Library
Dear Parents and Students:
We have so many readers at MCS!
To foster and support their love of reading, it’s my goal to provide as many avenues as I can for students to find books to read. Students will not be able to come to the library this year to browse and check out books. But I have developed procedures that will allow for them to still check out books.
New this year, is the ability to check out ebooks and audiobooks. There are tutorials on this page demonstrating how to do this. Every student should have an account already set up for them to use, but if your child doesn’t seem to have an account, please let me know right away. Additionally, you will find several other ideas and resources.
I hope that you and your child will use this resource often! Please let me know if you have any questions.
Enjoy the reads!
Joy Blongewicz
Information and Resources
Find a Book
Online Databases
These are subscription databases that require a password. As this information cannot be posted online, please either ask your child or send me an email. I'll be happy to provide that information.
PebbleGo - great for our youngest students
EBSCO - scroll down to use Explora Primary
World Book Online - appropriate for our older students
Kids InfoBits
Battle of the Books
Battle of the Books Program
This is an optional program for students in 4th and 5th grade. Students form a team of two or three people and then as a team, they read the books that are on the Battle of the Books list. Teammates don't have to all read the same number of books, but I do require that each member read at least three in order to be on a team.
In April or May, the Book Battles take place. This involves a Jeopardy-style game with the categories of: plot, genre, tricky, character and setting.
An additional part of the Book Battles is the 'Bonus Round' where only one team at a time is asked a question. This allows students to take a break from the fast-paced buzzer part of the Book Battle.
NOTE: There's a possibility that the Book Battle will take place remotely via Zoom. This would involve teams being together in Breakout Rooms with an MCS staff member supervising and helping as needed. More information will be added later in the year as needed. Last year's participants enjoyed the experience with this format!
Battle of the Books List for 2020 - 2021
Book Selection | Author |
Roll With It | Jamie Sumner |
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry | Mildred Taylor |
Changeling | William Ritter |
Song for a Whale | Lynn Kelly |
Kensuke's Kingdom | Michael Morpurgo |
Codename Zero | Chris Rylander |
Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat | Johnny Marciano |
Shouting at the Rain | Lynda M. Hunt |
Over the Moon | Natalie Lloyd |
A Wolf Called Wander | Roseanne Parry |
Chester and Gus | Cammie McGovern |
The Wheel on the School
|
Meindert deJong
|
Student Resources
Images in the Public Domain
Unsplash: over 1 million free high-resolution images brought to you by the world’s most generous community of photographers.
Creative Commons: the older students are taught how to understand and use the various Creative Commons licenses.
Wikimedia Commons: a collection of over 63,000,000 files that are in the public domain and are free to use
Pics4Learning: Pics4Learning is a curated image library that is safe and free for education with copyright-friendly images and illustrations
Photos For Class: a site to find and cite Creative Commons-licensed images. When you find the photo you want to use, click the download link below the image. The attribution will appear on the photo.
Kid-Friendly Search Engines
Kid Rex: sponsored by Google Safe Search
instaGrok: a visual and interactive search engine that collects educational content and displays it in the form of a cloud of related words. In addition to the visual map, content is displayed in the form of text, images, video and web links. Students can use the slider tool to access usable information by self-selecting the level of difficulty of results displayed.
Additional Resources
Celebration Books
This program, sponsored by the PTO, is a wonderful way to honor and celebrate an event in your child's life, such as a birthday, first lost tooth, a pet's birthday, a relative or teacher, the first day of Spring, etc. Participation is optional.
How to Participate
Fill out a form - available in the main office, or through the PTO website - and indicate how much money you would like to donate, the honoree's name and the event to be recognized.
Book selection takes place approximately once a month. On the appropriate month, your child will come to the library to choose a book from several bins of books that have been pre-selected by the librarian.
A book plate will be signed by your child and placed in the front of the book. That child will be the first person to check out the book. Additionally, they will get the opportunity to search the online catalog for their chosen book by typing in their name.
Library FAQs
- How many books can be checked out?
- When can library books be returned?
- When can library books be checked out?
- What to do if a book is lost or damaged?
- What is the MG Program and where can I find the list for this year?
How many books can be checked out?
When can library books be returned?
When can library books be checked out?
What to do if a book is lost or damaged?
What is the MG Program and where can I find the list for this year?
The MG Award (formerly called the DCF award for Dorothy Canfield Fisher) is now called the Middle Grade Award.
This is a Vermont reading program for students in 4th through 8th grade. Voting takes place mid-April. Those students who have read five or more books from the list are eligible to vote for their favorite book.
By clicking on above link, you will find the list of all 30 nominees for this year as well as further information about the MG program.