What Can I Read on the DHS Library Nooks?

Did you know we have Nooks available for check out in the DHS Library?  These devices have the same check-out period as our print books (3 weeks) and are pre-loaded with over 60 titles!  Titles include the Abe Lincoln High School Book Award books, popular series such as The Hunger Games Triology, several titles read in DHS English classes and several new releases. To see a full list of titles available take a look at our downloadable brochure.

Nook Title List

Can you complete a death match in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception without killing anyone?

Apparently, you can…..Some gamers are playing deadly games without weapons in this pacifist twist.  What do you do when you’ve done it all in a violent videogame?  How about trying to survive the game without being violent?  Take a look at this article from the Wall Street Journal entitled Video gamers Embark on Nonkilling Spree: ‘Pacifist Run’ Wins Bragging Rights; Spells, Not Swords by Conor Dougherty .

Book Club not so Vamped Up about The Reformed Vampire Support Group

At our most recent meeting, the DHS Book Club discussed the book The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks. Although most of the club’s members didn’t rate this book as very high on their list, we still had a great time! Amongst the variety of topics that came up were:  Which cover did you like better and did you think the original cover was misleading?  Would you rather be a vampire or a werewolf? If one of your family members became a vampire, would you be willing to take care of them for the rest of your life?

Stay tuned to find out what we are going to read next. This month’s pick will be Realistic Fiction. If you’d like to be included on the book club e-mail list, please e-mail Ms. Fiorito or Ms. Williams. For more information on book club and past reads, please visit the book club webpage: http://dhs.dist113.org/LIB/Pages/BookClub.aspx

Relax with a Magazine @ the DHS Library!

Need to take a load off? The DHS Library subscribes to many print magazines for you to enjoy.Come on down and enjoy our comfy chairs and magazines when you have some free time!

2011-2012 Magazine List:

Advocate

Bookmarks

Car and Driver

Cat Fancy

Chicago

Dog World

Ebony

Entertainment Weekly

ESPN

Fast Company

Food Network

Foreign Policy

Game Informer

Guitar World

Health

Latina

Mental Floss

Mojo

Motor Trend

National Geographic

People en Espanol

People Weekly

Playstation

Popular Mechanics

Popular Science

Seventeen

Smithsonian

Sports Illustrated

Teen Vogue

Teen Voices

Time Magazine

 

Connecting with the impact of September 11th

As the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks approach, I started to think about how I want to remember that day and what I will take with me as I continue to age and grow. I also began to think about how I could help my high school students connect with a day that they may not remember as they were as young as 4 years old at the time.  September 11th may feel distant to them just as stories about the war in Vietnam that my parents lived feel to me.

I don’t have all of the answers, but I offer here a few ideas that may help you connect with September 11th again or for the first time.

Participate in this year’s One Book, One Zip Code:
This year’s One Book, One Zip Code title is one of my absolute favorites. It is called Extremely Loud and Incredible Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.

If you are not familiar with the One Book, One Zip Code program, it is a great opportunity to come together with members of the Deerfield, Bannockburn and Riverwoods for book discussions, speakers, movies, theatre and more. This year’s title is about a young boy named Oscar whose father died in the September 11th attacks and the key his father left behind. This leads Oscar on a journey all around New York City in hopes of finding the lock that fits the key and uncovering the story behind his father’s death. The movie adaptation starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock is slated to be released this January.

Other One Book Events include a talk by Rabbi Aaron Melman who was a student chaplain for the NY Fire Department on 9/11, a skype interview with the Safran Foer at DHS, Poetry readings and more. For complete information come to the DHS Library or visit the Deerfield Public Library.

Books:

Love is the Higher Law By David Levithan

The 9-11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon

Arab in America by Toufic El Rassi
An autobiographical graphic novel of the author’s experiences with and observations of prejudice and discrimination against Muslims and Arabs in the U.S., focusing on the role of pop culture and the media and his experiences after September 11, 2001.

Explore these websites*:

September 11th: A Memorial
www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial
This sites is CNN’s memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks. It list many who died and includes information from CNN reports, obituaries, and materials submitted by friends and family.

Newseum: “Today’s Front Pages”
www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/default_archive.asp?fpArchive=091201
Find front pages from 147 different newspaper from September 12th.

America Responds
www.pbs.org/americaresponds/index.html

September 11: Bearing Witness to History
http://americanhistory.si.edu/september11
The Smithsonia’s National Museum of American History began collecting artifacts and stories right after September 11 that include physical objects (pieces of a plan, melted coins, etc.), images, and audio recordings—many of the curators’ recollections of acquiring and working with the materials. The collection, a work in progess, will continue to grow as more is learned about teh events of 9/11. Visitory are invited to share their own “Bearing Witness” stories, which are archived on a site maintained by the September 11th Digital Archive.

*websites and annotations from “Not Fade Away” by Frances Jacobson Harris

Angry Birds: What’s the appeal?

I feel like I am in the minority when I say I have never played Angry Birds, one of the most popular smart phone apps around. Some may think that I feel that way because I spend the majority of my time around teenagers, but I don’t believe that to be a good argument. In fact, this past summer at my best friend’s wedding her dad was caught playing during the rehearsal dinner!

While recently flipping through a recent issue of School Library Journal, I came across a reference to this blog post which attempts to break down why so many people have become enamored by these flying balls of feathers:  http://www.mauronewmedia.com/blog/2011/02/why-angry-birds-is-so-successful-a-cognitive-teardown-of-the-user-experience/

Moooooove Over Content Farms: Something else you need to know about searching the internet

In the so-called “olden days”, before the internet, teachers and librarians could feel pretty confident that the information their students found in print sources were written by credible authors and thoroughly edited and fact checked. In swoops the internet and our world has been turned upside down, making it critical that we teach internet users how to evaluate their sources for credibility. Teachers and librarians must teach students the steps they must take before deciding if the website they are using is a trustworthy source, we must expect students to use credible sources and finally, we must assess their work accordingly.

Have you ever wondered if sites such as About.com, Ask.com, and Yahoo! Answers are credible?

The answer is no.

I never knew that there was an actual name for these kinds of sites and I recently found out what they really are. They are called Content Farms. Content farms exist to deliver advertising. The goal is to create as much content (random articles) as possible in order to drive a lot of traffic to their site and bombard us with ads. Freelance writers are hired to churn out tons of articles on a variety of topics with the hopes that they can point as many people as possible to their sites. Content farm creators do not care about the quality of the articles they host or the credibility of the authors who write the articles. Some examples are:

• All Experts (allexperts.com)
• Answers (answers.com)
• Answer Bag (answerbag.com)
• Articles Base (articlesbase.com)
• Ask (ask.com)
• Associated Content (associatedcontent.com)
• BizRate (bizrate.com)
• Buzzle (buzzle.com)
• Bytes (bytes.com)
• ChaCha (chacha.com)
• eHow (ehow.com)
• Expert Village (expertvillage.com)
• eZine Articles (ezinearticles.com)
• Find Articles (findarticles.com)
• Hub Pages (hubpages.com)
• InfoBarrel (infobarrel.com)
• Livestrong (livestrong.com)
• Mahalo (mahalo.com)
• Squidoo (squidoo.com)
• WiseGeek (wisegeek.com)
• Yahoo! Answers (answers.yahoo.com)

I read recently that Google is very upset about these sites appearing in their search results and they have recently created an algorithm called “farmer” in hopes of wedding out hits from content farms from their search results. This may sound great, but it is important to remember that Google is also a business built around selling advertising as well and they do not evaluate the sites in their search results for credibility.

Moral of the story: we must teach our students how to evaluate the information they are getting on the internet (all information for that matter) so they can be empowered researchers both in and outside of school.

Thoughts on this? We would love to hear your comments!

The Hunger Games: Who Would You cast?

So I read this morning in the Chicago Tribune’s Redeye that the Hunger Games movie is set to premier March 23, 2012. That may seem like a long time to wait, but casting is happening right now. Rumor has it that Oscar nominee  Hailee Steinfeld (the little girl in True Grit who never acted before this role! ) is being considered for Katniss.

What do you think?  Who would you cast for Katniss?  Haymitch? Peeta? Gale?

Post your comments!

Final Exam Study Tips

Final Exams are here!  Whether this is your first time or you have been taking final exams for over three years, there are always new study tips that will help you fulfill your potential.  Below is an excerpt from The Center for Advising and Career Development at Washington State University’s guide to academic success.

Final Exams Preparation

General Principles to Remember

1. Preparation for a final really begins the first day of class.
2. Distributed practice is superior to mass practice (i.e.,cramming). So, review throughout the semester–not just the night before.
3. Finals preparation must actively involve the learner with the concepts. “Active involvement” can be accomplished by the formulation of questions, and the answering of these questions from memory. Additionally, verbal recitation or writing from memory aids in long-term retention.

General Suggestions

1. Inventory your remaining time, determine when your finals are, and what type of finals they will be (comprehensive or unit test?).
2. Schedule several blocks of time (2-3 hours) for each class during those remaining days of final preparation. You may wish to begin by reviewing for the class that is scheduled as your last final.
3. Begin your study session by reviewing your lecture notes. If you will have a comprehensive exam try to review a unit at a time. As you review your notes, try to verbalize a summary of the key ideas for each day’s lecture. Ask yourself several (10-15) short answer questions over the lecture’s content.
4. Then review your textbook assignments by: a) looking at study guides provided by professors b) answering questions or problems at the end of the chapters. c) rereading the textbooks conclusion, introduction, italicized words, bold face headings, visual aids.
5. Review your annotations.
6. Ask yourself questions you think your professor would ask you.
7. To synthesize information, try one of the following:

• time–lines for history/humanities
• concept cards for key vocabulary, concepts, individuals, events.
• charts of philosophers or individuals with like or differing ideas.

1. After two or more blocks of time where you have reviewed for a class, meet with a study partner or study group. This is especially effective if done the night before an exam. Each member has to bring 30-50 short answer questions over the lecture and assigned readings. Quiz each other and discuss key ideas of the course.
2. Get a good night’s rest. Get up early, eat breakfast, exercise, shower, and go to class. Remember, test anxiety is a result of poor planning and ineffective study strategies.

Center for Advising and Career Development. “Time Management Tips.”

          Academic Success & Study Skills. Washington State University,

          Vancouver,2011. Web. 1 Jan. 2011.

          <http://studentaffairs.vancouver.wsu.edu/student-

          resource-center/academic-success-study skills>.

Visit the School Chest Library Cafe This Week!

 

Come to the Library Cafe Wednesday December 8^th-Friday December 10th!

Enjoy Starbucks coffee, cocoa, tea and pastries from Whole Foods with your donation to Bear Necessities. Only $2.00!