Book Club Party

 

Here are some pictures from our book club party!  We exchanged books, ate and talked about the best books of the year.  Thanks to all of you who came out this year!  We will be posting second semester meeting dates soon, so check back on our blog for more information!  Have a great break and keep reading!

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Book Club Book Swap Party December 13!

The book club will host its annual book swap party on December 13th after school in the library.  Everyone is encouraged to bring a wrapped used book to trade.  At the end of the party, everyone who brought a book will have a new book to take home with them!  We will share and discuss the gift books and have some food and drink too!  All are welcome to attend. 

New Books in the Library!

We have purchased some new titles that are now available for checkout in the HHS Library. Stop by and "check them out" today! Here are a few of the titles we now carry:

Beauty Queens
by Libba Bray

When a plane crash strands thirteen teen beauty contestants on a mysterious island, they struggle to survive, to get along with one another, to combat the island's other diabolical occupants, and to learn their dance numbers in case they are rescued in time for the competition.



The Last Thing I Remember
by Andrew Clavan

High school student Charlie West awakens injured in a concrete bunker, discovers that he has lost a year of his life and has no memory of escaping from prison after being convicted of murdering his former best friend, and learns that he is being pursued by both the law and a group of terrorists trying to destroy the U.S. government.

 

 

 

Little Brother
by Cory Doctorow

Interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California, seventeen-year-old Marcus is released into what is now a police state, and decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right.

LibGuides Come to HHS

Last week we hosted Mrs. Morris and her classes in the library to begin research on their Junior Research Paper.  Students were researching social issues that have impacted the United States.  Students used the Alabama Virtual Library's Opposing Viewpoints in Context to get a wide range of opinions and credible sources.  They also learned how to evaluate websites for content, reliability, and relevance to their topic.

To organize all of the information needed for the project, we used LibGuides, a new subscription service purchased by the PTO that will create unit specific webpages to guide students through research projects.  From the LibGuides site: "With LibGuides you introduce students to the research tools they will likely use in college (LibGuides is the most popular research guides platform at college and universities). You also teach them information literacy skills they will need as they continue their education. LibGuides is a media-rich and easy to navigate platform that really 'speaks' to and empowers Digital Natives."

LibGuides will also be used for tutorials on library resources and Web 2.0 tools that can be used for research and presentation.  Here is a link to the Morris Research Guide:

http://homewood.libguides.com/morris11

If you would like to collaborate with us on a research guide for your next project, please email the library and we will be happy to assist you.  We will do all the work to set up the guide, you will just need to let us know what you want and share with us any handouts and information you would like to post. 

 

Book Club to Meet November 29th!

The HHS Book Club met on October 25th in the library after school.  We discussed paranormal fiction to get ready for Halloween.  There were fourteen students in attendance.  Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, November 29th after school in the library.  Come eat, hang out with your friends and talk about mystery fiction.  Bring your favorite "Who dunnit" to share with the group. 

Also, our facebook page is coming soon!  Here are some pics from our last meeting! 

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Book Club to Meet October 25!

Just in time for Halloween, our book club will hold its October meeting on October 25th after school in the library.  This month we will be discussing and sharing the best in Paranormal fiction.  This genre covers anything outside the realm of what can be explained through science, including ghosts, aliens, and cryptids, like werewolves or the Loch Ness monster.   If you are interested in the this genre, or have a book to share with the group, please join us!

Picturing America On Screen

Picturing America is an initiative from the National Endowment for the Humanities to bring great American works of art into the classroom.  In 2009 the HHS Library received a grant to bring 40 great works of art to our school.  These are displayed in the lobby of our building.  If you would like to use these with your class to help introduce a concept or inspire a creative assignment, please contact us and we can work with you.  Recently, the NEH funded a documentary film project produced by Channel 13, WNET, New York.  These short films introduce the great works of art and also give a cultural and historical perspective on the importance of the work for American history.  Follow the link to view these films:

http://www.thirteen.org/picturing-america/

We also have a book of lesson plans to accompany the artwork Please contact us if you are interested in using these in your classroom!

Evaluating Websites: A Necessary Skill

Yesterday we hosted the Pre-AP ninth grade English classes in the library for a lesson and activity on the importance of evaluating websites before they are used in a research assignment.  Students must ask themselves questions like: Who is the author? What is the purpose of the site?  Can I verify the information?  Do the ads on the site detract from the information? 

And, believe it or not, students learned that there are other search engines besides Google and Bing!  We used Metacrawler, a search engine that searches Google, Bing, and Yahoo at the same time, to analyze their search results and SweetSearch, a search engine that only searches sites verified by research experts.  We also compared information found on the Internet with the information found in the Alabama Virtual Library.  Students were able to then find a website on their own and evaluate it to see if it would work for their research assignment about The Great Depression.

When you assign a research assignment, you should give students some guidance on what sites to use and how to evaluate the sites they find.  If you would like some assistance in this process please let us know!   By teaching students how to search efficiently, we can ensure that they are ready for the 21st century!

 

Celebrate Banned Books Week

Celebrate Banned Books week at the library September 24th through October 1st.  We will be displaying banned titles and sharing with students the reason for the season.  Banned Books Week celebrates our freedom to read and the importance of the first amendment.  The ALA website explains that this week "highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States."

 At the library, we will be displaying and featuring banned and censored books throughout the week.  A few of the classics that Homewood students read are a part of the list, including Brave New World, Of Mice and Men, and To Kill a Mockingbird.  Some popular titles in our library that are in the list of frequently challenged books include The Absolutely True Diary of a Parttime Indian by Sheman Alexie, Speak by Laurie Halse Andersen, and Betrayed by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast. 

 Be subversive!  Stop by the library and check out a banned book today!

 

Welcome to HHS Library's blog!

We are so excited to have a blog presence!  This is the place where you will find information on our book clubs, events, displays, new titles and suggestions for research tools.  Please stop by often to check out new posts.  Also, we would love to receive your comments!

The fabulous photo on our blog's home page was created by our very own Katie Dixon.  THANKS, KATIE!