HAPPY HALLOWEEN

The Halloween Trivia Contest is a big success this year. There is only 1 more day left. All answers must be submitted by 3 PM on Monday, October 31st. Then names will be drawn to award Grand Prizes of Computer Games Day passes. Thank you to all who have and will participate. I hope this contest has honed your research skills. Be ready -- there may be similar contests later in the school year.

I have a special treat for 6th graders on Monday. I will visit the language arts/reading classes for a spooky story from Patrick Carman's new book, 3:15. Mr. Carman, who I met at the Anderson's Young Adult Literature Conference, combines Internet audio/visual components with his short stories. We will listen to a short audio introduction, then I will read the story, and finally we will watch the video ending online -- ALL IN 15 MINUTES! Mr. Carman combines Internet activities with most of his books to attract reluctant readers. It was fascinating to hear him talk about how he prepares both the written and Internet parts of his books. "It's like writing the book twice!"

COMPUTER GAMES DAYS START

Today was our first Friday Computer Games Day at Study. Study teachers could send students, individually or with a partner, to play CD-ROM games in the IMC. The IMC has a large variety of game CDs in its collection. All CD-ROM games are loaded on specific computers so students can sit down, double click the icon, and start playing. Partners are allowed to unplug the headphones so both gamers had listen to the soundtrack. The first Games Day is a little slow, but all attending students had a good time. Word will spread. While sports games like Madden Football and NHL hockey are always popular, other favorites include SIM City, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Battleship, and the Zoombinis. Visitors are always welcome to watch the flurry of activity. It can be crazy at the beginning of each study period, but once everyone is settled the gamers are very into their game.

HALLOWEEN TRIVIA CONTEST

The IMC announces a Halloween Trivia Contest! Answer a question -- Win a prize. There is a large can on the Fiction bookcase next to the IPAC computer that contains multiple copies of 50 questions about Halloween. All questions (and answers) were found in World Book Online. When you have the answer written on the Trivia Card, give it to Miss Hagensee. If your answer is correct, you get to pick a prize from the Witch's Cauldron. All correct answers are kept for the Grand Prize Drawing on Halloween. Grand Prize winners will receive a special pass for the IMC Computer Games Days which begin Friday, October 21st. On Games Days you and a partner at study can play one of the exciting CD-ROM computer games in the IMC collection. New games have been added. Joining old favorites like NBA Live and other sports games, The Sims, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Battleship, many Tycoon games, and I Spy games, the IMC has added Mall of America Tycoon, Sims Carnival Bumper Blast, and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? So flex up those fingers, log on to World Book Online, and answer as many different Halloween trivia questions as you want between now and Halloween Day. For more information, ask a librarian.

SHORT WEEK AHEAD

Computers were again in use all week. I had the opportunity to meet with the 6th grade language arts/reading classes to begin our introduction to Accelerated Reader, the computerized book report program we use at Lakeview. This first session concentrated on how to choose a book for an Accelerated Reader book report. Then on Friday I meet with half of the 6th grade LA/Reading classes for part 2 of the introduction. In Part 2 students learned how to log in to Accelerated Reader and how to take a quiz. Together we took the quiz for Babe, the Gallant Pig (the basis of the movie Babe about the pig which herded sheep). Students learned that at the end of the quiz the program automatically prints a TOPS Report which is given to the teacher for a grade. After the demonstration students, on their own, took the quiz for Taking Sides, a novel they just finished reading in class. If there was time students could take additional quizzes with the warning that once you take an AR quiz you cannot take that quiz again while you are Lakeview. 6th graders should be well prepared to take AR quizzes on their own. The other half of the 6th grade are coming next week Thursday for their AR introduction part 2.

Next week is a very short week with Columbus Day on Monday and a teachers' institute on Tuesday as days off school for students. But during that short week ahead computers will again be in use on Wednesday for 8th grade LA and on Thursday for a variety of classes including 6th grade LA/Reading, a music class, and an 8th grade LA class. The laptops will be in 7th grade science on Wednesday and Thursday also.