Harpin's Media Milestones

Read Across America Pictures!

 

 

Read Across America is Coming! Yea!!!

Here is a quicktime video to let you know all the cool stuff we have planned!

Download RAA09 <---video!

In case you can't view the video, here's the run-down

Monday, March 2^nd
Cake for everyone! Yea!
Prizes in the lunch line!
Prizes in the Media Center!

Tuesday, March 3^rd
Reading interest survey in homeroom (so we can see what you like)
Wear a shirt that can be read (has words on it)
Prizes in the Media Center!

Wednesday, March 4^th
Have a book with you wherever you go...hint, hint.
Prizes in the Media Center!

Thursday, March 5^th
Don't forget to bring a book to donate in the book drive!
Poster contest judging.
Prizes in the Media Center!

Friday, March 6^th
Be the Book: Dress up as your favorite character (school appropriate of course!). You must be able to answer basic questions about your character/book. (author, characters, plot...)
Prizes in the Media Center!

All Week
Classroom door poster contest-the class with the best poster in each grade level wins a book for every student. Class members will be able to choose from an assortment of popular paperback books!
Book Drive-bring in new or gently used books to donate to less fortunate schools. Clean out your bookcases at home to make room for new books.

Ooooh, oooh! I read some new books!

Ok, so its been a little while...but come on, I have a very active baby at home! Anyways, I read a couple of new books:

1. Scat by Carl Hiaasen (author of Hoot and Flush) 

2. Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez

I've added them to my Shelf at Shelfari (which you can view here) You can read all of my thoughts about them. Don't forget to tell me your thoughts!

Word Art

Another Book to Movie!

I just saw the trailer for this one, it looks spooooooky!

Coraline by Neil Gaiman: Looking for excitement, Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others.

What Mrs. Harpin says: Kids keep telling me that I need to read this book. The movie looks super creepy.

'Coraline' Trailer

Books to Movies

Looks like the holiday movie season is full of some cinematic representations of much loved books! Here's a few: (PS: I have no idea what video will show after the movie trailers and am not responsible for what you watch after the video I linked. Be good children and close the video window after you watch the movie trailer I linked.)

The Tale of Despereaux : being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread, book by Kate DiCamillo is about the adventures of Despereaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin. (movie comes out Dec. 19)

What Mrs. Harpin says: This movie looks SO CUTE!!! I think they are going to have to add a lot of extra stuff to the movie to make it long enough. The book is relatively short. I liked the book, so I hope they do a good job with the movie.

'The Tale of Despereaux' Trailer,  Kate DiCamillo's website

Inkheart, book by Cornelia Funke is about twelve-year-old Meggie, who learns that her father Mo, a bookbinder, can "read" fictional characters to life when an evil ruler named Capricorn, freed from the novel "Inkheart" years earlier, tries to force Mo to release an immortal monster from the story. (movie comes out on Jan 23)

What Mrs. Harpin says: This movie looks AWESOME! I haven't read the books, but after watching this trailer, I totally will. I have loved Brenden Fraser since Encino Man and can't wait to see this movie.

'Inkheart' Trailer, Cornelia Funke's website

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, book by John Boyne is about , Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, bored and lonely after his family moves from Berlin to a place called "Out-With" in 1942 who befriends a boy in striped pajamas who lives behind a wire fence. (movie came out Nov 7, limited theaters)

What Mrs. Harpin says: Any book/movie about the Holocaust is bound to be sad. I don't know if I can go watch this one. I am waaaayyyy too weepy at movie theaters.

'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas' Trailer, Amazon.com reviews of book

Twilight, book by Stephenie Meyer, do I even have to tell you what this one is about? No? I didn't think so. (movie came out on Nov 21)

What Mrs. Harpin says: I don't need to say anything about this one. I'm sure you will all say plenty about it! I, personally, am going to wait until it comes out on DVD or pay-per-view)

'Twilight' Trailer, Stephenie Meyer's website

New Page Alert! New Page Alert!

Ok people, I have moved my "What Mrs. Harpin is Reading" bookshelf to a new page! I know you are all dying to know what amazing books I have read lately (as well as my super witty and honest reviews). They will now be located at Books Mrs. Harpin has read 2008-2009 School Year (permanent link located under the picture at the upper left of this page). Thanks, and have a great day!

Cloning, Genetics, & Stem Cells, Oh my!

Ms. B. Smith's 7th grade AC Language Arts classes descended the grand  staircase this week to visit the media center. They are working on a follow-up project for their novel study of Nancy Farmer’s House of the Scorpion. They will be researching various topics relating to the book.

First, though, they had to be reminded how to search effectively and how to evaluate what they find. We had fun evaluating the Ova Prima Foundation website. Eventually, they learned that sometimes it is hard to determine a website’s purpose. Things are not always what they seem when it comes to internet research... 

Pictures above from Microsoft Office Clip Art & http://www.dnaco.net/~vogelke/pictures/when-cloning-goes-wrong/

MCSI-Media Center Services Investigations

Mrs. Cundy's classes visited the Media Center today to begin their Mysteries of Internet Research. They were confronted with an awful crime scene! Here's what went down...

Miss Enda Shushington was closing the library for the night. She had just gotten the latest, coolest book in: I’m Just a Clumsy, Silly Girl in Love with a Gorgeous Vampire. She was locking it up to keep it safe from all of the obsessed middle schoolers when she heard a noise in the classroom. When Miss Shushington went to investigate, she was conked on the head with the humongous dictionary! When she awoke, the book was GONE! Now the fanatical middle schoolers won’t be able to read the latest book in the Latenight Saga. What ever will they do?

The last people Miss Shushington remembered seeing in the library before she was whacked on   head was Ima Reader and her sister Youra. Ima had just put I’m Just a Clumsy, Silly Girl in Love with a Gorgeous Vampire on hold earlier that day, but she was the 99th student on the hold list for that title. Youra was wandering around the library looking at book covers. Miss Shushington was sure that everyone was gone…but…I guess she was wrong! Maybe Ima couldn’t wait for 98 other students to read the book. Maybe Youra hated the series for its repetitive phrasing, over usage of synonyms, and slow plot so much that she had to destroy the book!

With Mrs. Harpin's help (and some crazy-good detective skills), Mrs. Cundy's class discovered the culprit. Now each group has their own mystery to solve. They'll use their internet research abilities to solve such cases as the Loosend Leash, the Stolen Santa Suit, and the Burned Bunny Books. Can they do it? Of course they can!

   

What Mrs. Harpin is Reading: November '08

I am now using Shelfari to post my reviews of book's I've read. Its pretty cool, don't 'cha think? All you have to do is 'mouse' over a book on the shelf and the review will appear. As my shelf list gets longer, you might need to use the 'next' button. As always, please share your comments!

If you opened this blog straight from the McClure page, you are probably thinking "What shelf??? I don't see any shelf! All I see is a link to shelfari." Well, my friends, hit that back button up there and try opening my blog in a new window (right click, open in new window) and like magic, the shelf should appear!

(Moved to pages link)