Ashes or Sayso?

In my fourteen years of experience as an elementary school media specialist, I continually maintain that I learn something from the students every day.  One day recently, a student taught me something that will be unforgettable for me and those that I have shared it with. I am eager to share the experience with my librarian colleagues so that it may open their minds as it did mine. It’s moments like the one that I am sharing that remind me how important our jobs are and how we make connections with students that may not happen in the classroom. 

For the past seven years I have served as the coach for our school’s Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl team. The Helen Ruffin Bowl is a competition among school teams held once each year. Each team reads the Georgia Children Book Award nominees for that year and that is the basis of the six-round competition. Each round consists of comprehension questions from the books.  To prepare my team for the competition, I have what I call “Lunch and Listen”. The team members eat lunch daily in the library while I read one of the nominees aloud to them. After each chapter they make up comprehension questions that I record and save for future practice. The students also read nominees on their own time and write down comprehension questions to share with the group.  This year, my team consists of six fifth graders and four fourth graders. 

A few weeks ago, one of the fourth grade students began telling me she wanted to start reading “Sayso” as soon as she completed the book she was reading. This particular student is usually the last to leave Lunch and Listen because her class is the last fourth grade class dismissed from the cafeteria. This gives the two of us extra time to talk about books and share in conversation.  She mentioned the “Sayso” book several times and I was not sure which book she meant but figured it was something she was reading on her own.  One day she asked if she could go ahead and check out “Sayso”. I then had to really grasp what she was talking about. I said, “Sayso is not a Georgia Book Award Nominee.” She said, “Yes it is. It’s in your office on the shelf where they are kept. I said “show me”.  We proceeded to my office where she picked up the book “Ashes” by Kathryn Lasky.   

At that moment I literally had chills. I was astonished and amazed that this student had seen a totally different image of the book than I had.  I was speechless. In a few seconds I said “Wow! The title of this book is Ashes (Lasky, 2011) but I had no idea that it could be read as Sayso. I wondered if Kathryn Lasky knew of this and if it was intentional or not.” Questions just ran through my mind. I wondered if this dual title had something secretly to do with the novel that would be revealed when we read it.  I just praised her for being so persistent about the book and how I could not wait to share her revelation with the rest of the group.  The next day I shared the story with my Lunch and Listen group and they too were speechless.  We talked about it and I suggested we write an email to Kathryn Lasky to find out if the duo title was intentional or not. We were just finishing one book and unanimously we all agreed that we MUST read Ashes next. 

As soon as the kids left, I wrote Kathryn Lasky and email and attached the pictures to it.  The next day I read the email to my Lunch and Listen group and they were so excited that maybe we would hear from the author. We started the book and the coined phrase became, “Are we going to read Ashes or Sayso?” 

To our surprise and excitement, Kathryn Lasky replied to my email in two days time. She, like me, was equally shocked and she used the word “speechless” to describe her feelings. She explained that there was no intention in the title to be read as “Sayso” and this news was completely new for her. She also shared my feelings that we learn something from the students every day. She hoped it would not “diminish” our desire to read the book.  Quite the contrary!  After sharing her email with the group, we were all even more eager to read it.

As I write this we are about halfway through Ashes (or “Sayso” ) and we love the rich work of Kathryn Lasky.   Not a day goes by when I am not rewarded by working with young people. They are uninhibited in thought and unlimited in vision.  I have shared this story with anyone that I think it would delight. I shared it on my morning news broadcast at school and received so many comments from teachers.  I wanted to share it with my librarian colleagues so that you can share it with your readers. I think it will “hook” the kids into wanting to read Ashes…or Sayso. 

The Georgia Library Association Scholarship Committee invites applications for 2013.

The Georgia Library Association annually awards two scholarships to students completing a master’s degree in library science:

• The Hubbard Scholarship, a $3,000 award, is intended to recruit excellent candidates for librarianship in Georgia.
• The Beard Scholarship, in the amount of $1,000, is for applicants who show strong potential for leadership in the library profession.

Recipients of both awards must agree to work in a Georgia library for at least one year following graduation, but need not be residents of Georgia to apply.

The deadline to apply is May 21, 2013.

See the Georgia Library Association website for applicant qualifications and the online application form: http://gla.georgialibraries.org/scholarship.htm

Questions and application materials may be directed to:

Karen Viars
GLA Scholarship Committee Vice-Chair
Georgia Perimeter College Alpharetta Center Library
3705 Brookside Pkwy
Alpharetta, GA 30022
karen.viars@gpc.edu

The Atlanta Area Bibliographic Instruction Group (AABIG) wants to invite GLMA members to consider proposals for the May 17, 2013 conference because we welcome media specialist presentations and attendees.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Atlanta Area Bibliographic Instruction Group (AABIG) 12th annual conference will convene on May 17, 2013 at the Mercer University in Atlanta. This year’s theme is Beyond Face Value: Asserting the Value of Instruction and Making Instruction Valuable.

This year, the conference will focus on the practical and new ways librarians are affirming their worth to their institutions through effective instruction, assessment, and marketing. AABIG invites proposals for 20- and 45-minute sessions that address this theme. The committee particularly invites submissions from public and academic librarians, school media specialists, and individuals from diverse backgrounds. Lively and interactive sessions are preferred.
Ideas include but are not limited to:

• effective instruction, outreach, and assessment methods
• effective strategies for online and face-to-face instruction
• practical techniques for advocacy/marketing toward external stakeholders
• innovative techniques, examples, and pedagogy to intrigue and entice students

Submit your proposal here: http://tinyurl.com/AABIG2013

Extended Deadline: March 23, 2013. Please direct further questions to
Elizabeth Andrejasich Gibes at elizabeth.gibes@mu.edu.

The SLA (Special Libraries Association) Georgia Chapter invites you to participate in a three hour workshop, “Crafting Your Personal Brand,” on Saturday, March 16, at the Clough Commons on the Georgia Tech campus (in Atlanta) from 9:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. As McKinsey Quarterly reported in July 2011, “We’re all marketers now.” Whether you’re a librarian, competitive intelligence professional, analyst or department head, engaging your customers (however you define them) is more important than ever. SLA Georgia Chapter feels that we could all learn from the expertise and experience from 2012 SLA Fellow and marketing consultant Chris Olson. (For more on Chris, go to: http://www.chrisolson.com/.)

Expected outcomes from the workshop include:

• Understanding the components of a personal brand
• Receiving feedback on one’s personal brand
• Applying personal branding skills to achieving professional goals
• Relating a personal brand to one’s organization.

Program details along with an online registration form can be found at: http://georgia.sla.org/2012/11/the-sla-georgia-chapter-presents-chris-olson-speaking-about-personal-brands/

Besides the affordable $60 registration fee (Students, retirees and the unemployed qualify for half off!), consider these other reasons for attending:

• 3.0 hours for continuing education credit
• Refreshments and lunch are included in the registration fee
• An opportunity to learn from an information industry leader
• Meeting and networking with other Atlanta area info pros.

Registration closes soon, so be sure to reserve your spot NOW at: http://bit.ly/XKjl6e

Contact program planner Ernie Evangelista with any questions at Ernie.M.Evangelista@atl.frb.org.

The 2013-14 Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers list is:

Ashfall  by Mike Mullin

Boy 21 by Matthew Quick

Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

Erebos  by Ursula Poznanski

Every Day  by David Levithan

The Fault In Our Stars  by John Green

The Girl of Fire and Thorns  by Rae Carson

The Good Braider  by Terry Farish

Grave Mercy  by R. L. LaFevers

The Hunt  by  Andrew Xia Fukuda

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

The Language of Flowers  by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Leverage  by Joshua Cohen

My Book of Life by Angel  by Martine Leavitt

My Life Next Door  by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Never Fall Down  by Patricia McCormick

Pink  by Lili Wilkinson

Raven Boys  by Maggie Stiefvater

UnWholly  by Neal Shusterman

Mary K. Donovan

Media Specialist, Mill Creek High School

2012-13 Chair, GA Peach Book Award for Teen Readers

Mary_Kay_Donovan@gwinnett.k12.ga.us

www.mchsmedia.com

Drumroll please . . .

The 2013-14 Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers list is:

Ashfall  by Mike Mullin

Boy 21 by Matthew Quick

Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

Erebos  by Ursula Poznanski

Every Day  by David Levithan

The Fault In Our Stars  by John Green

The Girl of Fire and Thorns  by Rae Carson

The Good Braider  by Terry Farish

Grave Mercy  by R. L. LaFevers

The Hunt  by  Andrew Xia Fukuda

The Language of Flowers  by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Leverage  by Joshua Cohen

My Book of Life by Angel  by Martine Leavitt

My Life Next Door  by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Never Fall Down  by Patricia McCormick

Pink  by Lili Wilkinson

Raven Boys  by Maggie Stiefvater

UnWholly  by Neal Shusterman

Please remember that voting for the 2012-13 Georgia Peach Book Award continues online through March 15. The winner and 2 honor books will be announced in March at the Kennesaw State University’s Annual Conference on Literature for Children and Young Adults (I will post here the following day).

http://www.georgiapeachaward.org/teens-vote-your-favorite-peach-book-voting-ends-midnight-friday-march-15

Also, if you are interested in serving on the Georgia Peach Book Award committee, the online application is now available at

http://www.georgiapeachaward.org/reading-committee

Have a great weekend!

Mary K. Donovan

Media Specialist

Mill Creek High School

Middle and high school students can start by looking for a woman in the Discover GALILEO search box. Try finding Susan B. Anthony, Marie Curie, Helen Keller, Sally Ride, Coretta Scott King, Sonia Sotomayor, Jane Goodall, and others. For some major events in women’s history, look for women’s rights, women suffrage, women work*, feminism, or other topics of interest. For literary criticism, type in the title of a book or author names with the term literary criticism; for example, emily dickinson literary criticism or to kill a mockingbird literary criticism.
Tip: If you are getting a lot of book reviews in the results, use Limit by Type to remove reviews (click Show More to see all types, click Check all, then uncheck Reviews). You can also use Limit by Type to only see magazine and news articles (they have an easier reading level), primary source documents, or multimedia (choose Videos, Audio, or Non-Print Resources).

Next, explore Encyclopædia Britannica‘s spotlight on women, the Encyclopædia Britannica Profiles 300 Women Who Changed the World. There, students will find an illustrated timeline of women throughout history along with articles, essays, speeches, video clips, and learning activities.

For speeches, letters, and other primary source documents, search for women in Annals of American History to see a letter from Horace Greeley on women’s rights or a declaration of rights for women from Susan B. Anthony.

A quick search of SIRS Discoverer (elementary and middle school) will bring back news and magazine articles, images, and more. SIRS Discoverer also includes a spotlight for Women’s History Month, so click the Spotlight of the Month feature at the bottom of the SIRS Discover home page to investigate this (scroll to the bottom of the Spotlight page to see archives).

NoveList and NoveList K-8 offer book recommendations for all ages. Here is a tip to find fiction books by women. Go the Advanced Search, leave the search box blank (or type in a topic of your choice), and choose Female in the Author’s Gender field to see a list of books.

Want to meet important women in Georgia? Take a look at the Women of Distinction in Georgia feature in the New Georgia Encyclopedia. Your students can read about interesting women like Mary Musgrove, Hazel Raines, Rosalyn Carter, Alice Walker, and many more fascinating women. Students can also see Famous Georgia Women in GeorgiaInfo.

Please Contact Us if you have questions or comments or if you need to report problems.

Courtney McGough
GALILEO Support Services
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

Some links may not work off site. Log in to GALILEO first for access.

Express Links for Databases Mentioned in this Post:
Encyclopædia Britannica School Edition: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebs
Encyclopædia Britannica High School: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zehs
Compton’s by Britannica (for middle school): http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebm
Britannica Elementary: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebk
Annals of American History: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zeba
SIRS Discoverer: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zssd
New Georgia Encyclopedia: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=ngen
GeorgiaInfo: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=gnfo
NoveList: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zknl
NoveList K-8: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zkne
Find All Your Express Links (what’s this?)

Archives make it easy to learn about GALILEO at your convenience. Please share the link below with your teachers and any others interested in learning more about using GALILEO.

See GALILEO Training Archives.

Please Contact Us if you have questions or comments or if you need to report problems.

GALILEO Staff
GALILEO Support Services
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

Help with Project Ideas
• Example projects are available in the GALILEO Scrapbook
• Standards-Aligned Lesson Plan “Where I’m From in GALILEO” lesson plan (see example in GALILEO Scrapbook)
• Standards-aligned activity “Create Your Own Story in GALILEO”

Here is a handout if you would like to share this information with teachers.

If you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.

GALILEO Staff
GALILEO Support Services
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

Start by entering a person or event associated with African American history in the new Discover GALILEO searchbox in GALILEO High School or GALILEO Teen, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Zora Neale Hurtson, Civil Rights Movement, Selma Montgomery March, Harlem Renaissance, African American arts, and more. Elementary students can search for topics in Britannica Elementary, SIRS Discoverer, or Kids Search.

The Civil Rights Digital Library (CRDL) offers a variety of primary sources and education materials on the Civil Rights Movement, including films clips, images, oral histories, and more. Don’t miss the Educator Resources, especially the Freedom on Film site, for lesson plans and more.

For a look at the history of African Americans in Georgia, the Digital Library of Georgia offers historical images (Vanishing Georgia in particular), newspapers, and more. You can browse by your county or by subject (such as Peoples and Cultures) to see collections. Several collections of note are “Integrated in All Respects”: Ed Friend’s Highlander Folk School Films and the Politics of Segregation; Community Art in Atlanta, 1977-1987: Jim Alexander’s Photographs of the Neighborhood Arts Center from the Auburn Avenue Research Library; and The Blues, Black Vaudeville, and the Silver Screen, 1912-1930s.

As always, Encyclopædia Britannica offers authoritative information on famous African Americans and historical events. Don’t miss the spotlight on Black History because Britannica has pulled together a nice collection of biographies, documents, multimedia, learning activities, and more.

SIRS Discoverer (for elementary and middle school) offers a spotlight on Black History Month. Just click the Spotlight of the Month at the bottom of the screen and then scroll down to see the Spotlight Archives. Students can also search either resource for “African American” or for names, events, or places to find articles and multimedia.

NoveList and NoveList K-8 offer book recommendations for all age and grade levels. Search for African Americans to see books, lists, and articles related to this topic. If you use the Advanced Search, you can limit your search to books written by African American authors. Hint: Leave the search box blank and choose African-American in the Author’s Cultural Identity field to see a list of books by African American authors. Check out the Teaching with Books section on the right of the main page in NoveList to see award lists (including the Coretta Scott King Awards), BookTalks, Book Discussion Guides, Picture Book Extenders, and curriculum-based lists.

GALILEO has provided a training session showing these resources. You can view the archive for this session and others on the Self-Guided Sessions page.

As always, if you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.

Courtney McGough
GALILEO Support Services
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

Some links may not work off site. Log in to GALILEO first for access.

Image from Encyclopædia Britannica

Express Links for Databases Mentioned in this Post:
Civil Rights Digital Library: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=crdl
Digital Library of Georgia: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=dlg1
Encyclopædia Britannica School Edition: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebs
Encyclopædia Britannica High School: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zehs
Compton’s by Britannica (for middle school): http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebm
Britannica Elementary: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebk
SIRS Discoverer: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zssd
Kids Search: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbks
NoveList: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zknl
NoveList K-8: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zkne

Find All Your Express Links (what’s this?)

Image from Encyclopædia Britannica