Shenandoah Shares

Reading Celebrations, Books, Fun, and Literacy!

Greetings fellow teacher-librarians and lovers of books! I am a library media specialist at Strasburg High School in Shenandoah County Virginia! I am seeking like minded individuals to share reading celebrations ideas, powerful reading incentives, and fun stuff that has been met with success with your students! Let’s encourage reading for fun and enjoyment…literacy….what better way to start?

Celebrate Reading! Click here for secondary reading celebration ideas!

Welcome to Shenandoah Shares!!! As a library media specialist, I am all too aware of how challenging it has become to motivate students to read for enjoyment. There is just too much competition in the electronic world, not to mention sports, hanging with friends and after school jobs! HELP!! After struggling with new library software and feeling pretty disenchanted with the whole enchilada, I decided to take a good look at WHY I am here! My passion has been and continues to be, instilling a love of reading in young adults. After reading an article in the March, 2006 American Libraries entitled “The Greatest Challenge” by Michael Gorman, I am more convinced than ever, that our “greatest challenge” as teacher-librarians is indeed, to promote literacy and a love of reading: The decline in literacy is a grave problem in our society and libraries of all kinds must be an important part of the solution.

Using technology as a tool while teaching research skills and the importance of citations and evaluation of both print and online sources will continue to be vital in our library curriculum, however, as we become increasingly mired in electronics and library software, it is important to take a giant step backward, take a deep breath, and “hold the phone”….why are we here?????? READING! READING! READING! If our students leave us having never read and ENJOYED reading a book, what is the point?

And so….here goes…my first blog…please join me!

If you have a neat POSITIVE idea for a reading celebration, FUN activity, or would like to share some cutting edge ideas from a class or conference, please take a moment to share. Have you had success with a particular genre, author, or title? Do you have a fun idea to promote library use and reading?? Support the cause and jump right in…let’s hear those amazing ideas!!

Let’s get started…

SHS had a “Feed the Need to Read” reading celebration. VERY SIMPLE: check out a book, read it (or at least tell me you did), fill out an entry form and put it in the pot. You may enter as many times as you want. After about six weeks, we drew about 30 names. We got a deal on pizza, served soda and candy bars…yum, yum…The big thing was, we served this on the stage in the cafeteria. The winners had their special meal during lunch and the other kids were like “wow…what’s up with that???” This year, we hope that all of those folks will “Feed the Need to Read” and enter the contest! It was FUN, QUICK, EASY and we had over 200 entries….we WILL do it again.

PLEASE CLICK HERE AND ADD YOUR COMMENTS...looking for fabulous and even not so fabulous ideas!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Galley Book Reviews

Strasburg High School is excited to begin the second year of involvement with YALSA as reviewers of pre-published galley books.
To complete a galley review, click on HERE.
Copy and paste the form provided on that page into the comment. After you compete the form, I will print it off and mail it to the publisher. Our Teen Council and SHS students have done an exemplary job in reading and reviewing these new books...way to go SHS!

Guy's Read...What REALLY Works!

This is a place to share our successes and ideas…what works with regard to engaging boys in reading. This is an opportunity for us to share as a community committed to making the connection between ALL students and literacy. This is a “what REALLY works” kind of page…in other words….forget the “best of the best” lists and reading awards…what do the boys in your library like…what will they check out…what is the carrot that really grabs their attention?
You know what works in your community of learners and that is what we want to share. I just read an award winning book that from the cover and review I thought was going to be a real “guy read”. However, after reading it, I can’t imagine WHO would like this book. (ok, in case you are curious, the book is the Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing…The Pox Party…while the book, Feed by the same author (M.T. Anerson) is a favorite “guy read”)
You know what is “supposed” to be good: now let’s share things that REALLY work in your library when it comes to getting guys to read. Share titles, authors, genres, subjects, nifty ideas, and creative thoughts because that is what this blog is all about…teacher-librarians in the trenches and what is really working on the home-front.

Past Reading Celebrations!

Cozy Up to a Good Book
It is that time of the year: crisp and cold with the consistant hope of snow days to keep you feeling upbeat! With all of this in mind, we have launched a new reading celebration entitled: Cozy Up to a Good Book. The hope is to link cozy, hot cocoa feelings with reading a great story. In keeping with our current standard, a student may enter the contest with every book read…the more you read, the better your chances. The prizes? We have ten exciting gift baskets filled with a coffee/cocoa mug, hot cocoa, bookmarks, treats and surprises! The packaging is fun, the contents are yummy, and the whole goal is to spark a warm, cozy feeling! We will have a drawing for the ten winners on January 30, 2008…stay tuned!

April is National Poetry Month! As you head toward warm spring weather and out of winter hibernation mode, this is a perfect time to share your original poetry. Take a moment to share your creations and feel free to post thoughtful comments…this is a sharing blog and an opportunity to both “publish” your poetry and receive constructive feed-back. Thank you for sharing!



Thursday, July 17, 2008

Lunch with Crutcher

Chris Crutcher will be speaking at Strasburg High School on September 23, 2008. How would you like to have “Lunch with Crutcher” in the library and have the opportunity to ask him a question? The English teachers at SHS will help select the winning entries. This contest is open to all SHS students in grades 9-11 as well as students in the 8th grade at Signal Knob Middle School. There are two categories and you may enter more than once. Please complete a thoughtful paragraph (blog below) in either category and be sure to include your question for Mr. Crutcher:
1.Intellectual Freedom: What does it mean to you? Take a look at the Intellectual Freedom posts on this blog for more informaton. If you had the opportunity to ask Chris Crutcher one question, what would it be?
2. What is your favorite Chris Crutcher book and why? If you had the opportunity to ask Chris Crutcher one question, what would it be?

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE CONTEST TODAY...DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 17

Crutcher is Coming

Thanks to a generous grant from the Moore Educational Trust, Strasburg High School will be hosting a visit from the BEST young adult author ever... Chris Crutcher!!! He will be coming to Strasburg on September 23, 2008. The library media center was able to purchase classroom book sets of his books though this grant. A frenzy of reading has followed...stay tuned!

Mr. Guenther has his art classes reading Crutcher and designing ceiling tiles for the library! Courtney Mason recently completed a Running Loose panel and it joins a ceiling full of famous art and book art adorning the library! This is an amazing project…stop by and take a look!

Students at Strasburg High School have been reading, sharing, and blogging about Crutcher books! Mrs. Hubbard’s English 10H class read Crutcher books, blogged, researched, and created posters pointing out why the book had been challenged and whether they agreed or disagreed with that position. Mrs. Sours has the GATE students at Signal Knob Middle School onboard: reading, sharing, and blogging! Mrs. Sheridan snagged a reluctant reader by spending the better part of a block reading a Crutcher short story to her student. Mrs. Eash-Boyden and Mrs. Brown have their students immersed in Crutcher, as well! Strasburg is reading, blogging, sharing and THINKING! Keep Reading! Keep blogging! This is your opportunity to share your thoughts!







Wednesday, July 16, 2008

New Manga/Graphic Novel Club at SHS


The library media center at Strasburg High School will be starting a Manga/Graphic Novel club this fall (2008). This is a new club and we are looking for suggestions and ideas to make this an exciting and fun organization. If you have some thoughts on how you would like to see this club work, please leave a comment!