FMCS Library Media Center

Tall Tale

2011-12-09T11:47:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

2011-03-02T13:59:00.000-05:00

Miss Shrader's hat says, "Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss"

Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to the world as Dr. Seuss would have been 107 years old today.
Some quick facts about Mr. Geisel:

He published children's books under three different pen names: Dr. Seuss, Theo Lesieg (Geisel spelled backwards.), and one book as Rosetta Stone.
His first book, And to Think that I saw it on Mulberry Street, was rejected over 20 times before it was finally published.
His middle name, Seuss, that he used for his pen name rhymes with rejoice. Later he changed the pronunciation to Seuss to rhyme with moose because Mother Goose stories were so comforting to children.

My Favorite book, by Maddie L., 5th grade

2011-02-14T08:40:00.002-05:00

Do you have a favorite book? I do. It's called The Great Good Thing by Roderick Townley. I love the part when Claire reads the book. Sylvie is the princess in the book. Claire and Sylvie became best friends.

You couldn't stop reading this book. I don't know how my mom got me to stop reading. This book is a page turner. It makes you feel like the characters are alive.

When Claire starts to dream about Sylvie and her friends they crossover into Claire's head. I really love when Claire got old and died. But Lilly, Claire's daughter, started dreaming about them.

I also like when Sylvie and everyone else crossover to Lilly's mind. Lilly rewrites the book, The Great Good Thing. The weird part is no one ever knew who originally wrote The Great good Thing. Claire's grandmother wrote it.

I would recommend this book to everyone, because it is such a fun book about two girls' lives. I hope you read it. I also hope you enjoy it too. I loved this book and you will too.

Review by Maddie L., fifth grade student, Fort Myers Christian School
Accelerated Reader: YES!
Reading Level: 4.4
Quiz Number: 51863
Points: 4.0

My Favorite Book, by Lauren H., 5th grade

2011-02-07T07:00:00.004-05:00

This book is from a series and it's just really cool! My favorite book sis Brian's Return by Gary Paulsen. Brian goes back to the wild. Why? Picture this: A bully hurts your friends, and you try to defend them, but the bully goes to the hospital and you get blamed.

This book was awesome and kept me reading because Brian goes on an adventure. The author did an excellent and phenomenal job at writing this book. The part that made me read the fastest was when a deer jumped in Brian's canoe. Brian was really confused when all of the sudden a deer jumped out and flipped his canoe. Then Brian was soaked and startled.

This book was very adventurous. Brian meets with a bear while he's on the shore. The bear starts threatening Brian, but nothing bad happens. Another time, Brian's sleeping and a tornado sneaks up on him. He gets and arrow stuck in his leg! That would feel awful!

I like this book's characters too! The characters are Kaleb, Brian, Brian's mom, Brian's friends, and the bully. The bully is as mean as a bull! Kaleb is Brian's counselor and he's really nice to Brian. At their lessons, Brian tells Kaleb what's it like in the wild.

My Favorite book is Brian's Return. It's great like chocolate is great! My favorite book as about Brian and his trip on the chain of lakes to visit his friends. I love this book because of the adventure in it. It is a page turner and it has great characters!

by Lauren H., 5th grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

Accelerated Reader: YES!
Reading Level: 5.7
Quiz Number: 953
Points: 4.0

My Favorite Book, by Jordan B., 5th grade

2011-01-31T07:00:00.000-05:00

How will Alex Rider every survive? My favorite books are the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. When I start reading the books, I can't put them down. I love reading these books. They have so much action. I think they are the best books ever!

The best thing that I like in the books are the gadgets. I personally like the zit cream and the gel ink pens. They both save his life. The zit cream got him out of a jellyfish tank, and the gel ink pen blew someone up. The person who makes the gadgets, his name is Smithers. He works for the MI6 and he makes all of the gadgets himself.

I like all of the characters like Alex Rider. He is athletic, sneaky, epic, and daring. I really like Smithers. He is creative, cool, jolly, smart, and awesome. I also like Jack Starbiright. She is also daring, nice, cool and helpful. I like Tulip Jones. She is nice, helpful caring, and suggestive. I also like Sabina Pleasure. She is nice, caring, joyful, and helpful. I really like the books because they have a lot of action. There are always gun fights when a lot of people die. There are also hand to hand combat with Alex. There are also a lot of grenades thrown and explosions. In almost all of the books Alex gets in fights.

I like the books because they are just epic. I always want ot read them. I love Alex Rider books. They are the best. They are so cool. I hp I can get all of the books. I hop Anthony Horowitz, the author, NEVER stops writing.

by Jordan B., 5th grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

Accelerated Reader: YES!
Reading Level: 5.1
Quiz number: 50390
Points: 7.0

Book Review by Alanna D., 4th grade: Eragon

2011-01-27T07:00:00.004-05:00

The title of a book I really liked is Eragon by the author Christopher Paolini.

I liked this book because it was full of adventure. I love dragons and action! Although it left me in a bit of a tangle at the end, it was interesting and exciting. I got upset when Mrs. Sanders (my classroom teacher) told us to take out our workbooks and I had to stop reading this awesome book!

Review by Alanna D., fourth grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

Eragon is an AR book

Reading level: 5.6
Quiz #: 74404
Points: 25.0

My Favorite Book, by Morgan T., 5th grade

2011-01-24T07:00:00.002-05:00

Sometimes in some books it feels like it comes to life. Like the book The Meanest Doll in the World by Ann M. Martin. One of my favorite things about it is the action. The part that I loved is when they had to fight Meanmeme. Because they didn't use the same stuff we would use. They used bomb legos and empty bottles to capture them.

Another thing I love about it is the description! The author uses fun, fresh, crisp, clean words. They're so descriptive it feels like you're sitting in the movies. Another think I like about it is there are some funny parts in it. Like the paper cutouts echo everything the dolls say.

Another thing that I liked about the books is it never got boring. It always kept you on the edge of your seat. Every time you ended the chapter you wanted to start the next one. The think that kept me intrigued was the action. It was as thrill-rushing as riding a roller coaster. :) That is why I recommend The Meanest Doll in the World to EVERYONE! Because it's a great and good family story. I loved it. I could read it over and over.

By Morgan T., 5th grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

Accelerated Reader: YES!
Reading Level: 4.6
Quiz Number: 71437
Points: 5.0

Book Review by Payton S., 4th grade: A Series of Unfortunate Events

2011-01-20T07:00:00.003-05:00

A series that I really like is A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.

I like these books because they are very interesting. They are about these kids, Violet, Klaus, and their 'lil sister named Sunny. Their parents "perished" in a fire and they go through the books all alone. Their first guardian, Count Olaf, turns out to be their worst nightmare. He's out to get their fortune all through the series. You will just have to read the books to find out the rest of it!

Review by Payton S., fourth grade students, Fort Myers Christian School.

All of the books from The Series of Unfortunate Events are Accelerated Reader books.

My Favorite Book: by Emily R. 5th grade

2011-01-18T07:32:00.002-05:00

My favorite book is How I, Nicky Flynn, Finally get a life! (and a dog) by Art Corriveau. It is a good book! It is very entertaining too! It is a real page turner!

My favorite character is Rita de la Cruz. She is very desperate to become friends with Nicky. At the end of the story she tries to help Nicky find his dad!

I think it is a good book because he gets an ex-seeing-eye dog and pretends to be blind. It is also a good book because he runs away. It is a really good book!

This book is also dramatic! When they runaway, Reggie gets hurt. Reggie (the dog) also attacked Nicky's mom, which is why they ran away in the first place!

What do you think will happen to Nicky and Reggie? Find out in How I Nicky Flynn, Finally get a life! (and a dog!) by Art Carriveau.

by Emily R.5th grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

Accelerated Reader: YES!
Grade Level: 4.0
Quiz Number: 137355
Points: 8.0

Book Review by Annelisa S., second grade: The Tale of Benjamin Bunny

2010-10-07T07:00:00.001-04:00

The title of a book I really like is The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter.

I liked this book because it is a mystery and I like the characters. They are cute and I like the name of the book.

Review by Annelisa S., second grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

The Tale of Benjamin Bunny is an AR book

Reading Level: 4.4
Quiz #: 15793
Points: 0.5

Book Review by Emma R., fifth grade: The Race

2010-10-04T07:00:00.005-04:00

The title of a book I really like is The Race by Lauraine Snelling

I liked this book because it is about horse racing. The girl's name is Trish. Her dad is having health problems. She loves horses, but she has to keep her grades up to ride in races. I would recommend it because it helps your Christian spirit.

Review by Emma R., fifth grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

The Race is an AR book

Reading Level: 4.0
Quiz #: 10585
Points: 5.0

Thanks for Coming to the Book Fair

2010-10-01T13:55:00.000-04:00

I know I should have gotten this out sooner, but I do want to thank everyone in our FMCS family that came to the Scholastic book fair, and to those of you that came as a Hero on Bring your Hero to the Book Fair Day.

The library earned over $1300 in books during this fair!

Thank you to all of our parents that came in a volunteered during the book fair. What a blessing you are to me and to Mrs. Benton, our book fair coordinator!

A special thanks to Mrs. Kitzinger and Mr. Benstine who volunteered to help pack the book fair up after it was all over. You two worked very hard, and we got the work done in record time! Thank you.

Book Review by Alanna D., fourth grade: Dragaon Rider

2010-09-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

The title of a book I really like is Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke.

I liked this book because it was very interesting. I enjoyed the adventure and action in it. It was a book I go into. I learned about a new fabulous creature called a Brownie. I would advise anyone to read this book.

Review by Alanna D., fourth grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

Dragon Rider is an AR book

Reading Level: 4.9
Quiz #: 82162
Points: 16.0

Book Review by Ricky D., fourth grade: No Talking

2010-09-13T07:00:00.001-04:00

The title of a book I really liked is No Talking by Andrew Clements.

I liked this book because it showed how boys and girls were alike. I also loved it because it was a comedy and loving book. I wish it was a movie. I also would buy it for one million dollars.

Review by Ricky D., fourth grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

No Talking is an AR book

Reading Level: 5.0
Quiz #: 115396
Points: 4.0

Heroes, Welcome to the book fair!

2010-09-11T07:00:00.003-04:00

Mark your calendars! The book fair is having a special event called Bring Your Hero to the Book Fair Day!

Each student will be asked to bring a person that is his or her hero to the book fair on Thursday, September 16th. The book fair will open early that day at 7:30 a.m. to accommodate heroes that have to work. Light refreshments will be served while supplies last.

Where: The FMCS Library Media Center, Children's Center 2nd Floor.

Date: Thursday, September 16, 2010

Time: 7:30 a.m.-8:30 a.m.

Heroes arriving before 8 a.m. should use the Cafeteria doors on the east side of the Children's Center.

See you there, Heroes!!

Book Review by Evan A., second grade: Green Eggs and Ham

2010-09-09T07:00:00.005-04:00

The title of the book I really liked is Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.

I liked this book because he does not like green eggs and ham. And in the middle of the story he still does not like green eggs and ham. But at the end he likes it.

Review by Evan A., second grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

Green Eggs and Ham is an AR book

Reading Level: 2.6
Quiz #: 9021
Points: 0.5

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's a BOOK FAIR!!!

2010-09-07T09:09:00.000-04:00

The Scholastic Book Fair Coming Soon to Our Library Media Center

The Scholastic Book Fair is arriving NEXT WEEK! It will be open for ONE WEEK ONLY!!! Don't miss it!

What: Scholastic Book Fair
Where: FMCS Library Media Center, Children's Center, 2nd Floor
Dates: Monday, September 13 - Friday September 17, 2010
Times: 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

A Special BRING YOUR HERO TO THE BOOK FAIR DAY will be held on Thursday, September 16th. Details will be posted on Monday, 9/13/10.

Book Review by Annalissa V., third grade: Dark Day in the Deep Sea

2010-09-06T07:00:00.003-04:00

The title of the book I really liked is Dark Day in the Deep Sea: A Merlin Mission by Mary Pope Osborne.

I liked this book because Jack and Annie go on an sea adventure and I am absolute fan of sea adventures! Also, they get captured by a slimy, mad, giant octopus! But they learn that the octopus is really trying to help them. At the end they get to be friends.

Review by Annalissa V., third grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

Dark Day in the Deep Sea: A Merlin Mission is an AR book

Reading Level: 3.8
Quiz #: 121639
Points: 2.0

Book Review by Malyia M., fifth grade: Fairest

2010-09-02T07:00:00.003-04:00

The title of the book I really liked is Fairest by Gail Carson Levine.

I liked this book because it's telling you it doesn't matter about your beauty, it's your heart that counts. And some of the people don't care about looks, they love you because you're you. I would love to read another story from this author and was pleased with this exciting, funny and shocking book! :)

Review by Malyia M., fifth grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

Fairest is an AR book

Reading Level: 4.1
Quiz #: 109084
Points: 8.0

Book Review by Jackson S., second grade: It's Hard to be Five

2010-08-30T07:00:00.004-04:00

The title of the book I really liked is It's hard to be five by Jamie Lee Curtis, illustrated by Laura Cornell.

I liked this book because it's fun and it is fun to read all the book.

Review by Jackson S., second grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

It's Hard to be Five is an AR book

Reading Level: 2.0
Quiz #: 81643
Points: 0.5

Book Review by Laura G., third grade: The Hundred Dresses

2010-08-27T07:00:00.004-04:00

The title of a book I really like is The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin.

I liked this book because it was about girls and school. The characters were very interesting. The book had a happy ending and was a bit mysterious. Friendship is what this book is about. I LOVED IT! :)

Review by Laura G., third grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

The Hundred Dresses is an AR book

Reading Level: 5.4
Quiz #: 42
Points: 1.0

Melvil Dewey Rap

2010-08-26T13:01:00.000-04:00

The fourth and fifth grade students are doing a short unit on the Dewey Decimal System in library class. I showed this video in class, and several of them wanted to see it again, so, here it is! Enjoy.

Book Review by Patrick P., fifth grade: Diary of a Whimpy Kid

2010-08-25T07:00:00.005-04:00

The title of the book I really liked is Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney.

I liked this book because it is very funny and entertaining. I have the whole collection and soon I'm going to get the book five. I am a Diary of a Wimpy Kid fan, and I'm kind of like the main character Gregory (Greg.)

Book review by Patrick P., fifth grade student, Fort Myers Christian School

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is an AR book
Reading Level: 5.2
Quiz #: 113950
Points: 3.0

Honesty IS the best policy...

2010-01-28T11:22:00.003-05:00

Do you like cantaloupe? Cantaloupe is good for you. It's healthy and nutritious. I know that too, but I have tried it a hundred times, and I still really don't like cantaloupe. Every once in a while I'll take a bite of cantaloupe just to make sure nothing has changed. I mean when I was little I didn't like cranberry sauce, but now I love the stuff. Tastes change, so maybe one day I will like cantaloupe, but right now, I ...strongly dislike the food. (I try not to say hate too much.)

The other day a new student asked me a question. "Have you read Island of the Blue Dolphins?" I told the student that I had, and then she said, "Did you like it?"

Now, this is a problem people. Island of the Blue Dolphins is an award winning book, loved and read by millions of people (just like cantaloupe is loved and eaten by millions of people.) It is often a required read in middle or high school, I mean entire books are written about this book, that's how good and how wonderful this book is supposed to be. So, my teacher-intellectual self said I should tell her, "Yes," even though I have read it several times (kind of like trying cantaloupe over and over again) and I still don't like it.

So, what to do? Lie or tell the truth. I would be so easy to say yes, but I really didn't like it... So, I decided to be brutally honest. I said, "I know that I'm supposed to say yes because I'm a teacher and a librarian and we are supposed to like it, but I didn't care for the book that much."

The student smiled and said, "Oh, good! Whenever I'm looking for a new book, I ask the librarian if they like Island of the Blue Dolphins and if they say yes, I go look for a book by myself, but if they say no, then they will probably like the same kinds of books I do because I didn't like it either."

So, there you go. Proof that honesty is the best policy.

Growing Vegetable Soup!

2009-10-05T09:58:00.004-04:00

Did you know that God was a gardener? Genesis 1:29 "Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food." and Genesis 2:8-9 "Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food."

Today in library Miss Shrader talked with the preschool students about how God planned the seeds to grow up to look just like their parents! Miss Shrader dressed up like she had been gardening, and showed the students her gardening tools. The class talked about all of the things that are needed for seeds to grow up to be fruits and vegetables. She read the story Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert, and then showed the children vegetables that were featured in the story. Afterwards, the students enjoyed smelling and feeling the different kinds of vegetables.

Library Media Center Changes!

2009-08-26T09:05:00.007-04:00

I deeply apologize for not updating my blog sooner. As some of you know I had a very bad case of pneumonia last spring and was close to death. I thank the Lord that I was spared! It took several months for me to fully recover from my illness, and then I got right to work with a huge project that most of you have heard about, combining the two library media centers into one!

What a huge project combining the two library media centers and making just one LMC has been. I started the day after school was over for students, and didn't finish until one week before the teachers had to return. Whew! Just made it. Along the way I had a lot of help from my super-duper LMC volunteer Mrs. Peggy Benton. My lovely daughters were reluctantly helpful, but I couldn't have done it without them. And a huge shout out to Jeff Hoffman, First Assembly of God Maintenance Director, and his crew that helped me to get the big stuff moved, everything painted, hung and looking pretty. I still have some small stuff that needs finishing, labels, direction signage, etc. But the place really does look great. Here are some of the changes:

All of the reading area is in the main part of the LMC now.

The circulation desk from the middle school was moved over. This desk is smaller and more appropriate for the elementary students that use the LMC the majority of the time.

All of the chapter books and nonfiction books are in the main section of the LMC.

The storybook corner has been moved to the new reading room, that is for the younger elementary children.

All of the books for our youngest readers are in the reading room, along with the storybook corner. The little ones just love their new space!

Library or Media Center

2009-03-12T08:05:00.002-04:00

What do you call it, library or media center? When I was growing up, there was no such thing as a media center. Our school had a library. There were books, magazines, newspapers and a card catalog to find it all. Strictly paper and ink, as far as the eye could see.

Then technology began to change. More than printed media was available to library patrons, and eventually even the beloved card catalog became a memory. And with that change in libraries, came a change in the name. School libraries decided (without even asking my opinion) to call themselves Media Centers, and librarians were now Media Specialists.

When I came to Fort Myers Christian School in 1987, there wasn't much of a library, just a few hundred old books from what used to be the church library, and not a card catalog in sight. I had just finished my degree in library and information science, and some of my instructors were so old, that they remembered having to take special classes to learn the proper penmanship to hand write a card in the card catalog (I'm so happy we had typewriters by the time I got my degree.) So, even though it was becoming the trend to call a school library a media center, I chose to be old fashioned. I was a librarian, and this was my library.

I pretty much continued in that mind set until one day a freshman at Fort Myers High who had graduated from our school came back to see me. I had seen the library at Fort Myers High; it was impressive compared to what we had back then. So, I asked her if she had been to the library yet. She said that she had not, but that she would check it out and report back to me. A week later I saw her again, and again I asked her if she had seen the library. She said that she hadn't seen it yet because she didn't know where it was. However, she saw signs in the hallway for the Media Center, and she thought the library might be close to the media center.

Part of me wanted to giggle, because they are the same thing, but a bigger part of me was ashamed that one of our students didn't know that they are the same, because I never taught her that they were the same. Well, that was the end of that. Starting that school year, I started calling our library the Library Media Center, and I (much to my own chagrin) had my name tag changed from Miss Shrader, Librarian, to Miss Shrader, Media Specialist.

So what do you call it?

Mrs. Peggy Benton

2009-01-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

Did you ever wonder why the library media center, especially the elementary library media center, always looks so neat and tidy and well decorated? Three words, "Mrs. Peggy Benton."

Mrs. Benton, a retired teacher, has volunteered at both of our media centers for many years. Every morning, Mrs. Benton comes in an puts away books that have been returned by students, many times that's over a hundred books in a day! And, I hate to break it to you parents out there, but our students are not always the tidiest of people, so Mrs. Benton spends a lot of her time putting fallen books back where they belong, and straightening the shelves to make them look nice and orderly. She also takes it upon herself to change the decorations in both media centers to keep in the spirit of whatever season we happen to be in.

One day, Mrs. Benton decided that the middle school media center wasn't being used enough by our students. She said, "Its just a shame to see all of those wonderful books just sitting there and not getting used." So early this school year, Mrs. Benton began opening middle school library media center three mornings a week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m.-8:30, so that middle school students may check out books before their school day begins. Well, that would be enough volunteering for most people, but not for Mrs. Benton. When she leaves the media center, she works with some first grade students as directed by those teachers, and also spends hours a week making copies in the copy room for several teachers, and sometimes when she is done with all of that, she returns to the media center to finish putting away books!

So, let it be known, yes I am the media specialist, and I do work very hard in the media center, but I really couldn't keep the place looking so fantastic if it weren't for the efforts of Mrs. Benton. So, thank you Mrs. Peggy Benton. Thank you for your love, devotion and hard work for our school. I really don't know what I would do without you.