Media Matters@LCSS

Children's Book Week Celebrations in Liberty County

2012-01-03T10:13:00.001-05:00

The nation will be celebrating Children’s Book Week on May 7-13; however most of the schools in Liberty County took time out just before Thanksgiving to celebrate the importance of literature in the lives of children!

Children’s Book Week is the oldest literacy initiative in the United States, starting in 1919. The idea originated with a librarian from the Boy Scouts of America, Franklin K. Matthiews. Matthiews toured the country in 1913 promoting the idea that a week should be set aside to promote children’s literature. The cause was taken up by the American Booksellers Association and the American Library Association in 1916 as a result a Good Book Week with the Boy Scouts of America was born. This event later evolved into Children’s Book Week! The Children’s Book Council was established in 1944 and took on the responsibility of overseeing the yearly event. Originally celebrated in November, the national event was moved to May in 2008 by the Children’s Book Council.

Most Liberty County Schools continue to honor the November schedule and encourage students to participate in fun events throughout the week. During the week students enjoyed wearing crazy socks to show how crazy they are for reading. Many students wore sunglasses to show it is cool to be a reader. Students cozied up to a good book on pajama day and enjoyed guest readers. Many students even donned a hat to school to celebrate books.

Students were challenged to read throughout the week. Students at Taylors Creek read enthusiastically to earn 1000 Accelerated Reader Points during the week in order to earn a “Gotta Keep Reading Rally!” with Dr. Rodriguez and Dr. Scharnagl taking to the roof of the school to celebrate the accomplishment. Students are Frank Long read to reach individual classroom goals set for Accelerated Reader point and percentage goals for the week. Classes reaching their goals earned popcorn and a movie. Jordye Bacon elementary challenged each class to strive to earn the most Accelerated Reader points and the highest quiz average for the grade level in order to win a pizza party. Students delighted at Waldo Pafford to see Dr. Bacon and Marti Stephens get a pie in the face after reaching the school’s reading goal. Mr. Anderson, Liberty Elementary principal, challenged students to read over 4,000 books during the week. Mr. Anderson celebrated the reading accomplishment by taking a ride in Coastal Electric’s sky bucket!

Students at Button Gwinnett, Joseph Martin, and Waldo Pafford Elementary culminated the celebration with students dressing as their favorite book characters and parading through the school.

Several schools in Liberty County enjoyed author visits sponsored by the Live Oak Public Library during the week. Yvonne Moss, author of The Butterfly Princess visited Lyman Hall Elementary. Author, Doug Paul visited students at Midway Middle and Lewis Frasier Middle. Midway Middle School students in Mrs. Swinson’s class enjoyed interviewing Mr. Paul to learn about the demands and duties of a published author. Students at Waldo Pafford enjoyed meeting Nicole Harrison, author of Oscar’s Odyssey: Lost in Space. Joseph Martin students enjoyed a school sponsored visit from author Kay Heath.

One thing is certain; students in Liberty County enjoyed a variety of activities and will look back on their experience with fond memories, hopefully while reading a book!

HRRB Teams

2011-11-28T10:14:00.001-05:00

How many students are on your team? Please list your school name and number.

Students from Liberty County Schools are International Winners for Media Production!

2011-11-16T15:59:00.000-05:00

Each year students in Liberty County select to participate in their school level media festival competition. Possible student project types include: webpages, podcasts, sequential still presentations, interactive still presentations, and live action videos. Projects are scored using a detailed rubric by volunteers, and only superior projects advance to the next level of competition.

Hundreds of projects are entered each year, but only the superior scoring projects advance to the state festival. An even a fewer number advance to the International Student Media Festival, where project entries are submitted from counties as far away as China and Israel!

The International Student Media Festival was held in Jacksonville, Florida November 9- 12. Sixty-eight projects from Liberty County were deemed winners at the festival. Of those sixty-eight projects, eight were selected as Judges’ Favorites! Only 10% of the projects in the entire festival are awarded this extra honor. Five students from Liberty County received the prestigious Best of Festival Award. Less than 1% of the projects entered in the festival are awarded this honor!

Students selecting to attend the festival were able to participate in hands-on workshops on topics such as video editing, digital photography, multi-media storytelling, stop-motion animation, podcast production, and using iPads for media production. Families attending the festival were able to participate in the awards assembly where students received medallions and certificates.

Visit http://www.ismf.net/video to view the outstanding student projects and to learn more about the International Student Media Festival!

GaETC- Exemplary and Exceptional Library Media Program

2011-11-03T14:58:00.003-04:00

The Exemplary Media Program is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the work that is done in the media center. Each year the schools in Liberty County take time to review the rubric. The school level media committees evaluate their programs. This year Midway Middle School and Joseph Martin Elementary were reviewed and rated highly by the school media committees. Both schools were nominated for the state honor.

Midway Middle School's program was named one of the exemplary programs in the state!

Today the exemplary and exceptional winners for elementary, middle, and high presented at the Georgia Educational Technology Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Exemplary Library Media Winners were Janelle McClure, Cristina Dover, and Shawn Hinger.

Midway Middle School is an Exemplary Library Media Program!

2011-09-26T09:17:00.003-04:00

Liberty County School System is pleased to honor the outstanding accomplishments of Midway Middle School’s Media Specialist, Mrs. Cristina Dover. Recently, Mrs. Judy Serritella, Coordinator of Library Media Services, Fine Arts, and Literacy Support for the state of Georgia, announced Mrs. Dover was awarded the 2011 Exemplary Library Media Program Award.

Each year school level media committees evaluate the services provided by media centers using a detailed rubric. In order to be nominated for the program a school must score exemplary on a minimum of 14 target indicators. The school library media program must be nominated and the school media specialist must submit a written application to the Georgia Department of Education. In addition, the school administrator must submit a one-page letter of support. Applications from across the state are reviewed by a panel.

The schools selected this year for this honor were:
Elementary- Parsons Elementary in Gwinnett; Compton Elementary in Cobb
Middle- Clarke Middle in Clarke County; Palmer Middle in Cobb County; and Midway Middle in Liberty
High- Glynn Academy of Glynn County; and Sequoyah of Cherokee County

Midway Middle School’s principal, Mrs. Debra Frazier, commented,”Mrs. Dover is a team player. She rejuvenated the media center to include all stakeholders at Midway Middle. She truly has a compassion for reading and is knowledgeable and creative in promoting others to share in the desire to make our community and school literate. Our staff has become technologically literate by way of various staff development opportunities she has presented. Mrs. Dover shares instructional web-sites, resources and training opportunities for certified and classified staff members. She serves as our media committee chairperson. In addition, she provides many services to our teachers. Cristina is a very dedicated Media Specialist- who juggles many, many activities on our campus. I can always depend on her to complete any given task. She is wonderful!!!! For these reasons, I congratulate and commend Mrs. Cristina Dover for our exemplary Media Program at Midway Middle School.”

As part of the recognition, Mrs. Dover will co-present a workshop with the other selected middle school media specialist at the Georgia Education Technology Conference in November. She will also host an open house event for media specialists from the around the state to have an opportunity to watch her outstanding program in action!

Media Coordinator for Liberty County School System, Mrs. Jaime Rearley, commented, “I am thrilled that Mrs. Dover will represent Liberty County at the Georgia Education Technology Conference, and her media program will serve as an example to other schools in the state. She inspires students to read and collaborates with teachers daily to enrich instruction with information literacy and technology skills.”

Creating Animated Media Festival Projects

2011-08-28T10:53:00.007-04:00

If you could not attend the annual LCSS Media & Technology Showcase do not worry! You can rustle up your handouts at the Media Matters@ LCSS blog!

Sessions:

45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

Primary Resources @ the Library of Congress (see the handout above)

Puppets and Story Time Destination Fun! and additional handout

Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Book Club

2011-07-26T17:05:00.005-04:00

Download the Excel Question Template for HRRB Here!

Download the HRRB Presentation Here!

Download the Plan Your Book Trailer Sheet!

Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Framework

Liberty County Media and Technology Showcase

2011-07-17T08:50:00.002-04:00

Each year media specialists are invited to attend the Liberty County Media & Technology Showcase. The showcase is a great way to meet new vendors, learn new media related skills, and make new friends. Did I mention this is a free event?

This year workshops will include topics:

Animate This! Creating an Animation Media Festival Project with Free Online Resources
Using Primary Resources and the Library of Congress to Teach
Where does the iPad fit in Your Media Program?
Cyber Safety Round Table Discussion
Telling Stories with Puppets!

The event will be Thursday, September 1st from 8:00AM until 1:00PM. Email Jaime Rearley- jrearley@liberty.k12.ga.us if you would like to attend!

Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Book Club

2011-07-17T08:35:00.003-04:00

Teachers, paraprofessionals, and media specialists have been reading and taking notes this summer. Soon they will come together to create questions for this year's Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl!

This year during the professional learning class Liberty County offers, the technology focus of the class will be using the MacBook Pro, Keynote, iPhoto, GarageBand, and the iPad to create interesting book trailers!

Reading Bowl Students are Recognized

2011-04-20T16:43:00.004-04:00

Recently at the April 14th Liberty County Board of Education Meeting students and coaches from each school were recognized as part of the good news portion of the meeting.

As in years past all of the elementary, middle, and high schools in Liberty County had a student team participate in the county level bowl.

The first and second place winners were able to advance to the Southern Region Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. Joseph Martin Elementary, Waldo Pafford Elementary, Lewis Frasier Middle, Midway Middle, Liberty County High, and Bradwell Institute all advanced to the the regional bowl this year.

The competition was very stiff at the regional level only Joseph Martin Elementary, Midway Middle, and Liberty County High School were able to advance to the Division II Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. Midway Middle and Liberty County High School were recognized for participation, and Joseph Martin Elementary earned second place.

The reading lists for next year's bowl have already been released. Several copies of each book have been ordered at all of the schools, and students have already started to read!

You can see the reading list for next year's bowls at the HRRB home page. Click on the title of this posting to go to the page.

Teen Tech Week in Liberty County!

2011-04-20T16:34:00.007-04:00

The Young Adult Library Services Association has sponsored a national event known as Teen Tech Week since 2007. The primary goal of the week is to demonstrate to teens that the library or media center is an important piece of the technology puzzle.
During the week of March 6-8, high schools in Liberty County scheduled special events and contests to utilize technology with students. The events scheduled helped teens and teachers to hone their technology skills and have a lot of fun along the way!

Several classes scheduled time in the media center to learn how to transform digital images into interactive learning tools using Microsoft Excel with the help of Nikki Lukkarinen, a media specialist at Bradwell Institute. Teachers and students were taught how to add roll-over labels to maps and diagrams in a fun and fast paced technology workshop.

Miriam Hudson, a media specialist at Bradwell Institute, taught several groups of teens and teachers how to use Microsoft’s Photostory. It is a free picture editing presentation software that enables users to import digital pictures, add panning effects, text, transitions, music, and narration. Teens and teachers enjoyed seeing their photographs come to life during the workshop.

Teen Tech Week at Bradwell Institute culminated in a unique use of technology. Mrs. Lukkarinen worked with the physical education classes to infuse gaming technology- Wii’s Just Dance 2. Teens and teachers had the chance to exercise their gaming skills and their bodies at the same time.

At Liberty County High School and Bradwell Institute a bingo game was played in which the students picked up a player’s card from the media center which listed several different activities that had to be completed using a computer or other forms of technology. Each activity completed had to be verified with either a teacher’s or a media specialist’s signature. The winner at Liberty High was Aaron Place, who received a Panther flash drive.

Both Liberty and Bradwell offered the challenge of a Technology Trivia quiz as well. Students were given a list of approximately 20 questions to answer about the history of technology, acronyms, people related to the field, etc. They were allowed to use any means necessary to find the answers – other than asking an adult – as in encyclopedias, reference books, etc., as well as online. Liberty’s winner was Daneisha Norman, who received a Panther flash drive.

Lewis Frasier Middle Schools visits with the Cat in the Hat

2011-03-04T10:57:00.003-05:00

Today the Cat in the Hat visited Lewis Frasier Middle School in honor of Dr. Seuss and his birthday. Mrs. Graves and Ms. Bush brought their students to the media center for a visit with the Cat in the Hat. Students participated in a readers' theater of Green Eggs and Ham. Afterward students compiled their tally results to create a Tagxedo using the words from the story.

Read Across America

2011-03-03T05:21:00.005-05:00

In honor of the NEA's Read Across America, which celebrates the birthday of Dr. Seuss, many of the schools in Liberty County have had a special visitor this week. The Cat in Hat has been on the loose sharing information about Theodor Seuss Geisel, sharing stories, and playing Seussational games.

Thank you, Dr. Sands for the lovely picture!

Celebrating Reading Success!

2011-02-10T04:29:00.017-05:00

Students in Liberty County from kindergarten to eighth grade participate in Accelerated Reader. Each elementary and middle school AR program is facilitated by the school media specialist. Students are administered the STAR Reading test at the very beginning of the grading period or at the very end of the previous grading period. The results from the assessment are used to calculate an individual reading goal for each student. The goal consists of a point goal, percentage goal, and a reading range goal. Students are informed of their goal and many schools have a visual reminder the students will bring to the media center. A reading log, shelf marker, or quick note may be added to their student's ID. The reminder helps students to pick books they will be successful at reading, and it helps the media center staff better assist the students.

Each school rewards students as they participate in the program. A visitor would notice the numerous motivational bulletin boards and displays celebrating students that earn 100% on a practice quiz or highlighting students that have met their individual goals. In addition to the displays, students' success is celebrated at the end of each grading period with a celebration.

Students that reach their goals are invited to attend the celebration.

Snelson Golden Middle School recently invited students to a Minute to Win It themed celebration. Students participated in a variety of challenges after being grouped onto teams. The challenges included tasks such as: stacking golf balls, stacking empty soda cans in a bowl of water, moving a cookie down from the forehead to the mouth without using hands, and knocking down water bottles using a pair of pantyhose and a softball. The middles school students delighted in participating in the games and watching their classmates attempt the tasks. The celebration was very popular!

When the school media specialist join together to discuss statistics, learn new technology, and procedures, it is also a time to share! It is always exciting to see the creative ideas each school brings to life to celebrate the success of the students.

The February Media Media opened with each media specialist participating in the Minute to Win It tasks used at the Snelson Golden Middle School celebration.

The tasks challenged and delighted the adult participants. Thank you, Ms. Cobb for sharing your wonderful idea! Other schools will benefit from your creativity!

Southern Regional Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl

2011-02-07T08:49:00.004-05:00

The day was wet and overcast, but the glum weather did not put a damper on the Liberty County teams at the seventh annual Southern Regional Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl! Student teams from Bradwell Institute, Liberty County High, Lewis Frasier Middle, Midway Middle, Joseph Martin Elementary, and Waldo Pafford Elementary made the three hour tip to Valdosta State University.

In addition to the Liberty County Schools, four different elementary schools competed at the bowl. Brittin Elementary, Crooked River Elementary, Matilda Harris Elementary, and Westside Elementary. Six additional middle schools competed: Camden Middle, JL Newbern Middle, St. Mary's Middle, Thomas County Middle, Valdosta Early College Academy, and Valdosta Middle. Four additional high schools competed in the bowl: Alfred Ely Beach High, Colquitt County High, Sol. C. Johnson High, and Thomas County Central High.

The elementary and high schools participated in a total of five rounds of competition for a total of five hundred possible points. The middle schools participated in a total of seven rounds for a total of seven hundred possible points. All of the teams showed mastery of the reading selections and demonstrated a keen understanding of the rules of the bowl.

Liberty County School System was proudly represented at the bowl! In fact, Joseph Martin Elementary earned first place. Matilda Harris Elementary earned second place, and Westside Elementary earned third place. Camden County Middle school earned first place. Midway Middle earned second place. Lewis Frasier Middle earned third place. Liberty County High School earned first place. Alfred Ely High earned second place, and Sol. C. Johnson earned third place.

The first and second placing teams will advance to the Division II bowl! Liberty County will be represented by not one, not two, but an impressive three teams!

The Liberty HRRB 2010-2011

2011-02-02T05:15:00.001-05:00

Elementary, middle, and high school students across Liberty County have been working hard all year reading, reviewing, and practicing for the fifth annual Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. Reading is passion for many of these students, and the reading bowl offers a unique opportunity to celebrate their skills. The academic reading competition is possible with help from school media specialists, classroom teachers, instructional technology staff members, and retired educators.

Each year elementary and middle school students interested in participating in the student reading competition read books from the Georgia Children’s Book Award Nominee list for the current school year on their level. Students in the fourth and fifth grade qualify for participation in the bowl. This year elementary students read from a list containing seventeen books. The middle school reading list contained twenty books. In addition to reading books from the required list, students work as a team to create practice questions to review the facts from each book and prepare for the bowl by scrimmaging with a hand-held buzzer system.

Interested high school students also prepare for the bowl by reading, creating questions, and scrimmaging with a hand-held buzzer system. However, their reading list is taken from the Georgia Peach Book Awards for Teen Readers. The list for this year contained twenty books.

The middle and high school student teams participated in the Liberty County Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl on January 20th at the Liberty County Performing Arts Center. All of the middle and high schools were represented by their student teams. Several principals and parents attended to root for their school’s team. Student teams competed through six rounds of questions taken from their required reading list for a total of sixty questions. Student teams were enthusiastic and well-mannered!

The first place team for the middle school level was Lewis Frasier Middle School. The LFMS team was coached by their media specialist Dr. Sandy Jennings. Midway Middle School’s team took second place and was coached by Mrs. Cristina Dover.

Liberty County High School earned first place in the county reading bowl. The LCHS team was coached by Ms. Kay Williams, a media specialist for the high school. Mrs. Mrs. Amy Rhodes and Mrs. MaryAnn Scanlon served as assistant coaches for the LCHS team. Bradwell Institute’s reading bowl team took second place and was coached by Mrs. Nicole Lukkarinen, a media specialist at Bradwell. Mrs. Deborah Starkey served as an assistant coach for the BI team.

The elementary Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl was held January 21st at the Liberty County Performing Arts Center. All of the Liberty County elementary schools were represented by a team. First Presbyterian Christian Academy participated in the bowl for the first time. Several principals attended to support their school’s team. Parent attendance was also very high, filling the auditorium with eager spectators. The elementary teams participated in eight rounds of questions from their required reading list, for a total of eighty questions. All of the student teams showed focus and demonstrated excellent reading comprehension skill.

Joseph Martin Elementary School took first place in the reading bowl. Mrs. Elaine Walker, the school media specialist, was the lead coach. She was assisted by Ms. Rebecca Smith. Waldo Pafford Elementary School’s team placed second in the reading bowl. Mrs. Roxanne Lee, the school media specialist, was the coach foe WPE.

The first and second place teams from the elementary, middle, and high schools will advance to the Southern Regional Helen Ruffin Reading bowl which will be held February 5th at Valdosta State University. After the regional bowl, winning teams will advance to a divisional bowl and from there to the Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl in Athens. Both Joseph Martin Elementary and Liberty County High School have previously attended the state level of competition.

Preparing for the bowl takes a tremendous amount of dedication, many hours of reading, and practice. All of the student team members did an excellent job and are to be commended.

Cooking up a Winning Combination!

2011-01-10T14:37:00.003-05:00

Students in Mrs. Deborah Stevens’ Culinary Arts II class at Bradwell Institute are masters in the kitchen. Mixing, chopping, sautéing, and combining ingredients are second nature to this blended class of students from Liberty County High School and Bradwell Institute. Thanks to a collaborative project with Bradwell’s media specialists, Mrs. Nikki Lukkarinen and Mrs. Miriam Hudson, Mrs. Stevens’ students were able to mix in a little technology know- how to their final class project!

Students began their projects by working in groups to select a desired recipe. The dishes selected were very diverse! One group picked a local favorite- pecan pie, while other groups select more worldly dishes- chicken fettuccini, and sushi. Each group created a storyboard to plan which photographs and video segments would need to be taken during the cooking process. Students were then taught how to use digital cameras and Flip digital video cameras and Windows Movie Maker by the school media specialists.

The project culminated with Mrs. Stevens inviting students, school administrators, and Liberty County Board of Education staff to attend a reception and viewing of the students’ videos. Each reception attendee was given a copy of the official Georgia Student Media Festival Judging form and asked to help supply constructive feedback for the students. Students would be able to visit the school media center to review the feedback and make any needed improvements to the videos before entering them into the school media festival.

The semester is now ready to begin a new, but Mrs. Stevens’ students will always remember her love for them and how cooking and technology came together to form a winning recipe!

The Sands Family

2010-12-03T06:10:00.000-05:00

The Sands Family

Not Your Average Pumpkin at JBE

2010-12-02T14:01:00.005-05:00

Pumpkins can be found in many places during the months of October and November. However, classes at Jordye Bacon Elementary transformed pumpkins into works of art to celebrate their favorite children's books!

See if you can guess the books these pumpkins are illustrating!

A Reading Wonderland at FLE

2010-12-02T13:54:00.004-05:00

The hallways of Frank Long Elementary are always cheery, but during the week long celebration for children's literature they were transformed into a magical reading wonderland!

Bugging for Books at LE

2010-12-02T13:30:00.005-05:00

How do you know Liberty Elementary is excited about students reading? Adults will do amazing and somewhat gross things to show they care. Mr. Chris Anderson, principal of Liberty Elementary, and Mrs. Rebbecca Mock, assistant principal of Liberty Elementary, did the unthinkable to show they support students reading. They each ate a cricket!

Not only did they eat a cricket, but so did two of the teachers on staff! Ms. Lela Stokes-Dickens and Mr. Justin Peterman also ate crickets.

Although crickets are reported to be crispy and high in protein, the little critters became snacks to celebrate the outstanding reading accomplishment of students. When challenged to read 4,000 books in three and a half days, students at Liberty Elementary met and surpassed the goal by reading a whopping 5,520 books!

Doors Decorating at MMS

2010-12-02T08:55:00.008-05:00

During a week long celebration of children's literature, several classrooms at Midway Middle School showed

their love for reading by decorating classroom doors. Several classrooms got involved. Judges used a rubric to help score the creative displays.

TCE's Reading Rally

2010-12-02T08:48:00.006-05:00

Students and staff filled the front lawn of Taylors Creek Elementary Friday, November 19^th for a school-wide reading rally. Every child carried a book and lined up to spell READ on the front lawn of the school. Dr. Debbie Rodriguez, principal, and Dr. Kathy Moody, assistant principal, took to the roof of Taylors Creek to lead the rally. Students and staff enjoyed listening and dancing to the song “Gotta Keep Reading.” The rally was held to celebrate students earning 1,550 Accelerated Reader points over four days. Nathan Thomas, a fifth grader, earned the highest number of Accelerated Reader points during the week by earning 27.6 points. Nathan was given a special t-shirt to mark his reading achievement.

Children's Book Week in Liberty

2010-11-15T04:56:00.003-05:00

Children’s literature ignites the imagination of youngsters and inspires them to dream. In 1913 Franklin K. Matthiews, the librarian for the Boy Scouts of America, proposed creating a week-long celebration of children’s literature, Children’s Book Week. He believed in the power of books and the profound effect literature has on the lives of children. His idea took form in 1919 with the first formal commemoration and has remained an important event for children, librarians, and lovers of children’s literature. Today the Children’s Book Council oversees the national celebration. Historically, Children’s Book Week has been scheduled during the month of November. The Children’s Book Council elected to move the national celebration to May in 2008.

Many of the schools in Liberty County continue to celebrate Children’s Book Week during the month of November.

Button Gwinnett Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 15th -19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Monday, November 15th: Crazy about Books at BGE! – Students and staff may wear crazy, zany socks to show their love of reading! (Students will also help decorate their classroom doors in a book theme for a door-decorating contest!)
• Tuesday, November 16th: Teaming Up to be Lifelong Readers!- Students and staff may wear a team jersey or sports/team t-shirt with their school uniform pants.
• Wednesday, November 17th: Curl Up and Read Pajama Day!- Everyone wear pajamas! Regular shoes are required, and please no gowns, “shortie” pj’s, string/spaghetti strap pj’s, only pants-style pajamas. Guest readers will be in classrooms during the day to share great stories.
• Thursday, November 18th: Hide Yourself in a Good Book! – Students and staff may wear camouflage shirts or jackets with their school uniform pants on this day.
• Friday, November 19th: Book Character Parade, 8:30am- Students and staff may dress like a favorite book character and march in the parade! Students must have the book that matches their character if they plan to be in the parade.

Frank Long Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 15th -19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• A special luncheon will be held for the student from each grade level that has earned the highest number of Accelerated Reader points while maintaining an average of 85% or higher on reading practice quizzes. Mrs. Judy Hellgren, FLE principal, and the teachers of the recognized students will attend the luncheon.
• A special reading challenge will be announced for the week. Classrooms reaching the goal will be invited to a popcorn party and movie.
• Monday, November 15th: Frank Long Story Land - Each classroom will decorate its door to illustrate the class’s favorite children’s book.
• Tuesday, November 16th: Crazy Sock Day: Our Students are Crazy about Books! Students may wear outrageous socks to show just how crazy they are about reading!
• Wednesday, November 17th: Read’n Lock’in and Pajama Day- Cozy up with a good book in your pajamas! Students may wear pajamas to school. Football and cheerleaders from Bradwell Institute will visit classrooms to read to students.
• Thursday, November 18th: Sunglasses Day: It is Cool to be a Good Reader!” –Students may wear sunglasses.
• Friday, November 19th: Hat Day: Hats Off to Reading! –Student may wear a hat to school.

Jordye Bacon Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 15th-19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• A special luncheon will be held for the student from each grade level that has earned the highest number of Accelerated Reader points while maintaining an average of 85% or higher on the reading practice quizzes. The teachers of the recognized students will attend the luncheon.
• The classroom from each grade level which earns the highest number of Accelerated Reader points and the highest practice quiz average will earn a popcorn party and movie.
• If the students at JBE can earn 750 Accelerated Reader points during the week, Dr. Johnson, JBE’s principal, and Dr. Sukaratana, JBE’s assistance principal, will read a story from the roof of the school!
• Monday, November 15th: “Mark” Your Day with a Good Book - Each student who visits the media center and checks out a book will receive one bookmark.
• Tuesday, November 16th: Team Up with a Good Book –Students and teachers may wear their favorite sports’ team attire to school.
• Wednesday, November 17th: Crazy About Books- Students may wear crazy socks to show just how CRAZY they are about reading.
• Thursday, November 18th: Hats off to Reading ~ Students may wear their favorite hat to show their love of reading.
• Friday, November 19th: Find “Peace” in Reading – Students and teachers may dress in tie-dyed clothing/retro style.

Joseph Martin Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 15th -19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Monday, November 15th: Sock it to Me with a Good Book –Students make sure to wear your craziest socks to school. JME teachers will visit different classrooms to read books.
• Tuesday, November 16th: Tied up with Books –Students may wear a tie to school.
• Wednesday, November 17th: Rockers for Reading –Student may come to school dressed as a rock star. Magician, Sean Driscoll will visit to perform a reading program for students.
• Thursday, November 18th: Slip into a Good Book – Students may wear slippers to school.
• Friday, November 19th: Character Book Parade – Students bring your favorite story book and come dressed as a character from the story. Student will parade through the school in their character costumes!

Liberty Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 15th -19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Families were invited to a special guest author visit November 4th as part of the annual evening Pajamboree. The author of the Snipesville Chronicles series, Dr. Annette Laing, helped students experience different aspects of Great Britain during World War II.
• Classrooms will participate in a door decorating contest. Each classroom will illustrate a different children’s book.
• Mr. Anderson, LE’s principal, will share a special story time with all of the students.
• Soldiers will visit classrooms to read to students.
• Thursday, November 18th: Reading Challenge! -Mr. Anderson has pledged that he will eat a bug if students can read 4,000 books in four days!
• Friday, November 19th: Character Book Day: -Teachers and students may dress as their favorite children’s book character! Students do not forget your favorite book!

Taylors Creek Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 15th -19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Students may participate in a bookmark design contest. A winner will be selected from each grade level!
• Monday, November 15th: Character Book Day –Student may come to school dressed as their favorite book characters.
• Tuesday, November 16th: Hats Off to Reading! –Students may show their enthusiasm for reading by wearing a hat to school.
• Wednesday, November 17th: We’re Crazy for Books! –Students make sure to wear your craziest pair of socks to school.
• Thursday, November 18th: 1,000 Point Thursday - Students are challenged to read and earn 1,000 Accelerated Reader points in four days! Thursday is the last day of the challenge.
• Friday, November 19th: Gotta Keep Reading Rally! –Students will enjoy a reading rally outside with their favorite books! Dr. Rodriguez, TCE’s principal, will take to the roof of Taylors Creek Elementary to rally students as the whole school sings “Gotta Keep Reading!”

Waldo Pafford Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 29th -December 1st. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Tuesday, November 30th: Relax and Read Day – Student may wear pajamas to school as they get cozy and read!
• Wednesday, December 1st: Guest Author Visit -Student will enjoy a visit from the author of the Yumion and Jeremiah series, Pam Alexander. Students will find several good books at the book fair! The book fair will remain open until December 10th.

Lewis Frasier Middle School will celebrate the week of November 15th -19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Throughout the week students will be challenged to answer children’s literature trivia questions as part of the morning announcements. Winners will be selected daily to win a free pass for ice cream.

Midway Middle School will celebrate the week of November 15th -19th by helping others! Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Students are asked to donate school supplies in the media center throughout the week as part of The Mathew Freeman Project: Pens & Paper for Peace. The Mathew Freeman Project is a national not-for- profit charitable organization. Donated supplies are redistributed by the United States Military to children in war-torn areas of the world, like Afghanistan and Iraq.
• Classrooms will participate in a door decorating contest throughout the week.
• Classes will also take part in fun-filled media lessons, book talks, and media skills games in the media center throughout the week.
• Earlier in the month, sixth grade students received a special visit from children’s author Dr. Annette Laing, November 4th. Students learned about the everyday challenges and hobbies of children from Great Britain during the World War II era.

*Students participating in dress down days will be expected to adhere to the dress code requirements for dress down days.

Is Masher Trash?

2010-09-29T04:50:00.009-04:00

I wanted to find a new free online tool that would be helpful to the media specialists in my district. Masher seemed the answer to my ill-fated hopes. Masher seemed like a great little find. The idea is that folks could use Masher to upload photos, video, music, or use the already present video clips and music. Really neat video effects and skins were available for use. The video clips even came from the BBC! How cool does that sound, right?

I set out to make a video with Masher to try it out. It was not easy at all. The creation process was not very difficult, but there are a few bugs. First, when I logged out and then tried to log back in, my password would no longer work. That was annoying. I would have to request a new password. Once I got the new password and logged in, there was not a way to change my password to something I could remember. That was really a very minor problem, but it was one of many I would encounter.

Next, after adding video clips into the timeline, I wanted to add text. The text feature was a little tricky. Once adding text and previewing it, there was not a way to edit it. I would have to delete it and start again. Sometimes I could not even re-add the text. I tried adding a video effect to my short film, but I was not able to drag it into the effects line.

The final disappointment came when I saved my video and tried to use the embed code. Once adding the complete code to my blog, it placed a viewer, but my video would never play. I could not even find my video anymore on the site!

I know this is a beta version, and I will revisit to see if it improves. There is a place to report bugs, and I left a pretty detailed description. Needless to say, I do not think Masher is ready for general use. So, I ask... is Masher trash? If you get it to work, please tell me your secret!

I added the link out to my video. I will be delightfully surprised if it works....

I just checked the link... it did link! One point for Masher!

Liberty County Wins at the International Student Media Festival

2010-09-27T13:16:00.004-04:00

Last year fifty-six student projects advanced from the Georgia State Media Festival to the International Student Media Festival from Liberty County. The results for the ISMF are still rolling in, but one thing is certain... Several of the students in Liberty County are winners!

Although some of the projects from Button Gwinnett are still being judged, the following projects are winners!
Dear Connor...
Our Dad, Our Hero
Super Dog!

All of the projects from Frank Long have been judged, and the following are winners:
Egypt Explorers- Judges' Favorite
Horsin' Around with Karoline
Living with Aspergers Syndrome
One, Two, Three...Let at Count FLE!
The Benjamin Project- Judges' Favorite
The Talking Pencil- Judges' Favorite

Jordye Bacon's entry is a winner!
My Fish

Joseph Martin still has a couple of projects that need to be scored. The winners so far include:
The Black Skeleton
Electricity
Galaxy Gal's Beginning

Liberty Elementary's winners consisted of:
Class Council and the Gossip Book- Judges' Favorite
Crabbing with Grandma
Honey
My Cat
Study On

one of the projects from Taylors Creek was named Best of Festival, a high honor! Taylors Creek's winners consisted of:
A Day on the Farm
Holly the Christmas Cow
Nicholas's Adventure
Our Childhood
Our Class Pets- Judges' Favorite
Second Grade Scientist- Judges' Favorite
The Animal Tracks Mystery- Best of Festival
The Baseball Glove
The Great Math Safari-Judges' Favorite

The winners for Waldo Pafford include:
Amazing Dinosaurs
We Go

Congratulations to all the students on their outstanding accomplishment!

Students at WPE are Buzzing In!

2010-09-27T13:00:00.007-04:00

How do you get fourth and fifth graders excited about reading? Waldo Pafford Elementary has students buzzing about reading! Recently, media specialists, Roxanne Lee, invited fourth and fifth grade students in to preview the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl books for this year.

Students listened to brief book talks about each of the 17 selected titles and then checked out their favorite. The books flew off the shelve in no time. In addition to getting familiar with the books, students learned the rules for the reading bowl. The visit concluded with students participating in a mock bowl. The questions for the bowl came from the most popular books in circulation- Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants were both represented!

LCHS Helen Ruffin Readers are Rocking the Green Screen!

2010-09-27T12:46:00.004-04:00

Students at Liberty County High School are getting ready for the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl! Media specialists, Kay Williams and Jeff Staggs, host two weekly after school meetings for students to review and discuss the selected reading bowl books. Along with the weekly meetings, students meet with Bradwell Institute HRRB team members and scrimmage frequently to prepare for the reading bowl.

Last week, LCHS readers stepped in front of the green screen to learn how to use Adobe Visual Communicator 3 to create book trailers for the books they have been reading and studying. The book trailers will also be entered into the school media festival!

Technology use and a love for reading are hand-in-hand in the LCHS media center

Families at LHE Break for Breakfast and Reading!

2010-09-27T12:22:00.004-04:00

Each year students and families look forward to the book fair coming to Lyman Hall Elementary. It is always exciting to see the new books, fun kits available, and the pancakes are out of this world! With the help of special area teachers and the front office staff, media specialist, Diana Anderson, welcomed 721 guests to a sit-down family pancake breakfast in the media center recently.

The pancake breakfast is a school tradition. Each child is given an invitation and requested to RSVP for his/her family. The media center is transformed into a fine dining establishment, with table clothes and flowers on every table. Each grade level is hosted on a different morning during the book fair. This enables families to browse for new books and enjoy a peaceful breakfast.

The benefits are two-fold! Since beginning the family pancake events, the book fairs at LHE have seen their profits double. When families feel welcome and enjoy their time at school everyone profits!

LCSS Media & Technology Showcase

2010-09-11T03:24:00.000-04:00

I attended the annual LCSS Media & Technology Showcase yesterday and had a blast! I was able to attend 3 sessions (well, I cheated and went to half of two, but shhhhh don’t tell) – podcasting, media festival and STAR Early Literacy.

Melissa Roberts and Brittney Mobley of the LCSS Technology Office offered great ideas about podcasting. Their hands-on workshop was a great deal of fun and I left feeling much more confident in using some of the free resources available to podcast.

A session to promote the International Student Media Festival was offered by Deborah Hargroves. Along with media festival tips and ideas, I learned of many free tools available for the 21st century classroom. It will be so much fun sharing these programs with the teachers and students! I just know we can utilize them in creating technology projects to submit to this years media festival.

STAR Early Literacy with Ellen Gadberry was the last session that I “sneaked” into and I certainly was glad I did! I was so impressed with the program. STAR Early Literacy is a web-based early literacy assessment tool that provides immediate feedback on the development of students' literacy skills. I am extremely interested in this program for our kindergarten and possibly first graders who struggle with STAR testing. Very informative session!

Oh, but I haven’t told you the best part of that day (besides wearing jeans, of course)… I was a winner two times over! Yes two times! I won a NEO 2 from Renaissance Learning. I am so excited! I am going to put it to great use too! It is going to travel each month to the classroom with the highest AR points AND testing accuracy at FLE. How cool will that be for the kiddos? I also won a book, In One Ear, Out the Other by Michael Dahl from Perma Bound Books. (My friend Tara suggested I pick this book as my free gift… so, I haven’t actually read the book yet, but I’m sure it is GrEaT!)

NEO 2

All in all, it was a great day! Thanks Jaime for organizing the event!

Tracking Student Use of the Media Center

2010-08-30T09:00:00.005-04:00

Last year, Mrs. Judy Serritella, the media coordinator for Georgia, requested each district submit a report detailing the number of students using the media centers. Compiling a number for each school was a bit of a challenge, never being required to report that statistic in the past. Each school was asked to do their best to arrive at a ballpark estimate.

This school year, Mrs. Serritella confirmed that each district would again be asked to state how many students have been served by the media centers. Tracking the number of students that visit the media center can be a very taxing and a time consuming task. In an effort to streamline and simplify the process of tracking student visits, our district is beginning a demo of James Maclaskey's software "Library Time Clock 2.1."

The software uses a database system that allows each student to type in his/her id number or scan his/her student id card when entering the media center. From the time a student scans his/her card the system is counting the length of the visit. Each student scans out as he/she leaves the media center.

The elementary schools are using a basic version of the system, "Time Clock 2 Basic". The high and middle schools are using a more advanced version, "Library Time Clock 2.1." The high and middle schools can collect data on the purpose of the visit.

The use of the time clock system does present a new process for students, but many of the students find it fun and quicker than using a visit log. The software also allows media specialists to run reports on the number of visits for any date range.

The number of student visitors is staggering! For example on August 27th the following visits were recorded in the elementary and middle schools that have begun trying the system:

JME- 393; FLE- 315; TCE- 404; MMS- 388

Wow! We knew the media center was a busy place, but now we have the numbers to prove it!

Helen Ruffin Book Club 2010-2011

2010-08-24T11:43:00.005-04:00

This year media specialists, teachers, and paraprofessional from elementary, middle, and high schools across Liberty County created book trailers to peek the interest of student readers for Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. Participants learned how easy video production can be with Adobe Visual Communicator 3.

Several media specialists plan to teach students how to use the program. Liberty County High School's media specialists, Jeff Staggs and Kay Williams, plan to use the program with students to create media festival projects!

Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Fever!

2010-07-21T09:48:00.011-04:00

Thank you to all who volunteered to read and write questions for this worthy cause! Your time will benefit students throughout the school system and even the state! The questions that you create from your HRRB reading selections will be used for student practice, county, regional, and state reading bowl question banks. Your dedication will encourge students to read!

If you would like to learn more about the rules of the bowl, check out this video:

Share the reading lists and rules with your students! Here are a couple of brochures that may help!

Rules and Procedures Brochure (Publisher)

Elementary and Middle Brochure
http://www.divshare.com/download/12059499-bba

High Brochure
http://www.divshare.com/download/12059498-f72

Need More Information about the HRRB? Read the Liberty County Handbook:
http://www.divshare.com/download/12110024-aad

Read the Georgia Framework for the HRRB:
http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/hrrb/files/EBC2B357E3DC4C5FAC0B055B05E84111.pdf

If you are taking the professional learning course for the HRRB, the presentation is available here:
http://www.divshare.com/download/12059500-e3b

This is a great rubric for video production!
http://www.divshare.com/download/12059501-e00

This handout helps students begin the book trailer production process:
http://www.divshare.com/download/12060070-0a9

Use this template to create questions for the bowl:
http://www.divshare.com/download/12107697-da0

Accelerate Reader in Liberty County- Our Journey

2010-05-27T03:48:00.009-04:00

Liberty County and Accelerated Reader have been cozy friends since the days of floppy disk quizzes. The friendship has been a positive one in most cases. Students enjoyed reading and quizzing. Earning points motivated some students, and enabled moments of celebration for the shining readers in each elementary and middle school. As time has passed, AR and LCSS have grown and adapted.

This year has been a banner year for growing and changing when it comes to Accelerated Reader and LCSS. Prior to this year, media specialists, teachers, and students were point driven. Students earned recognition on their ability to earn points alone. Thanks to a wonderful staff development session through Accelerated Reader, LCSS learned the importance of quality reading practice. LCSS also learned that Accelerated Reader can be used as a tool to encourage and celebrate readers of all abilities. Individualized goals, instead of points alone, have helped to motivate and enable all students to succeed. The staff development also taught the media specialists in Liberty County that the classroom teacher is an important part of the successful implementation of AR.

After the professional learning session with Accelerated Reader trainers, LCSS media specialists knew that they had a lot of work ahead. The first task at hand was to retrain the school staff and students on their core AR practices and beliefs. To do this, the participating media specialists gathered to create presentations, handouts, and training materials to share with teachers, students, and parents.

Each media specialist, and in some cases instructional coaches, met with school staff to present the new ideas and practices. Teachers were taught the importance of individualized goals. Teachers learned how to set goals using student STAR Reading results. Teachers learned how to conduct status of the class, and the importance of an average of 85% on practice quizzes was stressed. Helping students select books on an appropriate level became more significant. Celebrating student success for reaching goals became a focus, not just recognition of points earned.

At Taylors Creek and several other schools, students can see their zone of proximal development on their shelf marker.

Some teachers adopted the new ways of using AR more readily than others. In some schools the transition has been more gradual. There are some teachers that do not want to set the goals. In those cases the media specialist set goals for the students each nine weeks. Convincing teachers to buy in is still a goal to pursue this coming school year. In several of the schools teachers have embraced and taken ownership of student goals, quality reading practice, and status of the class.

In the hallways of Taylors Creek each teacher has a big ice cream cone on the wall near their door. Students earn a scoop with their name for each 100% they earned on a reading practice quiz.

Participants in the professional learning course were asked to document the transition in their schools to show how implementation was impacting teachers and students.

Mrs. Lynn Walker, a literature teacher at Midway Middle School, contributed this quote.

"Since beginning the process of individual goal setting in the AR program, I have seen more students strive to meet the goal set for them with their input. When the same goal was set for all students in the school, many students were finding it difficult to attain. The first quarter of individual goal setting seemed to be successful for those students who were already reading a lot. Many of my students' goals have been modified for the second quarter in order to allow them to be successful. If these minimal goals are achieved during this quarter than a solid increase will be set for the next quarter. As students are allowed to be successful with small steps, I can see them wanting to continue to read more. I think that the individual goal setting is the best way to reward students since not all students will attain the same level. This process seems to be working well."

The journey has been one full of enlightenment and hard work. When comparing the performance of students from last school year to this year it appears the work has paid off.

Elaine Walker, the media specialist at Joseph Martin Elementary, filmed this teacher testimonial about the new changes to Accelerated Reader.

Media Festival Student Celebration 2009-2010

2010-05-19T08:46:00.005-04:00

Students and parents strolled down the red carpet May 10th, 12th, and 13th as they entered the Liberty County School System’s Performing Arts Center to attend the Media Festival Celebration. Poster-board paparazzi were held back behind stanchions as families, teachers, administrators, and board members enjoyed the Hollywood themed decorations and star- studded walk of fame. Cameras flashed and smiles abounded as attendees entered the theater to watch two minute snippets of students’ projects on the wide-screen. The stage was a flutter with anxious students receiving Oscar statuettes and certificates in honor of their accomplishments. Students from Button Gwinnett, Frank Long, Joseph Martin, Taylors Creek, Liberty Elementary, Waldo Pafford, Jordye Bacon, and Lewis Frasier Middle School were honored over the three nights.
Each year students in Liberty County use their creativity and technology knowledge to create computer -based projects such as web pages, podcasts, live action videos, animation, sequential stills, interactive stills, and photographic essays. The projects are entered in to the school level media festival, and only the projects that score a superior score of 96 or higher advance to the county level media festival. The projects are evaluated by three judges at the county level media festival and promotde to the Georgia State Media Festival if they earn a superior score.
Nine hundred ninety-two projects entered the Georgia Student Media Festival this year. One hundred-nine of those projects advanced from Liberty County. The festival was held April 30th in Jonesboro. Each of the projects was evaluated and scored by volunteer judges from across the state of Georgia. Fifty-five projects were scored superior and earned the right to advance to the International Student Media Festival. The Media Festival Celebration made the students producers of the advancing fifty-five projects feel like stars!

May 10th project previews are from Button Gwinnett, Liberty Elementary, and Waldo Pafford.

May 12th project previews are from Jordye Bacon and Taylors Creek.

May 13th project previews are from Frank Long, Joseph Martin, and Lewis Frasier Middle School.

Looking to the Future

2010-04-14T08:36:00.003-04:00

After taking time to review the suggested web links from the media meeting, please note two or three new ideas you would like to use in your media program. Describe briefly how you would adapt or implement the ideas.

Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers

2010-04-02T15:34:00.003-04:00

Each year teens have the chance to vote for their favorite Georgia Peach Book Award Nominee. The selection list includes twenty titles. The books on the Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers list are also the books used for the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. Students can vote at their school library media center or a the public library. The Georgia Library Media Association organizes and promotes the event each year in March.

Both Bradwell Institute and Liberty County High School encouraged students to vote. Although the state of Georgia found The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins to be the popular winner, Bradwell and Liberty County High School had other favorites.

Bradwell's favorite pick was Lesson From a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles.

Liberty County High's favorite pick was Getting the Girl by

Susan Juby.

You can visit the included peach award link to see the complete list of nominees and read a brief summary for each of the nominees.

Teen Tech Week@ LCSS

2010-04-01T18:42:00.007-04:00

Teens today are living in a technology enriched world. The school library media center is part of that world. The American Library Association sponsors Teen Tech Week each year. Teen Tech Week is a national initiative that celebrates and encourages teens to use the non print resources found in libraries and media centers.

During Teen Tech Week, March 7-13, Bradwell Institute and Liberty County High School offered teachers the chance to learn more about non-print information services and web 2.0 tools that can be used with students to express learned content. Some of the workshop topics offered included:

United Streaming/ Discovery Online Digital Content,

Animoto.com,

netTrekker,

Adobe Premiere Elements

Students in Ms. Sue Bell's literature class are seen here filming in front of a green screen. The group filmed a short talk show segment where they pretended to be Olympian curlers. Students learned how to import the footage into Adobe Premiere Elements and the chroma key effect to place themselves on the ice and in a curling rink!

Next year, Teen Tech Week is scheduled for March 6-12. Check in to your library media center to check out the fun!

Flipping for Technology at the Liberty County Student Media Festival

2010-04-01T15:21:00.009-04:00

March 19th was the Liberty County Student Media Festival. A total of 187 student projects were submitted to the county festival. (All projects must have earned a superior ranking of 96-100 at a school-level media festival prior to advancing to the county level.) Button Gwinnett Elementary, First Presbyterian Christian Academy, Frank Long Elementary, Jordye Bacon Elementary, Joseph Martin Elementary, Lewis Frasier Middle School, Liberty Elementary, Taylors Creek Elementary, and Waldo Pafford Elementary all submitted projects to the festival.

Volunteer judges worked in groups of three to score projects using rubrics provided by the Georgia Student Media Festival. The festival was sponsored by Tech4Learning Software. Five lucky judges won free software provided by Tech4Learning in a lunchtime raffle.

Students that created an individual project entry that earned a superior score at the county level of the festival won their choice of one of the Tech4learning software titles to install at home!

Now the superior projects from the Liberty County Student Media Festival will advance to the state level of the competition. An outstanding total of 112 projects are advancing! The Georgia Student Media Festival will be April 30th in Jonesboro.

The media festival is a wonderful opportunity for students to work individually, in groups, or as a class to create a computer-based project. A special thank you goes out to all the teachers, media specialists, instructional technology specialists, curriculum coordinators, and other support staff that assisted, guided, and judged.

Once the results are in from the Georgia Student Media Festival, all students that earned a superior score at the state level will be invited to walk the red carpet! A special Hollywood style evening of awards and veiwings of the superior student projects will be held at the newly acquired fine arts complex.

A Wrap on the Reading Bowl

2010-03-30T04:56:00.004-04:00

The 2009-2010 school year provided for a wonderful year of the reading bowl! As in years past, the Liberty County School System had its share of the excitement. Bradwell Institute, Liberty County High School, and Joseph Martin Elementary all advanced to the Division B level of the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl February 6th.

The Division B bowl consist of the first and second place teams from the Southern Regional HRRB, Middle Georgia HRRB, and East Georgia HRRB. The bowl was held at Southeast Bulloch High School. Several media specialists from LCSS volunteered to show their support for the event.

All of the student teams participated with enthusiasm and pride. The elementary level of the competition concluded with Matilda Harris Elementary of Camden County earning first place. Our own Joseph Martin Elementary came in a close second place.

The middle level of the competition concluded with St. Mary's Middle School of Camden County earning first place. Our own Midway Middle School came in a close second place against St. Mary's at the Southern Regional Reading Bowl in Valdosta.

The high school level of the competition concluded with Houston County's Warner Robins High School earning first place. Liberty County High School was not far behind earning second place. Bradwell Institute was recognized for participation in the bowl.

Incidently, both Matilda Harris Elementary and Warner Robins High School both advanced on to win the state level of the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. The bowl was held March 20th as part of the Children's Literature Conference in Athens.

And so it begins again... Just as sure as the pollen is flying and covering everything in Liberty County, our school media specialists are feverishly ordering, reading, and writing questions to help prepare our student teams for next year!

FLE County Media Festival Winners

2010-03-21T19:00:00.003-04:00

The Liberty County Media Festival was held Friday, March 19th at the Board of Education. Frank Long’s projects fared well, with 18 out of 21 receiving a superior rating.

Projects advancing to the Georgia Student Media Festival are:

One, Two, Three…Let's Count at FLE!

Our Book of Animal Rhymes

Texting and Driving, a recipe for disaster

Horsin' Around with Karoline

What do I hear?

Our Class Garden Book

Puppy Mills: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Talking Pencil

Living with Aspergers Syndrome

All About Me

Oodles of Okra

Fun With Friends

My Crystal Experiment

Dance Off From the 70's

My Summer Road Trip

A-Tack Man

Egypt Explorers

The Benjamin Project

The next level of competition for these students will be at state level, to be held on Friday, April 30th! We are so proud of the hard work our students have done and look forward to the results from the state media festival.

* Teacher and student participates can be found in the FLE Book Nook posting from Thursday, February 25th.

Cat in the Hat

2010-03-05T13:55:00.000-05:00

Southern Regional Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl

2010-02-24T09:39:00.004-05:00

Come out and support Joseph Martin Elementary, Liberty County High School, and Bradwell Institute at the Divisional HRRB in Brooklet Saturday, February 27th!

Liberty County HRRB Teams Win Big at the Southern Regional HRRB

2010-02-09T11:42:00.010-05:00

The Southern Regional Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl was held Saturday, February 6th at Valdosta State University. Liberty County was proudly represented by six teams!

Six elementary schools faced each other in five rounds of competition to earn the right to proceed to the Division B Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. At the end of five exciting rounds Joseph Martin Elementary School won first place. Matilda Harris Elementary School won second place. Brittin Elementary School won third place. Button Gwinnett Elementary, David L. Rainer Elementary, and St. Simons Elementary were awarded trophies for participation.

Seven middle schools participated in six rounds of questions and one bye round, due to the odd number of teams. The competition was fierce. St. Mary's Middle school won first place. Camden Middle School won second place. Midway Middle School won third place. Lewis Frasier Middle, Newbern Middle, Thomas County Middle, and Glynn Middle were awarded trophies for participation.

Seven high school squared off in a fierce battle to take first and second place. Each school competed in six rounds of questions and one bye round, due to the odd number of teams. In the end, the only two high schools to advance were from LIBERTY COUNTY! Liberty County High School earned first place. Bradwell Institute earned second place. Brunswick High and Sol. C. Johnson High School tied for third place. Groves High, Thomas County High, and Brunswick High, Camden High earned trophies for participation.

Joseph Martin Elementary, Liberty County High School, and Bradwell Institute will travel to Southeast Bulloch High School February 27th to compete in the Divisional B HRRB. The bowl will begin at 12:00 noon. Come out and cheer for our Liberty County schools!

Liberty County Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl

2010-02-09T11:31:00.007-05:00

Reading is passion for many of the students in the Liberty County School System. With help from school media specialists, classroom teachers, and instructional technology staff members a passion for reading can also mean an academic competition, the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl!

Each year elementary and middle school students interested in participating in the student reading competition read books from the Georgia Children’s Book Award Nominee list for the current school year on their level. Students in the fourth and fifth grade qualify for participation in the bowl. This year elementary students read from a list containing eighteen books. The middle school reading list contained twenty books. In addition to reading books from the required list, students work as a team to create practice questions to review the facts from each book and prepare for the bowl by scrimmaging with a hand-held buzzer system.

Interested high school students also prepare for the bowl by reading, creating review questions, and scrimmaging with a hand-held buzzer system, but their reading list is taken from the Georgia Peach Book Awards for Teen Readers. The list for this year contained twenty books.

The middle and high school student teams participated in the Liberty County Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl on January 27th at the Board of Education. All of the middle and high schools were represented by a student team. Several principals and parents attended to root for their school team. Student teams competed through six rounds of questions taken from their required reading list, for a total of sixty questions asked. Student teams were enthusiastic and well-mannered.

The first place team for the middle school level was Midway Middle School. The MMS team was coached by their media specialist, Mrs. Cristina Dover. Lewis Frasier Middle School’s team took second place, and was coached by Mrs. Sharon Dunham.

At the high school level, Liberty County High School earned first place in the county reading bowl. The LCHS team was coached by Ms. Kay Williams, a media specialist for the high school. Mrs. Sarah Hein, a teacher at LCHS, served as an assistant coach. Bradwell Institute’s reading bowl team took second place and was coached by Ms. Diana Clark. Ms. Clark is a media specialist at Bradwell. Her assistant coach was Mrs. Deborah Starkey, a teacher at Bradwell.

The elementary Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl was held January 29th at the Board of Education. Every elementary school was represented by a team. Several principals attended to support their team. Parent attendance was also very high, filling the board room with eager spectators. The elementary teams participated in seven rounds of questions from their required reading list, for a total of seventy questions. Each round was very close and all of the student teams were very well-read.

Joseph Martin Elementary School took first place in the reading bowl. Mrs. Elaine Walker, the school media specialist, was the lead coach. She was assisted by Mrs. Elaine Dasher, Mrs. Rose Mack, and Ms. Rebecca Smith, both teachers at Joseph Martin. Button Gwinnett Elementary School’s team placed second in the reading bowl. Mrs. Tory Baker, the school media specialist, was the coach for the Button Gwinnett team. Mrs. Baker’s assistant coach was Mrs. Anttonia Hofmann, the media paraprofessional at BGE.

The first and second place teams from elementary, middle, and high school will advance to the Southern Regional Helen Ruffin Reading bowl being held February 6th at Valdosta State University. After the regional bowl, winning teams will advance to a divisional bowl, and lastly the Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. Both Joseph Martin Elementary and Liberty County High School have previously attended the state level of the competition. This year also promises to be a record setting year for the Liberty County School System!

Button Gwinnett’s HRRB Team
Pictured here: Front Row: Yulissa David, Damian Lustiano, Dameon McIntire
Back Row: I’Teaona Wells, Tory Baker- Media Specialist, Anttonia Hofmann- Media Assistant, Ryan Clow, Carlos Miller, and Nikita White

Joseph Martin Elementary HRRB Team:
Pictured here: Front row l to r: Spencer Jones, Isaiah Quarterman, Yash Patel Back row l to r: Emmaline Menger, Uyen-Vy Hoang, Ah’Shaiyah Mitchell, Raha Davis, Dayle McCallar

Midway Middle School’s HRRB Team:
Pictured here: L to R:
Top row: C. Dover, KiAmbrielle Queen, Stephen Langford, Mikia Frazier, Ajile Owens, Amanda Dollar, Clayton Grant
Bottom row: Tiffany Erickson, Jayden Trotter, Alan Cain

Lewis Fraiser Middle School’s HRRB Team
Pictured here:
Front (left to right): Jordan Graham, Cassity Chambers, Melana Linville
Back (left to right): Precious Wright, Thais Sanchez, Tiara Taylor, Jourdin Bailey, Rebekah Kim, Patience Wright, and Sharon Dunham, Coach.

Bradwell Institute HRRB Team:
Pictured here: Back row: Natalie Sharp, Ron Barnes, Brittani Ford, Tyrique Golphin
Front row: Samantha O’Neal, Jada Donald, Susan Mason, Kiana Brown, Erina Veliz

Liberty County HRRB Team
Pictured here:
Team picture, L – R: Mrs. Sarah Hein, Scott Stroup, Demi Glisson, Josh Hutto, Keith Lemay, Rachel Trawick, Khameron Mitchem, Chazare’ Riley, Felisha Burks, Ms. Kay Williams.

Taylors Creek Media Festival Project

2010-01-20T10:02:00.007-05:00

I have done a Jan Brett lesson every year around Christmas for our second graders. I have turned that lesson into a media festival project. We read "The Mitten" by Jan Brett and then brainstormed and wrote a Georgia folktale like The Mitten using Pixie and created digital storybook. Here is the first finished book.

Mrs. Cottom is Reading on the Roof

2009-12-14T14:08:00.002-05:00

Students at Waldo Pafford Elementary School delighted to see their principal, Mrs. Dorothy Cottom, lifted on to the roof of the school Thursday, November 19th. Once on the roof, Mrs. Cottom read The Principal from the Black Lagoon to students to celebrate their reading achievement. Mrs. Roxanne Lee, the school media specialist challenged students to read 3,000 books on Monday in honor of Children’s Book Week. Students reach the 3,000 book goal, and exceeded it by reading 5,781 books in three days!

Check out Three Little Words Today!

2009-12-14T14:00:00.003-05:00

Media Festival

2009-12-09T11:05:00.000-05:00

How will you promote and assist teachers with the media festival?

Students in Liberty County get a Glimpse into the World of a Published Author

2009-11-20T14:04:00.013-05:00

It is not often that a child can say they meet a published author and/or illustrator. Thanks to the Live Oak Public Libraries Foundation, hundreds of children in the Liberty County School System went home from school between the dates of November 5th through November 13th to report to their parents that they did just that!

Bess Chappas, author of Kiki and the Red Shoes visited Liberty Elementary School as part of an evening Pajamboree event. Parents and students enjoyed meeting the author.

Mrs. Lisa Jahn-Clough visiting students at Bradwell Institute.

Lisa Jahn-Clough, author and illustrator of several children’s books, including Alicia Has a Bad Day; Little Dog; My Friend and I; Me, Penelope; and County Girl, City Girl, visited both Bradwell Institute and Liberty County High School. Mrs. Jahn-Clough’s visit was inspiring. Students were shown writing samples and illustrations from Mrs. Jahn-Clough’s earliest childhood works to present published books, while she explained the process of developing the craft of writing. Students had the chance to ask questions at the end of the presentation.

Elysabeth Eldering visiting students at Joseph Martin Elementary.

Elysabeth Eldering, author of The Junior Geography Detective Squad (JGDS), 50-state, mystery, trivia series, visit Joseph Martin Elementary. She quizzed students with state trivia. Ms. Eldering also read to students and challenged them to create an ending to a short story she has been writing. Students enjoyed using their imagination and learning about state geography.

Elizabeth Kane visiting students at Snelson Golden Middle School.

Elizabeth Kane, author of Br’er Deer’n de Hot Peppas, visited Snelson Golden Middle School. She discussed the Southern dialogue of her book and other books by authors such as Joel Chandler Harris before sharing her book. Students enjoyed the comical illustrations and unique dialogue.

J’miah Nabawi, storyteller/ folk artist and author of Ananse Makes It So!, visited Frank Long Elementary, Jordye Bacon Elementary, and Waldo Pafford Elementary. Students enjoyed learning about the African folktale and listening to the animated storytelling of Mr. Nabawi. Mr. Nabawi involved students in a choir reading activity and taught them a dance. The visit was fun for both students and teachers!

Taylors Creek Elementary Media Specialist, Mary Lewis, Shawn Schulte in Mrs. Lyle’s Kindergarten class, and Audilee Boyd Taylor

Audilee Boyd Taylor, author of Where Did My Feather Pillow Come From?, and contributing author of Chicken Soup for the Kid’s Soul: 101 Stories of Courage, Hope, and Laughter, visited Button Gwinnett Elementary, Taylors Creek Elementary, and Lyman Hall Elementary. Students enjoyed listening to Mrs. Taylor read from her book and learning where feather pillow come from. Students also enjoyed seeing original illustrations from Mrs. Taylor’s book.

Each author was unique and inspiring! Thank you Live Oak Libraries for providing this opportunity to the children of Liberty County!

Suggestions...

2009-11-12T15:20:00.003-05:00

What would you like to see in the future for the Liberty County Media Program? Do you have any suggestions for improving the program?

Celebrating Children's Book Week in November

2009-11-11T09:45:00.007-05:00

Looking back on the time spent with a good book and a special person brings magical memories of storytime alive. Whether a classroom teacher, school media specialist, or a family member reads, children’s book have been inspiring, teaching, and entertaining.

Since 1919, communities have been taking time out to celebrate the importance of children’s books with National Children’s Book Week. Several of the schools in Liberty County are planning special events, guest readers, contests, and reading challenges to celebrate children’s books in November!

Students at the Liberty County Pre-K Center will have fun celebrating Children’s Book Week November 16th-20th. If you have a little one at the center, make sure to mark these fun dress-up events on your calendar:
Monday, November 16th students and staff may wear crazy socks because they are “CRAZY about Reading!”
Tuesday, November 17th students and staff may wear hats because it is “Hats Off to Great Books” day.
Wednesday, November 18th students and staff may wear a team jersey or t-shirt because it is “Teaming Up to be Lifelong Readers” day.
Thursday, November 19th students and staff may wear mismatched clothes because it is “Children & Books are a Perfect Match” day.
Friday, November 20th students and staff may bring their favorite book and dress as their favorite book character to participate in the Book Character Parade. Parents are invited to attend the parade at 9:00AM.

Button Gwinnett Elementary has a week full of fun contests, reading challenges, and dress up days planned for the week of November 16th-20th.
Each classroom participates in a door decorating contest to illustrate their favorite class book.
Each student will decorate a square illustrating their favorite book. The squares will be united to for a BGE Storybook Quilt!
Students are challenged to read a total of 4,000 books in four days!
Tuesday, November 17th students will tour a beautiful display of new books available for check out very soon in the media center.
Wednesday, November 18th students will try to estimate how many books are in the BGE media center! Student will also have a chance to vote for the staff member they would like to see participate in the Amazing Tricycle Race!
Thursday, November 19th students and staff may curl up and read while wearing their pajamas. Community guest readers will visit on this day.
(Dress should follow the Liberty County Dress Policy for dress down days as listed in the Code of Conduct.)
Friday, November 20th students and staff may bring their favorite book and dress as their favorite book character to participate in the Annual Book Character Parade. The parade will begin at 8:30AM. Then students and staff will head to the gym for the Amazing Tricycle Race! The K-2nd grade race will be from 9:00AM until 9:30AM. The 3rd- 5th grade race will be from 9:30AM until 10:00AM.

Students and staff at Frank Long Elementary will celebrate Children’s Book Week November 16th -20th with a reading challenge, door decorating contest, fun dress down days, and guest readers!
Students are challenged to be the top Accelerated Reader point earner with an 85% quiz average for their grade level. The top earner, along with their teacher, will have a special lunch with Mr. Carrier on Friday!
Monday, November 16th each classroom will decorate their door to celebrate their favorite children’s book.
Tuesday, November 17th students and staff may dress as tacky as possible to prove that it’s not tacky to be a good reader!
(Dress should follow the Liberty County Dress Policy for dress down days as listed in the Code of Conduct.)
Wednesday, November 18th students and staff can wear their pajamas as part of the Read’ in Lock’ in. (Please make sure clothing meets the regulations for the county casual dress code policy.) Special community readers will visit and read to students.
Thursday, November 18th students and staff may wear camouflage because you should not have to hide your love of reading!
Friday, November 19th students and staff may wear a hat as part of “Hats Off to Reading” day. Also as part of this day, students that have meet their Accelerated Reader point and percentage goals will be attending a movie and popcorn party!

Jordye Bacon Elementary will be celebrating Children’s Book Week November 16th-20th with fun dress down days, door decorating, a special guest, and a reading challenge!
Students are JBE are challenged to earn 650 Accelerated Reader points in one week. If they reach the goal, Dr. Johnson and Dr. Sukaratana will dress up as two tacky tourists!
Monday, November 16th the hallways of JBE will transformed into scenes from favorite children’s books. Where the Wild Things Are will be the theme for one section of the campus!
Tuesday, November 17th students and staff may get lost in a good book by wearing camouflage to school.
(Dress should follow the Liberty County Dress Policy for dress down days as listed in the Code of Conduct.)
Wednesday, November 18th students and staff will show that it’s not tacky to be a good reader by dressing tacky.
(Dress should follow the Liberty County Dress Policy for dress down days as listed in the Code of Conduct.)
Thursday, November 19th students and staff will welcome Ronald McDonald at 9:00AM for a special assembly for kindergarten through 2nd grade. Community readers will be visiting classrooms at JBE.
Friday, November 20th students and staff may warm up to a good book by wearing sweat suits or warm-up suits.

Students and staff at Joseph Martin Elementary will enjoy a special guest visitor, welcome the Liberty County High School Band, listen to guest community readers, participate in fun dress down days, and parade as their favorite book characters as they celebrate Children’s Book Week!
Monday, November 16th Tommy Johns, the magician and storyteller, will entertain and inspire students to read in two sessions from 12 noon to 2:00PM.
Tuesday, November 17th students and staff may dress in a crazy manner to how they are crazy about books! Community readers will also visit classrooms to read.
(Dress should follow the Liberty County Dress Policy for dress down days as listed in the Code of Conduct.)
Wednesday, November 18th students and staff may wear a hat because it is “Hats Off to Books” day!
Thursday, November 19th students and staff may wear silly socks as part of “Sock it to me with a Good Book” day. The Liberty County High School Band will perform their Dr. Seuss inspired half-time show for students in the JME gym at 9:00AM.
Friday, November 20th students and staff will dress as their favorite storybook character for a Book Character Parade at 1:30PM.

Liberty Elementary School celebrated Children’s Book Week November 2nd-6th.
Classrooms participated in a door decorating contest for the chance to win a bag full of books to supplement their classroom library.
Wednesday, November 4th special guest readers from Target visited kindergarten and first grade students to read and make bookmarks.
Thursday, November 5th outstanding athletes from Bradwell Institute visited students in the second and third grade to read.
Friday, November 6th, the week concluded with a special evening Pajamboree for families. Local author and storyteller, Bess Chappas read her book Kiki and the Red Shoes to families. Mrs. Chappas’ visit was sponsored by the Live Oak Public Libraries Foundation as part of the Children’s Book Festival!

Taylors Creek Elementary School will celebrate Children’s Book Week November 16th- 20th with a week full of fun storybook trivia and a bookmark contest.

Students and staff at Waldo Pafford Elementary will celebrate children’s books and reading November 16th-20th with the following fun activities:
Monday, November 16th students will be challenged to read 3000 books in three days!
Tuesday, November 17th families are invited to WPE Media center in the evening to read together and take Accelerated Reader quizzes.
Wednesday, November 18th students and staff may wear pajamas to school for a day full of fun reading and completing reading related crafts and activities.
(Dress should follow the Liberty County Dress Policy for dress down days as listed in the Code of Conduct.)
Thursday, November 19th students and staff may dress as their favorite storybook character for the Book Character Parade. The parade begins at 8:30AM. If students reach their 3000 book goal, Mrs. Cottom will read a book on the roof!

The middle schools in Liberty County are also celebrating children’s books the week of November 16-20th with these fun filled contests and activities.

Lewis Frasier Middle School will be celebrating with the theme “Reading Rocks!” Each teacher and students that have an average of 85% or higher on Accelerated Reader quizzes will receive a special Patriot’s Read bookmark. Students will also be encouraged to spend additional time reading during the week.

Students and staff at Midway Middle School will be blogging about books all week on the MMS Media Center blog! Students and staff will be promoted to share their thoughts on their favorite books, movies inspired by books, characters, and reading genres! Students and staff will be donating gently used books to give the gift of reading to Gabriel’s House. Students can get crafty in the media center when they stop by the bookmark decorating station! The week will conclude with a class door decorating contest. Each classroom will decorate its door in honor of the class’s favorite middle grades book.

Snelson Golden Middle School will challenge students with a media literacy skills scavenger hunt throughout the week. Scavenger hunt winners will earn an ice cream pass! The media center will host a special half-price book fair for students and staff during the week. The week will conclude with an ice cream social and dress down day for students that have met their individual Accelerated Reader goals!

Reading is so important! A week’s work of special events, contests, and guest readers is a memorable way to celebrate children’s books. Remember to make everyday special by reading with your child!

AR the Eagle is Flying Around the World

2009-11-02T13:43:00.003-05:00

Each year AR the Eagle takes flight around the world soaring one mile for every Accelerated Reader point earned. He has flown a total of 7,570.8 miles so far this year. Each day students are given a new clue on the morning annoucements so they can guess his location. Once a month one lucky student with a correct guess is awarded a flash drive. Currently, AR is enjoying fun and sun in Tahiti! The goal is that AR will make it back to Snelson Golden Middle School before the year is over!

The Famous TCE Pout-Pout Fish

2009-10-29T16:39:00.003-04:00

Recently, classrooms at Taylors Creek decorated pumpkins to illustrate students' favorite books. The author of the Pout-Pout Fish happened upon a presentation of the pumpkins!

Dear Ansley,

A Google alert on The Pout-Pout Fish brought me over to your blog, where I discovered your Pout-Pout Fish pumpkin photo and the video of all the Fall Festival pumpkins. The contest is such a cool idea! I loved seeing all the book-related pumpkins. So creative, and such a nice way to integrate books and reading into the season. Very wonderful.

(Admittedly, I'm biased, but I think your class should have won first place! :)

If you'd like, if your students are still enjoying The Pout-Pout Fish, I could send you some signed bookmarks for them, to help encourage them to keep reading and exploring with books. Just email me back with an address if you'd like me to do that, and I'd be glad to send them along.

Best Fishes!

Debbie Diesen (author of The Pout-Pout Fish)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Deborah L. DiesenGrand Ledge, MIWeb: http://www.deborahdiesen.com/Blog: http://www.jumpingthecandlestick.blogspot.com/

Storytime at Waldo Pafford

2009-10-29T11:02:00.005-04:00

The media center is full of students eager to hear Mrs. Roxanne Lee, the media specialist, read Fall favorites like Sheep Trick or Treat, Hallo-Weiner, Heckedy Peg, and Tallypo. Mrs. Lee has a bag of tricks to accompany her storytime treats! Students love to see the fun costumes, hats, and props she uses to make each story special. Each story that she reads also has an Accelerated Reader quiz. Students are encouraged to take the quizzes that are in their reading zone of proximal development.

Chef Dewey

2009-10-29T09:03:00.007-04:00

Was it a trick or a treat? October 28th was the last monthly media meeting. The meeting began with the media specailists getting into character as resturant patrons, chefs, waiters/waitresses, and chef assistants. The group role played a resturant senario as they worked as teams to define keywords, locate books, and finish a graphic organizer. The lesson was based on a posting to LM_Net by Jennie Scott-McKenzie and Adame (2008).

Bright Ideas in the Media Centers!

2009-10-29T08:20:00.009-04:00

The word is out! You can find two middle school media centers in Liberty County that have been awarded Bright Idea Grants! Sharon Dunham of Lewis Frasier Middle School and Cristina Dover of Midway Middle School won Coastal Electric Cooperative Bright Ideas Grants.

Students at Lewis Frasier Middle School will be able to check out a Kindle, a wireless reading device, in the near future. Mrs. Dunham was awarded $598 to purchase two Kindles. She plans to load popular student requests on the devices. Each Kindle can hold up to 1,500 books! The Kindle will enable students to get dictionary definitions for unknown words and, it can also read to students, making it a great tool for special needs or struggling students! Mrs. Dunham will use some of the proceeds from book fairs to purchase popular student requests to load on the Kindles. Lewis Frasier will be on the cutting edge of digital reading technology thanks to the vision of Mrs. Sharon Dunham!

Gifted students at Midway Middle School will soon become "Kings and Queens of the Green Screen", the title of Mrs. Dover's project title. Student will be learning how to produce digital videos using green screen technology thanks, to Mrs. Cristina Dover! She was awarded $1486.10 to purchase 5 Flip video cameras, ten licenses of Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0, and 1 volume of royalty free music from Soundzabound. With instruction from the media center and the new equipment, the gifted students will produce videos that illustrate the GPS Standards!

Mrs. Dover, Mrs. Frazier, and Ms. Kennedy

are pictured above.

Did anyone say Media Festival projects?

Way to go Mrs. Dunham and Mrs. Dover!

netTrekker- How are You Using It?

2009-10-27T21:38:00.004-04:00

Describe how you have used netTrekker in a lesson recently with students.

Bradwell Institute Scared Up a Few Good Reads

2009-10-27T21:04:00.013-04:00

October is the perfect month to remind students of the horror collection in your media center. Bradwell Institute took the opportunity to remind students using their book display. The display highlighted fiction and story collection works that promised to have students going to sleep with the lights on!

Popping into Home Connect

2009-10-27T20:57:00.006-04:00

Students at Lewis Frasier Middle School learned how to use Home Connect recently during their visit to the media center. Media specialist, Sharon Dunham, lead students in a lesson on how to log in, review goal information, and browse previous taken quizzes.

Students that achieved three stars, by meeting their percentage, point, and book level goal were given a special treat!

During the lesson, students were also instructed on how to use Destiny, the online catalog, to search for books within individual zones of proximal development. Students left the lesson with a clear understanding of how to use Home Connect and find books that are just right for their reading level!

AR- A New Way a New Day

2009-10-27T20:51:00.003-04:00

Recently, teachers at Joseph Martin gathered in their learning communities to learn how Accelerated Reader can be used to increase student comprehension performance. Media specialist, Elaine Walker, shared how to set individualized student goals in the program, why 85% is a goal to strive for, and the new features of Star Reading. Teachers were excited to learn how to set goals and felt the sessions was very worthwhile! Liberty County is embracing a new day and a new way for Accelerated Reader!

Liberty Elementary and the Book Fair

2009-10-27T20:27:00.007-04:00

Liberty Elementary recently concluded the first book fair of the school year! Students, teachers, and parents were excited to shop at the fair. The fair was also available during the school fall festival. The theme was Destination: Book Fair! Students could win a prize if they where able to guess the number of vehicles in the jar! Plus, students and parents were also interested to learn the favorite picks of Mr. Anderson, Mrs. Craven, and Mandy the dog!

Accelerated Reader- Enabling and Celebrating Success!

2009-10-27T20:17:00.005-04:00

As the new nine weeks begins, we take time to celebrate the success of our students. Some students in Liberty County achieved grade level goals, while others celebrated individual goals. As Liberty County makes the transition to encouraging students to reach for their own percentage, point, and reading level goals, we look forward to students catching the wave of motivation in excitement. Reach for your personal best and become a better reader! That is our challenge to our students!

Suggestions...

2009-09-30T08:41:00.004-04:00

How do you deal with students that are being too loud in the media center? Are there positive ways to deal with this issue?

International Media Festival Results for Liberty County

2009-09-22T08:28:00.008-04:00

Liberty County School System had 46 student media festival projects to earn a score of 96 or higher at the Georgia Student Media Festival. Those 46 projects were submitted to the International Student Media Festival at the end of last school year. The results for the ISMF have been posted at http://www.ismf.net/ns/ . A total of 12 of the 46 projects have been named winners! Congratulations! We are looking forward to a new year of projects and more student involvement.

FLE
A Sharp Pencil
Sequential Still
k-3

FLE
Sometimes I Feel
Sequential Still Class Project
k-3

FLE
FLE's Critter Corner
Website
4-5

FLE
It's All About the Water
Sequential Still
k-3

JBE
Mya's Top Ten States
Sequential Still
k-3
Judge's Favorite

LE
Koalas are Sweet
Sequential Still
k-3

LE
My Dad
Sequential Still
k-3

LHE
Tekno-Savvy Kindergarteners
Live Action
k-3

LHE
Life Cycle of the Butterfly
Sequential Stills Class Project
k-3

LHE
Media Madness
Live Action
k-3

TCE
The Adventures of Bad News Bear
Sequential Still
k-3

TCE
Mythical Creatures from Mrs. Parker's Class
Sequential Still
4-5

Blogging at FLE

2009-09-21T12:52:00.003-04:00

Dr. Sands and Mrs. Fennell have been working with Blogger as a means to get students excited about writing. Blogging is such a great way to reinforce responses to literature and writing skills. Mrs. Fennell is now using a classroom blog instead of the traditional classroom web site to encourage more communication between school and home. The students have really taken an interest in blogs and many are wanting to create their own! It is so exciting seeing students fired up about writing!

FLE International Student Media Festival Winners

2009-09-21T12:40:00.003-04:00

Jalen Bynum, Christiane Bernades, A’Jenae Pray, Heaven Hedgepeth, Caleb Troupe-Clear, Kayla Kelly

Winners have been announced!

Students worked on technology projects throughout the year and competed at a school level media festival the February 2009. Out of the 78 school entries, 30 winning projects advanced to the system competition in March 2008. At that time, 19 of Frank Long’s winning projects were sent on to state competition. Eleven projects earned a superior rating at the state level and advanced to the international level and were judged this summer. Frank Long is proud to announce that four projects won at the International level.

Students from grades kindergarten through 12 can participate in the festivals. Project categories consist of live-action video, animation, sequential stills, interactive stills, websites, single photo and photographic essay. Instructional, informational, documentary, persuasive/public service announcement (PSAs), story, and entertainment are purposes students may opt to center his/her project around. Judges are only required to view seven minutes of a production; however, entries may be as long as producers believes fit. Projects must be created and produced by students and a panel of judges will critique each entry on its own merit. Judging feedback is offered to participants at each festival level to help foster improvements.

International Student Media Festival winners include Kayla Kelly, previously in Mrs. Susan Fennell’s 2^nd grade Class, with It's All About the Water; Caleb Troupe-Clear, previously in Ms. Angela Fair’s 2^nd Class, with A Sharp Pencil. Two class projects also won at the international level. Mrs. Catherine Smiley’s previous kindergarten class won with Sometimes I Feel with Christiane Bernades, Jalen Bynum, Heaven Hedgepeth, Isaiah Johnson, Chapmen Kennedy, A'Jenae Pray, Dajahnic Reed, Michael Rigsby, Jordan Rivera, Jaden Rivera, Breonna Speight and Demetrick Threatt contributing to the project. Mrs. Nikki Lukkarinen’s previous 5^th grade class won with FLE's Critter Corner.

Children's Book Week

2009-09-18T14:27:00.004-04:00

When will you be celebrating Children's Book Week? How will you celebrate at your school?

Media & Technology Showcase

2009-09-15T09:14:00.015-04:00

The annual Media & Technology Showcase was September 11th at the Liberty County Board of Education. This year close to eighty attendees cruised in to check out the latest products in technology/ media, and participate in media geared workshops.

The following companies where on site to exhibit and demonstrate their products: ByteSpeed, Camcor, Inc., Curious Moon Puppets, EducationCity.com, eInstruction, Follett Library Resources, Learning Through Wonder, Permabound, Rand McNally, S & L Sales Company, Scholastic Book Fairs, Smart Technologies, The Story Ship, Tech4Learning, Tommy Johns Presents, Usborne Books & More, World Book, Inc., and Xerox Audio Visual Solutions.

Attendees participated in three out of the six workshop offerings. The workshops offered included: "A Blogging Safari" presented by Melissa Roberts of the Liberty County Technology Department; "But Wait! There's More! Make Your BookTalks POP!" presented by Tommy Johns of Tommy Johns Presents;"Storytime Antics" presented by Betsy Stow, the Children's Librarian, at the Liberty Branch of the Live Oak Public Libraries; "D-I-I-G-O and Diigo Was Its Name-O"and "30-Minute Podcasts" presented by Daniel Rivera of First Distric RESA; and "Collaboration Corner" was presented by Joanne Newland of Sallie Zetterower Elementary and Jeff Staggs of Liberty County High School.

The vendors and attendees enjoyed delicious snacks prepared by Bradwell Institute's own Tiger Cafe' , sponsored by Debora Stevens. The Tiger Cafe' catered breakfast and a mid-day snack.

Several door prizes were awarded during the event. The largest prizes awarded included: eInstruction raffled off a MOBI. ByteSpeed raffled off a 10" Netbook, EducationCity gave away one year of services to one lucky winner. Tommy Johns Presents and Learning Through Wonder each gave away one half-day of school assemblies to one lucky winner!

Accelerated Reader- A New Day, A New Way!

2009-08-24T16:26:00.006-04:00

Media specialists, instructional coaches, reading teachers, and curriculum specialists gathered at the Liberty County Board of Education August 20th for a seminar called, "Getting the Most Out of Accelerated Reader." Instructors, Deb Allen and Ellen Gadberry, delivered the seminar.

The elementary and middle schools in Liberty County have been using points as a tracking system for rewarding students for their efforts. The seminar drove home the "point" that points equal the amount of practice, but they should not be the driving force for setting across the board goals. The goals for each student should be based on their individual performance. The importance of pre-assessing students using STAR Reading was stressed. Attendees also had a chance to learn about the new RTI features available in STAR Reading. Now students in need of intervention can be spotted early. Teachers can also use STAR Reading to document interventions and student response.

It will be a new process for many of the schools to begin using the STAR test results to set individual reading goals with students. This is a needed change in our schools. The percentage of elementary and middle school students in Liberty County participating the Accelerated Reader is very high. It is time to increase the percentage of students succeeding with Accelerated Reader in Liberty County by using individual goals. Media specialists are armed with the information they need to help their teachers and students succeed!

Getting the Girl by Susan Juby

2009-08-21T15:34:00.001-04:00

The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin

2009-08-21T15:26:00.001-04:00

Greetings from Nowhere by Barbara O'Conner

2009-08-21T15:20:00.001-04:00

Deep Dark and Dangerous by Mary Hahn

2009-08-21T15:10:00.001-04:00

Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf

2009-08-21T04:56:00.003-04:00

Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

2009-08-21T04:47:00.002-04:00

Book Trailers Made Using Frames

2009-07-20T13:42:00.008-04:00

During the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Book Club Phase III professional learning class, participants will learn how to create videos using Tech4Learning's animation program Frames 4. Frames 4 has great drawing tools. You do not have to focus on clay. You can animate much more!

Students at Taylors Creek Elementary are Recognized for their AR and Media Festival Success

2009-07-08T09:43:00.010-04:00

Families gathered in the TCE gym to celebrate the accomplishments of their children. Students beamed with pride as they were presented with certificates for their outstanding work in the student media festival and the school reading program.

MMS Students Brave the Big Kahuna

2009-05-18T05:17:00.006-04:00

The carnival came to Midway Middle School May 15th, the reading carnival! Students that earned the required 100 points and 80% average for the school year were invited to attend a special carnival themed event.

Students took turns sliding down the massive inflatable slide, named the Big Kahuna. They waited in line patiently to have air brush illustrations painted on their arms and legs. Several students took time out to bounce in an inflatable bouncer. Every child was also treated to an ice cream treat.

Mrs. Dover and Ms. Gadson, with a little convincing, tried out the Big Kahuna!

Magic Moon Puppets Land at LE

2009-05-18T05:03:00.008-04:00

May 15th was a magical day at Liberty Elementary. Students gathered close together in the media center to celebrate their accomplishments and enjoy the rewards of reaching their individualized reading goals.

This year, each child at Liberty Elementary had a personalized reading goal set by his or her teacher each nine weeks. Each nine weeks that students achieved their goals, they were treated to a special event.

The year-end event was a visit by the Magic Moon Puppets. Students laughed and enthusiastically interacted with the puppets during the show. The top reader from each classroom was also presented with with a racing/ reading t-shirt by Mr. Anderson. The two top readers for the school won a special gift basket.

Liberty County Media Festival Student Celebration

2009-05-12T05:20:00.011-04:00

Read the article in the Coastal Courier! http://www.coastalcourier.com/news/article/13846/

Teachers, media specialists, principals, and families walked the red carpet to celebrate students with superior media festival projects from the Georgia Student Media Festival.

Students were treated like Hollywood stars. Individual and small group project participants could find their name on a star as part of the Walk of Fame. Before entering the board room, student also had to pass by paparazzi snapping pictures. The evening centered around watching clips from the superior projects and awarding individual and small group participants an Oscar-like trophy. Each class project received a star on the Walk of Fame and a class trophy.

The large number of superior projects required that the evening be divided into two events. During the first event, Jordye Bacon, Liberty Elementary, Lyman Hall Elementary, and Taylors Creek Elementary were showcased. The second event showcased Waldo Pafford Elementary, Frank Long Elementary, and Joseph Martin Elementary.

Now the superior projects will go on to the International Student Media Festival. The projects will be scored over the summer, and results will be available in the Fall.

Georgia Student Media Festival

2009-05-01T23:59:00.003-04:00

Several media specialist represented Liberty County at the Georgia Student Media Festival in Atlanta today to serve as judges for projects that had advanced to state level competition. Being present at the festival once again reinforced how progressive our district is in the realm of technology. A high ratio of projects submitted from Liberty County were advanced onto international competition. International judging will be completed over the summer and hopefully returning scores before the beginning of the next school year. Project winners can be found on respective school web sites or by contacting the media specialist of the school.

Attending the state festival also allowed for media specialists to get ideas for future projects and learn about other media programs around the state. Once again, Liberty County has cause to be proud of the support, funding and the significance placed upon the centers in the district.

Collaboration in the Middle

2009-05-01T00:13:00.006-04:00

Students at Midway Middle School in Ms. Croon's class are busy in the media center. They are working in small groups to research a topic that they studied in science this year. They are using non-fiction resources, reference books, and Nettrekker to collect information that will be transformed into a story board and eventually a video production.

Mrs. Dover is using the Big 6 research process to help students locate valuable information. This unit will teach students how to locate information from a variety of sources, summarize information, create a storyboard, use digital video equipment, and software. The culminating activity will be a science film festival to showcase their work!

JME and the Great Big Caterpillar

2009-04-30T23:52:00.007-04:00

Students at Joseph Martin Elementary are proud of their Accelerated Reader Caterpillar! Each

time a student scores an 80% or higher on an AR quiz he or she can add a circle to the caterpillar. Students note their score, book title, and name on the circle. At the beginning of the school year the caterpillar started as only a face outside of the media center. Now his body runs down every hall and wraps around the building back to the beginning.

Thank You Tech4Learning

2009-04-24T05:06:00.000-04:00

The Liberty County Student Media Festival had a corporate sponsor for the first time this year, Tech4Learning! Tech4Learning is an educational software company that specialize in project-based-production software. They produce programs like Frames, Twist, WebBlender, and Pixie just to name a few. Please visit www.tech4learning.com to learn more about their wonderful programs.

As part of their sponsorship, each student that created an individual student media festival project that earned a superior score at the county festival has been awarded a free download of one of Tech4Learning's programs. Students were able to select from a list, which program they would like.

Now all student will have to do is go to the Tech4Learning website, download the software using the provided code and register their software at home. Early next week, each school with qualifying students will receive a letter to send how for parents and students to do this.

Liberty County is grateful for this opportunity! We look forward to even more student involvement in the festival next year!

Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Students are Recognized

2009-04-23T15:27:00.000-04:00

Thursday, April 9th, the Liberty County Board of Education recognized the Helen Ruffin reading bowl teams and coaches from Joseph Martin Elementary, Snelson Golden Middle School, and the combined high school team from Bradwell Institute and Liberty County High School, the Liberty Cats.

What is the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl?

The Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl was the creation of Mrs. Helen Ruffin, a media specialist from Dekalb County, ten years ago! The bowl encourages elementary and middle school students to read from the Georgia Children’s Book Awards nominee list and high school students to read from the Georgia Peach Teen Book Award nominee list.

This year marks the third year that the Liberty County School System has organized teams to participate in the bowl. This year all of the elementary, middle, and high schools in Liberty County organized student teams for the county level competition. Brittin Elementary School of Fort Stewart also participated in the county reading bowl, making it the most attended reading bowl to date! The winning teams from the county reading bowl, Joseph Martin, Snelson Golden Middle, and the combined high school team called the Liberty Cats, earned the right to advance to the regional level of the bowl.

Students in Attendance from the Liberty Cats Team

The annual Southern Regional Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl was held at Valdosta State University, February 7th. Each team competed against four or more other schools for the chance to advance to the divisional level of the bowl.

Students in Attendance from the Joseph Martin Elementary Team

Joseph Martin’s team dominated the elementary portion of the bowl, earning first place. The Snelson Golden Eagles won the second place and the chance to continue to the next level of the bowl. The Liberty Cats faced fierce competition and earned third place in the high school portion of the bowl.

Joseph Martin Elementary and Snelson Golden Middle advanced to the Divisional Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl at Southeast Bulloch High School, February 21st. The divisional competition matched up the first and second place winners from three southern regions.

After facing off against the best teams in the southern half of the state, Joseph Martin Elementary earned third place in the competition and Snelson Golden Middle earned second place.

Students in Attendance from the Snelson Golden Middle School Team

Through both the Southern Regional and the Divisional Helen Ruffin Reading Bowls, Mr. Floyd of the Heritage Bank helped to support the student teams by generously donating funds to cover the expense of their lunch at both bowls. The student reading bowl teams would like to thank Mr. Floyd for his generosity and support!

CRCT Test

2009-04-21T11:30:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone is surviving the CRCT Test!

Celebrating the Superior State Level Student Media Festival Participants

2009-04-21T10:33:00.000-04:00

The Georgia Student Media Festival is May 1st in Atlanta. 99 superior student projects from the Liberty County Student Media Festival will be scored at the festival. Projects earning a superior score a the state level festival will be invited to a special evening viewing of student projects and an awards ceremony the night of May 11th at the Liberty County Board of Education.

Last year, the event was very successful! Here is a picture from the 2008-2009 celebration.

Liberty County High School Welcomes Up and Coming Freshmen

2009-04-21T09:56:00.000-04:00

April 7th was the night of the 8th Grade Parent Night at LCHS. Eager soon-to-be freshmen and parents toured the school, met school staff, and learned about the clubs and services available.

Of course, the media team of Mr. Staggs and Ms. Williams was on the scene to introduce families to the media center! Mr. Staggs introduced several online resources. The resources included, but were not limited to Nettrekker, Atomic Learning, and Destiny.

Ms. Williams presented a kiosk and display of the 2009-2010 Peach Teen Award Nominee Books for students, in the hopes of recruiting reading bowl team members. (LCHS and BI are known for their fierce Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl teams!)

For more technology-geared students, Ms. Williams showcased a sampling of student media festival projects and other student-produced videos. Two student participants from the LCHS media festival were also on-hand to answer any questions.