Summer Reading 2009

Check out your summer reading lists online at:
http://chs.chelseaschools.com/mslibrary/summer09.htm

Most books have online links that can help you understand the stories better. Explore the links and see what you can learn!

Leave your comments and thoughts about summer reading on the blog & we'll see what we can learn from each other.

What should Ms. Riley buy for the library?

I know you all have opinions!! Show share some with me...

• Any books you think the library MUST have?
• Any genres (look it up if you don't remember!) you think we need to buy more of?

Teachers, this is for you too!

What did you read this summer??

It doesn't have to be just books...

• Did you read the newspaper?
  
• Any magazines?
• Any suggestions for everyone else to read?
  

Blog Book Reporting/Book Reviews

Goal/Purpose:
To reinforce the idea of Genre while connecting students' technology interests with literature.

Objective:
Students will create weblog to report on fiction book defining genre. Not only will students define what elements are in certain genres, they will simultaneously learn and use technology skills to create weblog.

Procedure:

• Students will choose a book from the library media center.
• Classroom teachers will assign a “deadline” for when the book needs to be finished and remind students to keep a journal during their reading about what they liked/disliked, questions the book prompted, etc.
• Students will read book during sustained reading and personal time.
• Once students have finished their books, classroom teacher and library teacher will reintroduce the topic of genres to the class (previously covered in Grade 4).
• Students will then be asked to determine what genre the book they chose belongs to – mystery, science fiction, historical fiction, realistic, humor, etc. (Some books, teachers will explain, have multiple genres.)
• Students will then be placed in small groups with others that have read the same genre.
• Working together, students will determine the key elements of their genre (quoting excerpts/explaining plots from their books to back up ideas). Students will be asked for an outline of their ideas/brainstorming session.
• In teams, students will be asked to create a word document for other students in the school defining the key elements of their genre.
• Students will be asked to save the document on a portable storage device.
• The document will be handed in to the teacher and students will be given time to revise for grammar and/or spelling errors.
• Working in the computer lab the IT specialist will introduce students to weblogs and show examples of student created blogs.
• The classroom teacher, library teacher and IT specialist will work with small groups to create blogs that will share the information they created about genres.
• Students will choose and use a template and post the information that they previously saved in Word on their portable storage devise.
• Once the Genre Blog has been set up, each student will be given the task of posting a book review on their group’s Genre Blog.
• Each group will be asked to email the library teacher with the address of their blog.
• The library teacher will link the Genre Blogs to the Library Webpage/Blog.
• Once all of the Genre Blogs have been links to the Library Webpage/Blog students will be given time to check out other Genre Blogs, read reviews of books read and continually post new book reviews and comments.

Materials:

• Fiction books from LMC
• Computers with access to Internet

Time estimates:
This lesson will take place over several weeks. Once students have read their book, the classroom teacher, library teacher and IT specialist will collaborate during previously scheduled times to publish student blogs.

Evaluation:
Students will be given a rubric during the process of creating the blog. Continually, teachers will monitor students interest in Genre Blogs – by reading comments and add’l book reviews added. Library teacher will be able to ask students if they have looked at the Blogs.

Frameworks Referenced:

Massachusetts ELA Frameworks/Standards:

Language Strand:
Standard 1: Discussion - Students will use agreed-upon rules for informal and formal discussions in small and large groups.
Standard 2: Questioning, Listening, and Contributing - Students will pose questions, listen to the ideas of others, and contribute their own information or ideas in group discussions or interviews in order to acquire new knowledge.
Standard 4: Vocabulary and Concept Development - Students will understand and acquire new vocabulary and use it correctly in reading and writing.

Reading & Literature Strand:
Standard 7: Beginning Reading - Students will understand the nature of written English and the relationship of letters and spelling patterns to the sounds of speech.
Standard 8: Understanding a Text - Students will identify the basic facts and main ideas in a text and use them as the basis for interpretation.
Standard 10: Genre - Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the characteristics of different genres.
Standard 12: Fiction - Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding.
Composition Strand:
Standard 19: Writing - Students will write with a clear focus, coherent organization, and sufficient detail.
Standard 20: Consideration of Audience and Purpose - Students will write for different audiences and purposes.
Standard 21: Revising - Students will demonstrate improvement in organization, content, paragraph development, level of detail, style, tone, and word choice (diction) in their compositions after revising them.
Standard 22: Standard English Conventions - Students will use knowledge of standard English conventions in their writing, revising, and editing.
Standard 23: Organizing Ideas in Writing - Students will organize ideas in writing in a way that makes sense for their purpose.
Standard 24: Research - Students will gather information from a variety of sources, analyze and evaluate the quality of the information they obtain, and use it to answer their own questions.
Standard 25: Evaluating Writing and Presentations - Students will develop and use appropriate rhetorical, logical, and stylistic criteria for assessing final versions of their compositions or research projects before presenting them to varied audiences. Media Strand:
Standard 26: Analysis of Media - Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the conventions, elements, and techniques of film, radio, video, television, multimedia productions, the Internet, and emerging technologies and provide evidence from the works to support their understanding.
Standard 27: Media Production - Students will design and create coherent media productions (audio, video, television, multimedia, Internet, emerging technologies) with a clear controlling idea, adequate detail, and appropriate consideration of audience, purpose, and medium.

Massachusetts Instructional Technology Standards:
1.1 Develop basic skills for using hardware and applications
1.2 Use correct terminology for basic components of a computer system, and develop understanding of their basic functions.
1.4 Explore basic formatting features of a word processing program.
1.7 Collaborate with classmates to use teacher-selected Web sites.
1.8 Collaborate with classmates and teacher to send a class e-mail message.
1.11 Identify components of a computer system, understand their functions, and use appropriate terminology in speaking about them.
1.12 Identify and use basic features of a computer operating system.
1.13 Save a file to the desktop, the hard drive, and external storage spaces.
1.14 Select a printer and print a document with appropriate page setup and orientation.
1.16 Develop efficient keyboarding technique.
1.17 Identify and use editing and formatting features of a word processing program.
1.25 Identify and use navigation features of browser.
1.26 Using a browser, “bookmark” a Web site for future reference.
1.27 Identify basic elements of a Web site.
1.29 Using e-mail, create and send a message.
1.31 Use correct terminology in speaking about electronic communications.
1.34 Identify appropriate applications for a classroom project.
2.1 Follow classroom rules for responsible use of computers.
2.2 Develop understanding of the school’s rules for safe and ethical Internet use.
2.4 Develop understanding of how the computer is a tool for learning.
2.6 Explain and demonstrate understanding of classroom rules regarding responsible use of computers
2.7 Explain and demonstrate ethical and legal behavior in copying files, applications, and media.
2.11 Describe and demonstrate knowledge of the school’s Acceptable Use Policy, and know the consequences of violating that policy.
3.2 Explore the use of application programs for organizing information into charts, tables, and diagrams.
3.4 Collaborate with classmates and teacher in creating a multimedia presentation to communicate learning with others.
3.5 Collaborate with classmates and teacher to exchange e-mail with another classroom.
3.9 Communicate results of research and learning with others using the most appropriate tools.
3.10 Manipulate data using charting tools and graphic organizers to connect ideas and organize information.
3.11 Under teacher’s guidance, and at discretion of district, use e-mail to communicate with others.