Battle of the Books

Nine teams have been formed for our first ever Battle of the Books Event.

We are in the reading phase now. To keep things interesting we have been holding meetings with fun challenges between the teams, like nerf archery and cup stacking.

3d Printer Arrives!

The 3d printer from our Donor's Choose Grant has arrived and we are thrilled! Students are curious about how the machine works and want to know how to use it. We have printed several premade items to get the hang of things. We are learning to use the CAD software to create our own objects.

Thank you Donor's Choose for bringing this amazing piece of technology into our school. It is already impacting the students.

Big Changes at SMS Library Learning Commons!

We are off to a fantastic school year!  Here is what we have done so far this year!

We have embraced the Learning Commons model and rebranded our space with new signage! (idea credit Kachele Library Learning Commons).

We started three new genre sections: horror, mystery and realistic. 

We opened our new Maker Space which includes a Cricut paper cutting machine, a 3Doodler 3d pen, a stop motion animation station, craft supplies, building toys an Osmo and more! We have had after school hours every week.  The students are thrilled with all the new tools and have been making things every day. 

Let your library work for you this summer!

Take advantage of our ebooks and digital audio books that are available 24 hours seven days a week online! We have ebooks or digital audio books for all honors summer reading books. Also - SCDiscus.org is full of fantastic resources for summer learning.

Super Reader Reward

The next super reader reward will be held during lunch and recess periods on Thursday, December 19th.

Students with a level two super reader card will be treated to a yummy cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows!

Students with a level three super reader card will be treated to a yummy cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows AND a cupcake!

Students with a level four super reader card will be treated to a yummy cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows AND a cupcake AND candy AND a book!

ALL Super readers will be entered into a drawing to win prizes!

Book Tree

The students love our book tree!

E-Books!

Did you know Sims has over 100 e-books that students can check out for free? We will be getting MORE e-books each month.

Stop by the Sims library for help getting started or use one of these getting started guides:

Getting Started with the iPad
Getting Started with the Kindle Fire
Getting Started with Smart Phones

Access our library catalog at destiny.union.k12.sc.us
or use the Follett Shelf url http://wbb33587.follettshelf.com

 

SMS School Wide Read

This year's school wide read is Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper.

The blog to go with this book is here: http://simsreads.blogspot.com/

Stop by the blog and leave a comment about the book and you could win a prize!

Super Reader Cards! Level Up!

Several students have already filled up their first super reader card and moved on up to level two! Keep reading! The book fair is coming next week! Super Readers may be treated to a sneak peek!

Happy New Year in August!

Going back to school is like New Year's Day all over again!  A new school year is a fresh new start for teachers and students alike. A new school year ushers in another occasion for everyone to set and reach new goals. We are very excited about this school year and the opportunities it brings us all for more learning and experiences. New books will be ordered soon, a book fair is planned, we are selecting the school wide read aloud, reading incentives and a new reading incentive program are all in the works. How many books do you think you can read this year? The more the better! Last year we checked out over 24,000 books. Can we beat that? Yes we can! We are excited about Family Write Nights and another back to school Technology Night. This year we will become better readers, better writers and better thinkers. We will become more adept users of technology. Happy New Year Everyone! The best is yet to come.

Winding Down and Gearing Up

The school year is swiftly coming to an end. While we batten down the hatches and wrap up another year, we are also planning summer reading and exciting things for the next school year.

We have been busy over the past several months working on research projects, MAP and PASS testing, Comic Life projects, iMovies, Glogsters, book talks and of course reading. As a matter of fact, we surpassed our book check outs last year LAST MONTH! Wow! Keep reading people! After Spring Break we launched our second school wide read-aloud of the book Schooled by Gordon Korman read aloud to us by Ms. Sommer.

The South Carolina Jr. Book Awards titles are available in the library. Stop by and pick up a brochure. Join our SMS Library Edmodo group and you will get a special badge for every Jr. Book Award title you read! The group code is
1fwngn please join us. We'll be connecting with you via Edmodo over the summer. If you join our group you get a free temporary tattoo!

We are looking forward to our reading reward field trip on May 17th. If you participated in the Tiger Pride Reading Challenge all four nine weeks, you will be going with us on a trip to Barnes & Noble and the Spartanburg Public Library.  A buy one get one free book fair is coming our way at the end of May. Plan to stock up on books to read over the summer.

Fright Night! Write Night!

Get ready for Fright Night! Write Night! October 31st after school until 6. Drop in to read and write scary, spooky, creepy stories AND enjoy refreshments games and prizes! Students must be accompanied by an adult. Costumes optional. We're dying to see you there!

Book Mobile Gets a New Look

Can't make it to the library? Let our books come to you! Keep an eye out for our "book mobile" book cart roaming the halls in the morning before homeroom. Check out a book from the cart or return books to the basket. Library cadets began the "book mobile" face-lift today. Ten inch rims would be great!

The Daisy Chapter

One of our students made an excellent suggestion today. He said he wished there was a chapter in Wonder  from Daisy's point of view. What a great idea! Let's write one ourselves. Stay tuned for "Daisy's Chapter" writing contest details. You know there's going to be a wicked awesome prize!

Wonder Blog

We have passed the 200 page mark in Wonder! Check the blog and make a post to win some cool book fair prizes!

SMS Reads Wonder

We are reading Wonder together at school.
Check out our new blog SMS Reads Wonder.

Library Orientation

Hey! I just met you, and this is crazy. But here's a NOVEL so READ me maybe!

The sixth graders just finished going through their library orientation at SMS Library.

Here's a short list of what we went over:

• Vote for a book you love by putting a smiley sticker inside the front cover! (see circ desk for smiley stickers)
• Use sticky note "next day express" check out when Mrs. Taz is working with other students and can't check you out right away.
• We are getting a new online catalog!  Yaay! Welcome Destiny!
• Request a book for the library to purchase using a sticky note
• Tiger PRIDE Reading Challenge is off to a great start!
• We have iPads and eReaders
• The book fair is coming in October!
• Can't make it to the library? Use the mobile library.
• We love scented bookmarks. The dirt scented ones are Mrs. Taz's favorite.
• We must always have a pass and sign in when we come to the library without a teacher.
• Book finding races in the library are very fun.
• Mrs. Taz can't sing.

Welcome Back! Welcome Back! Welcome Back!

Read - Write - Win!

Check out our Summer Book Club Blog!    Read one of the four Summer Book Club books and post a review to our blog OR come to our next book club meeting and you will be entered into a drawing!

The SMS Library will be OPEN Thursday July 19th from 9-3. Come in and stay awhile or just drop by to check out a book.

Want to participate in the book club? We will meet at NOON on Thursday, July 19th. Come play "Iron Chef" with us!

Summer Hours! What?

The SMS Library will be OPEN for business two days this summer. Come on in to cool off from
 9-3 and check out books, read books or magazines, play games or use the computers!