Somerville School Library Buzz

Culture Projects

2012-02-29T14:33:00.002-05:00

Jocely's culture project:

Haiti:

Winter Clothes

2012-01-10T15:13:00.001-05:00

Kindergarteners discussed winter clothing as they read story the The Hat by Jan Brett. Then, they sorted pictures of winter clothing from the summer clothing. They stuck their favorite piece of winter clothing like a hat on one of the characters. Don't their hats look silly?

Parts of a Book

2012-01-10T14:44:00.004-05:00

Kindergarteners were given a picture book with a blank cover. Students read the book as a class and then brainstormed appropriate titles. After, students wrote their title on the book along with a picture and their name.

The title is BIG

The author name is small.

Update from penpals in South Korea

2012-01-05T08:57:00.003-05:00

1) We want unity
We live in a land that is divided into North and South Korea. On June 25,1950 to 1953, there was a war between China and North Korea and the U.S.A and South Korea. The war never really ended but, the land was split into two parts.Somerville, North Korean people visit our school and its really hard to hear the story of their lives. Soon, we hope that South and North Korea will reunify. We live in the South and we have technology and a good way of life. We are lucky, but North Korea is poor and unlucky. We want unity so we can help the North Koreans. We hope this will happen soon.

2.) K-pop

K-pop is Korean pop music. K-pop is very popular in Korea and around the world. Now, we will tell you some of our favorite K-pop bands. Mblack is the first band. Mblack is very handsome. My favorite song is Mona Lisa because in the video, they dance very well. Next is Infinite. Infinite is also very handsome and cute. Infinite is more handsome than Mblack. My favorite song is Paradise because their voices are very good in this song. B1A4 is also very cute. B1A4 is cuter than Infinite. My favorite song is Beautiful target because they write good lyrics.

3.) Korean Food

We will tell you about Korean food. Our favorite food is kimchi, bulgogi and topokki. Now, we will tell you how to make topokki. To make topokki, first you boil water. Next, put rice cake in the water. After that, put hot sauce in the water. Next, put sugar in the water. And put [something] in the water. Next, add vegetables and garlic in the water.

4.) School

Korean students walk to school at 8:00am but American students go to school by bus at 8:00am. Korean students’ hair must be short and they must wear uniforms but American students can have long hair and no uniforms. Korean students cannot wear make-up but American students have colorful make-up. Korean students have name tags but American students do not have name tags. After school, Korean students go to academy but American students do not go to academy.

5.) Culture

On festival days, Koreans wear Hanbok. Hanbok is traditional Korean clothing. Hanbok is beautiful. Korea is 5,000 years old. Two thousand years ago, Koreans invented ondol heating. Ondol is a traditional Korean heating. Ondol heats houses by heating the floor. Koreans still use ondol and their houses are very warm. Many people in Korea are Buddhist. Korean Buddhist temples are beautiful. They are harmonious with nature. Buddhism influences Korean culture.

Tagxedo

2012-01-02T16:38:00.001-05:00

A Rainbow of My Own

2011-12-22T08:44:00.006-05:00

Kindergarten read " A Rainbow of My Own" by Don Freeman. As a class we acted out the words of the story, jumping over the rainbow and dancing with the rainbow. Afterwords, we created our own dancing rainbows.

Whats that animal I am thinking of?

2011-11-28T20:59:00.005-05:00

Kindergarten became detectives as we geared up for Thanksgiving break. Each table had a clue, feathers in a box, eggs, a claw and a sound clip of a turkey. At the last station students were able to draw what they thought the animal I was thinking of was. I was thinking of a turkey but henry's dromaeosaurus with feathers was a pretty great guess!

Fantastical Animals

2011-11-28T20:55:00.006-05:00

Using 5 photos students were directed to create a fantastical creature in Photoshop.

Design Challenge

2011-11-28T20:42:00.005-05:00

Using 3 provided photos students were instructed to design an interesting composition using Photoshop.
Students could manipulate the photos, erase, multiply, rotate, and filter the photos allowing the viewer to see their unique perspectives.

We now have a green screen

2011-11-28T20:38:00.004-05:00

Goodbye purple wall! Hello green screen!

Kindergarten Leaf Rubbings

2011-11-28T20:36:00.003-05:00

Penpals in South Korea

2011-10-05T13:50:00.007-04:00

password: penpals

Final Middle Grades Projects

2011-06-20T14:17:00.005-04:00

Teen Pregnancy- Brenda, Paula, Casey

Teen Suicide- Marianne, Colleen, Krystal

Dylan, Matt, Mike- Recycling

Joy and Olivia- Endangered Animals

Bio Terrorism- Srijan, Jake, Michael

Skateboarding - Daishawn and Jules

Lin, Sammy and Joey- Littering

Achilles and Brigid- Genetically Modified Corn

Recycling- Paul and Jimmy

Bukhari- Endangered Animals

Third World Countries- Lexi and Chelsea

2011-06-20T08:54:00.000-04:00

GoAnimate.com: Saving the Earth of Water Pollution by Joshtelle1@yahoo.com

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

2011-06-19T23:17:00.008-04:00

As a finale to our year long Middle Grades Project we invited Sidewalk Sam to the West Somerville . As a class we created a mural in the playground. The mural had a peace dove in the center surrounded by representations of our middle grades topics. Each 7th grade student filled a square with colorful chalk, and were directed to put down some expression that shows how we can make the world a better place. Sidewalk Sam's peace dove project started as a way to help curb youth violence around Boston. Sidewalk expressed his concern with using guns and hateful graffiti to settle disputes. " If your allowed to put symbols of anger and hate in the community, you should never allow those symbols to be unchallenged. There should be teenagers that say, I will not let this stand". So far Sidewalk, his wife Tina and several others from the community have painted over 700 peace doves around the city that read " Stop Violence and Create Peace".

Genetically Modified Corn

2011-06-17T14:56:00.000-04:00

GoAnimate.com: Daily life of Water Pollution by MR MAN SHOW

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

2011-06-16T13:09:00.000-04:00

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East Somerville Middle Grades Projects

2011-06-15T15:50:00.002-04:00

Homelessness by Damon, Diego and Andy

Tiffany and Talita's Hunger Project

3rd Grade Book Trailers

2011-06-14T11:06:00.003-04:00

Owen's Book Trailer on " The Amazing Octopus"

Emily's Book Trailer on "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" by Beverly Cleary

Somerville Journal

2011-06-06T17:40:00.001-04:00

WSNS featured in the Somerville Journal click here to see the article

Book Soundtracks

2011-05-27T17:28:00.005-04:00

Beginning, Middle, and End

2011-05-18T11:39:00.004-04:00

Students read the fable The Tortoise and The Hare. Then, we discussed how every story has a beginning, middle, and end. The kindergarteners were each assigned one part of the story to illustrate.

Who will be Bear's new friend?

2011-05-18T11:27:00.004-04:00

Kindergarteners read the beginning of Bear's New Friend by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman. Then, they used a computer program called ArtPad to type and draw the animal they thought would appear at the end of the story. Students shared their predictions on the smart board for the rest of the class to see. You will have to read the book to find out what animal it is. J

Emmy nominated animator Dave Schlafman visits WSNS

2011-05-17T18:44:00.004-04:00

Fashion Club Final Projects- Paper dresses inspired by flight

2011-05-17T00:49:00.008-04:00

" For my dress I was inspired by the cross-section of the USS Akron 1931 airship. I was desperate to find an idea in the last five minutes of one class. I looked in one book and found this photo of the inside of the airplane. I thought it would make an adorable pattern so I photo copied the image and transferred it onto my dress. I embroidered around one of the cross-section patterns and laced the back." Samantha

" I was inspired by the way smoke travels through the air. We used dye and water to get the gradient effect"- Pamela

"I chose bubbles for my inspiration because I love dots so much. I thought about flying dots and realized that bubbles are basically flying dots." - Katie

Postcards from Space

2011-05-12T13:19:00.000-04:00

5th Grade Jazz Projects

2011-05-12T09:34:00.007-04:00

Joseph's project on Louis Armstrong:

Jocely's project on Ella Fitzgerald:

Nick's project on Big Momma Thornton:

Donovan's project on Duke Ellington

Ryan's project on Jimi Hendrix:

Amanda's project on Jesse Dee

2nd Grade Visits the Dino Museum!

2011-05-10T11:03:00.000-04:00

Book Trailers

2011-05-09T09:14:00.004-04:00

Ms. Seeberg's example of a book trailer:

Tell the Truth B.B. Wolf:

Ms. Z's example of a book trailer:

2011-04-15T12:15:00.003-04:00

Cool photo? I think so.

Aurelio Ramos shows the 8th grade his UV reactive violet laser projector!

2011-04-15T00:33:00.004-04:00

Book Soundtracks

2011-04-14T15:11:00.009-04:00

Today the 4th grade started book soundtracks. In groups of two they picked their favorite children's picture book, video taped themselves explaining why they chose the book, and took pictures of all the pages. Next they will import all the frames into Movie Maker and narrate/ add sound effects to their video. The completed projects will be added to the shared folder so the K,1 and 2nd graders will be able to listen and read along with. Stay tuned.

Jacob Fenwick shows the 8th grade how to hack a kinect to make motion activated music.

2011-04-03T23:36:00.002-04:00

Signs of Spring from the Kindergarteners

2011-03-31T19:46:00.003-04:00

facepaint test

2011-03-28T23:31:00.000-04:00

Kindergarten Springtime, KerPoof Style!

2011-03-28T15:03:00.000-04:00

This week we've been reading a non-fiction book about the signs of spring and Jan Brett's book Annie and the Wild Animals. Students talked about the many things that happen when spring comes, including the birth of baby animals, new flowers, and fresh buds on trees. This week, the kindergarten students are creating their springtime scenes on the computer. Here are a few we'd like to share with you!

Todd's Springtime Scene

Adriana's Springtime Scene

Thomas' Springtime Scene

The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Sequential Order

2011-03-25T14:06:00.000-04:00

Kindergarten students have been studying the author Eric Carle. We especially liked his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar and decided to each recreate a scene from his story and then as a class, put them in sequential order. Here is the final product and some specific scenes.

After eating so many things, he had a stomachache!

But in the end, he became a beautiful butterfly!

Stop Motion Mash Up

2011-03-19T15:48:00.001-04:00

New Strega Nona Book Covers

2011-03-16T21:00:00.000-04:00

Kindergarteners learned about the author Tomie de Paola and how his heritage influences his stories. Then, we read Strega Nona, a famous Italian story by Tomie de Paola. We also reviewed the different parts of a book and created our own book covers by using Kerpoof.

Look at all that pasta coming out of the house! Run Big Anthony!!!

Character Traits - First Grade

2011-03-16T20:38:00.000-04:00

First graders learned how to identify character traits in a story. Then, they wrote down character traits to describe themselves. Finally, they used a website called Kerpoof to write a complete sentence using one of their character traits.

DJ Encanti Skypes with the East Somerville School

2011-03-13T22:57:00.003-04:00

Dj/Electronic sound artist Encanti Skypes with the East Somerville School right before leaving for a three month tour with his audio/visual act Z.E.E (Zebbler Encanti Experience) and headliner EOTO.

Katie's LED Bubble Hat

2011-03-13T20:24:00.000-04:00

1st and 2nd Grade Wishes

2011-03-09T15:16:00.001-05:00

2011-03-08T12:20:00.000-05:00

In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday the 2nd grade read " Green Eggs and Ham" afterwards they were asked to think of something that they thought they didn't like, and then tried it and ended up liking it. We then went to artpad.art.com to use word processing and paint tools to design a page about our discussion.

Didgeridoo/Beatboxer Max Jackson visits WSNS

2011-03-08T09:02:00.000-05:00

Zoetropes

2011-03-01T23:05:00.001-05:00

Stop Motion Test with 4th Grade

2011-02-28T22:58:00.000-05:00

"Wearable Creations" club ( sneak peak)

2011-02-19T18:33:00.001-05:00

Challenge: Create a garment out of cardboard inspired by aviation.

Meet "Eco"our environmentally friendly recycling robot

2011-02-19T15:17:00.000-05:00

Eco our environmentally friendly robot from Andrea Zampitella on Vimeo.

Special thanks to Pamela Fourtounis, Samantha Fourtounis and Michael Buckley

Rainbow Fish by the Kindergarteners

2011-02-16T14:50:00.000-05:00

Kindergarteners read the book Rainbow Fish to the Rescue! by Marcus Pfister. Then, they created their own rainbow fish by using a website called TimTim (http://www.timtim.com/coloring/drawing/). This activity helped the kindergarteners develop fine motor skills. It also allowed them to practice typing and navigating the computer. We had a lot of fun!

Here are some of our Rainbow Fish:

http://voicethread.com/share/1748767/

Visit From Environmental Chemist Dorothy Bassett 2/9/11

2011-02-13T11:52:00.000-05:00

Untitled from Andrea Zampitella on Vimeo.

Jesse Dee visits WSNS

2011-01-30T20:28:00.000-05:00

Untitled from Andrea Zampitella on Vimeo.

Scroll to 6:11 to see Carina, CJ and Nicholis sing!

to see the entire event click here:
http://www.vimeo.com/19363015

Day lab

2011-01-25T16:59:00.000-05:00

As a follow up lesson to Snowflake Bentley 2nd grade learned how to make polaroid transfers. Using the day lab we projected a slide onto polaroid film. It didn't turn out the greatest but we at least learned the process and got to look at some old brownie cameras too! We learned how photos are not always digital just like when Snowflake Bentley made them!

Brown School Library Wiki

2011-01-18T15:04:00.000-05:00

The Brown School Library now has a wiki! A wiki is a webpage that can be updated and edited by any of its members. Students use this online space to post projects and collaborate. The wiki will also be a place to find out the latest news about the library and what is happening in each class.

Click here to check it out: http://brownschoollibrary.wikispaces.com/

Snowflake Bentley

2011-01-09T17:55:00.000-05:00

We read "Snowflake Bentley" with Mrs. Griffin's 2nd Grade. We Learned about " Snowflake Man's" passion for photographing snowflakes and we even made our own snowflakes. Blizzard in the library!

Middle Grades Project Poster's- 8th Grade

2011-01-09T17:05:00.000-05:00

"Garbage Dependence" By Dylan ( In Progress)

4th Grade Circus!

2010-12-13T19:58:00.000-05:00

Today we started a new project with the fourth grade. By the end of the quarter we will have a Circus! The class is responsible for producing, acting, creating music, and coming up with the graphic/visual design of the circus. Today we brainstormed ideas about what a circus is and what kinds of things are in a circus.

Kindergarten E-Cards

2010-12-13T15:31:00.000-05:00

In Kindergarten at WSNS we read "The Mitten" by Jan Brett. We were inspired by all of the animals and the winter landscapes so we made "winter collages". Afterwards, we scanned our collages onto the computer and imported them into glogster. We were able to electronically collage on top of our collages. We call our finished pieces "Winter eCards."

VJ Zebbler visits WSNS Library/Media class

2010-12-12T13:30:00.000-05:00

VJ Zebbler Visits WSNS Library/Media Class from Andrea Zampitella on Vimeo.

Every half day the 7th and 8th graders will have a guest to help with our middle grades project on how we can change the world. We were lucky to have VJ Zebbler in to show us some of his VJ work and discuss how his multi-media video work can be used to change the world for the better. We played around with video feedback and learned how it works. We also were able to add effects using Zebbler's video mixer.

Endangered Animal Newscasts

2010-12-07T23:52:00.000-05:00

Endangered Animal News Reports from Andrea Zampitella on Vimeo.

News Anchors: Alexa and Alyssa
Videographer: Johnathan
More on the way!

Traveling to the 1950's with Ms. Suzie Q

2010-12-05T22:48:00.000-05:00

The 4th,5th, and 6th graders are working on remixing fairytales. A few weeks ago they had a visitor, "Ms. Suzie Q" who time traveled from the 1950's. We learned about the music of the 50's, the fashion, the struggles and even had a sock hop. The students all went on to choose a time period to research and apply to their fairytales.

Traveling to the 1950's with Ms. Suzie Q from Andrea Zampitella on Vimeo.

Messages of Thanksgiving from WSNS Library

2010-12-01T15:06:00.000-05:00

Untitled from Andrea Zampitella on Vimeo.

Wordles in the Classroom

2010-11-08T15:30:00.000-05:00

This week, students in grades 4 - 6 will create Wordles containing words that reflect their feelings about Veterans Day. After listening to Eve Bunting's The Wall, students will work in pairs to create their word clouds. You can see the latest fourth grade creations below. It's easy to do with your students and has many applications.

For instance, the more times a word repeats, the bigger it is in the cloud. Students could copy and paste an essay into the "Create" box in Wordle to analyze a visual representation of their writing. If one word is bigger than the rest, they might decide to find synonyms for those words.

Please see Miss Connolly to learn more about how to use this resource with your students!

Welcome to the Argenziano School Library!

2010-11-04T15:11:00.000-04:00

The year has kicked off to a great start in our school's Library. Students in grades K - 2 spent the first few weeks learning about how to be great library patrons. We read about what happened when Marion spilled jam on her book and students took trips around the world to schools and libraries in countries like Pakistan and Columbia.

Students in grades 3 - 5 have been learning differences between fiction and non-fiction books, exploring the Dewey Decimal System to learn how to self-select their own free reading books, and exploring reference resources like encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs and Websites. Grade 5 was fortunate enough to write poetry and understand what it means to be a singer-songwriter before joining students around the nation for an interview Webcast with Taylor Swift.

Students in grade 6 have been learning about copyright and fair use guidelines when using images from the Internet before gearing up for their Photostory projects. They're turning their biography reports into visual narrations.

Students in grades 7 and 8 have been exploring various ideas to select their documentary film topics. They are currently creating commercials for a search engine, meta-search engine or subject directory of their choice. Once they know there's more to the Internet than Google, they will have the world of research at their fingertips!

The Library is a great resource for teachers, too. The following services are available:

Classroom Collection (CC): Located in the Library in the Storage Closet across from the Computer Lab door, the CC contains books for use in the classroom and several titles have audio CDs attached.
Flip and Digital Video and Still Cameras: We have a small collection of cameras available for check out. Flip cameras are extremely easy for students to use. I encourage you to get them into the hands of your students!
Book talks: If you would like students to hear book talks about a certain genre or type, please let me know. I will devote Library Class time to introducing students to books and giving them time to have access to reader's advisory. The more information I have about your needs, the better!
Web 2.0, Etc.: Miss Connolly is happy to show teachers how to use a variety of online classroom and organizational tools (many of which could make your life easier!) including the following:

Edmodo.com - Facebook for the classroom to facilitate group collaboration
Wikis - Online collaboration tool
Blogs - You could maintain a classroom blog to showcase what your students are up to!
Google Tools - Docs, Calendar, Reader
Delicious.com - Online bookmarking - take bookmarks with you wherever you go
PhotoStory 3 - Narrated slide show presentations.
Twitter - Admit it. You're curious as to what it's all about! It can be an amazing education resource tool.

More information about the Library to come as the days and weeks roll by. Please stop by to talk about ideas, resources, technology, cameras, and anything else we can provide for you.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

2010-11-02T11:34:00.000-04:00

WSNS Grades K-2 read Bill Martin Jr.'s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Each grade created the set, made their own props and acted out their own version of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Here is the results from all their hard work:

Ms. Buckley's 2nd Grade Class:

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Second Grade from Andrea Zampitella on Vimeo.

Mrs. Mahon's 1st Grade Class:

Untitled from Andrea Zampitella on Vimeo.

Ms. Griffin's 2nd Grade Class

Untitled from Andrea Zampitella on Vimeo.

Welcome Teachers

2010-11-02T11:29:00.000-04:00

I am very excited to be the new Library Media Specialist at the Brown and the Capuano schools! I am interested in using technology and web 2.0 tools in the classroom. The library at both schools have recently received flip video cameras and digital cameras that teachers can check out.

If you are interested in learning how to use the new cameras, please don't be afraid to stop in or send me an email. I would love to help you out!

Projects we are currently working on in the library using the new cameras:

1st Grade: Students are learning about seasonal weather by reading a variety of books. Students have brainstormed types of clothing we wear for each season and why we wear it (for example: sunglasses for summer because it is sunny). Each student will choose one piece of clothing and come up with a movement to pretend to put it on. Then, they will be recorded saying their item and doing their movement (for example: "It is summer! I have to put on my sunglasses because it is sunny.") Then, we will watch our video as a class.

5th Grade: Students are learning about copyright laws for images. They will take pictures around the school to make a class photo tour. Then, they will decide how to license their photographs using the creative commons licenses (http://www.creativecommons.org/) as a guideline. Check back for our school photo tour!

Flip Cams are Here!

2010-11-02T11:24:00.000-04:00

Media Instructor Craig Leach announces new Flip cams just for teacher use at SHS, Next Wave and Full Circle

Where the Wild Things Are

2010-11-02T11:09:00.000-04:00

Where the Wild Things Are:
In October the we read “ Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak. In the story Max is sent to bed without supper for stirring up mischief. In his room his imagination takes him to a place with ferocious wild things. Max causes wild rumpus and ends up learning a lesson. In the end, he realizes he misses his loved ones.. and his supper. The Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades at WSNS started their own wild rumpus and took digital photos of each other being “Wild Things.” As a class we came up with our own class monster by collaging the photos together.

ESCS Comings and Goings

2010-11-02T10:59:00.000-04:00

The East Somerville library is back in the swing of things. We're busy learning about all types of books. Some favorites are sharks, lions, tigers, and butterflies to name a few. Froggy is a favorite read as well as Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

To emphasize the importance of reading, grades 1and 2 listened to a new favorite called Library Mouse.
The third graders welcomed the reading of Perfect Pigs which focused on manners.

My fourth,fifth, and sixth graders are learning how to use databases for research.

The seventh and eighth graders are busy working on their Middle School projects.

The ESCS library has two assistants. Miss Carlie Landers is available in morning and Miss Krista Invernizzi is available in the afternoon. Please feel free to use the library. The assistants will help you with class projects ,small groups, and reading with individual students. Please remember to sign the signup sheet posted near the door of the library.

WHCS Library Comings and Goings

2010-11-02T10:44:00.000-04:00

First quarter is almost finished and we have been working on some fun projects in the library.

Grade K has been listening to a bunch of Munsch; all those wacky books by Robert Munsch. Mrs. DiRusso's favorite is Zoom about a little girl who gets a super cool wheelchair.

Grade 1 has been studying all about Marc Brown the author of the Arthur books. Keep your eyes open for our movie star sunglasses.

Grade 2 has been visiting the Black Lagoon with author Mike Thaler. Ask the students who Mrs. Beamster is.

Grade 3 has been working with fables. We read Aesop's The Tortoise and the Hare as well as Fables by Arnold Lobel. Now we are looking at Yo, Aesop! We are becoming experts at matching the moral with the fable.

Grade 4 has been working on the comprehension strategy of questioning. We have been reading a lot of the books by Chris VanAllsburg. Writing our quesitons on post-its is almost as much fun as looking for Fritz in every book.

Grade 5 has been working on PowerPoint biography projects. Soon we'll be showing our finished slideshows about famous people like Tom Brady, Will Smith, and Avril Lavigne.

Grade 6 has been working on making movies using PhotoStory. We went on vaction anywhere in the world or even beyond.

Grade 7-8 have been working on the Middle Grades Project. Most of us have selected our topic and will begin researching soon.

New this year at the Kennedy School Library

2010-11-02T10:40:00.002-04:00

The school year is up and running and so is the Kennedy School Library! Some new things you'll notice this year:

New arrangement to accommodate the addition of computer workstations and a flexibly-configurable instruction area

New graphic novel section

New bilingual book section

Audio versions and playaways of selected required reading books

New professional collection (under development)

New library media teacher, Mr. Revis (me!)

For classroom teachers, the library can support your instruction in a number of ways, such as:

Balanced Literacy - helping students find books appropriate to their reading level

Booktalks - I can present brief booktalks to advertise books related to your lesson topic

Classroom Book Cart - I can put together a selection of books for you to keep in your classroom for up to 2 weeks

In addition, the library is open after school until 3:15 p.m. for students to conduct research or complete homework. More to come, so check back soon!