Hopefully all Sykesville Students received word that we want you to read over the summer!  We have even provided a form for you to record information of four books you read (-there should be a link available soon if you misplaced your original form).

Turn in the completed form once we return to school in  the fall and you will be invited to a picnic with prizes! Really it is easy and there are a lot of great books out there!  Have fun and check the website and blog for updates all summer long!

   What are you planning to read over the summer? Are you even planning to read over the summer?

Well we have had our first new blogger sign up to write for us here at The Scorpion– RealReader is the writer’s blog name.  Look for a post soon on summer reading from the newest member of our team.  Remember if you are interested in writing content for The Scorpion see Mrs. Mayo in the media center for the permission forms! Also remember to check this site and visit often.  Even though the media center will be closed for the summer, we can keep talking about reading in this virtual world!

Despite the media center being closed recently for MSA testing we have still seen a few classes and had special events.  Just today the culmination of research in the media center on different historical figures involved with the crusades came together in Ms. Gieger’s 7th Grade Social Studies Class.

We have a new look and a new home.  There was a bit of confusion with our old URL so this one will hopefully be easier for students and staff alike.  Until all of the old links from the Sykesville and Media Home Pages are changed, both blogs will be available.  This may take a few days, but in the mean time what do you think of the new look?  Did you like the old one better?  Also note that now in the side bar there are links to recent comments for those of you who are regular readers. You’ll be able to see your comments and those of others without having to go to the original post.

Ok, so it now seems we have some regular readers who are commenting that we don’t have new content as often as you might like.  Perhaps then it is time for interested students to become creators of the content for the blog? What do you think about having student posters?  Everything would of course have to be approved by the blog administrators before being posted, but if you are interested in writing a post let me know.  You can do this by just typing something and leaving in the media center (we will have a blue box on the counter labeled blog posts soon)  Or stop by and see Mrs. Mayo in the media center if you would like to have the rights to type it here on the site.  This requires some forms and parental permission.  We would love to have students talking about all things literary or media related!

April is School Library Media Month and National Poetry month.  We will combine the two by using our school library blog to capture some of the poetry you are writing.  Simply post your poetry as a comment to this blog entry.  Go ahead and take the plunge.  What have you written? Please share it with us.

Students in every grade have been doing a lot of research lately.  We have had 7th graders research Islamic achievements, 6th graders researching a wide variety of topics from their social studies class, and 8th graders finding information about people. So the media center has been a busy place lately.  My question for you today is what do you hate about doing research during school?  What is difficult? What is easy?  Now is your time to vent and let us know what the research experience is like from your point of view.

What’s new for 2008?  Well for one there will be loads of new books arriving in the media center any day now. Also hopefully we will have several more special programs in the media center.  What ideas do you have?  And yes we have heard your idea about a fashion show— you need to take this idea to your team or the administration— the media center currently has no plans for a fashion show, but it is an interesting idea. How could we make it relate to books or media literacy?

Blogs are changing the way we communicate, and they have have tremendous potential to change education, too.  How do you think your teachers could use blogs in their classroom? How could or would you use one to help you learn better?  Share your ideas here and maybe we can host a classroom project here.