Keeping Up with New Posts

I figure this school year much be too much for all of us because NO one is posting! Here's a quick way to be informed when a new post is added so you don't have to keep checking (and be disappointed).

Login to the blog, then go to the dashboard. Click on "settings." Click on "email," then add you e,ail address in the top slot. Everytime someone posts onto this blog, you'll get an email in your box with the message included so you can read it right from your email account.

If you want to post a response to the message, you'll still need to go to the blog itself, but at least you'll know there is a new message to read.

YALSA Voting Available Through Saturday

If you have any avid readers who might be interested, teens can vote for their favorite books in the YALSA Award nominees until this Saturday.

One book I know my students will be voting for is The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson. I've read it to classes and they really liked it. The story is about Cameryn Mahoney, a teen from Silverton, Colorado, who really wants to become a forensic pathologist. Cameryn convinces her father, the county coroner, to hire her as his assistant. She turns out to be pretty good at the job and her dad lets her come along to a murder investigation. The body they find is Cameryn's friend, Rachel Geller. Rachel is the fourth victim of a serial killer who strangles his victims and leaves a St. Christopher medal on their bodies. In her pursuit of the truth, Cameryn finds herself in danger of becoming the fifth victim of the Christopher Killer.

If you know anyone who would like to vote for The Christopher Killer or see the entire list of nominees, click the link below.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=4GlA6OUjRfm1OhoNuaUwdg_3d_3d

Brandon Mull---Anyone?

Did anyone get to the CLAU meeting today to hear Brandon Mull?
I didn't make it, but I am hearing him speak at the Authorwise conference at the Salt Palace on Thursday of this week. I'll post notes here afterward in case any of you are interested.

Reno Bound!

Anyone else headed to Reno? Want to meet up?

UCTE Celebrating Differences Conference Oct. 26

Guest Speakers:

Pat Mora: “Pat Mora’s latest collection, Adobe
Odes, …turns its back on hopelessness and finds a
way to delight in our everyday world of food,
literature, nature, religion and, yes, people,” writes
Tucson Weekly. An award-winning author of poetry,
nonfiction, and children's books, Pat Mora is
completing Dear Teacher: Seven Practices for Creative
Educators. She is the founder of the family literacy initiative El día
de los niños/El día de los libros, Children’s Day/Book Day now housed
at the American Library Association.

Stefinee Pinnegar: Stefinee is currently a
teacher educator in the McKay School of Education
at Brigham Young University. Her vast experience as
an educator has led her to conduct her own studies
of child development and learning. Dr. Pinnegar
enjoys working with other educators to help serve
linguistically, culturally, and learning diverse students.

Workshop Sessions:

• Teaching styles
• Learning styles
• Differentiated instruction
• Types of literature
• Types of writing
• Strategies, and much more!

Register at: http://community.weber.edu/uctela/conference.htm#registration

BOOKS ON TAPE - A division of Random House, Inc. - Listening Library e-Newsletter

Save 50% on over 750 Listening Library Audiobooks!
Now is the perfect time to bring the sound of great stories to students of all ages.

For a limited time, School Media Specialists, Librarians, and Educators will receive a 50% discount on hundreds of popular Listening Library audiobooks, including Junie B.Jones, Magic Tree House®, Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, Ramona Quimby, Star Wars®, and more! Plus, dozens and dozens of classroom favorites by Judy Blume, Meg Cabot, Jerry Spinelli, Lois Lowry, Stephenie Meyer, Patricia Reilly Giff, Andrews Clements, Tamora Pierce, Richard Peck, Kate DiCamillo, Louis Sachar, Philip Pullman, and more!

Our competitive discounting only gets better when you factor in FREE Lifetime Replacements and Sturdy Library Packaging—only available through direct purchase from Books on Tape.

To see the complete list of discounted titles and to place your order, please visit our website: www.school.booksontape.com

Offer expires 12/17/07 Minimum order to qualify for the 50% discount is 12 audiobooks Questions? Please contact Customer Service at 1.800.733.3000 or botcs@randomhouse.com and mention that you are calling in regard to the School Promotion. Click here if you are a NEW CUSTOMER.

Bringing new audiobooks into your library or classroom will help foster a love of reading:

	Listening is an important step for becoming a lifelong reader. "Children who are better listeners are better learners…In particular, children who comprehend better through listening do the same when reading." (Pinnell & Jagger 2003)
	Vocabulary development is key in reading development. Listening to an audiobook introduces students to literally thousands of words.
	Fluency is also a key factor in the reading process and audiobooks provide just that—a good reading role model.
	Special populations within the school benefit from the use of audiobooks, which provide these students with reading experiences that are not as frustrating as the traditional approach.

"While audiobooks offer much for both struggling and reluctant readers, even the best of readers want to experience a great story shared by a gifted storyteller. Listening Library's finely crafted unabridged audiobooks do just that—they connect all readers to books in a way that is highly engaging and richly rewarding."

—Rose Brock, Library Media Specialist, TX

The list of reasons goes on and on why audiobooks are an important tool in literacy development. Now is a great opportunity to build your collection with bestselling, affordable audiobooks.

Listening Library—kid-tested, teacher approved!

---

Book Challenge

I hope you all appreciate the irony; I had my first "book challenge" on Friday during the sponsored banned book week by ALA. I set up a display with books from our library that are on the ALA top 100 challenged book list. I also discussed it with some of the students.

On Friday a parent brought in the 2008 Guinness Book of World Records with bookmarks of "inappropriate pictures". I didn't speak with them. They just spoke with the secretaries in the front office. I never thought I'd peg myself as a "liberal ALA librarian" but it made me a little mad.

I guess I'll talk with the principal on Monday and see what happens.

-Stephanie

Join the Nebo Reading Council and Come See James Dashner

Author James Dashner will be the featured speaker at the opening meeting for the Nebo Reading Council, Thursday, October 4, 2007, at the Grant Building (400 East 105 South, Springville, UT) at 4:00 p.m.

Dashner will be speaking about his transition from publishing in the local market (Jimmy Fincher Saga) to releasing his first national market book (The 13^th Reality: The Journal of Curious Letters).

Atticus Higginbottom—better known as Tick—wishes his life were more interesting. But, as the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for. On a snowy day in November, the first letter arrives and everything in Tick’s life changes---and only time will tell if the change is for better or worse.

Given the challenge, Tick wants the chance to unravel the mystery all the way to its end by discovering the special meeting place, but Tick will only be there if he solves the clues. And, of course, if he survives. . .

Because the last line of the letter makes him a promise: Very frightening things are coming your way.

I’ve already had the chance to read this novel and it’s great. Come meet the author along with the NRC and get a sneak preview of your own. By the way, James will be a featured presenter at the Nebo Young Writer’s Conference in February as well.

The Nebo Reading Council is dedicated to promoting literacy to the communities served by the Nebo School District and beyond. Membership dues are $20, which includes membership in the Utah Council of the International Reading Association. First year teachers, interns, and students may join for $10. You do not need to be a teacher to join the organization. We invite anyone who is interested in the promotion of reading and literacy to become a member.

T. A. Barron to Speak

T.A. Barron cordially invites you to a presentation and book signing hosted by Davis Reads, Wednesday, October 3, 2007, 7:00 p.m. at Northridge High SChool, 2430 North 400 West, Layton, UT 84041.

Cleaning House the Clean Sweep Way

Just letting all of you know about my latest national publication.

Visit Desert Saints Magazine at the following link:

http://desertsaintsmagazine.com/2007/09/01/cleaning-house-the-clean-sweep-way/

Suggestions Needed for UVSC Forum on Children's Literature

I've been asked to serve on the Advisory board for the UVSC Forum on Children's Literature, March 20-21, 2008. One of my responsibilities is to out together a track for librarians who attend the conference. I've already asked JaDene to speak about using the Big 6 as a problem solving strategy and not just for research. Here's where I need your help:

1. If you have previously attended this conference, what captured your interest to encourage you to attend?

2. What sessions did you find especially helpful or worth attending?

3. If you have not previously attended, would you mind sharing why not?

4. If you were to attend this year, what kinds of breakout sessions would you most like to see?

5. Can you recommend any great teachers or librarians who might be approached to give workshop sessions?

6. Are YOU interested in being a presenter? If so, what topic would you like to be considered for?

I've seen part of the author and illustrator tracks already and it looks like a great year for the conference. Hope to hear from you soon, and of course, to see you there!

Weeding Record

I guess we're all busy with back to school business. I just had to mention my weeding record--around 400 books. Good luck to everyone!

-Stephanie

The King’s English Bookstore Author Apprearances

Lisa Morey of the Children’s Literature Association of Utah is passing along a message from Anne Holman at The Kings English, so I’m passing it on to all of you.

The King’s English Bookstore will be bringing in these wonderful authors next month.

Jerry Spinelli: Thursday, September 13 at 7 pm

Pam Munoz Ryan: Monday, September 17 at 7 pm

Frank Beddor: Thursday, September 20 at 7 pm (The Looking Glass War, Seeing Redd)

The Kings English Bookstore
1511 South 15th East
Salt Lake City, Utah 84105

Call if you have questions: 801-484-9100

The Final Countdown

Next week some of us will be back in Logan for Inst 6300. Head count---who's coming?

After that, the days are limited until we are all back at school, slaving away. Nebo teachers return Wednesday August 15th and the kids start August 21st.

What about the rest of you?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - No Spoilers

It's Sunday at midnight. I just finished reading the new Harry Potter. I loved it.

Without giving any spoilers, have any of the rest of you finished it yet? Please share your immediate gut reaction.

NEXT ALAN CHAT with LAURIE HALSE ANDERSON

The ALAN book chat on Wednesday, July 18 discussed TWISTED by Laurie Halse Anderson. On June 25, Laurie will be joining us for an interview at 9:00 pm. Sign on to the ALAN website at http://alan-ya.org/bookchat/flashchat.php. If you haven't been to the site before, look at it today so you will be ready to join us on those Wednesdays. Membership is not required to chat!

Converting Powerpoints to Screen Savers

For those of you thinking of creating spiffy screen savers with book reviews to display on all your library (or school!) computers, try this tutorial. It's super easy, and it even works on MS 2007.

Once it's set up, it shouldn't take long at all to add more slides or delete the ones you no longer wish to use. I plan to save the folder with the slides in the staff shared folder at our school in the hopes that some of the teachers will use them as well.

Anyone up for sharing book blurbs?

Censorship

Here's a new wiki about censorship.

http://censorshipresources.pbwiki.com/

-Stephanie

Disaster Library

I've inherited a most spacious library that apparently has been the dumping ground for the whole school. Besides that it looks like it's never been weeded and to top it off the whole collection really needs to be relabeled/recataloged. I started today with some help and we've already filled all 3 or 4 of the carts. I also got rid of some framed pictures and 3-D puzzles. I'm trying to find the fine line between necessary clean-up and too much change/throw aways at once. ( I know we all remember the Providence Middle School experience). I probably should have taken a before picture.

-Stephanie

BYU Symposium

Is anyone going to the BYU Symposium for Young Readers the end of this week? I am going by myself, and I would love to meet up with someone, so I don't have to sit by myself. Gary Paulsen, David McCauley, Ann Cannon, Suzanne Staples and others are going to be the featured authors. It should be good!!!

teacherdiscovery.com is a website you can buy book bundles or cheap classroom book titles
Karen R Finley

Eclipse the third book by Stephanie Meyer is coming August 7th.
Karen R Finley

Utah Children's Authors Speak

Here's a link to a great article about three Utah writers you should know: Kristyn Crow,
Mette Ivie Harrison, and Shannon Hale. I took a writing class with Mette right before
her first book came out. She's a really talented writer.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,680195114,00.html

Thanks for the memories

To all a big hello! I was riding high after our week in Logan. I look forward to communicating with you and sharing library resources. I am currently putting together a book order. I purposely saved some of my budget so that I could have lots of new books for the beginning of the school year. I am toying with Kathy Dale's idea of an early bird book club, but I am concerned about holding those titles away from general circulation for the term, and about the cost of 5 copies. Any suggestions ? Also, how do you feel about puzzles and word games being available for in library use?
Bea

The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2006

I found this information on a blog from someone in ALA, and thought we should all be aware of what books were most often challenged last year (and beyond)

Banned Books Week September 29 through October 6, 2007

Where to begin? How about with the most frequently challenged books of 2006--

1. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group; (Vaughn read this one to us)

2. Gossip Girls series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language;

3. Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language;

4. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;

5. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;

6. Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity;

7. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language;

8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;

9. Beloved by Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group; and

10. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, and violence.


The best novels of the 20th Century (according to the Radcliffe Publishing Institute)--here's the top 30--the titles in bold have been banned or challenged:

1. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

2. Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger

3. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

4. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

5. The Color Purple, Alice Walker

6. Ulysses, James Joyce

7. Beloved, Toni Morrison

8. The Lord of the Flies, William Golding

9. 1984, George Orwell

10. The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner

11. Lolita, Vladmir Nabokov

12. Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

13. Charlotte's Web, EB White

14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce

15. Catch-22, Joseph Heller

16. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

17. Animal Farm, George Orwell

18. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway

19. As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner

20. A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway

21. Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad

22. Winnie-the-Pooh, AA Milne

23. Their Eyes were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

24. Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison

25. Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison

26. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

27. Native Son, Richard Wright

28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey

29. Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut

30. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway

Truth and Treason

My teenaged son who is the budding movie director just asked me, "Whatever happened to Haley Joel Osment?" So, I checked out his page on imdb.com and found a new movie he's working on. Since the topic has Utah and LDS ties, I thought I'd let all of you know what I found.

Truth and Treason (2008)
"Based on the true story of Helmuth Hübener, the 16 year-old leader of an anti-Hitler group in Nazi Germany, Truth and Treason explores the complex bond that forms between the brilliant young resistance fighter and Erich Müssener, the Gestapo agent intent on hunting him down. Each convinced of the rightness of his cause. Each forced to deal with the consequences of his beliefs. In the vein of The Pianist, this film examines the human struggle for freedom and confirms the impact of one courageous voice."

If you're not familiar with the story of these boys, you might want to read Brothers in Valor by Michael O. Tunnell.




Brothers in Valor by Michael O. Tunnell (Holiday House; 0-8234-1541-4)
Hamburg, Germany, 1937. Rudi Ollenick, the narrator, and his best friends, Karl Schneider and Helmuth Guddat, German boys, are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. The boys aren’t sure how they can follow the teachings of their church, yet still be good German citizens, willing to follow the Führer. When the boys are forced to join Hitler’s youth group, they learn about the ruthless and violent ways of the Nazis and begin to formulate a plan to spread the truth among the German people. The flyers they print and distribute put them in danger, but all three boys are willing to take the risk, even if it means they lose their lives.

Tunnell, a BYU School of Education professor, has based his story on personal interviews, published biographies, and Nazi archival records, bringing to life the story of three heroes who had to decide on whose side they would stand.

Thanks for all your hard work!

All work is graded and you all did a great job. It was so fun having you all here in Logan. I can't believe June is gone and it is July. Thanks for all your hard work and for your friendship. Thanks LuAnn for setting up this Blog for all of us to keep in touch. Hope you all have a great summer.

Kari great news about the baby. Oh and I love the name Quintin.

Has anybody read...

My friend was telling me about a book called "The Great Dog Poop Initiative." Anyone heard of it? It sounded funny for a way to get people to see that we have to take the initiative and not only talk about the problems. I just wondered if it would be a good addition to my collection.

Making a new discovery

I have made the next step into the computer life. I can now blog with the rest of you. Thanks for all the great comment you have made in class. I look forward to seeing everyone sometime again in the future.

Congrats on the Boy

Kari, I am so excited for you. Definitely go get the football, its never to early ;) As far as names go, do your son a favor and do a normal spelling. I read the newspaper today and there were names in there that will give that kid heck forever. I think its mean. Anyway, congrats.

Hey, for every ones information, the charter school in my area is a go and we already have a third of the students signed up. We've only had one public meeting so this is very encouraging results. I will now be very busy getting a library set up. If you've done this, give me some hints.

How is everyone feeling without a wad of homework? Wahooooooo!!!!!!

IT'S A BOY!!!

Hey there, everyone! We found out that the baby is a boy! We're pretty excited. My husband is ready to buy a football already. With all of the kicking this kid is already doing, I'm not surprised that he is his daddy's son.
We're still trying to come up with names. Any suggestions? It's hard to come up with something that doesn't remind me of a student I've taught. ;-)
Hope that ya'll are doing well!
Kari

What I've been reading

This week I finished King of the Mild Frontier by Chris Crutcher (his "autobiography") and Austenland by Shannon Hale. Has anyone else read either of them? I thought King was pretty humorous, but I didn't like the way he ended it, and I was disappointed in Austenland. I guess I need to take into consideration what it is (chick lit), but I was hoping for a little more substance...... Has anyone else read anything good??????

YALSA Call to Action

From an email sent by YALSA:

Support the SKILLs Act: Urge your Senators to co-sponsor S. 1699 and your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 2864.

On Tuesday June 26, Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) introduced the Strengthening Kids’ Interest in Learning and Libraries (SKILLs) Act that guarantees students across America will be served by highly qualified, state-certified school library media specialists and will have the library resources they need to succeed.

The SKILLs Act:

• Requires school districts, to the extent feasible, to ensure that every school within the district employs at least one highly qualified school library media specialist in each school library;
• Defines highly qualified school library media specialists as those who have a bachelor’s degree and have obtained full state certification as a school library media specialist or passed the state teacher licensing examination, with state certification in library media in such state;
• Establishes as a state goal that there be at least one highly qualified school library media specialist in every public school no later than the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year;

• Broadens the focus of training, professional development, and recruitment activities to include school library media specialists;

• Ensures that funds will serve elementary, middle, and high school students; and
• Requires books and materials to be appropriate for and engage the interest of students in all grade levels and students with special learning needs, including English language learners.

Urgent Action Needed:

This legislation is critical to the future of school library media specialists. Contact your Senators and ask them to cosponsor S. 1699. Contact your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 2864.

Talking Points:

• Multiple studies have affirmed that there is a clear link between school library media programs that are staffed by a school library media specialist and student academic achievement. Across the United States, research has shown that students in schools with good school libraries learn more, get better grades, and score higher on standardized test scores than their peers in schools without libraries.
• Long regarded as the cornerstone of the school community, school libraries are no longer just for books. Instead, they have become sophisticated 21^st century learning environments offering a full range of print and electronic resources that provide equal learning opportunities to all students, regardless of the socio-economic or education levels of the community – but only when they are staffed by school library media specialists trained to collaborate with teachers and engage students meaningfully with information that matters to them both in the classroom and in the real world.
• Only about 60 percent of our school libraries have a full-time, state-certified school library media specialist on staff.
• With limited funding and an increased focus on school performance, administrators are trying to stretch dollars and cut funds across various programs to ensure that maximum resources are dedicated to improving student academic achievement.
• Because NCLB does not highlight the direct correlation between school library media specialists and increased student academic achievement, library resource budgets are increasingly being used to mitigate the effects of budgetary shortfalls.

Getting boys to read

Here's an interesting article about getting boys to read. The author shares favorites of her boys. Some or maybe many of the titles will be familiar to us, but you may get some new ideas, also.

http://www.calendarlive.com/books/la-bk-hamilton10jun10,0,2317796.story?coll=cl-books-features

-Stephanie

New Links

A shout out THANKS to Caryn who has sent a list of great links.

I've added most of them to the sidebar, but the AASL blog http://blogs.ala.org/aasl.php and the YALSA blog http://blogs/ala/org/index.php?blog=5 don't like being made links. They send me to a spam blocker when I post them on our page, so you'll need to bookmark them on your own computer file if you're interested in visitng those sites, or click them from this entry.

If you know of other great sites, please let me know. I'll try to add more authors links as well.

Thanks! And don't forget to respond to the inviation email.

In today's Deseret News, Marilou Sorensen has an article for great summer reads. I noticed that she mentioned the new book The Neddiad by Daniel Pinkwater. I haven't read any of his books lately, but I remember them being very humorous and off-the-wall. She also mentions Shannon Hale's new novel for adults Austenland, about a girl who goes to a Jane Austen "theme park" and finds....what else??? Love! I have them both on hold at the library!

ALAN Chat with Carl Hiaasen

For those of you who are interested in Young Adult novels, you might want to check out this upcoming chat:

The ALAN Chat hosted by C.J. Bott and David Gill is pleased to have Carl Hiaasen for its next author interview, focusing on his YA books HOOT and FLUSH. The interview will be next Wednesday, 27 June at 9:00 pm Eastern time. Just sign on to the ALAN website and follow the directions to enter the chat room. You will be asked to provide a screen name but do not need a password. Sign on anytime to preview our ALAN site.

Our past interviews have led to great discussions, and we want to welcome Carl with a good turn out. Please join us!

ALSO, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD TO OTHER YA FANS YOU KNOW AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO JOIN ALAN IF THEY ARE NOT ALREADY MEMBERS.

We survived Logan!

It was a jam-packed week, but those of us enrolled in the summer practicum at Utah State University in Logan not only survived, we also completed all the courses and paperwork to earn our Library Media Endorsements. Congrats to us all!

And now, we're ready to embark on a new collective journey. Several of us discussed the idea of a community blog where we could write about our trials and triumphs as we move along the career path toward administrating library media centers.

If you'd like to participate, we'd love to hear from you either via your response to a blog message, or we'd be happy to add you to the list of approved bloggers. Just let us know which you prefer.

Thanks for everything, and we all hope to hear from you soon. Check back often to see what everyone else has been up to.