The Rampage Blog http://olc.usd384.org/blog "Your source for what's happening in USD 384" Thu, 23 Sep 2010 11:47:04 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Banned Books http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=84 http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=84#comments Thu, 23 Sep 2010 11:47:04 +0000 Kathy http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=84 September 25 – October 2 is Banned Books Week.

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States. more…

Our school library has many of the books that have been challenged or banned in other places. We have one book, The Catcher in the Rye, that requires parental permission for a student to check it out as a result of a challenge a few years ago.

Some things to think about -

  • Should the librarian or school administrators be responsible for what students can and cannot read?
  • How do you know if a book is going to be appropriate and not offensive before you start reading it?
  • Is there value in reading books that are banned or challenged? Are they “bad” books?
  • What criteria would you use to determine whether a book should be banned? Would everyone agree with you?

    • 100 Classic books that have been challenged or banned
    Intellectual Freedom Statement
    Information on books that have been challenged or banned

    ]]>     http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=84 0     DirectTV Goes to School! http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=75 http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=75#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:30:17 +0000 Kathy http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=75 Through the DIRECTV GOES TO SCHOOL program, our schools each received a DIRECTV System® and educational programming package to enhance students’ classroom experience. More information…

    See the channel guide at http://www.usd384.org/library/tvinfo.htm

    ]]>     http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=75 0     Read a classic Christmas story http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=67 http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=67#comments Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:02:25 +0000 Kathy http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=67 This is the perfect time to read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Don’t have access to the book? No problem – read it here!

    ]]>     http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=67 0     Reading Challenge http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=64 http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=64#comments Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:30:42 +0000 Kathy http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=64 Students are challenged to read 3 or more books from the 2009-2010 William Allen White list and/or the Picturing America grant books to receive a certificate and award at the end of the school year. At least one of the books must be at or near the student’s reading level.

    The top 3 readers will receive special recognition.

    Download the list in pdf format.

    ]]>     http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=64 0     Picturing America http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=44 http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=44#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:17:49 +0000 Kathy http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=44 Last year both of our libraries received Picturing America grants.

    Picturing America comes with a comprehensive package of materials that includes:
    • Forty large, high-quality color reproductions of the selected masterpieces (24” x 36”)
    • A comprehensive teachers resource book providing a wide range of ideas and background information to support educators using the works of art in core subject areas
    • Additional resources and lesson plans available through the Picturing America Web site

    These posters are available for classroom use.

    This year the libraries each received a grant for the Picturing America bookshelf. The We the People “Picturing America” Bookshelf is the literary complement of NEH’s Picturing AmericaSM visual arts project. Instead of paint, marble, silver, or glass, words are the media used to portray significant themes in American history and culture. Readers are invited to steer their way across the continent by river with Lewis and Clark in 1802, travel the railroad with Robert Louis Stevenson in 1879, or drive along the open highways with John Steinbeck and his dog Charley in 1960. Through the life and poetry of Walt Whitman emerge powerful images of the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln; through the life and lens of Dorothea Lange we witness the impersonal forces and human faces of the Depression. more information

    The library will be sponsoring events and contests throughout the year to promote these items.

    ]]>     http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=44 0     Kansas All Books Connect (ABC) http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=34 http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=34#comments Wed, 18 Feb 2009 03:18:03 +0000 Kathy http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=34 Kansas Book Connect
    The State of Kansas has partnered with Renaissance Learning to provide a tool for matching readers with books of interest at an appropriate reading level. Kansas All Books Connect (http://kansas.bookconnect.com/) is free and available to everyone with no login required.

    More information coming soon…

    ]]>     http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=34 0     Library and Reading Counts Update http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=20 http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=20#comments Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:57:10 +0000 Kathy http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=20 The Middle School and High School libraries are now combined. The card catalogs for all three buildings were also merged so now patrons can search for a book district wide from one place. We are also setting up self-checkout stations at Olsburg and at the high school to facilitate the circulation process.

    The change from AR to Reading Counts will take some time to get used to. The programs accomplish the same thing but the interface is different. Books that have Reading Counts quizzes have florescent green and yellow labels on them – green at Olsburg, yellow in Randolph. All quizzes are available for all students K-12. This gives us a great deal more flexibility with our reading program.

    ]]>     http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=20 0     Homework Kansas http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=19 http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=19#comments Tue, 08 May 2007 10:57:28 +0000 Kathy http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=19 Homework Kansas logo
    Homework Kansas powered by tutor.com provides live homework help in Math, Science, Social Studies, and English for students in grades 4-12 and College Intro. This free service is provided by the State Library of Kansas and Kansas Public Libraries. Hours of operation are 4 pm to 11 pm daily.

    Students on PCs or Macs log on to the Kan-Ed Empowered Desktop and click on the Homework Kansas link. Homework Kansas can also be accessed through your Kansas Library Card. Students choose their grade level and the subject they need help with, and are connected to a professional tutor in just a few minutes. In the interactive, online classroom the student and tutor chat via instant messaging, diagram problems on two-way, real-time whiteboards, browse the Web together for resources and information and even share files to review.

    Contact Kathy Monser for login information or to get a Kansas Library Card.

    ]]>     http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=19 0     Combining Libraries http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=18 http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=18#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2007 11:17:42 +0000 Kathy http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=18 Here is a little library and reading information to keep you informed.

    Combining middle school and high school libraries necessitates combining the reading program.

    Renaissance Learning (AR) will do this for a price.

    We have also been looking at other reading programs that use lexiles since we get lexile scores for students from the MAP tests. Scholastic’s Reading Counts is one such program. If you would like to know more about that program I have some information. They will allow us to combine our reading programs and will give us quizzes – one for every AR quiz we own.

    In the library
    - I am leaning toward separate sections for middle school and high school fiction books. All books will be available to everyone, this will just help steer younger readers to appropriate books.
    - Most of the encyclopedias and other reference works that never get used will be removed from the library. These will be offered to classroom teachers.
    - We plan to make it possible for students to check books out themselves.

    ]]>     http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=18 0     Judging a book by its cover http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=17 http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=17#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2007 02:32:32 +0000 Kathy http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?p=17 Searching for book bargains for the library at Hastings I came across The Bee-Man of Orn by Frank Stockton delightfully illustrated by J.P. Lynch AND it came with a DVD of the artist at work. It looked like a picture book but I was hooked by the illustrations and could see possibilities for using the book and DVD.Lynch's Bee-Man

    The music on the DVD was composed and performed by Aidan Mulholland and was a perfect backdrop for the artwork.

    Wanting to know more, I did an internet search… I found another version of The Bee-Man illustrated by Maurice Sendak which conveyed a very different feeling. Sendak's Bee-Man

    Also, I found a blog entry comparing these two books.

    What do you think? How important is presentation? Can you judge a book by its cover?

    ]]>     http://olc.usd384.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=17 0