Pet Profile Winners Announced (Finally!)

We are happy to announce the winners of the Pet Profile contest, judged by staff at the Dakin Humane Society.
The Dakin Award: Alistair the Alpaca
(by Ms. Hermans!)
The Dixie Dog Award: Gabe
(by Sara H.)
The Famous Feline Award: Tartar Sauce (by Henry)

Most Creative Creature Award: Lora the Llama (Natalia)

Thank you to all participants!

If you were in the character's shoes…

Our next contest invites students to walk in a character's shoes as s/he attempts to survive a difficult situation. This contest, created by Anastasia, was inspired by Zane and the Hurricane and I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001. 

Rules: Choose an exciting survival scene from one of these books or another MCBA book. Write the scene as if you were there. Include what you would do, who you'd be with, where you'd be, and your reactions. You may choose to include an image if you want.

Entries are due on Tuesday, February 2nd.

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

pixabay.com

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!