. A group of teenage boys just like him is waiting to greet him. The Glade is a giant maze from which nobody has escaped. Every 30 days a new boy arrives. When a girl arrives the next day, chaos ensues.

F Bacigalupi, P

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

In a world reeling from natural disasters and environmental destruction caused by human beings, we have almost run out of oil and the gap between the rich and poor has grown ever wider. In the Gulf Coast region, grounded oil tankers are taken apart by crews of dirt poor teenagers called Ship Breakers. Nailer, a member of the light crew, scavenges for copper and other valuable materials so that he and his abusive, alcoholic dad can survive. One day, a hurricane causes a luxury ship to wreck on the shore near where Nailer lives. He and a friend are able to rescue the lone survivor, a beautiful, wealthy girl. Protecting her and reuniting her with her family could mean a new life for Nailer or unseen dangers that could cost him his life.

F Westerfeld,S

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

How do you create a world where there is always peace and harmony? Make everyone beautiful, of course! Tally Youngblood is about to reach her 16th birthday and she will finally get the operation that transforms all of the kids in her world from an Ugly into a Pretty. The operation uses cosmetic surgery to change your appearance to conform to an ideal standard of beauty. Tally is looking forward to the operation (as is every teenager) until she meets Shay, a fellow female Ugly who tells her about The Smoke, a colony of outsiders who have chosen to live without technology and who have refused to get the operation.

F Shusterman,N

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

In the near future, a civil war has been fought between those who believe that abortion should be legal and those who think it should be illegal. The result? Abortion of newborns is illegal, but teenagers can be sent to Harvest Farms, where they can have their individual body parts taken and given to other people who need them--they are unwound. So if you get into trouble with the law, are an orphan, or are just unlucky enough, prepare for your unwinding.

Search School: How a Search Engine Works

2011-11-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Search School. Today, we begin a series of posts about searching electronic sources more effectively. If you asked around, you would probably find that most people (students and teachers alike) don't know how search engines work. Of course, most folks know how to put a few words in the search box and how to click on results. But they don't know how the search engines or LRC databases do their work behind the scences.

You don't have to be an expert, but having a general idea of how these programs come up with results can help you put together a better search, which leads to better answers. This video from Google gives a basic overview of how their search engine interprets your search and returns results. Although their approach varies slightly from other serach engines and library databases, the concepts are similiar enough.

Video Review

A search engine creates an index of web pages that it finds on the web (like a book index).
The index makes note of the words on the page.
When you do a search, the search engine matches the words you type in the search box with information in its index.
That means the pages in the search results contain your search words somewhere on the page and the more pages that have your keywords on them, the more results the search engine returns to you.

Next time, we will start a series of posts about how to formulate a better set of keywords.

Read to Lead: Featuring Technology and Instruction

2011-11-17T10:02:00.002-06:00

During the next few months Read to Lead posts will feature professional development resources available to supplement “late start” workshops.

Today's Read to Lead features best practices for technology in the classroom. As you know Robert Marzano has been the building blocks of our late start workshops featuring technology. The books on this list will help you find additional ideas to use technology in your classroom.

Don't forget to stop by the LRC's first "Open House" on Tuesday morning. Participants will be given time to peruse books purchased to support our 5 Year plan, test drive our databases, ebooks and digital story telling equipment.

Tech Tuesday presents Blaberize for the Classroom

2011-11-15T10:04:00.000-06:00

Mixing it up on final projects always seems to inspire and motivate students. Have your students create a Blabberize to summarize a biography research project using an image from their research. Or introduce new material using Blabberize with your voice and your favorite image. This can be handy during flu season when your voice starts to wear. Be creative but most of all have fun.

Announcing our "Dare to Scare" Contest Winner

2011-11-15T09:12:00.000-06:00

Many thanks to all who participated in this year's scary story contest. The stories were fun to read. Additional thank's to all those visiting the Blog and posting comments to the stories. Hope you had fun using the LRC Blog. We welcome book reviews written by staff and students.

The winner of the Dare to Scare contest with a total of 42 comments is Reema A. for her story about The Invisible World.

Extra Credit Science

2011-11-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

These five books bring tell the fascinating, and at times, scandalous or tragic, tales of scientific discoveries and people behind them. We can't give you extra credit for reading them, but you will be glad you did.

500 BRY A Short History of Nearly Everything. By Bill Bryson

Bryson attempts to summarize all that we know from biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, and astronomy, from the Big Bang, the origins of life, the size of the Earth, and well, nearly everything.

537 BOD Electric Universe : The Shocking True Story of Electricity by David Bodanis

In Electric Universe, David Bodanis gives a history of the discovery and development of electricity and how it has impacted our lives. He also offers fascinating lives and sometimes bad behavior of the scientists who helped shape our understanding of it.

546 KEA. The Disappearing Spoon : And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean

Science Magazine writer Kean tells the sometimes sordid tales of scientists who contributed to the development of the periodic table. Find out why Gandhi hated iodine, how Marie Curie provoked jealousy in the colleague’s wives and why the Japanese used Cadmium missilesto kill Godzilla.

551.7 FOR Earth : An Intimate History. By Richard A. Fortey

Fortney takes us on the a global geologic tour across time, explaining how the earth has changed over millennia as land masses broke apart and mountains, volcanoes and other geologic phenomenon have shaped the world we live in today. Did you know that Appalachian Mountains used to extend all the way to Scotland?

616.02774 SKL The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Henrietta Lacks was a poor African American Southern tobacco farmer and mother of five who was undergoing treatment for cancer in 1951. Doctors removed tissue samples from her without her knowledge or permission. The cells grown from that sample went on to become known as the famous HeLa line. They were vital in the development of a polio vaccine and helped to uncover secrets of cancer and viruses and countless other discoveries. Yet she lies in an unmarked grave and her family never saw a penny from the use of her cells.

Tech Tip: Using the Favorites Bar in Internet Explorer

2011-11-08T09:09:00.001-06:00

Do you have websites that you use frequently, but when you add them to your Favorites menu, they get lost or forgotten? In today's tech tip, we show you how to use the Favorites Bar in your browser to access sites you visit daily (or more often) with just one click.

Read to Lead: Featuring Understanding by Design (UbD)

2011-11-03T11:12:00.002-05:00

During the next few months Read to Lead posts will feature professional development resources available to supplement “late start” workshops.

Today’s “Read to Lead” post features UbD instructional planning resources that will help you plan effective instruction.

Two ebooks are available through the Digital Card Catalog and the others are available for checkout.
Click here for UbD Resources

Tech Tuesday: Digital Story Telling

2011-11-01T09:13:00.006-05:00

Want to mix it up a bit? Try Mixbook.com A creative and fun way to have your students produce and share their final project. Students can select their own images or use the internet for pictures. The add text feature is simple to use and changing backgrounds will appeal to students creativity.
Pros: Easy to use, free, used to enhance writing skills, fun, creative, visual
Students can use their own pictures or internet pictures

Cons: Students must supply an email account and password, no spell check, must pay to print, need internet access to view book

Here's how CHS Book Club created a Mix book and then posted it to our website so others could view what we've been reading.

Illinois CC Standards K-12.W.R.6 Production and Distribution of Writing: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

Dare to Scare by Roxy

2011-10-31T08:24:00.000-05:00

The Eye

1907: A young woman, 17 years old, born in Guadalajara, Jalisco. Her name was “No Name.” She was a normal girl but she was blind, and she had a big, huge secret: Despite her blindness, she was able to see ghosts. One day in the town she was born in, a lot of her neighbors started asking themselves, “Why is she always inside her house, alone, with no one?” No Name was always inside for one reason that nobody knew: she was scared of being outside and seeing ghosts outside every moment ~in the world, on the street ...everywhere. One day, July 1st, it was a really pretty day with beautiful sunlight, a lot of birds and nice weather. She wasn’t able to see it, but she could feel the air and hear the birds. She decided to go out. After she was about to go outside there was a little kid playing by himself; he threw a ball into No Name’s front yard, he stepped onto the grass and he disappeared. For the rest of the story

Dare to Scare by Jairo

2011-10-31T08:19:00.000-05:00

The Portrait

It all began one day while Leonardo daVinci was painting his famous Mona Lisa. No one knew the truth about what happened while he was painting that masterpiece. The public just thought that he painted the Mona Lisa out of the blue. One family member, however, recognized the painting and asked Leonardo, “Did you know the woman in your painting, sir?” And Leonardo said, “No, why?” “Because she is a cousin of mine, and I haven’t seen her... in a MONTH!” The painter said, “No, stop bothering me, you witch.” The woman was angry. “What? You have called me a witch. And all your portraits look like zombies, like they were DEAD.” “No, no. They aren’t dead.” Leonardo found the curious woman later, and he painted her in a new portrait. Of course, no one saw the painting because he sent it across the continent. Later, a gentleman in France had it, and decided to go where the portrait had been painted, because he wanted to find out the meaning of a letter he noticed on the back of the painting, in the top right corner.

Leonardo found the curious cousin. Krystal, suddenly noticed a warm feeling in her chest, and then before she was dying she saw a vision of the famous painting that Leonardo daVinci had made, and while she was screaming, “HELP!” it was too late, she was already dead. For the rest of the story

Writing Better Emails: #5 And the Rest...

2011-10-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

#5 And the Rest..

Try to match the tone and style of the person you are corresponding with—especially if the person is a superior or someone you are trying to impress. If they reply to your 4 paragraph e-mail with a single line, pay attention to this and write shorter e-mails when corresponding with them.

Don’t forward an unanswered email to the person with a note asking them to address it. This could be perceived as rude. It is better to say, “I know you are busy, but did you get my last e-mail that I wrote about …”

Try to respond in a reasonable amount of time; in most cases, this means you should reply within in 24-48 hours, but that may depend on the context of the situation. You might indicate an estimated time that you will reply to the person if it is longer than a day or two.

If you are forwarding or responding to a message, don’t change the wording of the original message. If you want to repost a message to a group was sent to you individually, ask the writer permission to do so and make sure to give proper attribution to the information.

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That is the end of our discussion on writing better emails. Please make sure to send us your feeback by email or through comments on the posts.
Sources for this series of posts:
Forbes.com , OWL Perdue , Emilypost.com , Inc.com , Microsoft.com

A Girl in Trouble is a Dangerous Thing

2011-10-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here are five stories about teenage girls who are dangerously close to being the next victim of a serial killer.

F Cormier,R     Tenderness by Robert Cormier

Eric is an 18 year old serial killer who has just been released from juvenile detention for killing his parents and is now on the hunt for young beautiful girls to kill. Lori is a 15 year old runaway girl who is fascinated with Eric. They are both looking for tenderness.

F Derting,K     The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

There is a serial killer on the loose in Violet Ambrose’s small town. Since she was a little girl, has she has been able to psychically sense murder victims and their killers, so she may be the only one who can find him. Or she might be the next victim.

F Ferguson,A     The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson

As the daughter of a small town medical examiner, Cameryn Mahoney has always been fascinated with forensic science. When a serial killer comes to her small town, she becomes involved in helping her dad find the killer before he strikes again.

F Qualey,M     Close to a Killer by Marsha Qualey

Barrie’s mother is a convicted killer who has paid for her crime. She now runs a hair salon called Killer Looks that employs other killer ex-cons. When people related to the salon start dying, suspicion falls on salon employees and Barrie gets involved in trying to solve the mystery. But will she be the next victim?

F Strasser,T     Wish You Were Dead by Todd Strasser

The popular kids at Soundview high school are disappearing one by one after an anonymous blogger starts posting a hit list on her blog. When Madison starts receiving anonymous notes, she thinks she may be next. Is it the work of a serial killer or some elaborate prank?

Wrting Better Emails: #4 Attachments, Forwards and Other Extras

2011-10-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

#4 Attachments, Forwards and Other Extras

Outlook and other desktop e-mail programs come with the ability to add borders, backgrounds, and other enhancements to e-mails. These don’t always show up correctly in other e-mail programs or may be added on as an attached file. Use them sparingly, if at all.

You can add a signature file to an e-mail. This is usually some text that you have selected that is part of e-mail you send. It usually includes your contact information or a pithy quote. These are helpful for letting the person know how to contact you. Sometimes quotes and information included in signature files can unintentionally offend the recipient. Make sure to consider this before including the signature file in your email.

Never send an attachment to someone you don’t know the first time you send a message unless it is required, like for a job posting. They might think it is a virus or spam and delete your message.

Avoid sending unnecessarily large files. Learn how to resize photos or documents before you send them or send them a link to where the files are posted. For example, if you have an online storage account that allows you to share files with others (e.g. Flickr for photos or Google Docs for documents), send them a link so they can choose if they wish to download the file.

If you have to send large files, make sure to send a note first saying what you are sending and why. Make sure you have up to date anti-virus software installed that scans ingoing / outgoing messages.

Don’t send virus warnings, chain letters to others without checking out if they contain reliable information first. A simple web search or sites like snopes.com will help you figure which are useful and which are junk.
If you forward e-mails, most e-mail programs will put a symbol (>>>>) in the text to indicate the content from the previous e-mail. Use the find and replace feature to get rid of these symbols.

Send no more than two attachments at a time and give the file a name that makes sense. In other words, don’t use PN345.jpg to send a picture from your camera. Change the file name to something descriptive—Basketballgame1.jpg for instance.

Next: #5 And the rest...

Dare to Scare by James

2011-10-26T13:55:00.010-05:00

Try Your Luck

It was a regular morning day. My dad was reading the morning paper in the kitchen, eating his cereal when he said, Son, did you know that some kids died on the train tracks almost 25 years ago, right here, two houses away on Geneva Street by the football field? They say that if you go there at 12:00 at night -only on Friday nights or it won‟t work- you have to dial 666 on your phone and you put your car in neutral. You can feel how the car moves. Ha, ha! I‟m just kidding, son. None of that is real. But like every kid, I thought my dad was just saying that to make me feel better, and not be scared.
The next night, a Friday, I was driving around with my friends, telling them about the story my dad had told him the previous week. James, the one who was driving, said, Are you guys down to check if it‟s real? All of us said yes with a little fear. Bob took out his smart phone. What number should I dial? Diego, the kid next to me, said 666, but wait till 12:00. Bob, in the passenger seat, said, I‟m going to video tape this. If it does happen I am putting it on YouTube or FaceBook. It was 30 seconds to 12. Diego dialed the number 666 on his phone. Bob got his camera ready, then it hit 12. Diego called but nothing happened. We waited for 5 minutes. Nothing happened. Then we saw black smoke coming from our right side. James tried to put the car in drive but the car didn‟t move. The doors locked, the windows went up. We all screamed for help but no one was out that night. We couldn‟t do anything but wait for the weird smoke to get to us. Read the rest of the story

Dare to Scare by Reema A.

2011-10-26T13:49:00.008-05:00

The Invisible World

Have you seen anything that is invisible to others? If not, follow along and you will see the real nightmares. You may not believe it but you always have spirits around. Have you wondered why when it's quiet you can hear sounds? All the time there are spirits around, but when it's not quiet you can’t hear their footsteps or when they move things. That's why you think there are no spirits. But do you know why sometimes you feel frightened when you are alone? Because the ghosts there, playing with your mind. It was 1872. Sally and David lived in a cabin with a dirty floor; the window was fixed with plastic instead of glass and it had an old wobbly door always slamming when it was windy. The two friends didn’t believe that there were spirits around until they actually saw them. These two didn’t have parents or a home to live in. Click for the rest of the story.

Writing Better Emails: #3 Keep it short, clear and to the point, pt. 2

2011-10-26T11:00:00.000-05:00

Keep it short, clear and to the point, pt. 2

Email Content

People tend to scan and skim e-mails and web documents more than they would a paper document, so be deliberate about how you organize longer e-mails. Break the e-mail into short paragraphs. If you have lists of information, use bullet points or numbers to organize the content.

If you are replying to a long e-mail with many questions or points to address, it is okay to embed your answers within the sender’s original message. Leave enough space between their message and your reply so it is clear which part is their message and which is your reply. If you do this, make sure to let them know you have done this in the beginning of the message.

If the topic is complicated or has a lot of parts to it, or if you have multiple questions, pick up the phone or visit them in person.

Open your e-mail with a greeting, as you would in a traditional letter:

Dear Mildred:
Mr. Smith—

After you have exchanged at least e-mail in the conversation, it is okay to drop the greeting. If you are only acquaintances or you have never met, make sure to include a simple reminder of who you are and, if applicable, how you met.

If you are dealing with a long of list of back and forth replies, summarize the conversation for the recipient. You can highlight or quote relevant passages. Trimming back the irrelevant parts of the previous emails can also reduce the size of the message in their inbox and provide more clarity.

Refrain from sending one liners in your reply. A simple “thanks” or “ok” don’t advance the conversation. It is okay to put “no reply necessary” in the beginning of the e-mail, if needed.

Style

Quickly get to the point and be as brief and clear as possible. Write short, clear paragraphs that are direct and to the point. Concentrate on only one subject per message, if possible.

If you need to emphasize a point, use bold type or asterisks(*) to set the text apart, but don’t use all capital letters.

Humor can be easily misunderstood in an e-mail. Use it very, very carefully. Avoid the use of abbreviations that are often used in texting or other social networking sites. Not everyone knows what LOL means.

Always make sure to check that the email is clearly organized and that there are no grammar or spelling mistakes before sending it.

Next: #4 Attachments, forwards and other Extras

Writing Better Emails: #2 Keep it short, clear and to the point, pt. 1

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Keep it short, clear and to the point, pt. 1

Address Line

If you are sending an e-mail to up to three people, make sure to include all of their names in the greeting. If there are more than three, use an inclusive greeting to address the group as a whole.

When sending a message to a large list of recipients, you might not want to put all of their addresses in the TO: line. They may not want their e-mail address shared. Instead, include the addresses in the blind copy, or BCC, line. This will hide the list of e-mails from those who receive the e-mail. Avoid using this tactic to privately share a message with a third party, since this can be impolite and deceptive.

Do all of the recipients actually need the information? If not, don’t copy them (CC:) or hit Reply All or forward them the message

Subject Line

Always include a subject line in the e-mail and make sure it is as meaningful as possible. Your subject line should give a reader a quick summary or preview of the e-mail. This will help clarify the topic and allow them to prioritize their time.

Make sure you use normal capitalization in the subject line as well. All upper case or lower case subject lines are common in spam messages.
Most e-mail programs come with the ability to indicate that an e-mail is important, usually with a icon that you can add to the message. Try to avoid overusing this feature. Convey the priority through the text of the subject line instead.

Next: #2 Keep it short, clear and to the point, pt. 2

Dare to Scare by Jacob U.

2011-10-26T07:29:00.014-05:00

Foolish Little Johnny

Johnny was a lot like a student you may know; a jokester, a comedian, but somehow he maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout his entire first year in high school as a freshman. Yeah, Johnny had the life.
Johnny (born Jonathan, nicknamed Johnny at an early age) had the face that every girl wanted to be around, with thick blonde hair that just barely extended to his bushy, blonde eyebrows. Though school ended two days ago, he still remained in contact with all the girls that were from his school, East View High.
The thing that made East View a perfect fit for Johnny is that they had a year-round hockey program. Better yet, the summer proportion of this program began today, June 3rd. You may be wondering, where was Johnny? Johnny was on his way to the rink to begin his daily training.
He was one of the first to arrive, as always. Quickly, he raised a question with his eyebrow to his first-line defensemen, Derek Smith, "Where’s Coach B?"
Derek grinned to himself as he answered Johnny’s question, "Didn’t you hear? Coach B was fired by the school. Budget cuts."
Read the rest of the story

Dare to Scare by Aaron F.

2011-10-26T07:15:00.007-05:00

Fright for your life

She ran. She ran like she had never known was possible for a human being. She didn’t look back but she didn’t need to, she knew she was being followed. Her heart was pounding and her legs and lungs were burning, but she didn’t care. The adrenaline pumping in her veins kept her mind off of those. Her only thought was to live.

He laughed. They always run. It was a little bit of a nuisance, but he always enjoyed a good hunt. It worked up his appetite. She was a delicious little morsel, small in stature, but with a lot of fight in her. This was going to be fun….

Read the rest of the story

Writting Better Emails: #1 All Email is Public

2011-10-25T11:00:00.000-05:00

#1 All Email is Public

All e-mail is public; so, you should not write anything that you wouldn’t want anyone else in the world to read—literally. Since e-mails can be forwarded, copied, hacked, posted on Facebook, seen by prying eyes at unattended computers or printed e-mails left on public printers, please write them with that assumption in mind.

Make sure to avoid sending sensitive username and passwords and financial or other account information. Also, think twice about information that might be career or reputation damaging in the text of your e-mail.

It is always a good to look over an e-mail once before you send it with a critical eye for information that might be better handled in person. If the e-mail was written with a great deal of emotion (e.g. anger, hurt, etc.), save a draft or scrap the whole thing and return to it later.

Next: #2 Keep it short, clear and to the point, pt. 1

Tech Tip: Writing Better Emails

2011-10-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

Introduction

The etiquette and art of writing a good email is a lot more complicated than writng a letter was in the pre-Internet days. There are etiquette concerns (or netiquette), as well as technical considerations.

The skills needed to write an effective email are vitally important for career success, yet we all make some of the mistakes that we will write about here.

This tech tip that will posted in a series of 5 posts over the next few days.
#1 All email is public
#2 Keep it short, clear and to the point, pt. 1
#3 Keep it short, clear and to the point, pt. 2
#4 Attachments, forwards and other Extras
#5 And the rest...

Please offer your feedback in the comments section.

Dare to Scare by Maria A.

2011-10-24T13:38:00.006-05:00

A real story….

Along time ago, there were two girls that lived in a ranch; there were no lights, no running water, and no streets, it was a small and obscured ranch. It was also away from the city. People in this town needed to be alert and be prepared for something that will change their lives forever.
It all started one night when the two girls went to sleep thinking about their everyday routine. Their routine was that every morning they had to go to the city to buy corn to make tortillas to feed their family.
That night the girls woke up earlier than any other day, they thought that it was time to go to the city to buy the corn, but it was really midnight.
The girls went out and started walking in the middle of the night, they were chatting and they talked about what they would do when they returned from the city.
They got to the river that they crossed every day, when they saw a white blanket hanging in some branches close to the river... Click here for the rest of the story!

Dare to Scare by Andrew S.

2011-10-24T12:54:00.003-05:00

Once upon a time, a little family lived happily in the woods. The dad made money by cutting down wood and piling it in his truck. Then he would make a long journey to a small town called Roseville and sell the wood. He had two kids, named Alex and Tanya, and married a beautiful woman named Karla.
One day Karla was in her favorite flower meadow. It was getting dark and her husband told her never to be in the woods when it was dark. She just kept seeing these awesome flowers and kept picking. When she looked up at the sky, it was dark. She wasn’t very worried, though. She was a brave woman.
In the distance, she saw this faint glow. She could make out that it was in the shape of a flower. She went to check it out. She realized it was just a lone golden flower sitting at the entrance of a huge cave. She approached the cave, desiring that flower. She got to the entrance and was close to the flower. She could probably sell that flower and then they would never have to work again.
She heard a faint snoring in the back of the cave, but she didn’t pay it any mind. Then she heard familiar coming from behind her. It was Alex and Tanya. She snatched the flower and ran off toward them. A huge roar came from the cave and caused a massive earthquake. She got to Alex and Tanya and took each of them and ran back to the house.
When they were safe inside, they saw the husband lying on the table very sick and cold. She asked what happened. Tanya told her he had had a heart attack so they came looking for her. She stood next to him and comforted him. Then, without realizing, she saw she put the flower on his hand. Immediately it started healing him. He felt a million times better. Somehow the flower had healed his sickness. They were overwhelmed with happiness, then
WHAM!
Out of nowhere came a massive lion with three heads. I mean this thing had to be twelve feet with huge heads and foot-long teeth. The lion knocked down the husband, who immediately went silent. The lion bit the two kids’ heads in half. The lion sprouted wings and took Karla and the flower in his mouth.
She was dropped down next to the flower in the familiar spot of the cave. For the rest of eternity she was forced to guard the flower. That was the cause of her family’s death.

Dare to Scare by Angelica M.

2011-10-24T08:05:00.004-05:00

“Him” It was a normal evening for me. The sun was setting making me believe that it was going to be another normal day. As I finished cleaning I noticed that it started to drizzle. Mostly I didn’t really notice it until the clouds roared to get my attention. My house shook in the roar and started to vibrate then stopped suddenly. All the lights in my house went out. I went into the kitchen but I felt uneasy like when you pass a graveyard or a dark alley way. As I went for the flashlights something touched my hand gently but still gave me chills. I got out one flashlight and ran upstairs. The first thing I did was close the door and locked it with shaking hands. Then I heard the scream of a young female. I looked outside instantly then a black figure moved. My hands started to tremble even more. Then my home phone rang even though the power was out. I grabbed it and put it against my ear. A man said “Hello darling I saw you looking at me….I’ll be there in a little bit just wait.” Then I heard the most bone chilling, hypnotic laughter that made my heart sink to my stomach. Incredibly I found enough guts to run all over my house to lock every door and windows. Than my phone rang again and I answered, it was the same guy. he said in a harsh tone “Look behind you sweetie.” Something was lodged into my throat I swallowed my saliva down and slowly turned, by every inch my fear grew. I saw a man with hair at some parts on his head, with him gripping hard on a strand of hair which lead to a head of a girl that screamed as soon I laid my eyes on it. Deep down in the depths of my heart I knew I was next and instantly fainted.

Richard Brookhiser on The Daily Show

2011-10-21T09:42:00.000-05:00

Richard Brookhiser was on the daily show talking about his new book on James Madison and Madison was responsible for the invention of the first political party in 1792.

Dare to Scare by Donna K.

2011-10-21T08:21:00.005-05:00

"I don't think she cares" I whispered.
"I don't think she cares about YOU"
I glanced up and then immediately back down. I didn't want to hear it, but the voice didn't stop.
"She never cared about a thing you did. You weren't anywhere near perfect, which made you a complete disappointment in her eyes. Pathetic, worthless, a waste of time and space. She was sick of having to deal with you, and really, she hated your guts from your first flaw on."
"I don't believe in perfect. I can't be what I don't believe in…" I whispered again.
"Yeah, and maybe that was your first mistake."
I closed my eyes. I really wanted that voice to shut up. I didn't need to hear it anymore… It's not like I didn't already think she thought that. I knew she thought that way. I knew she hated me—every day.
"she's more flawed than I am…" I mumbled, folding my arms.
"Yeah. She is. She's horrible, in every way… shape and form. She's even got the most annoying voice on the face of the planet. What do you do with flaws, honey?"
"Me? I get rid of them. I need to be close to perfect in order to live to the next day…"
"So, what do you do with flaws?"
"I get rid of them."
"And, what is she?"
"… one, big, flaw"
"So, what are we going to do with her?"
"We're going to get rid of her!" I smiled a bit, but then became confused, "But, how?"
"How do you want to, dear?"
I smiled. These words finally made me feel good, a sense of power rushed through me as I stood up. Its time to get rid of the flaws! It's time to make this… perfect!

Read the rest of the story

Presenting "Read to Lead" CHS 5 Year Renewal Plan

2011-10-19T10:03:00.006-05:00

Every Thursday Eric or I will post information about books available in the LRC for staff and students. The Read to Lead posts presented over the next few months will provide staff with resources available in the LRC or online to supplement our "late start" workshops.

Most of the resources featured on Read to Lead have been recently acquired to provide additional information on Assessment, CRISS, DI, SIOP, Tech and Ubd.

Today's "Read to Lead" featured topic is Differentiated Instruction.

Find more resources link for videos and books
We also have two great ebooks both written by Carol Ann Tomlinson linked below:
Integrating Differentiated Instruction & Understanding by Design

How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms

Tech Tuesday: Getting Organized

2011-10-18T07:30:00.000-05:00

Want to share your web resources with your students? Now you can with LiveBinders.com You can create a new binder for each student project and organize your professional resource links too. It's virtual so you can access it wherever you have internet service. Did I mention costs? ~ It's Free!

Check out LiveBinders for Teachers developed by teachers for teachers with binders full of resources organized by subjects and grade levels.

Announcing Dare to Scare

2011-10-12T14:03:00.002-05:00

Short Story Writing Contest

October's here and what better time of year to be inspired to write a short scary story. Author Laini Taylor used a trip to Prague for the setting of her latest novel Daughter of Smoke and Bones.

Need Inspiration: We're displaying books in the LRC to help inspire you.

Use the LRC drop box located on the G:Drive to submit your story. Soon scary stories will begin appearing on our LRC web page (which is a blog) each day. Have your friends and family go to LRC Online to post their comments about your story. The story with the most comments to our blog will win a $15.00 GC to a book store, your favorite coffee shop or ITunes.

Tech Tip: Keyboard Ninja

2011-10-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

You need to cut and paste some text in your document.

Just highlight it, go to the Edit menu, choose Cut. Then go back to the Edit menu and choose Paste, right? Wrong.

Before you finished reading the first sentences of this post, I stealthily used the CTRL and X and then CTRL and V keyboard combinations to cut and paste your document text.

Windows keyboard shortcuts are a great time saver. Print out and hang up our keyboard shortcut guide near your computer for quick reference.

Handout: Keyboard Shortcut Guide

Missing Harry: More Series to Read if You Liked Harry Potter

2011-10-06T15:39:00.003-05:00

So, the last Harry Potter books and movies have been realeased and you have read them all too many times to count. Here are some other series that you might want to read next.

Series: Bartimaeus Triology
Author: Stroud, Jonathan.
First Book: F Stroud, J The Amulet of Samarkand.
About the Series: In London, where Parliament is controlled by magicians, the rise of apprentice Nathaniel is told through his eyes and those of Bartimaeus, the powerful and irreverent djinn he summons to help him seek revenge and gain influence.

Series: His Dark Materials
Author: Pullman, Philip
First Book: F Pullman, P The Golden Compass.
About the Series: The His Dark Materials trilogy follows Lyra and Will, two kids living in Oxford, England. Their England is in a parallel world, one with armored polar bears, winged demons, other fantastic creatures and dangerous magical objects. Mixing science, theology and magic, the three books take the kids on epic adventures saving kids in danger to saving the world.

Series: Inheritance Cycle
Author: Paolini, Christopher.
First Book: F Paolini,C Eragon.
About the Series: In the land of Alagaesia, the Dragon Riders kept peace among all of the countries. One of them, Galbatorix, ends up going mad when his dragon is slain. He is refused another dragon and starts a war to seek revenge and gain control of Alagaesia. Against him is Eragon, a boy whose family is killed and village terrorized when he finds a dragon egg and becomes a Dragon Rider.

Series: Keys to the Kingdom
Author: Nix, Garth
First Book: F Nix,G Mister Monday.
About the Series: Arthur Penhaligon was supposed to die at a young age from a deadly asthma attack but instead is saved by a magical key. This key opens the door to a mysterious house transporting him to the real world of Second Realms. With the keys help, Arthur fights his way out but the Fetchers, dog faced creatures are never far behind.

Series: Pendragon
Author: MacHale, D. J
First Book: F MacHale,D The Merchant of Death.
About the Series: Good verses evil struggles to win in this extensive series. Bobby Pendragon is a 14 year old boy that is transported through time and space by a gateway worm hole with his uncle. He writes to his closest friends Mark and Courtney on earth. As his friends read the letters Bobby’s incredible adventures unfold..

Tech Tip: Google Apps for Students

2011-10-04T15:57:00.000-05:00

Great news! Starting this year, students have access to their own Google Apps accounts through our school. Here are some tools that you might be able to put to good use in your classroom.

Getting Started

From the school homepage, student can click on Students > Google Student Login. The first time students login, they will have to accept the terms of use before they can proceed. This message will only appear the first time they login.

The Basics

Use Google Docs to have students write and share papers, spreadsheets and presentation files (think PowerPoint) with each other and you over the Internet.

Students also have access to Google’s e-mail program, Gmail. They can only send or receive e-mail from other WEGO students or staff members, so it is perfect for sending messages to your class or having them send you documents by e-mail.

Google Calendar can help students stay organized. They can also subscribe to other calendars. This is useful if you want to set up an easily updatable class calendar with them. The calendar comes with a to do list program called Tasks that you can access in Gmail too.

For the Adventurous

If you want to go beyond the basic features, you might want to try using Google Sites, Groups or Blogger. Sites is an easy to use web page builder. Groups allows you to create a e-mail listserv for your class. Blogger is a great tool for creating blogs.

Got Questions?

These are just a few of the ways you can have students use their Google Apps accounts. If you have questions about student logins, setting up blogger or using the other Google programs, contact the LRC or technology staff. We would be glad to help.

Celebrating Your Right to Read

2011-09-22T14:32:00.010-05:00

The LRC is celebrating our freedom by participating in Banned Book Week 2011.
Books on this display have been challenged for their content. People or groups have challenged books for their sexual content, profanity, and various other personal resons. When a book is challenged it's challenger is asking that book to be removed from the library's shelf.

Have you read a challenged book lately? 2011 Banned Booklist Celebrate your basic right to read this week by checking out a "banned book" or joining us for our author visit on Wednesday afternoon.

For more information about Banned Book Week 2011 see:
American Bookseller's Foundation

See Laini Taylor Speak on Wednesday September 28th

2011-09-20T09:39:00.003-05:00

National Book Award Finalist Laini Taylor will be at WEGO on September 28th during periods 7 and 8 to talk about her newest book Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

Check with your English teacher to see if your class will be attending or feel free to sign up here. A field trip form will be required for attendance. Copies are available in the LRC.

Student Sign Up Form: Sign Up

A description from the publisher:

"Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?" -Hachette Book Group

More Resources
Laini Taylor's Blog
Daughter of Smoke and Bone: Official Website

How to find a Lexile Score

2011-09-02T13:14:00.001-05:00

This Handout will help you find books appropriate for your lexile score in our catalog and on Lexile.com

Handout

We are hiring an LRC aide

2011-08-04T13:04:00.001-05:00

We have an open position for an aide in our LRC. If you are interested (or you know someone who is), please apply as soon as possible.

Job Description: http://www.d94.org/HumanResources/JobDescriptions/11-12ClerkforLRC.pdf
Application Link: https://www.applitrack.com/swdp/onlineapp/appFrameset.asp?starting=true

If you have any questions, you can reach the LRC director Eric Bodwell, at ebodwell@d94.org.

Facts of Life: Stories by Gary Soto

2011-05-18T11:15:00.000-05:00

I liked this book because it had many stories about what goes on in someone’s life. I could relate to most of the chapters and they would remind me of things I’ve done in the past. I really connected to the book. I believe so many students could really relate to this book. This book is mostly about what teenagers go through during their high school years, like dating, meeting new friends or even getting into fights. So I think students from my school would love to read this book.

Maria S.

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

2011-05-18T10:44:00.000-05:00

I liked the book more than the movie. It was interesting and exciting to read because it was a story that the Prince of Genovia had a baby daughter with a poor girl. I wanted to keep reading it until I finished it. Also, the book had interesting scenes to read because they were really funny. One of the reasons I liked this story a lot is because it is a fiction book. Other people will enjoy this book because it is just like a fairy tale book if one day you wanted to be a princess but you could never imagine you are actually a princess. If you like fiction books I would recommend this one.

Claudia P.

Blind Date by R.L Stine

2011-05-18T10:42:00.000-05:00

The book I read was titled “Blind Date” by R.L Stine. The reason I picked this book is because I remember loving “Goosebumps” and I have read a series of R.L Stine’s books in his newest collection and I loved them. So ever since then I have been very interested in his books. My favorite book was “The Perfect Date” so I figured “Blind Date” would be good too. I did enjoy this book. It didn’t have much suspense but a lot of mystery. To my surprise, it wasn’t a spooky supernatural story like the majority of R.L Stine books I have read. This one had a more realistic touch to it which in a way made it more eerie. There was a surprise twist, which I expected there would be, but not the one that was written. I don’t think this book is for everyone but people like me who enjoy a good scary story or a thriller or a book that will keep you wondering, then I recommend this book to those people.

Michelle S.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

2011-05-18T10:40:00.000-05:00

The Road is a very interesting post-apocalyptic adventure thriller about a man and his son. They travel rough ruined cities and burnt forests and they fight bandits and raiders. I liked this book because I liked the time setting and its survival scenarios. I think people who like survival and adventure books will also like this book.

Matt I.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

2011-05-18T10:38:00.000-05:00

I, like a lot of other girls, am a big fan of the Twilight movies. A lot of people told me the book is so much better than the movie. So, I figured it would be great for me to read the book since I loved the movie so much. The movie was great, but after reading the book, I realized a lot was left out in the movie. Things in the movie were changed where as in the book it was better. The movie left out a lot of key moments in the book and had some confusing parts. The book explained more things in detail. I think other students would like this book because it is 20 times better than the movie. It keeps you wanting to read more and more even though most likely you get the jist of what is going to happen because of the movie. Even after watching the movie more than once I still got stuck to the book, staying up all night reading it and not wanting to put it down. I think this book would get the same reaction from other students as the reaction I had. I love the book and I think others would too. Like me, others would want to keep reading the series and still watch all the movies.

Arely R.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

2011-05-18T10:34:00.000-05:00

The author, Stephenie Meyer, wrote the Twilight series including Twilight New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I read the last book, Breaking Dawn. This book is about Bella and Edward finally getting married. It’s the gossip of the town, Forks. Some people say they are getting married because Bella is probably pregnant or they say they are getting married because they truly love each other. After the wedding Bella and Edward go on their honeymoon to Isle Esme, an island in the Atlantic Ocean near the equator. Edward finally overcomes his fear of hurting Bella while making love to her. Bella and Edward finally make love to each other. Then, suddenly something unexpected happens; Bella starts getting sick. What could it be? Edward finally finds out what’s wrong with Bella. She’s pregnant. Edward wants to kill what’s growing inside of Bella because whatever it is it’s killing Bella. Bella doesn’t want to kill it, whatever happens to her happens; she wants the baby to live at all cost. When they finally fly back to Forks Bella tells her dad, Charlie, she caught a disease on their honeymoon and she won’t be able to see him for awhile. Jacob gets desperate because he thinks Bella has become a vampire. When he goes to visit Bella he gets a huge surprise when he sees Bella with her big crooked, unshaped stomach. Finally, Bella has her baby girl, Renesmee, a name combined together after Bella’s mom and Edward’s mom. When the Volturi, the leaders of the vampire world, find out they come to destroy the baby. Since they want to destroy the baby a war is about to begin. The Volturi then decide not to kill Renesmee. How will their lives be now? How does it end? Find out by reading the entire book.

Mary R.

Tweak by Nic Sheff

2011-05-18T10:29:00.000-05:00

This book is an intense book to read because it’s a true story and everyday people deal with drug problems just like the people in "Tweak" did. I liked this book because it was not boring. I'm not really into fairy tale happy ending books and this one kept my attention because something was always happening. I like that the book represents real people and the problems with which they have to deal every day.

Grace S.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

2011-05-18T10:21:00.000-05:00

The animals greet Major’s vision with great enthusiasm. When he dies only three nights after the meeting, three younger pigs, Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer, formulate his main principles into a philosophy called Animalism. Late one night, the animals manage to defeat the farmer, Mr. Jones, in a battle and run him off the land. They rename the property Animal Farm and dedicate themselves to achieving Major’s dream.

The cart-horse, Boxer, devotes himself to the cause with particular zeal and commits his great strength to the prosperity of the farm. As a personal maxim, Boxer adopts the affirmation "I will work harder." Ultimately, Old Major dies and two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, start to lead the farm. Napoleon betrays Snowball, exiles him from the farm and forms his own totalitarian rule on the farm.

It’s a pretty good book. I recommend reading it.

Manuel G.

Celebrating Our School Library

2011-04-07T10:34:00.003-05:00

Join us this month by looking back at all the wonderful happenings at CHS library. Over 650 students attended our Read Across America Event on March 2nd. We welcomed our second author Carrie Ryan at the end of March. The month of April is School Libary Month and we are celebrating by introducing our Newest Abraham Lincoln Award Books. Look for the shelf as you enter the library. What new things would you like to see in our library?

Sign Up to see Carrie Ryan Speak on March 25th @ 8:00 AM

2011-03-10T08:00:00.001-06:00

Author Carrie Ryan live in the auditorium, March 25, periods 1 & 2.

1. Fill out the Signup Form.*
2. Get a field tip form from the library staff.

*You do not need to signup if you are attending with a class. Check with your teacher to see if your class is attending first.

The Dead Tossed Waves Book Trailer

2011-03-09T08:00:00.001-06:00

The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
This is the second book in her zombie series, but it will still make sense if you haven't read the first one yet. For a great description of the book and an excerpt, check out Carrie Ryan's website.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth Book Trailer

2011-03-08T08:00:00.003-06:00

The Foret of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
The Forest of Hands and Teeth takes place in the United States many years after an infection has turned most of the world's population into zombies. Small colonies of people live in fenced in cities with the dead waiting outside, watching them, hoping to feast on their flesh. Mary's whole life has been spent in such a village that is run by an order of strict nuns called the Sisterhood. She has always dreamed of leaving, and then one day, she has no other choice.

For another description of the book and an excerpt, check out Carrie Ryan's website.

Getting Graphic With Your Ideas

2011-03-07T16:36:00.000-06:00

There are some great free tools out there for drawing, brainstorming or creating other visual representations of your ideas. Today, we want to showcase a few that allow you to create, edit, share and collaborate with others for free with just a web browser.

bubbl.us - Quickly brainstorm ideas using a mind map. Allow others to edit or just let them view your mind map. This tools is great for brainstorming for a project or classroom activity.

Stixy - Stixy allows you to create a virtual board where you can post related notes, to do items, photos and documents. Teachers could use it to post related information about a project. Student could use it as an alternative product for an assignment.

FlockDraw - Basically a simple drawing tool, FlockDraw lets you give other people access to help create a picture.Just send them the url for your project and they can draw along with you in real time. It might be great to use when you need to create a quick, visual representation of an idea.

Wallwisher - Wallwisher is a virtual bulletin board like Stixy, but you are posting virtual sticky notes. In the notes, you can add text, photos, audio or videos. Post a title or question at the top, share the url and use it to gather instant feedback any topic.

ABE Lincoln Award: Announcing the Winner

2011-03-07T11:26:00.002-06:00

The votes are in for the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Award. Student across the state voted and chose The Hunger Games by Suzanne Colins as the first place winner. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles and Graceling by Kristin Cashor won 2nd and 3rd places.

For a complete list of nominees from the 2010-2011 school year, check out official annotated list.

We will post the nominees for the 2011-2012 school year when receive them.

Author Carrie Ryan to Visit on March 25

2011-03-07T09:00:00.008-06:00

Writer Carrie Ryan will be visiting our school on March 25th at 8 am.

All students and classes are welcome.

Ryan is the author of a triology of novels that include The Forest of Hands and Teeth, The Dead Tossed Waves and The Dark and Hollow Places.

Ryan will be talking about The Dark and Hollow Places, which will be released on March 22.

Copies of the first two books are now available for checkout or for sale in the LRC.
Attendees at the event will have the chance to meet the author and have their books signed.

Sign-up information will be on this blog by the end of the week.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

2011-03-01T12:16:00.007-06:00

Blink, The Power of Thinking without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell is a very interesting book. It explains the wonders of the subconscious mind. Many people think their subconscious mind doesn’t play a role in their every day functions but it is actually just as important as our conscious brain; it is often smarter and quicker to think than our conscious brain! This book teaches a great deal about human psychology. It points out subtle things about your thought process about which you are conscious but about which you are not aware.

Eric G.

Getting Beyond Google: Best Tools for Research

2011-02-28T08:00:00.005-06:00

Wouldn't it be great if you had your own web based librarian who would evaluate search results and give you the best information on your topic? Not possible, right? These sites are the next best thing.

Sweet Search
http://www.sweetsearch.com/
This site has a staff of research experts, teachers and librarians that have helped build this wonderful search tool. Sweet Search is specifically targeted to students doing research. Check out their other search tools as well. Check out the site tour for more information.

ipl2
http://www.ipl.org/
This site not only has a huge database of high quality websites, but also special collections for various topics and an "ask an ipl2 librarian" service. It is maintained by a paid staff and volunteer library students, among others.

Kids Click
http://www.kidsclick.org/
Kids Click is another site maintained by the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University. The audience is K-12 students and it gives approximate reading levels for the sites are included in the results.

Answers.com: Reference
http://reference.answers.com/
Instead of just searching web content, the results in the Reference section of Answers.com are from previously published reference materials from reputable educational publishers. Information from Wikipedia and a few other websites are included in the results as well. Check the bottom of the results for the source information and a useful citation tool.

Wolfram Alpha
http://www.wolframalpha.com/
Wolfram Alpha is hard to explain. It is kind of a computation engine, not a search engine. Check out the examples and take a tour of the site.

Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.com/
Alright, I have to include this specialized Google search tool. Google Scholar searches a small part of Google's database, scholarly papers, journals, websites, etc. The material from some of the sites will be only a publishers abstract, but it might still be possible to get the full article. Talk to Mr. Bodwell or Mrs. Leahy for more information.

A Little Vocabulary Love: Foreign Language / ESL Vocabulary Resources

2011-02-14T07:00:00.006-06:00

These sites have exercises to help students in ESL or foreign language classes learn new vocabulary words:

imendi
http://imendi.com/

verbs-online
http://www.verbs-online.com/index.htm

Vocabulix
http://www.vocabulix.com/framer.html

Voxy
http://voxy.com/
This site provides short news articles, games and life skills lessons for ESL students learning new vocabulary. The audience is only Spanish speakers at the moment, but it could probably be used for other ESL learners as well.

Vocabulary for the visual or auditory learner:

Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon
http://capl.washjeff.edu/index.php
Provides pictures to illustrate vocabulary in English or other languages.

Forvo
http://www.forvo.com/
Forvo allows people to submit audio pronunciations for words. Listen to variations from speakers from various backgrounds and vote on the best ones.

22frames
http://www.22frames.com/
This site collects videos from around that web that have had captions/subtitles added. It might be useful for ESL learners.

Lingus.tv
http://www.lingus.tv/
Useful for learning Spanish, the site includes video dialogues, translations, and vocabulary guides.

Use the vocabulary that you learned:

MakeBeliefsComix
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/
Make simple comic strips with ready made characters, dialouge bubbles and props. The program accepts special characters from other languages as well. You can use the Type It website to create the dialouge if you need to insert special characters in Spanish, French or German.

We Want You to Vote

2011-02-09T08:25:00.008-06:00

Abraham Lincoln Awards

Voting begins Feb. 10th - Feb. 18th

Just Click Here and vote for your favorite Abe nominee

Have a Smart Phone? You can vote after school using our QR code on the back of the Abe book marks available in the LRC.

Business Ed Resources for the Visually Inclined

2011-02-07T07:00:00.006-06:00

Here are some resources for visual leaners on Business Ed related topics.

Infographic: What is a Stock?This infographic from mint.com defines stocsk, gives a brief history of the stock market and explains why you would want to buy stocks.

Infographic: The FICO Frenzy
This helpful infographic explains what a FICO score is, how it is calculated and how to raise your score.

VideosThe Common Craft Company does a great job of breaking a complicated topic down into easy, understandable videos. Here are a few on Consumer Education topics.

There are more videos on related topcs on the Common Craft website.

New materials in the LRC: January 2011

2011-02-01T14:05:00.011-06:00

Jan2011acq

2011 is Chemistry's Year

2011-01-31T07:00:00.003-06:00

The United States launch of theInternational Year of Chemistry is on February 1st. Check out
A Day Without Chemistry, a video produced by the American Chemical Society.

Here are some Chemistry Teaching Resources:

The ChemCollective
http://www.chemcollective.org/
The site is a collection of "virtual labs, scenario-based learning activities, and concepts tests." It was created by a group of faculty and staff at Carnegie Mellon University for college and high school teachers.

ChemEd DL
http://www.chemeddl.org/
This site provides a colleciton of materials for teaching Chemistry, including tutorials , lesson plans and 3D models.

Slate.com: Blogging the Periodic Table
http://www.slate.com/id/2258112/entry/2258111/
Sam Kean wrote the book The Disappearing Spoon, a collection of anecdotes about the stories behind the various elements of the Periodic Table. In July-August 2010, Kean wrote a series of blog posts on Slate.com where he shared a shorter version of some of those anecdotes.

There are plenty of creative approaches to presenting the Periodic Table of Elements on the Internet. Here are a few of them:

Periodictable.com
This site has stock photos of each elemen, as well as photos of products that use each one.

The Comic Book Periodic Table of the Elements
click on an element and you will be linked to a page from at comic book that involves that element. There are also links to the WebElements website where students can find comprehensive scientific information about each element.

The Periodic Table of Videos
Each element in this table leads to a Youtube video where scientists explain its characteristics.

Dynamic Periodic Table
Links from the elements on this site lead to information from other sites, including Wikipedia. Plus, the site gives you many ways to view the date, all from one page.

American Leaders Honored in January

2011-01-04T08:09:00.004-06:00

Celebrating our Great American Social Justice Leaders For more information click on the links below:

John Hancock http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan12.html
Benjamin Franklin http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan17.html
Lucretia Mott http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan03.html
Alice Paul http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan11.html
Julia Ward Howe http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan28.html
Martin Luther King http://condor.depaul.edu/tps/Newsletters_January_2010.htm

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

2010-12-10T08:06:00.003-06:00

The Last Song is a very good book for people who like romantic stories with a bit of drama. This story was about a 17-year old girl, Ronnie, who is devastated when she finds out her parents are getting a divorce. Her mom thinks it would be in her best interest to go spend the summer with her father in Wilmington, South Carolina. Ronnie gets to South Carolina and falls in love with a boy she met at the beach. This boy made a big impact on Ronnie. Ronnie’s dad, being the awesome pianist he is, entertains Ronnie by playing several different songs for her on the piano. A few weeks into Ronnie’s visit, her dad gets very ill. I really enjoyed this book because I didn’t ever want to put it down and it constantly kept me wondering what was going to happen next.

Stefanie T.

Celebrating the Holidays

2010-11-29T09:06:00.013-06:00

Are you stumped on finding that special holiday gift? Do you want to buy that special friend something that will provide hours of entertainment and can be shared with others? The LRC came up with a solution that will save you hours of shopping time.
Introducing our newest feature on our web site The Library Club Wish List.

The Library Club “Wish List” will allow parents, grandparents, siblings or friends an opportunity to purchase books for our library in honor of their loved one. Choose a book from Community High School's Amazon Wish List to be added to our library collection. Make sure to let us know whose name name should appear on the book plate in the notes section at Amazon.

The newly arrived book and a picture of your student will be added to the Library Club
His or her name and graduation year will be placed on a bookplate inside the cover of the book.
Be the first one to borrow the new book.

If you have a specific book in mind that is not on the list just let us know and we will try to accomodate your request.

American Muscle Supercars by David Newhardt

2010-11-02T14:16:00.008-05:00

I liked that this book did not focus on the individual cars themselves like a car ad would. Instead it talked about the change in people’s perception and the increase in performance based vehicles. I liked that the book focused on the fact there were performance shops popping up all over the country and this led to the birth of muscle cars.

The reason others would enjoy this book is because it is on the brink of an historic period in American history; the age of the muscle cars. This book is about the creation and evolution of the muscle cars, and people interested in cars would really like this book.

Colton R.

Frakenstein by Mary Shelley

2010-11-02T14:15:00.012-05:00

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to be challenged as well as entertained. Shelley manages to pull off a spooky horror story while being able to address several controversial issues of her time period. These issues include "When does science cross the line?" and "Who is the real villain in the novel?".

Although it is a quite lengthy book, Frankenstein has a great flow that makes this classic piece of literature not painful for the reader at all. Perfect for Halloween time, Frankenstein is the perfect spooky story that will tug at your heartstrings too.

Sarah B.

Blink

2010-11-02T14:15:00.011-05:00

Blink, The Power of Thinking without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell is a very interesting book. It explains about the wonders of the subconscious mind. Many people think their subconscious mind doesn’t play a role in their every day functions but it is actually just as important as our conscious brain; it is often smarter and quicker to think than our conscious brain! This book teaches a great deal about human psychology. It points out subtle things about your thought process about which you are conscious but about which you are not aware.

Eric G.

Bliss by Lauren Myracle

2010-11-02T14:14:00.018-05:00

I really liked this book because of the thrill and mystery in it. The book really drew me in when I first started reading it. It kept me interested throughout the whole book. I never lost any interest and it was a really entertaining book since it was from the point of view of a hippy girl.

Others should read this book because it also has a lot of high school related things in it. I think the high school mystery and drama in it would really be interesting for other people to read.

Shelby M.

Wake by Lisa McMann

2010-11-02T14:14:00.017-05:00

I honestly loved this book. It is very suspenseful. Anyone at any age can relate to this story about the mysteries of their dreams. It also has romance and I thought it was a cute story as well.

Students should read this book because the main character is in her senior year of high school so other students can relate to all the stresses she is going through. She is a very unique student and every school has one. So this book can put everyone in that person’s shoes and help them understand there is nothing wrong with them. There is nothing wrong with being different. This book is inspiring and can help people deal with the problems they have.

Valerie F.

Sh*t my Dad Says by Justin Halpern

2010-11-02T12:43:00.009-05:00

I read "Sh*t My Dad Says" and I thought the book was really good because it told about his own life and the things his dad would tell him.

A few examples from the book of lessons his dad taught him are when Justin Halpern tried out for the freshman football team his dad said “I ain’t letting you try out, you’re too skinny”. His dad also said “No, I hate to break it to you, but you can’t do whatever you want” and “you most certainly are not a man”.

I think people would like this book because it relates to a lot of people’s fathers because of the things his dad would say to him. I can see my father saying the same things to me.

Jon C.

Please Help Me God by: Sister Mary Rose McGready

2010-11-02T12:31:00.012-05:00

I think my book was really interesting and I liked it because in every chapter it talks about a different story of homeless kids who ask God for help. There is a covenant house where Sister Mary helps every kid who tells their story about how they thought life wasn’t worth it.

It’s also a nonfiction book and I like reading books that are true life stories. What I liked most about this book was the way the kids tell their own story and after all they've been through they thank God for helping them. It grabbed my attention.

I recommend this book for others to read because it’s a good book that made me realize how important the family is and to appreciate everything God gives us. In this book, none of the kids who talk about their life experiences have their parents, which is really sad to not have family next to you during difficult moments.

I recommend you read this book; it’s a short book and it's non fiction. You will like it.

Ana C.

Babylon Boyz by: Jess Mowry

2010-11-02T12:30:00.023-05:00

It was a good book because I was able to relate to it. Other people might like it because even though not everyone would be able to relate to it, it is interesting. It keeps you wondering what is going to happen next. The book is about a group of kids who stumble across a suitcase of pure cocaine. They have to decide whether to sell it or just throw it away.

Gerardo J.

Summer of Secrets by: Paul Langan

2010-11-02T12:30:00.021-05:00

I liked this book a lot because it was really interesting. This book is about a teenage girl named Darcy Wills who was having so many problems in her life. One problem was a boy from school, named Brian, who attacked her. This made her so afraid of boys she didn’t want them near her.

At home she was having problems because her parents were always fighting and arguing. Darcy needed help and needed to talk to someone but there was no one around. The people she loved the most were gone, like her Grandma who had died from a stroke and her ex-boyfriend who went to Detroit. Later on in the story, Darcy was unable to deny the painful truth she had tried to hide.

Darcy turns to her remaining friends only to discover one of them was hiding an even bigger secret. So from there on Darcy had to stand up for herself and her friend. In the end the secrets are discovered. I think other students will like this book because it’s really interesting plus you learn things from this book. I recommend this book to anyone who likes books about teenage difficulties. This book keeps you entertained to the point where you can’t stop reading it because you want to know what will happen next.

Brenda G.

You: Journey to the CENTER Of Your Worth, by: Ed Young

2010-11-02T12:29:00.008-05:00

I liked the book I read because I found the story to be very interesting. The book was called "You: Journey to the Center of Your Worth" by Ed Young. Since it was a "finding yourself" type of story it was like a psychology book to me. I’m interested in psychological things so I guess all of this just connected with my interests.

I guess others should read it because it is going to help them figure out issues about themselves. I think this book can help others, who do not know who they are, to find themselves.

Miriam G.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

2010-11-02T12:26:00.023-05:00

The Lovely Bones, written by Alice Sebold, is a very interesting book and I really enjoyed sitting down and reading it. The book is about a murder that occurred in a small suburb and it's told by the murdered girl. It captivates your attention throughout the entire book.

Once you start, it's hard to put the book down. I believe others will enjoy the book because of the mystery it contains. You never know what's happening next; there's a surprise around every corner. This book contains everything from happiness to sadness. The movie is nothing like the book so I really suggest you take some time to read the book.

Nathalie L.

The Animal Farm by: George Orwell

2010-11-02T12:26:00.021-05:00

The Animal Farm by George Orwell is a very interesting book. The book is about how animals at this one farm overthrew the owner of the farm by force. Eventually the animals overcome and defeat their masters in one quick and epic battle. Old Major, a prize-winning boar, gathers the animals of the Manor Farm for a meeting in the big barn. He tells them of a dream he had in which all animals live together with no human beings to oppress or control them. He tells the animals they must work toward such a paradise and teaches them a song called Beasts of England, in which his dream vision is lyrically described.

The animals greet Major’s vision with great enthusiasm. When he dies only three nights after the meeting, three younger pigs, Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer, formulate his main principles into a philosophy called Animalism. Late one night, the animals manage to defeat the farmer, Mr. Jones, in a battle and run him off the land. They rename the property Animal Farm and dedicate themselves to achieving Major’s dream. The cart-horse, Boxer, devotes himself to the cause with particular zeal and commits his great strength to the prosperity of the farm. As a personal maxim, Boxer adopts the affirmation I will work harder.

Ultimately, Old Major dies and two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, start to lead the farm. Napoleon betrays Snowball, exiles him from the farm and forms his own totalitarianism rule on the farm. It’s a pretty good book. I recommend reading it.

Manuel G.

The Shack By: William Young

2010-11-02T12:25:00.012-05:00

I really enjoyed The Shack because it was really mysterious and you could never predict what was going to happen next. As I was reading, I really never got bored and that is unusual for me because I am not an avid reader.

I strongly suggest this book to people who do not really understand religion. I am Catholic but I do not attend church at all. I do believe in God but I would not say I have a relationship with Him. This book made my understanding of religion so much clearer and I actually liked it. I would also suggest it to people who like sad books with happy endings; you would not be disappointed.

Katelyn W.

Go Ask Alice By: Anonymous

2010-11-02T12:25:00.010-05:00

I really enjoyed "Go Ask Alice" because it is a true story. This book is about a young 15 year old girl who gets addicted to the life of drugs, alcohol and sex. Alice is going through a difficult time in her life; she had her heart broken, she isn’t very popular and she has to leave her hometown.

Alice doesn’t adjust well to her new surroundings so she ends up going back to her hometown and spends the whole summer with her grandparents. She ends up meeting with old school mate, Jill, but what she doesn’t know is that Jill is not as nice as she seems. Jill invites Alice over for a party. Jill and her friends end up slipping acid to Alice and that is when the addiction begins. I think a lot of high school girls can relate to Jill since many students are having a lot of urges to try new things and it shows the consequences.

Jennifer L.

Target By: Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson

2010-11-02T12:24:00.006-05:00

Personally I did not like the book, Target. The book was a little too much over the top for me. The book went in to way too much detail and certain aspects of the book were too graphic for me to handle. The topics the author covered in detail included how a young man attending high school was raped and that seemed a little excessive. One reason other people may be interested in this book is because it goes through the life of a high school male who has been the victim of a rape and then tries to restart his life at a new high school. Another reason people might like this book is because the book goes into vivid detail in many parts of the book and this really lets the reader visualize and feel what it is like to experience difficult times in someone else’s life.

Robert G.

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

2010-11-02T12:22:00.041-05:00

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe is an excellent tail of adventure and survival. This book tells the story of Robinson Crusoe, a man who is ship wrecked and has to fight to survive. He endures many hardships throughout the book. This book is a great book for any one who wants to read about a great adventure. This book is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Confessions of a backup dancer

2010-11-02T12:22:00.039-05:00

Confessions of a Backup Dancer
Author, unknown

Yes, I did like this book a lot. I liked it because it was very interesting and there was always something happening in the book. It was never boring because there was always action and I can relate to the book because Kelly was always tired, sore and hungry and I know that is how I am during my swim seasons. So I can relate to how tired she was. I dance also so I know what it is like to be exhausted.

I think other students would like to read this book if they could relate to it like I did. I don’t think they would enjoy it unless they could relate. And they would also read it if they wanted to enjoy a book where there was always something happening. Those are the reasons why I think people would read it and I think they should because it really is a good book.

Victoria R.

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

2010-11-02T12:22:00.036-05:00

I liked this book because the main character, Holden, has a really interesting attitude toward everything that happens to him; he’s really honest about everything he says to everyone even if they don’t want to hear it. There are a lot of things that happen to Holden in the book. He gets into a fight with a real pimp and goes to New York City by himself. Things like this capture my attention. Other students will like this book because this book never gets boring and it captures your attention really well because there is always a lot of activity going on in the book.

Gerardo G.

The Thief Lord By Cornelia Funke

2010-11-02T12:22:00.035-05:00

I liked the book The Thief Lord because it was a good story about how kids can live on their own. The kids in this book had to get food for themselves and find a place to stay. When all this was happening there was a detective after them. So I thought it was an exciting book to read.

Other people might like to read this book because it is an interesting story about how these kids had to steal stuff to get money and how they lived in an abandoned theater. Another reason why people might want to read this book is because you will want to keep reading it since the next chapter is as good as the last.

Tommy K.

The Elephant Man by Christine Sparks

2010-11-02T12:22:00.033-05:00

One of the reasons I liked this book was because the plot line was really interesting and the characters were intriguing. Once you start reading this book you won't want to stop reading it. It's not your typical read as every chapter takes you more into the life of John Merrick, the elephant man, and the rest of the characters who enter his life and help him gain confidence.

Sonia R.

Adventures of Greek Heroes by Molly Mcleen

2010-11-02T12:22:00.028-05:00

Personally I did not like this book. I thought I would enjoy it because usually Greek mythology is exciting and interesting to me. But this book was far too simplistic; it was clearly written for a lower grade level than a high school senior. There was very little detail involved in any of the descriptions and the language was very simple. Everything was completely explained, down to the character’s thoughts, in an extremely simple and boring manner. If you enjoy a very simple, easy read just to keep you busy, I would recommend this book. But, if you want to be entertained and kept interested by a book with some degree of detail and difficulty, do not read this book; it is not for you. The most entertainment I got while reading this book was laughing with my friends over just how bad it was.

Derek B.

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

2010-11-02T12:21:00.060-05:00

Personally, I did not care for this book because I felt it was slow and dragged on somewhat. I thought I would like this book because I usually like to read love stories but this one had a depressing feeling to it. I would recommend this book to someone who likes very detailed stories that have a sad side as well as a love story involved. This book was about a girl who recently lost her sister and she finds herself stuck in a love triangle between Joe and Toby.

Molly C.