Looking for YA Books with Black Female Protagonists?

Here's a great convo via Twitter that lists great books with Black Female Protagonists. Check them out. Sorry, no urban drama here, just fantasy, romance, sci-fi and more!

Poetry Out Loud

Poetry Out Loud via kwout

Attention Teacher: It's that time again. If you have students who would like to compete for up to $50,000 in scholarship money then send them to the Media Center to sign up for Poetry Out Loud. Rules can be found at the web site where they will need to pick two poems.

Download the Teacher's Guide Here. 

They were Black?

How Stuff Works, just did a fantastic article on lineage where they listed 10 People You Probably Didn't Know Were Black. How about the author of the Count of Monte Cristo? Soledad O'Brien? Check out where history meets the one-drop rule.

HowStuffWorks "10 People You Probably Didn’t Know Were Black" via kwout

Out of Skin

Anime club will resume in the Spring, but for all of you Comic Book buffs, why don't you whet your appetites for all the new graphic novel orders with a few web comics. Out of Skin is fantastic.

OUT OF SKIN Part I via kwout

Poetry Out Loud

Get Ready! This year's Poetry Out Loud competition will be held towards the end of January. The holiday break is a great time to practice. Here are the rules:

Student Eligibility

• Grade Level: Only currently enrolled  students in grades 9-12 are eligible, with an exception made for 8th-grade students participating in a 9th- through 12th-grade class.

• Citizenship: Competitors at the state and national finals must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents with a valid tax identification or Social Security number. Tax identification or Social Security numbers are required to receive prizes, including cash payments or travel awards. Students are responsible for verifying their eligibility.

• State Finals: A student may not advance to the state finals without competing in a lower-level competition. 

Poem Eligibility

• Poem Anthology: All poems must be selected from the Poetry Out Loud print or online anthology, which is updated every summer. Check the website after September 1, 2013, to view the official POL anthology for the current school year.

• Can’t Find a Poem? Poems may be removed from the online anthology before September 1, 2013. These poems are no longer eligible for competition, unless they are in the print anthology.

• Poem Criteria: At the state and national finals, students must have 3 poems prepared. One must be 25 lines or fewer, and one must be written before the 20th century. The same poem may be used to meet both criteria, and may be the student’s third poem.  More information...

Here is the video of last year's winner:

Parent-Student Book Club

It’s common knowledge that reading to a child helps them perform better in school. Bedtime stories become treasured childhood memories, but at some point we stop reading to our kids and we lose something in that. Gain it back by reading and discussing books with your Teen. You’ll have an opportunity to see how they think, offer advice and insight, and the best part is, it’s fun!

Check out these titles that can be read together and then check out our list of companion titles.

Companion Titles are books that are similar in theme and content so you can share new things with your reading partner.

Single Titles

Freakonomics by: Steven D. Leavitt (330 LEV)

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? How much do parents really matter? Leavitt studies the riddles of everyday life—from cheating and crime to parenting and sports—and reaches conclusions that turn conventional wisdom on its head.

After you’ve read: Discuss whether the research seems to be true. What would you like to dig deeper into if you had the time?

Letters to a Young Sister by Hill Harper (170.8.4 GLA)

Each chapter is a letter beginning with an uplifting quote and post-scripted with a question posed via email (the formatting is lifted whole) and answered by a famous, successful woman like Nikki Giovanni, Michelle Obama, Ruby Dee and Eve. Writing in a conversational style, Harper focuses on a variety of different issues loosely grouped into topics like blues, love, family relationships, saving money and appreciating life (though not overly religious, Harper isn't shy with his beliefs).

After you’ve read: Discuss what issues girls that you know go through. How can the advice you’ve read help. Did any of the essays miss the mark?

Fences by: August Wilson (812 WIL)

The protagonist of Fences (part of Wilson’s ten-part “Pittsburgh Cycle” plays), Troy Maxson, is a strong man, a hard man. He has had to be to survive. But the1950s are yielding to the new spirit of liberation in the 1960s... a spirit that is changing the world Troy Maxson has learned to deal with the only way he can...a spirit that is making him a stranger, angry and afraid, in a world he never knew and to a wife and son he understands less and less.

After you’ve read: Discuss how pressures of the world can affect family life? Are there any pressures outside the home in politics or society affecting your home life?

Research Projects Galore

Projects can be fun or a pain, depending on whether or not you get to really choose how to present. Well, shout out to Dr. Hoover, because her classes are free to choose how they present for this semester's research projects. Now comes the hard part: putting the thing together.

Fear nor, dear student!

Video tutorials are here to save the day. Check out this tutorial for Weebly and all the others I've listed below.

Weebly -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBdOgTj7x7o

We Video for Movie Making -https://vimeo.com/76524487

Using Prezi - https://vimeo.com/55370245

Using Audacity for Podcasting - https://vimeo.com/53078599

If you're interested in more, check out our Vimeo page via the link on the right side of the page.