The Comic Contest winners

Over 20 students entered our Comic Contest. This contest was inspired by the graphic titles included in our MCBA Mashup list: The Underground Abductor and El Deafo. Kaileann, a member of Team MCBA, created this contest.

We asked the kind staff at Modern Myths Comics and Games in Northampton to judge the contest. Not only did they judge the contest but they provided Marvel Comics calendars for the winners! Here are the winning comics:

Best Writing (by Shae)

Best Art (by Jordan)

Best Visual Storytelling (by Natalia)

Store Staff Favorite (by Emilio)

Class Participation Points--FINALLY!

For all of you competitive readers out there, here are point totals as of Thursday, January 21st when the indefatigable (long word meaning they never get tired) Team MCBA helped me count them.

(Note: This score does not include the Pet Profile points or books recorded last week.)

BOOKS READ

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4th: 147
5th: 124.5
6th: 102

CONTEST POINTS
4th: 52
5th: 13.5
6th: 48

T-DAY TRIVIA POINTS
4th: 6
5th: 7.5
6th: 4

INDEPENDENT PROJECTS:
4th: 7

TOTALS
4th: 212
5th:145.5
6th: 154

Amazing Baked Goods!

The baked goods brought in for this year's MCBA Baking Contest were beautiful, delicious, and varied! They included cupcakes, cookies, brownies, scones, elephant ears (!), pies, and more! Thanks again to Chef Gail and Rob for judging!

The Potato People are Here!

Last week we challenged our readers to create "potato people" characters. Here are a few of the fruit and vegetable-based wonders that appeared! Winners will be announced at our next assembly.

MCBA Mashup 2016!

Readers, we want you to know that we listened. Over the last two to three years, we heard from many readers that the MCBA list didn't seem to be as good as it used to be, and honestly, we agreed. So last spring, we decided to do something about this problem!

For the first time, we (the school librarians) asked you (the upper grade readers) what books you wanted to see on this year's MCBA list. We asked your teachers, too. Here's what we did next:

1. We examined the official MCBA list put out by Salem State University.
2. We decided which titles we wanted to keep and which we didn't. We based these decisions on our experience reading the books, our students' experience reading the books, and reviews we read.
3. We chose 8 titles to remove and 8 titles (nominated by students and teachers) to add.

We added a graphic memoir (El Deafo) and a graphic history (The Underground Abductor). We added a memoir in verse that won multiple awards (Brown Girl Dreaming). We added more titles with diverse characters (Zane and the Hurricane, Better Nate Than Ever), and we kept many awesome books we know many of you will love!

We hope this is the best MCBA list in recent history. And one more exciting thing: we get to host the Books in Action party this year!  So read 5 and get ready to celebrate!

Are you coming to this year's Books in Action party?

 Our Books in Action party celebrates 4th-6th graders who have read 5 or more MCBA books this year. The party features games, activities, and food related to this year's titles.  Readers from SES will party with readers from Leverett and Swift River.


WHERE: Leverett Elementary School
WHEN: Friday, March 6th from 5:45-8:30
Be sure to turn in your permission slip to Ms. L. by Friday, 2/27!

POINTS UPDATE!

Book clubs, dream bikes, recycled dogs, mutant bugs, and determined readers add up to this update of classroom participation points:

Ms. Paquin's Class: 200 points
Ms. Hermans' Class: 106 points
Ms. Scott's Class: 204 points

Sign up for a Battle of the Books team and write BOTB questions to earn more points for your class! And keep reading!