Team MCBA launches "25 Days of MCBA" activities

Team MCBA has launched its first two activities and they're both dog related! Check out the posters in your classroom or read the summaries below:

Ms. L.'s sister's dog Summitt

Fluffiest Dog Contest:

Bring in a photo of a fluffy dog you know! Readers of Wbite Fur Flying will earn points for their class.

Pictures are due on Friday, December 12th. You can also email an image to lobenstineh@shutesburyschool.org

Dog Beauty Contest: 

Bring in a dog you've made from recycled materials. Come to the LC at recess on Thursday, December 18th to show off its tricks and sense of style!

Readers of When Life Gives You O.J. earn points for their class. Audience welcome! Judges to be announced.

Welcome to MCBA 2015!

Have you started reading yet? Do you have a favorite MCBA book already? Are you asking your friends (and teacher and librarian) for recommendations? If so, it sounds like you are READY for MCBA season 2014-2015!

Use this blog to get you pumped for the reading and action that comes ahead. Check out the Shelfari bookshelf on the right side. It has all 25 MCBA books. Click on any cover to read a description of the book.

Check out the tabs at the top of the blog to find book and author websites, plus book trailers.

Read the older posts below to reminisce about last year's winners and 25 Days of MCBA activities.

Finally, think about what "doing MCBA" means to you. Will you read 5 and party with us? Will you read more than ever before? Will you be part of our MCBA planning team? I can't wait to see what this year brings! 

SES Battle of the Books: First and Second Place Teams

CONGRATULATIONS! Both teams answered dozens of questions correctly. After winning the SES championship, our first place team went on to beat Leverett Elementary School in a Skype BOTB. Thursday they go up against last year's Union 28 champs, Swift River.  Go SES!

SES Champs 2014

SES Second Place 2014

S.E.S. Battle of the Books Champions!

Here's where the picture should be, right?!
My apologies--I promise to get a picture of the winning team up soon!
For now, congratulations to all who participated, and especially to both teams that made it to our championship round. You all were amazing in what you remembered about the books, in how you listened to your teammates, and in your sportsmanship. Go SES!

In case you're counting…

Monday was a blockbuster of a day for MCBA points! With just 24 hours left, all three classes found ways to add considerably to their totals.

Ms. Scott's class: + 32.5 pts.
Ms. Herman's class: + 38 pts.
Ms. Barber's class: + 31 pts.

I can't wait to see what comes in tomorrow morning! : )

POINT UPDATE (deadline approaching…)

Classes earned additional points by participating and writing questions for the Battle of the Books, by turning in book projects, by winning the last few T-Day Trivia questions, and by reading! Here is our score update:

MS. SCOTT'S CLASS:
Additional points: 45.5
Current score: 287

MS. HERMANS' CLASS:
Additional points: 27
Current score: 271.5

MS. BARBER'S CLASS:
Additional points: 40
Current score: 310

ALL BOOKS AND PROJECTS MUST BE TURNED IN BY TUES. AT 9:00 a.m.!

SCORE UPDATE AND DEADLINES!

Yikes, I've been crunching the numbers again and they are not as close as last time. Here goes:

ADDITIONAL BOOKS READ (since last count):
Ms. Scott's class: 25
Ms. Hermans' class: 30
Ms. Barber's class: 49

ADDITIONAL POINTS (projects, contests, T-Day Trivia, BOTB questions) 
Ms. Scott's class: 34.5
Ms. Hermans' class: 31.5
Ms. Barber's class: 39

NEW TOTALS:
Ms. Scott's class: 241.5
Ms. Hermans' class: 244.5
Ms. Barber's class: 270

FINAL DAY FOR REPORTING BOOKS YOU'VE READ 
AND TURNING IN PROJECTS: TUESDAY, MARCH 4TH at 9:00 A.M.

FINAL DAY FOR TURNING IN BOOKS IN ACTION PERMISSION SLIPS:
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28 

Remember: You may earn points by writing Battle Of The Books
questions and by participating in BOTB!

Inside Out and Back Again Poetry Slam

 

1st Place Trio (with event hosts in background)

Inside Out and Back Again is not the MCBA book that most readers reach for first. I mean, it's historical fiction written in poems, and trust me, no one's heard of the author (Thanhha Lai).

So when library apprentices planned a 25 Days of MCBA poetry slam based on students choosing and reading poems from this book, I admit I was a little doubtful. Plus, we don't own that many copies. How was this going to work?

Let's just say they were right and I was wrong. Hosted by Livie and Susannah, the slam went great. Over 20 students shared poems from this awesome novel, and it felt like the main character, Ha, was right there, sharing her thoughts and feelings with us.

Judging was optional, and, as always, all students who participated (and who'd read Inside Out and Back Again) earned a point for their classroom. First place went to Tatiana, Lexi, and Grace. Second place went to Bowen and Josh. Great job everyone!

And the winner is…

BLUEBERRY BAKED GOODS WINNERS:

1st place: Blueberry bread by Maya (5/6B)
2nd place: Blueberry cake bars by Aidan (5/6B)

Congratulations! Go bakers!

(This contest was brought to you by our library apprentices as part of 25 Days of MCBA. It was based on Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker. Scroll down to see a few pics!)

Blueberry Baked Goods Galore!

We didn't give folks much notice on this one: the signs went up on Monday and the blueberry baked goods were due Thursday. (Sorry parent-shoppers!) Still, our bakers were out in force: Ms. Barber's class brought in 6 treats, Ms. Scott's class brought 2, and Ms. Hermans' class brought 1. Winners will be announced once I check in with our trusted chef-judges…

UPDATED SCORING--OMG!

I spent all evening crunching numbers. I included every 25 Days of MCBA activity so far, as well as our readers theater performances of the I Survived…Hurricane Katrina script.
And can you believe this???

commons.wikimedia.org

TOTALS as of JAN. 28th
Ms. Scott's class: 182
Ms. Hermans' class: 183
Ms. Barber's class: 182

Here's a breakdown of the data:

BOOKS READ SO FAR
Ms. Scott's class: 129
Ms. Hermans' class: 143
Ms. Barber's class: 153 (up 34 books from last time!)

PROJECT POINTS (including 25 Days of MCBA events and contests)
Ms. Scott's class: 48
Ms. Hermans' class: 27 
Ms. Barber's class: 29

T-DAY TRIVIA POINTS
Ms. Scott's class: 5
Ms. Hermans' class: 13
Ms. Barber's class: : (

Pitching Contest

Last Thursday, over 20 students lined up to take 5 pitches at a target in our gym…and in the end, the event's organizers, Joel and Evan, took first and second place. Everyone had fun--even a couple of teachers!

Score: Ms. Barber's class--12 points
           Ms. Hermans' class--6 points
           Ms. Scott's class--6 points

 Photos by Aidan and Lexi.

Guess who?

This year's MCBA nominees include three books whose main characters are twins, as well as two more pairs of twins for readers to discover.  Wow--that's almost as many twins as we have at SES!

To celebrate this focus on twins, our library apprentices designed a 25 Days of MCBA activity called Create Your Own Twin. These pics are from that contest. Can you guess whose twins these are?

Here's a hint: the answers are Allison, Aidan, Mary, and Noelle. Now which pic goes with which contestant??

And here's a Photo Booth pic of two identical twins:

Fashion Show Pics!

Here are some pics from Thursday's 25 Days of MCBA Fashion Show. Look for more info coming soon from our student bloggers!

Our audience, ready to enjoy the show!

Superhero Contest Winners

We asked first and second grade students to vote on the best superheroes.

The first place winner was Squid-Man (F) with 13 votes. Squid-Man was drawn by Henry W.  Henry earned 3 points for his class.

Second  place went to Zoodle (A) and Spike (D) with 12 votes each. Zoodle was drawn by Emilio, Isaiah, Shire and Fox, and Spike was drawn by Bowen. Each second place drawing earned two points.

Look below at the last post to see these superhero portraits. Thanks again to all who participated!

Create a Superhero Contest

25 Days of MCBA brings you these student-designed superheroes. Which one do you think should win the contest? Which would win if they battled?