Friday, December 30, 2016

What The New Year Will Bring In the Mountain Meadow...

Mountain Meadow Book Sale


We are always looking for ways to provide the best resources for our students.  Michelle Urton will be collecting donations (books can be dropped off in the office) and holding a book sale on Fridays.  Each book will be a dollar and the money
raised will go towards buying new titles for our library.  

OBOB 2017


Starting in January our OBOB team of readers will start battles for our school championships.  These battles will determine who will go to regionals.  Our 3-5th grade team will battle on March 18th at Boones Ferry Primary School (Wilsonville). The 6th-8th team’s location and dates are yet to be determined.


Usborne Book Fair


During the week of February 6th we will be hosting an Usborne and Kane Miller Book Fair in the Media Center.   

Usborne and Kane Miller books are the most exciting, engaging, and educational books on the market today. They are high quality, innovative, lavishly-illustrated and best of all they are the books kids love to read. Choose from almost 2000 bright colorful and fun titles covering a wide variety of
subjects.



E-Portfolio Work And Google Drive Apps


Screenshot (8).pngOur Cedar students will be working on their web designs for their portfolios.
Their websites will soon be up and running for all to see.  
Our Alders will continue to hone their technology skills in becoming savvy in using the different Google Apps for their ongoing projects.  


New Resources


 Don’t forget that you can check out our newest book titles by going to http://mralibrary.blogspot.com/ and clicking on our Alexandria Card Catalog.  Our Trillium through Clarkia would love your participation in helping them find “right fit” books.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Week Full Of Learning

Trillium Learning:

What is an illustrator and what job do they have to make a book come alive?  This was the question we pondered this week.  We discovered the illustrator, Matthew Myers and a few of the books he has illustrated.
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Huckleberry Learning:

We continued to discover how to unlock information through using text elements such as a Table of Contents, an Index, a Glossary, and photos.  We read a story written by a real astronaut, Chris Hadfield and how he overcame his fear of the dark to become a commander on the Internation Space Station.  This is an adorable book with great illustrations and a cute pug named Albert to interest every reader no matter your age.

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Clarkia Learning:


They are quickly becoming experts on the Dewey Decimal System, thanks to the Melvil Dewey rap and our memory game.

Alder Learning:

The Alders have been studying how to make campaign materials and have been divided into different politcal parties to do research for different debate topics.  They have worked hard to be creative in their flyers, posters, bumper stickers, lawn signs, and advertisments.














Cedar Learning:

Cedars are becoming experts on web design and working hard on putting together their E-Portfolios.



Monday, November 28, 2016

"Know Thyself"


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Reflection is an essential part of learning at MRA.  A student portfolio tells a story of a student's growth in learning.

This year we would like to introduce our Cedars to creating E-portfolios.

The Cedars discussed and discovered this past week how portfolio reflections benefit personal growth and learning:


1)  It  improves understanding of  yourself as a student and the subjects covered.
2)  It helps engage and motivates learners, both individually and as part of a community.
3)  It can  be personalized to our different learning strengths.

Our wordles made to define the benefits of porfolios:




Saturday, November 12, 2016

In the Media Center This Week...

Our Cedar students are continuing to practice their email writing etiquette skills.  We have drafted and formulated emails to Molalla businesses to see if they would like to support MRA through buying our Holiday Greens and Wreaths.  This project was mainly to give our Cedars hands on experience in being professional but we have been rewarded with a couple of responses to our emails which gives us a sense of importance.

Our Alder students are learning how to best organize their emails through learning about gmail's system of labels, filters, and organizations.  They now have folders for each of their teachers and have developed filters for those emails to go directly into the designated folders.

The Clarkia are working hard to maintain their 90% accuracy goal in typing and increasing their speed.  They have worked hard to memorize the homerow keys and correct finger placement.  They are also working on learning different genres of literature with a focus on biographies.  We started reading a great biography on Sacagawea.











The Huckleberries are learning the ways they can unlock information by using text elements.  Finding information about the planet Earth was easy when we looked in the index and found the page numbers, along with remembering that just as we use our index finger to point to things we want, like cookies in the grocery store, a book's index can help direct us to information quickly.








The Trillium are learning the different parts of a book and the information we find on the front cover, spine, and back cover.  We learned about the important job of an author and read about Mo Willems and read one of our favorite Elephant and Piggy books, "We Are In A Book".

Sunday, October 30, 2016

A Treasure Full Of Books

Congratulations MRA!  You exceeded our goal of 500 books sold.  We sold a total of 636 books.  Thank you so much for your support.  This will add at least 50 more new book titles to our Mountain Meadow Media Center.  We were given $132 in donations to All Books in which the Scholastic Possible Fund matches every donation, up to $1 million in books, received through the program and distributes them to children in need through organizations such as Kids In Need Foundation, Reader to Reader, Inc., and the National Center for Families Learning.


Sunday, October 23, 2016

Book Fair-This Week!

Please stop by our Scholastic Book Fair this week.  Open before and after school, in the WildWoods Gym.  This helps support new books for our library.  Thank you.  

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Hoax or No Hoax?

The Cedars have been exploring what makes a website authentic.  We have had some fun exploring websites trying to determine if they are a hoax or if they are real.  The Cedars have used online comprehension strategies and answered questions to determine if this site is authentic.  What do you think?  We would love for you to try out the link and discover if the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus is indeed an endangered species!  http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/ 


Sunday, October 9, 2016

Book Talks


With so many books in the world it's hard to know what to read next or what might spark an interest.  This year at MRA we are letting students lead the way to the next great read.  The Alders did a great job in sharing "A Hook", something that grabs the readers attention, and "A Quick Look", a summary without giving too much away about irresistible books.  Please come have a look at their top picks in our Media Center.  
 Nathan sharing about  a great adventure and mystery series:  Alex Rider

Evie sharing about the new  mysterious and thrilling Miss Peregrine series!  
A captured audience as Libby shares "I am Princess X".


Sunday, October 2, 2016

So, Sad...



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We are saddened to hear that Mo Willems wrote his last Elephant and Piggie book in the series.  We read, laughed, asked a zillion questions, and loved our time with this book this week.

Here's an excerpt from Publishers Weekly article from Mo Willems:

“Twenty-five is a lot. I guess if you don’t know how to read by now you never will,” Willems wisecracked. “But seriously, I knew from the beginning that Elephant & Piggie would be my life’s work. The part I have enjoyed the most is where they stopped being my invention and I could just put them in a position – say, have a snake show up – and they would essentially write the story for me without being bombastic or difficult like the pigeon.”

We are anxiously awaiting Willems new book in which the artwork is all done with cut paper.  

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If you are looking for a good read aloud for your family I would encourage you to try it.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Book Hunts and Role Plays

This week our Trillium through Clarkia students worked at finding "right fit" books.  Ms. Blythe took one of our favorite books, "We Are Going On A Book Hunt" by Pat Miller and created a rhythmic chant for us to experience the wonder of the library.  We practiced using our "Five Finger Rule" along with all our book hunt steps.

"Now it's time to choose a good-fit book
You can't read a hard one
You don't want an easy one
So, we'll use our fingers
Miss a word, up, stop at five"  


Image result for images for five finger rule for right fit book

Please ask your child if they remember the chant.  It's a fun and catchy way to remember proper book picking strategies.  





Our digital citizens are working hard in creating pieces of work to share with the MRA student body on good online behavior.  Here is a sample of a few.




Sunday, September 18, 2016

Citizenship and Books We Love!


 In all our media classes we have been learning the importance of becoming a honorable digital citizen.  Jory C.  described the internet as "a place where the world of information is at your computer without leaving your house".  With this in mind we know we have to be careful with that much information.  We have learned through role plays and discussions how to stay safe online, how to stand up to cyberbullying, how to keep personal information private, and  to find a trusted adult when you encounter something that makes your uncomfortable.  Our Alders and Cedars will be performing short skits to share with the Clarkia students by modeling good online behavior.  Please click on the links on the right side of this blog entry to find out more of how you can help your student learn about online safety.  

All our students have been working on finding the right fit books.  Our "Books We Love" bulletin board is filling up with great titles of books that our MRA students want to share with others.  Please remember to help remind your students to bring their library books back on their library day.  Thank you.  






Sunday, September 11, 2016

Digital Citizenship and Internet Agreement Form

This week, all computer classes (3rd-8th grade) had discussions and lessons on how to be a good digital citizen.  We discussed how to keep personal information personal, how to manage your time wisely on media, how to stand up to cyberbullying, how to manage our digital footprints, how to find a trusted adult, and posting appropriately.  If you haven’t already, please read through our internet agreement form with your student and sign and return to me by Monday, September 12th.  Thank you.  



MOLALLA RIVER ACADEMY INTERNET AGREEMENT

The Internet is an electronic highway connecting thousands of computers all over the world and millions of individual subscribers. The key concept underlying the Internet is interconnectivity; something that will allow administrators, teachers, and more importantly students to access an unparalleled array of communication and information resources. Students and teachers have access to general Internet tools including, but not limited to: electronic mail (e-mail); and Listservs; various search engines; and the World Wide Web.  These electronic search tools enable students and teachers to:  
  • communicate with people all over the world.  
  • access information and news from various governmental agencies and research
institutions.
  • join discussion groups on a plethora of topics.
  • access University Library Catalogs, the Library of Congress, etc..
With access to people all over the world also comes the availability of material that may not be considered to be of educational value in the context of the school setting.
On a global network it is impossible to control all materials and an industrious user may discover controversial information. We strongly believe, however, that the valuable information and interaction available on this worldwide network far outweighs the possibility that users may procure material that is not consistent with the educational goals of MRA.
Internet access is coordinated through a complex association of governmental agencies and regional state networks. In addition, the smooth operation of the network relies upon the proper conduct of end users who must adhere to the following guidelines listed under Internet terms and conditions. These guidelines are provided here so that you are aware of the responsibility you are about to acquire. In general, this requires efficient, ethical and legal utilization of the network resources. If a Molalla River Academy user violates any of these provisions his or her account will be terminated and future access can be denied. The signature at the end of this document is legally binding and indicates the party who signed it has read the terms and conditions carefully and understands the significance.  Moreover, misuse of the internet or school network, may result in disciplinary referral to the Executive Director.
Molalla River Academy will require all parents/guardians, teachers, and students to execute the release-user agreement based on the guidelines listed under the following Internet terms and conditions.
Internet - Terms and Conditions:
  1. Acceptable Use - The purpose of the Internet and the school network is to support research and education in and among academic institutions by providing access to unique resources and the opportunity for collaborative work. The use of your account(s) must be in support of education and research and consistent with the educational objectives of Molalla River Academy. Use of another organization's network or computing resources must comply with the rules appropriate for that network. Transmission of any material in violation of United States or state regulation is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to: copyrighted material, threatening or obscene material, expressions of bigotry, racism, or hate, or material produced by trade secret. Use of commercial activities is generally not acceptable. Use of product advertisement or political lobbying is also prohibited.

  1. Privileges - The use of the Internet is a privilege, not a right, and inappropriate use will result in a cancellation of those privileges. Each student who receives an account will be responsible for that account and its usage. Therefore, under no circumstances should your account be shared with anyone other than your teacher. The Teacher or Executive Director will deem what is inappropriate use and their decision is final. This may result in a revocation or suspension of specific user accounts.

  1. Network Etiquette -You are expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of network etiquette. These include, but are not limited to the following:

    • Be polite. Do not get abusive in your messages to others.
    • Use appropriate language. Do not swear, use vulgarities or any other inappropriate language.    Illegal activities are strictly forbidden.
    • Do not reveal your personal address or telephone number.
    • Note that electronic mail (e-mail) is not guaranteed to be private. People who operate the system do have access to all mail. Messages relating to or in support of illegal activities may be reported to the authorities.
    • Do not use the network in such a way that you would disrupt the use of the network by other users. All communication and information accessible via the network should be assumed to be property of Molalla River Academy
  1. Security - Security on any computer system is a high priority, especially when the system involves many users. If you encounter a security problem on the school network, you must notify an MRA staff member. Do not demonstrate the problem to other users.  Attempts to log onto the school network or any other authorized locations as a system administrator will result in cancellation of user privileges. Any user identified as a security risk or having a history of problems with other computer systems may be denied access to the Internet and the school network.

  1. Vandalism - Vandalism will result in cancellation of privileges. Vandalism is defined as any malicious attempt to harm or destroy data of another user, Internet, or any of the above listed agencies or other networks that are connected to the Internet. This includes, but is not limited to, the uploading or creation of computer viruses.

6.    Email and Internet Use Safety Agreement:

  • I will not give out personal information such as my home address, parental information, or
school name or location without the permission of my teacher.
  • I will immediately notify my teacher if I come across any information that makes me feel
awkward.
  • I will never get together with someone I have “met” on-line without first getting my parents’ and
teacher’s permission. If they agree, I will still bring an adult with me.
  • I will never forward my picture or anything else without first getting my teacher’s approval.
  • I will not return any messages that are inappropriate or make me feel uncomfortable. If I receive
a message like this, I will notify my teacher.

The following activities are illegal, and I will not willingly participate in them:
  • Gaining unauthorized access to any place I am not supposed to be.
  • Disrupting any computer system.
  • Contributing to help spread electronic viruses.
  • Engaging in any illegal activity on-line.

I am aware that any on-line correspondence I send is a reflection of my school and myself.
  • My messages will be short, courteous, and to the point.
  • I will not use obscene language, engage in personal or discriminatory attacks, or post false or
misleading information about individuals or organizations.

I will not access, download, or distribute:
  • Any pornographic, obscene, or sexually explicit materials.
  • Inappropriate information or graphics.


These policies and procedures must be adhered to, and any violation of them will be met with zero tolerance.

  • Students must abide by their signed contracts.
  • The use of the computer is a privilege, not a right.
  • If this contract is broken, the student’s privilege will be revoked.

I have read the “Student Internet Contract” above. By signing below, I fully agree with and understand the contents of this contract. If I breach any rules, I understand my Internet and computer privileges may be revoked.





Name (please print)_________________________________________________________
Signature___________________________________________Date:__________________

PARENT OR GUARDIAN As the parent or guardian of this student, I have read the Internet Use Agreement. I understand that this access is designed for educational purposes. However, I also recognize it is impossible for Molalla River Academy to restrict access to all controversial materials and I will not hold them responsible for materials my child may acquire on the network. Further, I accept full responsibility for supervision if and when my child's use is not in a school setting. I hereby give permission to Molalla River Academy to issue an account for my child as needed.


Parent/Guardian's Name (please print):_________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian's Signature____________________________________________Date:________________________

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Welcome Letter

Welcome to MRA’s Mountain Meadow Media Center
September 6, 2016

Dear MRA Families,

I would like to welcome you and your students to a new school year! I hope you were able to read some good books this past summer. I was able to get in a lot of fun reading with my own children. I am looking forward to creating an environment for a passion and love for books and resources.

I encourage you to come and wander around our media center and look at our “BOOKS WE LOVE…” bulletin board. This will be a place where students can recommend their top reads to other students.

I am excited to see that our library collection has grown and is growing. With that in mind I want to make sure that we continue to respect the gifts of books we have been given. The students will be challenged to understand that our media center is a special collection of resources and requires care from all users. We will be focusing on how to locate and access many different digital/print resources. They will be using the information they gather in their classroom and personal projects. I hope you will partner with me in helping our students become responsible learners.

The students (K-8thth) will have a media center time each week and will be allowed to check out 1-4 books depending on age and responsibility shown. They have two weeks to read and enjoy their books. After that time if they have not returned their overdue books they will not be able to check out another until those are returned. If a book becomes lost or damaged (accidents happen) please let me know. Then a fee will be issued to replace the book unless we can come to another agreement.

Media Center Times
Trillium: Tuesdays
Huckleberry: Fridays
Clarkia: Tuesdays
Alders: Mon-Thurs.
Cedars: Mon.-Tues and Thur.-Fri.

I am looking forward to a great year and thank you for your support. Let me know if you have any questions.


Happy Reading!
Mrs. Quinlan
MRA Media Specialist/Garden Coordinator
http://mralibrary.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

New School Year...New Titles

Welcome to the 2016-17 school year!  One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to preview, review, and select new books for our media center.  We add every Oregon Battle of the Books title to our collection each year and a selection of genres that will hopefully hit every interest level.  Here are our newest selections.




Here is our current Media Center schedule. 

Trillium:  Tuesdays 10:35-11:00
Huckleberry:  Thursdays 10:35-11:30
Clarkia:  Tuesdays 1:30-2:30
Alder's Media Center Time:  Mon-Thursday 9:15-10:00
Cedar's Media Center Time:  Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 12:15-1:00  



 Please remember to help your student remember his or her library book.  They have two weeks to enjoy their book but will not be able to check out until they bring their books back.  Please check back as I will be posting updates and our Internet Agreement form which must be filled out prior to our computer classes. 

I am looking forward to a great year of reading and media projects.   

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Wrap Up

We are 77% of the way to meeting our goal for our book fair.  Tomorrow, Monday, June 6th is our last day for the fair to be open.  Please stop by and help us reach our goal.  We had a great turn out for our Doughnuts for Dudes event.  Thank you to all who helped support our goal.

We also had a good number sign up for the Molalla Library Summer Reading Program.  If you haven't had a chance to sign up please take time to stop by the library.  It's a great program with fun incentives.

ALL MRA LIBRARY BOOKS ARE DUE BY MONDAY.      If books are not returned by Monday, a bill will be sent out to replace our missing books.  Thank you for understanding.


Monday, May 23, 2016

Summer Reading

Image result for summer reading images
On Friday, June 3rd we will kick off our summer reading program.  The Molalla Public Library will be at our Doughnuts for Dudes event where parents and students can sign up and check out the activities and incentives to participate.  Our MRA teachers have summer reading lists to encourage your child to read to their goal.   You can click here to see more information:  Molalla Summer Reading Program

We will also have the book fair open for business.  Remember our goal is to sell 560 books to help fund new titles for our Mountain Media Center.  



Sunday, May 15, 2016

Please Check Out Our Online Book Fair




Our online book fair is now open.  Please stop by and take a look.



We are also looking for volunteers to help run our book fair.  Please click on the following link to sign up.  Thank you.


http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daaa62da5f94-2016

Friday, April 29, 2016

Bringing New Books Into Our Library


Our biggest fund raiser is our book fairs.  Our budget is very small for our library and keeping engaging books is a must to help maintian reading intersts.  We want to be able to provide Oregon Battle of Books to our students as well as new titles to keep reading interests alive.  At this point, our goal is to afford new books for the fall.  Please consider being a part of our fair.  We need volunteers as well as help spreading the word.  You can start shopping online on May 10th.  A great way to encourage your student to read for our Summer Reading Program.  Thank you.  

Scholastic Book Fair at MRA
Online Shopping:  May 10th-May 31st
Book Fair opens:  May 31st- June 7th in the Wildwoods Gym

Click Here To Find Out More





Thursday, April 14, 2016

Coding

Even though we have been busy taking the Smarter Balance test,  some of our students have been able to start a new coding project in between our test taking.  The Cedars and 6th graders are learning how to write using Java Script for a Star Wars game.  They have been designing ways to navigate BB8 and R2D2 through obstacles to pick up scrap metal.  The 5th graders are learning the beginnings of creating an algorithm to create a program that will help them learn to collaborate with others and develop problem-solving skills.




Saturday, April 9, 2016

Smarter Balance Schedule


Week of April 11th-15th
Language Arts Performance Task-Alders





Week of April 18th-22nd
Testing for Alders and Clarkia




Week of April 25th-29th