Where does the time fly? I can’t believe it’s that time of year again! Time to share our Summer Reading List with you! It’s my 27th year in HCPSS and 22nd year here at Murray Hill Middle School! W00t! A lot of things have changed but some thing stay the same. Like still LOVING to read. Every day. Especially, in the Summer time! There’s nothing better to sit outside, on the beach, under an umbrella, or in a screened in porch and just read. For hours and hours! Where do you like to read? Any verified official Murray Hill kid who answers that in the comments will get a surprise next year! Sorry, Svetlana in Vladivostok, you are not eligible to win, but I still appreciate you reading this blog!
…..also, Pssst! Grownups! The ADULT Summer Reading List is linked at the bottom.
We Invite you to view & download the Middle School Summer Reading List Jpeg Page 1 and Page 2 or 2019SR_MSfinal- PDF
Thanks to our our A+ partner Librarians at the Howard County Library and two of our local HCPSS Middle School Teacher-Librarians we have created this Super Fun Reading List for all the kiddos in our district! (or the world!)
Visit our Howard County local Savage Branch Library & Hi Tech STEM Education Center this summer and FLIP over summer reading or flip over some amazing tech learning opportunities!
Murray Hill kids – If you read any of these books this summer, we would LOVE to hear what you thought in the comments! Follow us on Instagram to see pics of kids being AWESOME every day in our library and throughout the school!
Also, if you take a picture of yourself reading this summer or visiting a Library & tag me at @TheDaringLibrarian you’ll get a prize! Also, please tag @HoCoLibrary to maybe get some extra SWAG! 😉 But you have to find me in September and remind me, by saying like “Swag Me” because I’m getting old! LOL
From the Howard County Public Library, Our A+ Partners
Welcome to Summer Reading: A Universe of Stories
Join us for Summer Reading KICKOFF on Saturday, June 1 from 10 am to 2 pm at HCLS Miller Branch!
Activities in the Enchanted Garden include planting a sunflower and being a human sundial (weather permitting)
Indoor activities include crafts for children, and encounters with moon rocks and other rocks from space borrowed from NASA
Food trucks: Kona Ice and Say Cheese!
11 – 11:45 pm performance by The Milkshake Duo
12:30 – 1:30 pm fun with Eric Energy
ENROLL in Summer Reading Beginning June 1, 2019
Children, teens, and adults can participate! Enroll online from home or at any HCLS branch OR pick up a paper booklet at any branch.
After you’ve enrolled online or picked up your Summer Reading booklet, log the books you read and mark off activities as you complete them.
Mix and match any combination of 20 books read and/or activities completed
For every book/activity you complete, you receive an entry into a branch and systemwide prize drawing for your age group.
FOR ONLINE PARTICIPANTS: HCLS has a new online summer reading portal called BookPoints! Beginning June 1, 2019 you can register for a free summer reading account and create your BookPoints Username and password. Earn up to 41 entries into end-of-summer prize drawings by participating online!
FOR PAPER ONLY PARTICIPANTS: Between July 1 and August 31, return your completed booklet to any library branch to receive one entry into the end-of-summer prize drawings for each book or activity you complete. Check off a minimum of 20 books and/or activities to officially complete Summer Reading 2019: A Universe of Stories!
Recommended Summer Reading Lists for the Whole Family!
Makerspace for Little or Nothing Youdon’t have to spend thousands of dollars to start a Makerspace area. You don’t have to have a designated room or rip out bookcases.
You don’t have to make a Lego wall or buy a 3-D printer!
You can even have a Makerspace on a cart!
When we have testing in our Library, I put all our Makerspace stuff on an AV cart and roll it into our server
room. This post evolved from a previous post called Makerspace Starter Kit Updated on my professional blog where I had some of these idea, but I felt that it deserved it’s own expanded post.
You can take baby steps into the Maker Movement. I’ve been saying that for 7 years or so….long before I blogged about it, I tried it out.
A Makerspace is what you make of it!
Big or small, lavish or little, it’s all about the maker mindset. Constructivism. Be creative! Be crafty! Ask your kids what they want and brainstorm how to bring it to the school! Ask for donations. Ask for help. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect at first or if you fail. Just give it a shot.
TP & Paper Towel Building Blocks
Collect toilet and paper towel rolls, heck – have the whole school collect them! Say you’re trying for 50 or 100 – put a decorated cardboard box outside your Library or Classroom for donations!
Make sure to Tweet, IG out, or add the request to your staff & community newsletter! But be careful, you could get an AVALANCHE of materials!
Then cut them into different lengths, have the kiddos paint them with water based paints and notch them with scissors — then let kids build with them! Store them in milk crates or bins. Voila!
I’ve heard lately, that some people don’t like this idea because they’re concerned about germs. I guess TP rolls & airborne germs? I’m kind of a germophobe, and I didn’t even think about that! Sheesh. How about lightly spraying all the cardboard rolls with Lysol? OR..how about using paper towel rolls cut into different lengths? More! Cardboard Tube STEM Activities and more! This is a Mommy blog that has lots of great STEM ideas! W00t!
Origami is the perfect addition to a Maker program. Gather some origami books (I have like at least 10) paper of all kinds, safety scissors, rulers, and a recycling bin or the scraps and Voila! Kids love folding paper and even though I’m not patient enough to do this myself, many of my kiddos are amazing at Origami!
Here’s the super cool Cassius, who does smile, I swear! Giving us like two big tubs of great LEGO pieces! Such a great kids!
My lovely wonderful Library Media assistant Kathi, took them home over the weekend and put them all in a bucket with a bleach solution & dried them in the sunshine. Voila! Just like new!
Ask your PTA, ask your kids, have a LEGO donation bucket by the door of your Library Media Center or classroom and check out yard sales and thrift shops. Bleach is amazing and cheap. Go for it!
Now… I’ve totally snagged (with permission!) some amazing ideas from MY Makerspace Guru, Diana Rendina!
Graphic by @DianaLRendina
Cardboard Creature Challenge Now, shamelessly stolen from my Makerspace Gur, Diana Rendina – Teasing Excerpts from the amazing article she wrote for Demco titled 3 Design Challenges for the Low-tech Makerspace (Link below – I promise! Just don’t want to lose you quite yet, you may never come back!;-)
“The Cardboard Challenge has long been one of my favorite makerspace activities. Inspired by the amazing short film Caine’s Arcade and the Imagination Foundation’s Global Cardboard Challenge (October 6th – Join in!), I create a new variation on this challenge every year. We’ve created cardboard arcades, robots, buildings, etc.” — Read the article for more!
Graphic by @DianaLRendina
Tech Take-Apart Robot Challenge Tech take-apart is a classic makerspace activity. This design challenge
takes it a step further by recycling the technology into a robot made by
students. This project doesn’t have to be super complex — picture a
shoebox painted with black paint that has keyboard keys and circuit
boards glued to it.(link below – I promise!)
Graphic by @DianaLRendina
Recycled Book Art Gallery Our Art Teacher does this and we always love to provide gallery and brainstorming space! Maybe she gets some of our weeded books OR maybe she uses donated books from the kids and
MHMS Upcycled Book Art Gallery Walk from my IG
the community. I can’t speak to that here… my supervisor might see this!
Here’s what Diana has to say about this!
“We all have damaged or out-of-date books that we’ve weeded from our library. Instead of tossing them out, why not transform them into recycled art? Browse Pinterest or check out some of the recommended resources below to gather inspiration for students. Provide students with a variety of arts and crafts supplies, including glue, tape, paint, scissors, glitter, etc. Teach the students about what an artist’s statement is, and have them write one up once their project is done. Then create a gallery of all the students’ projects in the library and invite classes to visit for a gallery walk. This is a great way to introduce students to the world of professional art and a fantastic way to recognize their work. Design prompt: Working alone or in pairs, transform a used book into a work of art. You can use any arts and crafts materials, including paint, scissors, glue, tape, etc. Write an artist’s statement explaining how you came up with your idea and how you created your art. You will have one week to complete the project. All of the book art will be displayed with artists’ statements in a gallery in the library. ”
She makes my Makerspace look like small potatoes or tater tots! I admire all she does and in a perfect world, I would totally adapt more of her ideas and projects. BEHOLD and admire!
Don’t forget that video production, animation, green screen, blue screen, TV studio, coding, programming, any collaborating with a Science class can make your school Makerspace program shine! Make sure to bring in other subject areas. Don’t just have a Maker program in the Library, have the Maker mindset all over the school. Work with your Tech Ed teacher, FACS (what was once called Home Economics) and Art teacher. Make your Library a great space to display artwork. I’m a big advocate of STEAM rather than STEM. Think about gallery openings and gallery walks. This gets more people into your space.
Consider creating short videos on Instagram or YouTube having kids talk about their artwork & create a QR code to that post that you print out and put next to the artwork. That way, when people see the display, they can scan and see the video.
Do NOT let the expense, mess, trouble, or obstacles stop you from doing this! Be the innovator and the spark in your school or district. You got this! I know you can be AWESOME!
Honestly,
this last part was in a previous blog called Makersapce Starter Kit Updated but in case you missed it, I think this part is an important part of the conversation for any Maker project.
What do you think are the essential conversations?
——————-TESTING: A (Sad) Fact of Life – Packing My Making Away——————-