Miss Dorothy and her Bookmobile

Miss Dorothy and her Bookmobile

Written by Gloria Houston and Illustrated by Susan Condie Lamb

Published in 2011 by Harper, ISBN 978-0-06-029155-6

All Ages

Review
I developed my love of reading because a bookmobile came out to the country every week and I was able to pick out books.    I fell in love with this book just from the cover because it resonated with my childhood walks to the bookmobile to get my treasures.

Young Dorothy dreams of becoming a librarian in charge of a “fine brick library.” She pursues this dream, obtaining the education that she needs. When marriage takes her to the Blue Ridge Mountains where resources are scarce, Dorothy advocates for the construction of a local library and finds like-minded book-lovers who instead raise funds for a bookmobile. Through rain, snow, and even floods, Miss Dorothy travels the countryside bringing books to readers of all ages. Eventually, Dorothy gets her library, a donated country farmhouse, and the community members all pitch in to set up the collection. Beautiful landscapes in soft pastels with careful details provide a strong sense of this rural area and the people who inhabit it. In an author’s note, Houston informs readers that Dorothy Thomas was her childhood librarian who touched the lives of many people by sharing her love of books and reading. Houston’s historical fiction picture book with its lyrical text is fitting tribute to the woman that she describes as her hero.

Curriculum Links

The Bookmobile

http://homepages.nyu.edu/~mg128/index.html

Wisconsin Library Heritage Center: Bookmobiles

http://heritage.wisconsinlibraries.org/bookmobiles.html

Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy: Traveling Libraries

http://www.michiganlights.com/lhlibrary.htm

Pack Horse Librarians: Photo Gallery

http://newdeal.feri.org/library/j_1k_bg.htm

History of Books and Printing

http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/chss/grd/resguides/bookhist/

Photo Book

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Start your own Shutterfly Photo Book today.

150th Anniversary Vicksburg Campaign Reenactment

National 150th Anniversary
Vicksburg Campaign Reenactment

DATE: 10/19/2012 - 10/21/2012 

CITY: Vicksburg, MS

 LOCATION: Vicksburg, Raymond, Edwards

CONTACT: Friends of Raymond, Inc., or Vicksburg CVB 

PHONE: 601-636-9421 

The reenactment of several military actions of the Vicksburg Campaign will feature up to 5,000 reenactors and participants. The reenactment of the 1863 Vicksburg Campaign will be presented as part of the commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War. Event will feature educational field programs for schools, reenacted battles - including the Battle of Champion Hill, which was the largest Civil War battle in Mississippi and was one of the most decisive of the Civil War; and the commemoration of a portion of the ill-fated assault by Union forces on the works of Vicksburg. It was after this unsuccessful assault that Grant decided to take the city by siege. Included will be Civilian reenactors, garrison troops, and period merchants, or sutlers, demonstrations and lectures will be conducted for the public between the battles on Saturday, to include cooking, sewing, and refugee impressions. 

 For tourist info or tickets contact:
Friends of Raymond, Inc.
Vicksburg Campaign 
P. O. Box 1000
Raymond, MS 39154
e-mail: info@friendsofraymond.org

Friday 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM Saturday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Saturday 10:00 – 11:00 AM	Special demonstrations for participating local schools Courthouse: Medical & Specialty displays: Band at noon Battle of Raymond on the original site on Hwy 18 south of Raymond
Saturday 11:00 - 3 PM	The Vicksburg Campaign - lecture on campaign by well known tour guide and preservationist Brigadier General Parker Hills (Ret). Civilian and refugee demonstrations, and sutlers open to the public.
Saturday 3:00 – 4:00 PM Saturday 4:00 – 7:00 PM Saturday 7:00 – 8:30 PM Sunday 9:00 AM – NOON Sunday NOON Sunday 2:00 – 3:00 PM	Battle of Champion Hill on Hwy 18 south of Raymond Soldier Camps & Sutlers Open to Public after Battle Camp Dance near Sutlers for participants Soldier Camps / Sutlers / Church Service Open to Public Memorial Service at Raymond Confederate Cemetery Assault on Vicksburg on Hwy 18 south of Raymond

Book Review: The Notorious Benedict Arnold

The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, and Treachery

By Stephen Sheinkin

Flashpoint/Roaring Brook Press, 2010

ISBN: 978-1-59643-4686-8

Grades 6 and Up

Review

If you are of a certain generation, you remember when Peter Brady was assigned the role of Benedict Arnold, dashing his hopes of playing George Washington. In American culture, Benedict Arnold is synonymous with words such as villain or traitor. He was the first American leader to profoundly disappoint the American population. But readers of this cradle-to-grave biography may be surprised at how many times the Continental Army lived to see another day because of Arnold’s actions, approved or otherwise. In short chapters that keep the pace moving, Sheinkin provides readers with the unique opportunity to explore Arnold’s “backstory,” including his successes and failures prior to the start of the American Revolution, the various roles he played in the Continental Army, and in particular, just how close he was to George Washington, and what a personal and public devastation Arnold’s treachery was to the Commander. Without Arnold, the American Revolution could have ended much earlier, in favor of the British. With Arnold, it almost ended earlier, in favor of the British. Ideal for exploration in small groups and literature circles, this engaging biography allows readers to examine maneuvers and morals, alliances and ambition. 

Curriculum Links

Benedict Arnold’s Papers at Harvard University’s Houghton Library

http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~hou01257

Library of Congress: Benedict Arnold’s October 20, 1780 Proclamation

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/amrev/homefrnt/arnold.html

Benedict Arnold in London, England

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/09/nyregion/an-american-traitor-gets-a-tribute-in-london-that-is.html?ref=benedictarnold

Benedict Arnold in New London, Connecticut

http://nlhistory.org/?p=452

Fort Clinton, Fort Arnold @ West Point, now the United States Military Academy

http://www.usma.edu/

Fort Ticonderoga

http://www.fortticonderoga.org/

Saratoga National Historic Park

http://www.nps.gov/sara/index.htm

George Washington’s Papers at the Library of Congress: Timeline of the American Revolution

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/1775.html

Mt. Pleasant, Benedict Arnold’s Home in Philadelphia

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.17949/

John Andre’s Monument in Westminster Abbey, London

http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/john-andre

John Andre in Art, Courtesy of the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA

http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/Early_American/Artists/sully/capture/painting-discussion.html

Benedict Arnold’s Letters and Portraits in the New York Public Library Digital Gallery

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?keyword=benedict+arnold

Brady Bunch Episode: “Not Everyone can be George Washington”

http://www.tv.com/shows/the-brady-bunch/watch/everyone-cant-be-george-washington-4990/

Pumpkin Challenge

We are studying geography.   It is also October and we always decorate pumpkins during this month.    SO.... I am combining the two into one project. 

PUMPKIN GLOBES

I am challenging the boys to decorate a pumpkin like a globe.   I have found several examples to show them what I am looking for...

We would like to invite YOU to join us for the challenge:

1.   Use a pumpkin to create your globe.  The size is your choice.   Real or fake is also your choice.
2.   You must include all the continents, major oceans, equator, and prime meridian.   
3.   You can use whatever supplies you want:  paint, construction paper, markers, play-doh, craft foam, etc....  
4.   Have your pumpkin globe finished by October 17th
5.   Post a picture of your finished pumpkin globe to the Facebook page by October 17th.  

FREE National Park Entrace Day

September 29
National Public Lands Day

FREE Fee Day!

Our closest park is the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Guided tours are available and reservations are recommended. The park commemorates the campaign, siege, and defense of Vicksburg in 1863 and includes over 1,340 monuments and markers, a 16-mile tour road, a restored Union gunboat, and a National Cemetery. CD’s are available at the Visitors Center, where life-sized exhibits and artifacts from the Siege of Vicksburg are on display. 

Hours: Visitor Center: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

3201 Clay Street
Vicksburg, MS 39183
601-636-0583
www.nps.gov/vick

Do You Twitter?

Do you Twitter?  It is more than just a social network.  It is a great educational tool as well.   Here are some great educational hashtags that you should check out on Twitter.

#gifted or #gtchat
These two are specifically for parents of gifted and talented children. 

#collegechat
Looking forward to college or have a child in college... this chat hashtag has great information.

#edu or #education
Anything and everything about education falls under these two hashtags.

#edtech
Education Technology

#homeschool, #homeschoolers, #homeschooling
There are a lot of amazing resources for homeschoolers on Twitter!


#scholarship
A huge collection of scholarships and scholarship resources.

#collegeaffordability
Find ways to make college more affordable.

#ACT or #SAT
Get great advice for ACT and SAT prep from these hashtags.




#mathchat - mathematics

#scichat - science

#engchat - English

#artsed - arts in education

#musedchat - music

#SSChat - social studies chat

#GeographyTeacher - Geography

#PhysicsEd - Physics

#SocialStudies - Social Studies

Ninjawords

Ninajawords

Sometimes you need to know the definition of a word... fast... like a ninja.  Nothing more and nothing less!

Roadside America

Roadside America

Where’s the birthplace of Kool-Aid? Where's the “Ax Murder House?” And what’s so mysterious about the Mystery Spot, anyway? Roadside America is your definitive resource for the kooky, nichey, and downright bizarre landmarks that help make this huge country so unique. Use this site to plan your next roadtrip and getting from here to there will be more interesting than your average game of “I Spy.”



You can also add some of your favorite places that YOU have visited!

I searched Mississippi to see the things the suggested...

Vacation Favorites

Notable places we've visited or heard about.

• Flora: Petrified Forest [tips]
• Gulfport: Hurricane Shipwreck [tips]
• Holly Springs: Graceland Too [tips]
• Leland: Jim Henson Museum [tips
• Lucedale: Palestine Gardens [tips]
• Meridian: King and Queen of the Gypsies [tips]
• Natchez: Mammy's Cupboard
• Oxford: World's Largest Red Cedar Bucket [tips]
• Port Gibson: Windsor Ruins [tips]
• Tupelo: Birthplace of Elvis Presley [tips]
• Vicksburg: Folk art church [tips]
• Vicksburg: Pregnancy Mini Ball [tips]
• Vicksburg: Where Coca-Cola Was First Bottled

Interactive Spelling Bee

Interactive Spelling Bee

This set of activities is like an old-fashioned Spelling Bee.

Contestants -- that's you! -- in grades 1-8 will listen to three stories, one at a time, and then spell words from each story. Students in high school will listen to separate sentences and then spell the words from each sentence.

If you get stumped, you can click to hear a word again, as many times as you need to. If you're in grade three or higher, you can ask for a definition too. Since words often make more sense when they are attached to an idea, all the words in the story or sentences are in context.

Review the words, hear the audio, and SPELL the missing words. Make sure to check your SPELLING carefully, since your results will be calculated at the end.

Depending on the speed of your computer and internet connection, you may experience brief delays.

Look and Learn with Hoot

Look and Learn with Hoot

Friday, September 21, 2012Mississippi Museum of Art
10:30 AM

The Mississippi Museum of Art hosts an event for 4-5 year olds and their parents. This educational opportunity features a hands-on art activity and story time. Please dress for mess. This month’s story is Art Dog by Thacher Hurd. 45-minute program.

Arthur Dog is employed as a guard at the Dogopolis Museum of Art.  The museum houses the works of such painters as, “Vincent Van Dog, Pablo Poodle, Henri Muttisse and Leonardo Dog Vinci.”    

Arthur is  mild-mannered and lives a quiet life, except when the moon is full.  During those nights, Arthur’s appearance and personality change.  Donning a mask and a beret and carrying a box containing paints and brushes, he creeps throughout the city as a graffiti artist.  With a splat of his tail, Arthur signs his murals, “Art Dog.” 

One day, a robbery occurs at the Dogopolis Museum.  The Mona Woofa, a priceless painting, is stolen. When the police arrive, they conduct a search of the outside perimeter.  It is a full moon, and Art Dog is found in the alley with his eyes glowing and fur glistening, paintbrush in paw. Unsurprisingly, he is suspected of committing the robbery and is arrested. 

Jail, however, cannot hold the innocent Art Dog; he uses his paint brush to paint an open window where there are bars. He leaps out.

Now free, Art Dog needs transportation. He paints a “Brushmobile” which runs on paint instead of gas. 


Using his keen canine sense of smell, he searches for and locates the real culprits at an abandoned warehouse.  A scuffle occurs, but instead of using a weapon, Art Dog brandishes his paintbrush. “Paint! En garde! Touche!”  When the fighting ceases, the criminals are shown embedded in a piece of art.  

The police arrive, accompanied by the museum director.  The museum director, impressed with Art Dog’s  “Messterpiece”,  offers him a show at the Dogopolis Museum.  On the day of his show, Art Dog paints a masterpiece in the sky titled “City Rhapsody.”  Everyone in attendance is awed, but then suddenly Art Dog is gone leaving everyone, except the reader, wondering, “who was Art Dog?”

Book Review: Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature

Outside your Window: A First Book of Nature

Written by Nicola Davies and Illustrated by Mark Hearld

Published by Candlewick Press in 2012, ISBN 978-0-7636-5549-5

Grades PreK – 6

Book Review

Whether you live in a rural, suburban, or urban setting, there’s a wondrous world of nature right “outside your window.”  Biologist and author Nicola Davies invites you to explore this world year round with her seasonally organized collection of nature poems. Davies’s exceptional ability to use descriptive and figurative language, in particular similes and metaphors, makes the content come alive and the science facts and concepts more comprehensible to her child audience. Her writing is both beautiful and functional. The poems in various forms explore the cycles, patterns, and sensory experiences of flora and fauna in each season, such as this description of an apple:  “Fresh from the tree, / the apple sits in your hand, / cool and round, / and streaked with sunset colors.” The beauty in this collection is not limited to Davies's words. Mark Hearld’s illustrations rendered in mixed media more than live up to the publisher’s description as “breathtaking.” Reminiscent stylistically of late nineteenth and early twentieth century children’s book illustrations, the images blend collage, woodblock print, pen and ink, and painting, creating rich pastoral scenes that beg multiple viewings.  With its oversized trim, thick pages, fascinating images, and engaging text, this book makes the impossible possible – Davies and Hearld allow us to hold the miraculous natural world around us in the palm of our hands.

Curriculum Ideas

Shared Reading. Keep this wonderful volume close at hand to read these poems aloud throughout the school year. Select children’s favorites to rewrite on sentence strips to post in a pocket chart. Keep the lines of the poem whole on the sentence strips or cut them into individual word cards so that students can reassemble the poem from memory using letter/sound or sight word cues. Invite children to illustrate the poems.

Symphony at Sunset

Symphony at Sunset

DATE: 9/21/2012
TIME: 6:00 PM

CITY: Jackson, MS

LOCATION: The Cedars, 4145 Old Canton Road 

The Fondren Renaissance Foundation hosts an evening of music from the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. Bring blankets, lawn chairs and picnic baskets. Free. For more information, call 601-981-9606.

Book Report Forms

Book Report Forms



This is an entire page of book report forms.   Biography, fairy tale, historical, fiction, mystery, non-fiction, surveys... there is something for your student.

BibMe

bibme

Where was this when we were in high school?   BibMe is a website which takes all of your sources for a paper and creates a bibliography for you.    BibMe is an automated citation creator and bibliography generator. It can save you loads of time building and formatting your references, time that is understandably valuable and would be better served working on your paper.

BibMe allows you to search for books, websites, films, magazines, journals and newspapers from a database of millions of entries to find your source and autofill in the information. BibMe also allows manual entry where you enter all the necessary information yourself instead of choosing from BibMe.




BibMe offers resources to help you cite your work properly in the “Citation Guide” section. You can find information on the different formats for references your sources, using MLA, APA, and Chicago.



To create a bibliography, you’ll need to register for the service, you can save up to 10 bibliographies to your account for future use. Once you have saved a bibliography to your account, you can open it up at a later time to edit by clicking “Open”. The bibliography you open will replace your current bibliography in the “My Bibliography” pane. Or if you would like, you can permanently delete a bibliography by clicking “Delete.” You can also download your bibliography in either the MLA, APA, or Chicago formats and include it in your paper.

BibMe is a great service for free, visit http://bibme.org/ and try it for yourself.

Crytoquote

Crytoquote

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to uncover the mystery quotation by cracking the secret code. The quote has been encoded using single letter substitution - this means that each letter of the alphabet has been replaced by a different letter or a number. For examples and more information on how to crack these sorts of codes, click on 'INSTRUCTIONS' while playing the game.

Each week, all the encoded quotes will be from a single author or work. Type who or what you think that author or work is in the input box above for a place on the weekly chart.

Visual Dictionary Online

 Merriam Webster Visual Dictionary Online

 
I have a visual learner.    I can explain it all day, but until he sees what I am talking about he just can't understand.    My son is blessed with my Daddy's photographic memory.    When he sees things and reads them, he remembers them.   What a gift!   It is one that I did not receive.   

We love their games of the week.    Play by associating words with images. It’s a great way to build your vocabulary or test your knowledge.  Here is an example of a recent game:

Poetry 180

Poetry 180 is designed to make it easy for students to hear or read a poem on each of the 180 days of the school year.  Each poem was selected with high school students in mind.   Mr. Billy Collins, developer of Poetry 180 says, "The point is to expose students to some of the fresh voices in contemporary poetry; it is not necessary that all schools read the same poem every day. Also, you may skip a poem for any reason. The poems have been chosen with high school age students in mind, but if you feel a certain poem is inappropriate, skip it."

You can subscribe to Poetry 180 and have it sent to your email daily.  

We chose day 25 as a sample for you:
 
Domestic Work, 1937

Natasha Trethewey

All week she's cleaned
someone else's house,
stared down her own face
in the shine of copper-
bottomed pots, polished
wood, toilets she'd pull
the lid to--that look saying

Let's make a change, girl.

But Sunday mornings are hers--
church clothes starched
and hanging, a record spinning
on the console, the whole house
dancing. She raises the shades,
washes the rooms in light,
buckets of water, Octagon soap.

Cleanliness is next to godliness ...

Windows and doors flung wide,
curtains two-stepping
forward and back, neck bones
bumping in the pot, a choir
of clothes clapping on the line.

Nearer my God to Thee ...

She beats time on the rugs,
blows dust from the broom
like dandelion spores, each one
a wish for something better.

from Domestic Work, 1999
Graywolf Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Acrostic Poetry

Acrostic Poems

In this online tool, students can learn about and write acrostic poems. An acrostic poem uses the letters in a word to begin each line of the poem. All lines of the poem relate to or describe the main topic word. As part of the online tool, students brainstorm words to help write their poems and can save their work-in-progress to revise and edit, reinforcing elements of the writing process. Students can also print their finished acrostic poems or proudly show off their work by e-mailing it to a friend.

The Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln, Grant and Mississippi

The Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln, Grant, and Mississippi

DATE: 9/11/2012 
TIME: 12:00 PM

CITY: Jackson, MS  

LOCATION: Old Capitol Museum

PHONE: 601.576.6920

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Dr. Edna Greene Medford from Howard University will offer remarks on this monumental event in American history. Lecture to be followed by panel discussion and light reception. This free event is funded by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission Foundation. Free.

Directions

Cars

• Take the Pearl St. exit (96A) off I-55.
• Turn right onto State St.
• Turn right onto Amite St.
• Turn right into parking lot behind Old Capitol
• Walk around south side of building to enter through the front

Buses

• Park along Amite Street, next to War Memorial Building
• Visitors walk along sidewalk to the front of the building