Back to School

The LMC is decorated with
Eric Carle colors!

Welcome to another school year at New Hampton Community School! It was a busy and productive summer here in the Library Media Center, but it sure is wonderful to see children again! Lots of new things are going on here with details to come in subsequent posts. In the meantime, everyone has had their introductory ICT (Information and Communication Technology) class and, in the next few weeks, we'll be settling back into our routine.
Open House is earlier this year - it's on September 9th. The Book Fair will be here as well! Welcome back to school!

Summer Learning

Maybe some of you kids will click on the LMC blog find this posting. Perhaps you'll wonder what it is. This summer I've been working hard to learn more about technology from the teachers at the Plymouth Writing Project. For an assignment, I made this online poster with links to some of the things we do in ICT class. It's not finished yet, but you can try it out if you want. Click around to see where the poster links can take you. Just leave me a comment below and let me know what you think of it!



One more thing: be sure to scroll down to the next post and read about summer reading. There's still plenty of time to read, you know! Is anyone is going to the summer reading program at the library? Leave a comment and tell us all about it!

Summertime - and the reading is easy...

Summer's here and it's a great time to read! The Gordon-Nash Library has its summer reading program starting soon so head on down there and check it out. Here's a list of great summer reads from the folks at Reading Rockets. Check out the videos of summer reading books at YahooKids! Borders has a program for kids' summer reading: read 10 books (any ones you like!), download and complete the form, and bring it into the store to get a free book! They're Double-Dog-Dare-ing you to do this!
Reading a good book? Tell us about it in the comment space, below. What's it about? Why do you like it? Which parts are the best and why? Do you recommend it to other summer readers?
Look over on the right in the sidebar, under the crazy analog clock. There's a poll about places to read in the summertime. What's your favorite reading spot? Vote, then see the results so far!
Have a wonderful summer of fun - and reading!

Cyberbullying

In the last weeks of school in ICT class, fourth and fifth grade students were involved in activities and discussions about online behaviors and cyberbullying. Here's the link to the information sent home with students.

Spend some time this summer with your child learning about the ways he or she uses (or wants to use!) technology. Ask questions and encourage demonstrations of knowledge and skills. Kids love to show what they know!

Social Networking and More

Thanks to the parents and students who attended last night's meeting on Facebook privacy, online safety, and cyberbullying. We had brief presentation and then lots of good discussion about the importance of (and the frustrations with) keeping our students safe online. If you missed the meeting, two of the handouts are available, here and here.

We all agreed that the internet is much different now for our children than it was even five short years ago. It takes all of us to be sure online experiences for your student are safe - and fun!

Special thank-yous to Mrs. Cook, our Guidance Councilor and to NHCS's DARE Officer Jeff Cagle for contributing their expertise to this evening. Stay tuned! More to come next year!!

Famous NH Fourth Graders

Mr. McCann's fourth graders made an iMovie of their recorded presentations about famous NH personalities. They took artwork they scanned previously and, through the magic of technology (actually, chroma editing software ), they inserted their digital drawings behind their digital selves.
Students made titles slides, then compressed their movies and saved them to their digital portfolios.
Way to go, 4Mc!

Kindergarten Paints!

In ICT class, kindergartners have been painting! Using a free paint program, they've learned about brush sizes and color selection and how to use "Magic" to fill color inside the lines.

This student made a scuba diver swimming under water. In the coming weeks, children will be drawing and painting a picture that will become the first artifact in their digital portfolios!

The program we use is called TuxPaint and it's free! You can download your own copy right here!