contest

Write Now!

gwynethj

From the Howard County Library:  Write! Now is Howard County Library System’s poetry contest for middle and high school students, open to Howard County students in grades 6 through 12. For information about the contest and ideas about where to begin, download our Write! Now brochure for Teachers and Students. You can also review our resource list.

Students in grades 6-12, who live or attend school in Howard County, are invited to submit original poetry December 3 through March 8. Winners will read their poems at the Write! Now Celebration on April 24, 2013. Details and entry forms at hclibrary.org/writenow. Sponsored by Friends of Howard County Library.
Entry rules

  • Write! Now begins December 3, 2012. The submission form will be available on this page at that time.
  • Submissions close on March 8, 2013
  • The contest is open to students who live or attend school in Howard County in these categories:
    • Grades 6-7 (Division 1)
    • Grades 8-9 (Division 2)
    • Grades 10-12 (Division 3)
  • Poems must be original, unpublished works. Plagiarized submissions will be disqualified.
  • Submit up to three poems.
  • Poems must be 60 lines or less in length.
  • Complete only the information requested on the entry form. Do not add your name or school information to the body of the poem. Poems are judged anonymously.
  • Students may qualify for only one prize in each age group.

Judging criteria
A committee of judges will rate the entries. The judges will look for these elements in each poem:

  • The poem has a title
  • The poem offers original ideas and words
  • The poem makes readers think
  • The poem contains language that is creative and poetic

Prizes
Winners will be contacted in April. Winners in each category will receive an invitation to read their winning poems at a special event on Wednesday, April 24 at the Miller Branch in Ellicott City. In addition, winning poems will be featured on the web site. Congratulations to our 2012 winners.

Additional questions can be answered at any Howard County Library System branch, or by sending us an e-mail. We look forward to receiving and reading your entries.

Visit hclibrary.org for a complete listing of classes and events.

Write! Now is sponsored by Friends of Howard County Library.

 

Credits:

Top graphic from the Howard County Library

Other graphics: TheDaringLibrarian.com photos from  – found Urban Art in alley way Adelaide, Australia.

 

 

Summer Reading: WEIRD!

gwynethj

It’s almost summer reading time again!    And for this year, we’ve got a fun idea for you to show off your summer travels & reading destinations! Or just wacky & creative reading position! Think of it as —READING XTREME! Our “Weirdest Reading Destination” contest & challenge invites you to take a picture of you reading in an strange, odd, fun, exotic, silly, preposterous, or even WEIRD place or position!

Are you reading on the sand “Downy Ochen, hon?”(for non-Baltimoreans that’s on our Chesapeake Bay Eastern Shore of Ocean City MD, & Fenwick, Bethany, Dewey, & or Reohoboth beach DE!) Are you reading in a camping tent? On the top of the Empire State building or Eiffel Tower? Are you reading on a trampoline? While skateboarding? (watch out!)  Are you reading on a bench outside MHMS with the yellow Angry Bird plushy friend? Oh no, that’s Alex!  Or are you reading upside down while eating an apple?! Oops! Nope, that’s Maya!  YAY! You don’t need to travel far to be creative because you can read ANYWhere!

Send your picture to Ms. Jones’s summer email at gwynethanne@gmail (dot) com giving your name, grade, location, & book title! Coolest pics will win an iTunes gift card, be featured on THIS BLOG,  & a get bundle full of  Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) paperback books! (Only valid for registered MHMS students incoming 6th, and rising 7th & 8th graders)

Summer Reading Lists Are Below!

You can download our summer reading list PDF’s from our MHMS Learning Wiki! Or Click on the PDF’s below

2012 Summer Reading Lists

Summer Reading for Middle School Peeps
 Final MS 2012 Summer Reading.pdf

Summer Reading List for Short Fries (Grades 4-5)
 Final 4-5 2012 Summer Reading.PDF

Summer Reading List for Parents & Teachers
 Final Adult 2012 Summer Reading.PDF

Download FREE Bookmarks!

external image 7295363290_73b5d57d6d.jpg

 Summer_Reading_Bookmarks12.doc

Visit our A+Partners & Good Friends at the Howard County Library for their Summer Reading Game!

June Jamboree Pics!

Credits:

So, I got the idea of the title of this blog from the movie: Ghostbusters II– a Classic!
Peter Venkman: “Next week on “World of the Psychic”. Hairless cats… weird”.

“Weirdest Reading Destination”  idea inspired (and totally pilfrered!) from the London Public Library! Who kindly put the picture at left on Flickr Creative Commons!

Thank you!

Follow them on Twitter @londonlibrary!!!!