We're in the Top 50 School Library Blogs!

Thanks, Charles for this exciting news!

My name is Charles and I just wanted to let you know that the Springston School Library Blog is featured on our new and improved list of Top 50 School Library Blogs.

Since launching in 2011, our Top 50 School Library Blogs page has been viewed over 33,000 times and we wanted to update and improve it. Our page also ranks #2 in Google for "school library blogs" so it is a good way for school librarians to discover your blog.

Our updated list now displays the top school library blogs based on several website popularity metrics such as Google's Page Rank and the number of other websites that link to each blog. We also provide stats on social media engagement via Twitter followers and included a link to each school librarian's Twitter page.

Best,
Charles Sipe
Executive Editor
Teacher Certification Degrees

Winning kids over one book at a time....

We love a recent article in 'The Press', and thought you might find it food for thought as well. It's well worth the read.

What do YOU think about the need for books, libraries, and librarians these days, especially in schools? 

How often do you use a library? 

We're so lucky here at Springston to have a well-resourced library and skilled librarian.

Winning kids over one book at a time

Do you recognise these 'characters'?

Scholastic Book Reviews

During Term 2 ten of our children wrote reviews that were entered in the NZ Book Council's competition.
I was thrilled to learn in the holidays how well they did!
This is part of the email I received:

Your students have taken out all of the 5-7 category, and the 8-12 category of the review competition - a feat that is unmatched, and particularly in the 8-12 category was very strongly contested. Well done!

The winner of the 5-7 age group was Romilly, followed by Mackenzie and Bridget. 

The winner of the 8-12 age group was Haidee, followed by Georgia G, and Alice K. 

Thank you to the Book Council for the opportunity for the children to publish their reviews and to Scholastic who provide the prize packs for the first place winners and also for the books for the library for having the most entries per capita. We will certainly be entering again.

Read the reviews here:

Will and Woof   

By Tanya Warren

  

Will has a dog named Woof, Woof is Will’s dog. This book is about Will and Woof being best friends and playing together always because that’s what friends do, they do mostly everything together.

 The dog has got one white patch up above his eye. My favourite character is Woof. I like him because he does lots of stuff like catching balls. I like this book because they get in lots of games……

 My favourite part was when Woof was very happy bus! One time Woof was so naughty; he chewed Will’s new shoes. I would give it 9/10

By Romilly aged 7 years

Thea Stilton and the Ice Treasure 

By Geronimo Stilton

This book is about six mice that went to Alaska and had to travel through the snow. They met lots of new people. With them they had a dog sled. Some bad people blew up the ice. Can Thea and her sisters save the ice? 

Nicky is my favourite character because she sang with the screaming icicles and when the dogs pull Violet on the sled. 

I rate this book, 9 snowballs out of 10 and is for girls age 7+.

By Mackenzie  aged 7 years

Danni the Drum Fairy 

Written by Daisy Meadows

This book is about two girls who are friends and how they helped a fairy find her drums which were stolen by a goblin.

Rachel who is one of the main characters is brave and never gives up.

A favourite part of mine in the book was when the fairy’s magic was used to trick the goblins.

I enjoyed this book giving it eight out of ten.

It shows that working together gets things done.

Reviewed by Bridget   aged 7

 PHANTOM OF TERAWHITI

By Des Hunt

12–year–old Zac moves north to the remote Terawhiti Station off the coast of Wellington, where he fears that he might die of boredom. That is until he meets Jess, an adventurous and level-headed girl from a local town. Together they must solve the mystery of the Phantom of Terawhiti.

When a boat belonging to a Russian billionaire crashes off the coast of Wellington, the crew all seem to have escaped in a small life boat. But Zac and Jess soon find out there is more to it than that. Amongst the wreckage of the newly-beached boat, Zac and Jess find footprints, too big to belong to a dog, and a round object with teeth marks in it, along with a dog bed labelled “Tasha”. Jess and Zac soon come to the conclusion that the pet could have been, and most probably was, illegal. What would a billionaire want with an illegal animal aboard his boat?

When Zac and Jess find two suspicious men after the missing animal, and others getting curious, they must do everything in their power to protect it from people who might harm “the phantom,” or worse.

This is officially one of my all-time favourite books. I love the way this book is easy to read, but you can still see many under-laying plots that keep you on your toes. Once I started reading this book I couldn’t put it down, and if you ever read it, which I highly recommend you do, neither will you! I would recommend this book to girls and boys aged 9 to 13.

I rate this book ten out of ten!              

By Haidee

Parvana

Written by Deborah Ellis                          Reviewed by Georgia G

This book is about an Afghanistan born girl named Parvana. She lives in a one room house with her Mother, Father, big sister Nooria, little sister Maryam and little brother Ali.

Life is tough for Parvana’s family and many others, with only men being able to go out alone. The invading Taliban have told all woman to stay inside and not go out without a man. Worst of all, in all weather woman have to wear a burqa to cover up their skin.

Just days after a normal life, everything is turned upside down. For no reason, her father is taken away by the Taliban along with many of the family’s belongings leaving Parvana and her family bewildered and scared.

I really enjoyed reading “Parvana”. It kept me engaged throughout the story. I really like the way Deborah Ellis writes her books about children my age living in places where each day of their life is a struggle.

To find out more about what happens to Parvana read this book and then the sequel Parvana’s Journey and the third book in the series, Shauzia. I have read many other books she has written including The Best Day Of My Life and No Safe Place.

I would recommend this book to people who are 10+ and like interesting adventures that take you to places you never imagined you would go.If you would like to read this book it can be found in the school library.

Bow Down Shadrach

by Joy Cowley: reviewed by Alice K

I have recently read a book called ‘Bow Down Shadrach’, I really enjoyed it and am now reading the second in the series.

This is a bit about it:  

Shadrach is getting old now and his health is failing. When Hannah tries to make him do one of his old circus tricks he really hurts himself. With Shadrach hurt and his health failing Sophie and Joe, Hannah's parents, aren’t sure what to do with him next.

When Hannah is told by her parents that Shadrach is getting sent to a horse's rest home she feels that she will really miss him but it will be good for him.

The next day at school Hannah finds out with the help of her friends that the rest home that Shadrach is getting sent to, is no rest home! When Hannah arrives home she races outside to visit Shadrach, but Shadrach is nowhere to be seen, it’s too late, he’s already gone!

Hannah manages to persuade her two younger brothers to help her get Shadrach back, but without her parents help how will they manage?

I really enjoyed reading ‘Bow Down Shadrach’. It kept me intrigued throughout the book. I thought that it was a really great story to read and would recommend it for people aged around 10+ who enjoy reading horse stories.      

Libraries are not a destination...

2013 Library 'A' team

Matthew, Georgia, Molly, Alice K,
Anja, Jackson, Alice M, Haidee, Alice T,
Brooke, Annabelle, Emily

English is a crazy language!

A very clever poster - read if for yourself!

Click on the photo to see a larger version

Around the Bookshops reading link

If you're looking for some great reviews of books, we're sure you'll enjoy the Around the Bookshops blog.

Google Search Tip: Wishin' for a Definition

Use Google's definition feature to find the meaning of a word. 

Simply write the word define in your search box, followed by the word you need to find the the meaning or pronunciation of!

Does the internet make non fiction books irrelevant?

Some school libraries are moving away from purchasing non fiction books. I still believe that non fiction books are very important in a school library, especially for younger readers. But with the huge number of quality resources available online to New Zealand school students through the National Library (eg free access to Encyclopedia Britannica, newspapers, magazines), a video like this shows some of the aspects of paper books that might appear to be disadvantages.

Check with your child's teacher for the login details and password so you can access these amazing resources for free from home. I'm unable to place those details on the blog as the login details can only be used by students in New Zealand schools.

Data never sleeps!

Data Never Sleeps

Learn about data visualization tools.

My word, what a busy world! 

Do you even know what these things are: Tumblr, Instagram, Flickr, Foursquare, Wordpress, Twitter....?

What are some of the websites you use, that aren't listed here? Please tell us by leaving a comment below.

Book Review: 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' by Jeff Kinney

I think this is a very good book. It is about two boys, Greg and Rowley, they are best friends.

Greg is mischievous, sneaky and cheeky. Every day Greg’s Dad makes him go outside to do sport. But, Greg would just go to Rowley’s.

Rowley is sensible, kind and also silly. He has funny ideas. He is at an intermediate school but knows nothing more than a 7 year old. Rowley has a Dad that won’t let him play anything that is violent.

This book is about how they break up and make up.

How there is a piece of cheese on the court and nobody will go near it.

I feel happy about reviewing this book; it is a very cool book.

By Jess P (age 7)

Please read our other book reviews, found on our Shelfari Book Shelf (also found down the side of this blog).

The 100 most used words in English

Some rights reserved by surrealmuse

What do YOU think the most used word in the English language is?

No cheating.......

Add your word as a comment below. THEN take a look at the following blog post and see if you were right!

The 100 most used English words

Infowhelm and Information Fluency

I see it everywhere - information overload. We all suffer from it - with busy lives, as well as being bombarded by information from many sources - radio, tv, internet, advertising, movies, news headlines, letters, books, magazines, friends, work....


How can our children learn to manage this?  Watch this space!

NZ Book Month

March is  ...

Your librarians are trying hard to make sure all of the books on display for the whole month are written by NZ authors. We have an amazing collection for you to choose from.


Check out the window display and see which book is your teacher's favourite.

For more information about NZ Book Month, visit: www.nzbookmonth.co.nz

Be in to win!

Currently we have three competitions running;

NZ Book Council's Book review competition for this term, entries close 5th April

and a painting competition that closes on 27th March.

All you need to do is write a book review or paint a picture of your house.

As simple as that!

Get your entry forms from the library.

Remember you have to be in to win!!




The third competition is: Who's your reading superhero?

Run by the National Library, more details in the library, closes Friday 5th April 2013.

Book review competition

These are the books we won for entering the NZ Book Council Book Review competition 

World Read Aloud Day - Wednesday 6 March

Image by Catunes (Some rights reserved)

Did you know that today is 'World Read Aloud Day'?

Who are you going to read aloud to, and what book are you going to read them?

Please leave us a comment and tell us!

Competition Winner!

Late in term 4 2012 several super Springston Readers entered the NZ Book Council's book review competition.  Returning to school this year, I was delighted to learn that one of our student's entry won first prize in the 5-7  age group. Here is a picture of Rosie with two of the books that won.

Well done Rosie!

This is the book review that Rosie wrote:

Scholastic Children’s Book Review Competition Term 4 2012

Age group 5-7years

Rosie Duckworth, age 6, Springston School

Ruff and Tumble by Mary Small

I think this is the best book in the world. It is the story about two dogs- Ruff and Tumble. Ruff lives with a grumpy farmer who locks him up in his kennel day and night. Ruff is tough but he wants to escape. One day he pulls and tugs until he slips out of his collar. Away he goes into the freeness.

Tumble is a very mischief dog who lives in the city with a little old lady. He is very good at tricks and the old lady claps and feeds him with titbits. However Tumble wants to see the world and one day when the old lady goes out to get the newspaper he escapes. Both Ruff and Tumble get picked up by the police and taken to the pound where they meet and become best friends.

This is a story about meeting and becoming good friends. The dogs Ruff and Tumble are happy together but will they stay together? Read the book and find out.

AND what's more because we were the school who had the most entries, we won some books for the school!!! A fantastic effort by all those who entered. Keep a look out for new competitions:)