Media matters, Vol. 4, Issue 3 (Oct. 2005)

October 2005 Volume 4, Number 3

Georgia Department of Education

Media Matters
A monthly newsletter for people who love library media programs

Politics, Arabic, and Killers, oh my!

We're not in Kansas anymore . . .

We're at GHP!"

Marianne Chapman Feagin Mill Middle Houston County

This quote from a tee-shirt designed by the "Soc Studs" (Social Studies majors) at GHP 2005 accurately sums up my feelings about my GHP experience this past summer. I felt like I was in a totally different environment. It was one made up entirely of extremely talented students who truly wanted to learn, and dedicated, innovative instructors all having access to state-of-the-art university learning facilities. Added to this was a belief by the GHP administration in the importance of educational research, and a commitment to include it in every GHP area. I truly felt like "Dorothy" who was embarking on the most exciting experience of my professional career.
I knew things were going to be different from the beginning. I was excited when I was included in the department chair meeting in March. When the head of the math department was the first one to talk to me about library orientation and research projects, I was ecstatic! All the department chairs- from visual, performing, and communication arts to foreign languages and science to executive management and agriculture- were interested in incorporating research into their curriculum areas and making use of the excellent information resources available at Valdosta State University.
(continued on page 2)

Inside this issue:

Governor's Honors 2 (continuation)

Celebrate reading in 3 your community

Georgia Authors

3

Digital Library of

4

Georgia

Helen Ruffin Reading 5 Bowl

Reading Posters

6

October Calendar

7

Kathy Cox teaching a class at GHP. Photo by David Thomas.

Page 2

Media Matters

Governor's Honors...continued from page 1.
I was truly amazed and thrilled by the creativity and ingenuity of these talented educational professionals and their eagerness to collaborate with me.

The university library staff members were very cordial and helpful. Cliff Landis, a VSU research librarian and GHP alumnus, gave me a guided tour of the Odum Library the week before GHP began. Since it had been a long time since I had been in a "well-stocked" academic library, used microfilm, or dealt with the Library of Congress classification system, Cliff's assistance was invaluable.

The most enthralling part of the summer was working with the GHP students. I honestly marveled at the talent, drive, and discipline I saw. Because music has always been an important part of my life, the musical talent of students playing every instrument in the orchestra overwhelmed me. Added to that were gifted voice and dance majors. Then there were students like the Social Studies major who excitedly asked me to photocopy the cover of the January 1910 issue of Scientific American depicting seamen practicing escape techniques from a submerged submarine. This was a perfect fit for his project about the activity of German submarines in World War I. Or the student who was ecstatic about being able to read first-person accounts of the War of 1812 in an 1812 newspaper. It was such a joy to work with students who were excited about learning and weren't embarrassed to show their enthusiasm.

Much of the overall success of GHP and the high regard for research skills and library use were due to the efforts of the administration. Dr. Joe Searles, GHP director, and Dale Lyles, assistant program director and Coweta County media specialist, were strong in their support. Their direction and enthusiasm motivated us all. This was truly one of the most fantastic professional experiences I've ever had. I definitely want to continue the "GHP experience" next year!

To read more about Governor's Honors go to: http://admin.doe.k12.ga.us/gadoe/blogs/ghpblog.nsf/DailyBlog

Volume 4, Number 3

Page 3

From the Library of Congress webpage
Celebrate Reading in Your Community
http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/celebrate.html
Open your school library in the evening and invite teachers and parents to read from their favorite books.
Start a DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) program.
Post a daily trivia question in the library and encourage everyone to use the library's collection to find the answer.
Create a poetry pillar where everyone can write his or her poem.
Develop a reading challenge project that is complete with a distinctive symbol for the books that are read. For example, the symbol might be a silhouette of your school mascot, a distinctive architectural feature at your school, or a notable building in your community, and that symbol could be displayed in the library or throughout the school.
Develop a "kids recommend" section in the library. One way to attract attention would be to take library titles that have been rebound in plain covers and have kids read those books, then make new illustrated covers and write jacket blurbs for these "kid recommendations."

Georgia Authors 2002: A Reference Work
Compiled by Louise S. White and members of the Georgia Library Association.
This Web site has a comprehensive list of Georgia authors. You may have seen this list before, but now it is available online.
http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/GeorgiaReferenceShelf/GeorgiaAuthors2002.html?Welcome

Page 4

Media Matters

Page 5

The Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Barbara Hallstrom

Media Matters

Mrs. Helen Ruffin was the library media specialist at Sky Haven Elementary School in DeKalb County, Georgia in 1985 and served on the selection committee for the Georgia Children's Book Award nominee program. Mrs. Ruffin says, "The purpose of this list of books is to foster a love of reading in the children of Georgia and to introduce Georgia's students to a collection of books worthy of receiving an award for excellence."
In order to inspire her students to become lifelong readers, Mrs. Ruffin created a unique reading competition in game format using the award nominees. She called the new game the Reading Bowl.
Her vision was to have teams comprised of students from different schools participate in friendly competition to test their knowledge of the selected books. Her colleagues in DeKalb soon heard of her Reading Bowl and wanted to continue Helen's idea. DeKalb County teacher-librarians began the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl in 1999.
In 2003, the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl became the Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. High school students who had participated in their elementary and middle school reading bowls wanted to compete at the high school level. The Georgia Book Award Nominees are intended for grades 4-8 and a need arose for a comparable list for teens.
Mrs. Kathleen Woods, Teacher-Librarian at Columbia High School and Mary Nevil, Teacher-Librarian at Knollwood spearheaded the push for such a list for teens. The teen book award nominees are The Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers. The committee of public and school librarians has compiled a list of 20 outstanding books for high school-aged students to consider for the annual Georgia Peach Award for Teen Readers. The committee is comprised of Co-chairs Kathleen Woods, DeKalb County Library Media Specialist and Bobby Morgan, Consultant for Children, Parents, and Family Literacy with the Georgia Public Library Services, Sharon Deeds, Ginny Collier, Sadie Mattox, DeKalb Public Libraries, Julie Hatcher of Mill Creek High School, Linda Kilburn, Sequoyah Regional Library System, and Judy Serritella, Georgia Department of Education Coordinator of Library Media Services.
Today, the Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl is open to students in grades four through twelve across the state.
The DeKalb County School's Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Committee continues play a leadership role in this endeavor. As soon as the school term is over, the Reading Bowl Steering Committee meets and each member is assigned titles from both lists of award nominees. Each member then prepares 20 questions for each book read. The questions are then given to a third party to randomize for the county, regional and final state competitions. The members of this committee are: Anne R. Beard, Betty Beasley, Eden Clark, John Conti, Joyce Dedeaux, Rosalind Dennis, Gwen Green, Karen Gurty, Barbara Hallstrom, Jeffery Hansen, Melinda Morin, Mary Nevil, Evelyn Smith, Wendy Smith, Mary Etta Thomas, and Kathleen Woods.

Volume 4, Number 3

Page 6

Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl, continued from page 4
The state competition of the Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl has grown to include a northern and a southern regional reading bowl. The 2006 Northern and Southern Regional Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowls will be held on March 11, 2006 at Carrollton High School, Carrollton, Georgia and at Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia.

The state championship Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl is held in Athens, Georgia during the Georgia Children's Literature Conference. The 2006 finals of the Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl will take place on Saturday, April 22nd at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.

The state steering committee for the Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl is made up of the following members:
Barbara Hallstrom Co-Chair GLMA, Stephen Williams C0-Chair GAE, Mary Thomas, Donna Milner, Karen Gurty, Anne Wallace, Ernest Brown, Rosalind Dennis, Mary Nevil, Kathleen Woods, and Janice Sly. The state committee is ably assisted by the dedicated DeKalb HRRB team of Betty Beasley, Eden Clark, Joyce Dedeaux, Gwen Green, Melinda Morin, Evelyn Smith, Ed.D. and Wendy Smith.

The Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl is sponsored by GAE, GLMA, Follett Library Resources, and is a partner of the Georgia Book Awards Program.

For further information you may either visit the web site of the Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl: http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/hrrb/dekalb.html or contact Barbara Hallstrom at Barbara_K_Hallstrom@fc.dekalb.k12.ga.us. or contact Stephen Williams at swilliams@rcs.rome.ga.us, or Donna Milner at donnamilner@yahoo.com

Helen Ruffin says, "Students who read become adults who lead."

I had already planned a bulletin board with the Georgia Read More posters before I got the full-sized ones. (My kids and my teachers love it.) The checkerboard spots that aren't "famous" people are my principal, vice-principal, cafeteria manager, nurse, etc.
Thanks to:
Christina Badowski New Mountain Hill Elementary Fortson, Georgia

Sunday

October 2005
GaDOE Library Media Services

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday
1
Birthday ofJimmy Carter: 1924-

2
Birthday of Gandhi: 18691948

3

4

5

6

7

8

Birthday of

Ann Rice's birth- Birthday ofChest- Le Corbusier

James Whitcomb R.L. Stine's birth-

Thomas Wolfe: day: 1941-

er A. Arthur:

born: 1887-1965 Riley born: 1849- day: 1943-

1900-1938

Julia Cunningham 1830-1886

1916

James Herriot

born: 1916-

born: 1916-1995

9

10

11

12

Washington Monu- James Marshall Birthday ofElean-

1492

ment opened:

born: 1942-1992 or Roosevelt:

1 88 8

Pledge of Allegiance written:

1884-1962

Columbus Day!

1892

13

14

15

Arna Bontemps Birthday ofLois Birthday ofFrederborn: 1902-1973 Lenski: 1893-1974 ick Nietzche: e e cummings born: 1844-1900 1 89 4-1 96 2
P eace Corps established: 1960

16

17

18

Noah Webster Arthur Miller's

born: 1758-1843 birthday: 1915-

Oscar Wilde's

2005

birthday: 1854-

1900

Susan Jeschke born: 1942-

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20

21

22

Ed Emberley's birthday: 1931-
Edison demonstrates electric light: 1879

John Dewey born: Ursuala LaGuin Cuban Missile

1859-1952

and Samuel

Crisis: 1962

Mickey Mantle's Taylor Coleridge

birthday: 1931- born.

1995

23
Michael Crichton born: 1942-

24
Anton von Leeuwenhoek born: 1632-1723

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Anne Tyler's birthday: 1941-
Picasso's birthday: 1881-1973

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Red Cross established: 1863
Steven Kellogg's birthday: 1941-

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Birthday ofSylvia Plath: 1932-1963
Dylan Thomas born: 1914-1953

Columbus Stock Market lands on crashes: 1929 Cuba: 1492

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Ezra Pound born: 1885-1972

John Keats born: 1795-1821
Katherine Paterson born: 1932-

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We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading. B.F. Ski nner