Monday, December 17, 2007

Miracle on 49th Street

On Friday, I happened to open Miracle on 49th Street by Mike Lupica before I was going to put it back on the shelf. I started to read a couple pages and soon I was hooked. I could tell it would have a feel-good ending , but it perfect for a holidays as the big scene takes place by the Christmas tree in New York City.

Here's the review I posted on my LibraryThing page:
Molly Parker's mom, Jen, has just lost her battle with cancer. Before she died, she gave Molly a series of letters. One of the letters reveals the identity of Molly's father, who happens to be none other than Josh Cameron, one of the biggest stars in the NBA.
Molly is determined to get to know Josh. She is resourceful, persistent, and sneaky when she feels it necessary. She develops a relationship with Josh that goes through a series of ups and downs. Molly is looking for family, and Josh doesn't really seem to believe her story.

This is a feel-good read that kept me turning pages to discover if Molly and Josh ever learned to accept each other and make peace. ( )

If you read this book, leave a comment about what you thought.

Image Citation
"Miracle on 49th Street cover." Online image. LibraryThing. 15 Dec. 2007 .

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Citing Images

Mrs. Oshinski's class has been doing exciting work on a class wiki to study microbes.
Part of the assignment requires students to include images on the wiki pages they are creating. After going through the developing pages, I noticed that there are many people who aren't fully citing their images. I made a screencast with step-by-step directions for citing images. I hope this helps. Students, please see me if you have questions or need assistance.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

2 down, 978 to go!

Mrs. Oshinski's classes have been working on a microbe research project. The students are building a wiki to share what they've learned about their particular microbe and the disease it causes.

As I walked through the lab today, Jack called me over as he was working on the computer. He said, "I'm really starting to like these databases." The students next to him turned around to agree to the sentiment. That just made my day!

And although those were the only two who expressed a new found appreciation for the quality and depth of information that can be found in databases, when I looked around the lab I saw that most of the students were taking notes and reading from the database resources that I had demonstrated the day before and linked into the wiki.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

The Book Fair is Coming



On Wednesday, 12/5 - Friday, 12/7, the book fair will be taking place in the Highland Learning Center during the school day. Students will be able to visit and shop with their LA/Lit classes.