Thursday, November 17, 2011

Mystery Night in the Learning Center

Last year we had a blast during mystery night in the library. The program is back again this year with a new case to solve. Any interested students are invited to attend the event on Wednesday, November 30, from 3:45 - 4:45 in the Learning Center. Students can reserve their space by signing up in the LC.

Announcing Guys Read - a new book group for guys

Fern Schumer Chapman Visits Highland

Cook Library ran a program, United We Read, in October and November. This community-wide reading program featured two books by Fern Schumer Chapman, Is It Night or Day? and Motherland. Both books explore the journey of Chapman's mother, Edith, coming to America as a twelve-year-old from Germany during the 1000 Children rescue effort to get Jewish German children out of the country to safety during World War II.
Fern Schumer Chapman talks to Highland students. Photo by Robin Kollman.

The Highland Learning Center was thrilled to be able to bring Fern Schumer Chapman to Highland to speak to students and classes who had read (or will be reading) her book. The talks were a good match with the eighth grade curriculum where World War II and the Holocaust will be studied in depth this year.

Students and staff alike were engaged and interested by Ms. Chapman's talk and her question and answer sessions. Several students reported wishing they had a longer time to interact with Ms. Chapman. The author graciously signed books during her day at Highland. I think the visit was highly enjoyed by all! 

Monday, October 31, 2011

United We Read

The Cook Memorial Library in Libertyville has been leading a community read program, United We Read, during October and into November. The selected books are Fern Schumer Chapman's Is It Night or Day? and Motherland.

All of the lunch bunch book clubs will be reading Is It Night or Day? for our November meetings. And on Thursday, November 10, Fern Schumer Chapman will be coming to Highland to speak!

Monday, January 31, 2011

Battle of the Books

Highland will field a team in the 6th Annual Lake County Battle of the Books on March 8, 2011. The event, which will take place at Deerpath Middle School, will challenge students to test their knowledge about the books on the 2011 Caudill Readers' Choice Award list. It's a game show like activity where students buzz in with the title of one of the twenty books on the reading list after questions are asked. Several area middle schools will be participating in the Battle of the Books.

Students interested in the Highland team are invited to come to our first meeting/practice on Tuesday, 2/8, after school in the Learning Center.

Go HORNETS!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Write in the Middle - Call for Writing and Artwork

#76 - The Harvest Writerphoto © 2010 John O'Nolan | more info (via: Wylio)
Write in the Middle, Highland's literary magazine, is looking for submissions for the third volume of the publication. Highland students and staff members are invited to submit poetry, short stories, essays, and artwork for consideration.

Work should be submitted electronically to Dr. Wyatt at ewyatt@d70schools.org by February 4, 2011.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Highland Learning Center Starts to Check Out iPods and Audiobooks

The Highland and Adler Learning Centers are introducing a pilot program called Literacy on the Go this year thanks to a grant from the Partners for Educational Excellence.

Students can check out iPod Shuffles loaded with an audiobook in order to listen to a book. We are taking requests about which books to purchase. So far we have three eAudiobook titles available. We can also load any CD that the library owns on to an iPod to be checked out.

Stop by today to check out an audiobook and try this new service!

Highland Kicks Off Virtual Author Visits

This year, through a generous Partners for Educational Excellence grant, Highland is going to be doing a series of virtual author visits to connect students and writers.

The first visit was a big success. Mrs. Fox's classes got to meet with Joseph Bruchac. The students read his book, Skeleton Man, as a class novel earlier this year. Our first attempt using Skype to connect with an author went relatively smoothly.

The visit got a really nice write-up in the Libertyville Patch. Check out the article to see what Highland students had to say about the visit.

Works Cited
Skeleton Man Cover. LibraryThing. Web. 12 Jan. 2011. .