MES Library Live!

Blast Off To Book Fair 2011!

2011-10-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

Blast Off To The Book Fair 2011!

The countdown has begun! The MES Book Fair will be in full swing starting on Halloween, with a full week of book previews for the students! During their regularly scheduled library class they will be visiting the Book Fair to work on their "wish list" of items they might like to buy. Starting the week of November 7th, the students will have a chance to actually purchase items from the Book Fair, at a scheduled time with their class. We will also be having a "One For Books" change donation campaign, sponsored by Scholastic for needy children, as well as an Online Book Fair starting on October 27th...stay tuned for more details!

It has been a busy few weeks in the library. Here is what has been happening. Kindergarten classes have been working on learning all about our computer lab, and the parts of a computers. They have also begun to hear Halloween stories. First graders have been working on logging onto the computer and navigating to the MES Library web page, to access all the wonderful websites available for them! In addition, they have begun hearing Halloween stories, and learning about characters and setting in a story.

Our 2nd graders have also been hearing Halloween stories and got a chance to use our "clickers" to answer questions after hearing the wonderful book called, "The Hallo-wiener! They have also begun their ocean animal reports using our Pebble Go animal database!
Our 3rd graders are completing their Wordle project on the Dewey Decimal System, and our 4th graders have begun working on their book commercials. The 5th graders have begun working on their "Memory PowerPoints" which will take the entire year to complete. They have also begun their first research project on careers! This is always a favorite project!

Wishing you a wonderful Fall full of "Boo-tiful" days! Go Tigers!

Welcome Back To School!

2011-09-07T15:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome Back Everyone!

It hardly seems possible that we are back to school! The summer went so fast this year for all of us. We hope you had a chance to spend a lot of quality time with your children!

The first day of school is always so magical! We are so lucky to watch the children with smiles on their faces tell us all about their summer! We love seeing all those new clothes, backpacks and shiny new shoes as well! We hope you enjoy our video and we wish everyone the best for this school year!

If I Caught A Leprechaun.....

2011-04-11T04:46:00.000-07:00

After reading a story about St. Patrick's Day and of course, the associated leprechaun, KA thought about what they would ask for if they actually did catch a leprechaun! I think the answers will amaze you! It is always joyful to watch the children record in this application, known as Voicethread. They look at the microphone and at first aren't too sure but once they hear their recorded voice, the smiles are radiant! Our 1st graders are completing their Woodland Animals research on our PebbleGo Database and compiling their report. Our 2nd graders completed a few research activities including a map activity using our very own Marshall Elementary School map...thank you to Mr. Schwoebel for your help! Our 3rd graders are working on a Genre paper slide video using the Flip Video Cameras, while our 4th graders are also using the Flip Cameras to work on their Literary Elements Project. Our 5th graders continue to wind down the work on their Memory PowerPoints. They have learned to convert their PowerPoint slides into the JPEG format and import those slides into MovieMaker. They are finishing this project off by taking a picture of themselves with their favorite book. We will soon be burning the CDs to take home as their MES memory. They are fantastic! We hope everyone will join us this Thursday, April 14th for the MES Art Show/Curriculum Night. The Library will be open and we would love to have everyone stop by to say hello. You might even convince your child to show you his work in the Library! We hope to see you all there!

READ-A-THON-MAGIC!

2011-03-15T04:49:00.000-07:00

It was a very exciting week here at Marshall as the students celebrated Read-A-Thon week! Every morning was a buzz with students who had won the reading challenge in their classroom and came down to the lobby to select their prizes. Our thanks to the long hours the parent volunteers spent making this week a huge success! Here's what's been happening in the library!

Our Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders finished listening to stories nominated for the Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award and cast their ballots. The winner at MES was, "Chester" By Melanie Watt. Our 1st graders have started their Woodland Mammal Reports and 2nd graders have been working on recording how their Prairie Dog would be "fuzzed" based on the book, "Great Fuzz Frenzy".

Our 3rd, 4th and 4th grade students have predicted the winners for our March Madness and the voting has begun! We started with 32 books and the students voted for their favorite ones. Over the next few weeks we will wind down to the grand winner....stay tuned! In addition to March Madness, the students have been completing their country PowerPoints (3rd grade), animal PowerPoints and Movie Maker projects (4th grade) and Memory PowerPoints/Movie Maker projects (5th grade).

As we set forward our clocks this past weekend, we are reminded just how little time is left of this school year! We wish everyone a wonderful start to this Spring season!

GET READY FOR MARCH MADNESS!

2011-02-20T17:07:00.000-08:00

The Marshall Way!

March already? Almost. March Madness without basketball? Definitely!

This marks the 3rd year we have done March Madness the Marshall Way....our madness involves books and not basketball! We have selected some of the more popular books and the 3rd through 5th graders will vote for the next 4 weeks until we find the most popular book at MES! Our hope is that it generates a lot of interest in which books to read. Some of the students worry that they haven't read a particular book...but that is exactly one of the goals of this game...to get our students to read books they may not have read in the past. Stay tuned for the winner! Here's what's been happening in the library.

Our Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders have been hearing selected books that have been nominated for the Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award. Our 1st graders have been creating story "settings" using the Kerpoof website, and have also begun to write their very own story. Our 2nd graders have been working on their snow poems and also begun their bookmark project using PowerPoint.

Our 3rd graders continue to work on their Country PowerPoints and they look awesome! Our 4th graders have been working on their Animal reports while our 5th graders are completing their career research and posters. In addition, the children have been working on Genres and book talks featuring our March Madness contestants!

Please be sure to stop by the library at the upcoming Art Show/Curriculum Night to see their work on our Promethean Boards! The students will be the teacher that night!

WHAT A HOOT!

2011-01-21T09:20:00.000-08:00

Listen to the wonderful job 4A did recording their Owl reports! We all learned so much about owls that we never knew! This is Mrs. McLaughlin's 4th grade class.

Even with the snow delays, we have been busy in the library! Here is what has been happening: Kindergarteners continue to work on logging on and off the computer...and are doing a wonderful job! Our 1st graders have been listening to stories by Mo Willems and begun to work on snow poems. Our 2nd graders are working on fiinshing their Prairie Dog reports after listening to The Great Fuzz Frenzy! Our 3rd graders are continuing to work on their country reports as well as recording short Genre skits using the Flip video recorders. The 4th graders have been working on animal research as well as beginning a short project using picture books to identify literary elements. The 5th graders are finishing up posters using PowerPoint on their careers. They look great!

We hope you are staying warm! Go Steelers!!!

ROBOTS HAVE INVADED MES!

2011-01-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

If your student is in 5th grade, ask them about the "Bots" that just arrived in the library! Our student teacher, Miss Nard, works at the Carnegie Science Center and was instrumental in helping us learn about and secure these tiny machines! The "Bots" are small robots that can be programmed by the user. The 5th grade classes had great fun estimating how far they could go and where they would eventually end! We will be working more with the "Bots" in the future, so stay tuned!

It's hard to believe we are already in the swing of things for 2011! Kindergarten classes are continuing to learn how to log onto the computer. They seem to have the logging off part down, so now for the logging on! They have also just begun to work on the website Kerpoof and creating a picture. More importantly, what they don't realize is that they are also working on their single and double clicks and mouse navigation skills. Our 1st graders have also been experimenting with Kerpoof and have begun to create a story setting as well as characters.

Some of our 2nd graders have begun their bookmarks in PowerPoint. This is always a favorite project! They have also heard the story, "The Great Fuzz Frenzy" and begun research on Prairie Dogs, utilizing our Pebble Go Animal Database. Our 3rd graders are almost completely done with their country research and have begun working on their PowerPoint presentations. They look fantastic already!

Our 4th graders have begun their animal research and will begin a PowerPoint presentation as well. They will then create a "movie" on their animal using Movie Maker. Our 5th graders have been taking their career research and creating posters about their chosen career. It is always such a pleasure listening to what they want to be when they "grow up"!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-12-31T15:57:00.000-08:00

It is always a sign of the Holidays when we are treated to beautiful music from our talented orchestra students! They magically show up at various places throughout MES to shower us with music to put everyone in the Holiday spirit!

We still cannot believe that it is the end of 2010. It seems as though time goes faster every year. Please make sure you check out the "Technology Projects" link on the MES Library webpage for updates on all the student project so far. They have all worked very hard to complete their 21st Century technology projects and we are delighted to be able to showcase their efforts.

We wish you and your family a wonderful New Year!

WE ARE SO THANKFUL!

2010-11-30T04:20:00.000-08:00

Take a look at KA's turkeys! They were made from their tiny hands and "accessorized" as they saw fit! We were studying characters and setting....so don't be surprised to see the "Football Player" turkey or the "Ballerina" turkey! They are simply priceless!

We are finally able to post some of the projects the students have been working on so diligently over the past few months. Make sure you take a look at the MES Library website..and then click on "Technology Projects". Here's what's been happening in the Library:

Kindergarten classes continue to work on logging off the computer. In some cases, a few of the classes have moved onto the log on process. We will be working on this all year. In addition, we have begun showing how to access the MES Library webpage. Our 1st and 2nd graders have been busy working on their "Thankful List" using MS Word.

The 3rd graders have begun their country reports. This is a project which will take several weeks and ends with wonderful PowerPoint presentations. Our 4th graders are just finishing their book reviews in Movie Maker and have begun recording their reports onto Voicethread. You can catch those reviews on the Technology page. The 5th graders have also begun their research report on careers. It is always such fun to see the careers they choose to research!

We like to take the opportunity again to thank our PFA and all the parent volunteers for their continued support. We feel very luck to be a part of such a great community! Thank you again for sharing your children with us!

BOOK FAIR 2010!

2010-11-05T11:45:00.000-07:00

Joyful....fun...excited...happy....I could use all of these words to describe how the MES students make us all feel when they are at the Book Fair! It is WONDERFUL to see their excitement about purchasing a book to read. Today in one of my classes, a student was showing me a book she had gotten at the Book Fair about Abraham Lincoln. She was so excited to be reading that book!

We extend a great big thank you to all the parent volunteers who have taken time out of their busy schedules to help at the fair. In addition, we cannot thank Mrs. McDermott and Mrs. Zielinski enough for being our 2010 Book Fair Chairpersons. They have spent countless hours promoting the Book Fair and working on all the various details that go into making a successful fair. Thank you so much!!!

In addition to visiting the Book Fair, here's what's been happening in the library.

Our Kindergarten students continue to work on Bailey's Book House and are beginning to hear Thanksgiving stories. Our 1st and 2nd graders have been working on their "Thankful" lists and 2nd grade is working on compiling their animal reports.

Our 3rd graders have been working on completing their Wordles and learning about TigerCat, which is our automated library catalog. Our 4th graders continue to work on their Book Reviews while the 5th graders were introduced to Wikis this past week. More to come on our 5th grade Wiki project in the weeks to come!

For those of you who have children at the High School, we wish the NA football team all the best as they begin playoff action tonight. Go Tigers!

Halloween 2010!

2010-10-31T18:04:00.000-07:00

It's really hard to pick a favorite day at MES because there are so many...but Halloween would rank among the very top! It is so much fun watching the kids in their costumes parade around the whole school and parking lot. We hope you will enjoy our video of the Halloween Parades! Here's what's been going on in the library:

The Kindergarten classes have been hearing Halloween stories and working on Bailey's Book House. Bailey's Book House is a great computer program that allows the students to practice their mouse and navigation skills. In addition, there are several programs that the kids work on including rhyming, patterns and beginning transitional words. Our 1st and 2nd graders have also been hearing Halloween stories as well as working on Thanksgiving thankful poems. Ask your 2nd grader about the "Hallo-Wiener" and using the Activotes (or "clickers" as well call them) to answer questions magically!

Our 3rd graders have been completing their Wordle projects and are beginning to work on using TigerCat, out library automated system. The 4th graders have been working on their book review trailers, while 5th graders are finishing their personal Wordles and beginning their Memory Powerpoints that they will work on throughout the year. Ask your 5th grader about the wonderful Binary Code lesson Miss Nard, our student teacher, taught the children. Miss Nard has been a wonderful addition to our library and comes with a wealth of experience in teaching computer programming and robotics classes at the Carnegie Science Center.

The biggest excitement in terms of new books has been the release of Rick Riordan's, "The Lost Hero". This is a huge book (some 553 pages) but it was a great book for those who loved the "Lightning Thief" series.

Our Book Fair begins this week and we are ever so grateful to all the parent volunteers who work so hard on this project, and of course to our generous Marshall Community, for your continued support of our library. It is your support that enables us to complete all the projects we do and provide wonderful reading materials for our students.

We hope everyone stays nice and warm as our weather begins to change. Happy Halloween Everyone!

KOK 2010!

2010-10-05T04:39:00.000-07:00

KOK certainly came early this year! The weather was beautiful. We only had one afternoon of thunder that turned into a great big nothing! Here's what's been going on in the library.

The Kindergarteners have been working on Bailey's Book House on the computers and learning about checking out books. Our 1st graders have been busy with "Shelley's First Computer Game" and finding out where to find books that are just right for them to read!

Our 2nd graders have begun pet research on our Pebble Go Database. This database is available from home and the children love to explore the many videos and games in the program! Our 3rd graders have been very busy working on a Wordle project based on the non-fiction section of the library.

The 4th graders have begun writing and typing their book reviews and the 5th graders have just begun their "Memory" powerpoints. The 5th graders will work on these powerpoints the entire year and we will be burning a CD for each student as a memory of their elementary school years, sometime in April or May.

We hope you are getting settled into the daily routine and enjoying the wonderful fall season as the leaves begin to change!

Welcome Back Everyone!

2010-09-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

Welcome Back! We're so excited about this year! We hope that you have had a great summer break....enjoy this video from our Back To School Family Social!

Is It Really The End of the Year?

2010-06-15T10:32:00.001-07:00

We just can't believe it's the end of the school year! It's been a great year and we've survived all that snow! Please make sure you visit your local library and take advantage of their reading program along with those available at Barnes & Noble and Borders as well. Also, please don't forget about the MES Summer Reading Program...we have lots of prizes waiting our MES summer readers!

We would like to wish everyone a happy and safe summer.

Keep Reading!

Mrs. Tomczak & McMahon

2010-04-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

5C DISNEY PLANET CHALLENGE TEAM!

Congratulations to Mrs. Zallow's 5C classroom for being one of only two Pennsylvania State runners-up in the Disney Planet Challenge contest! Classroom 5C created a wonderful report on protecting our river biomes that included podcasts, videos and information about what we can all do to protect our water system. As Gabby said, "water affects everyone"....so true!

It hardly seems possible that May is upon us! The snow is completely gone and the children are suddenly looking much taller and older! We are in the "home stretch" and working very hard to complete all our projects. Here is what has been happening in the library.

Kindergarten students are learning how to navigate the MES website so they will be able to practice their reading and math skills over the summer. They have also been listening to Earth Day related books and learning about what grows on tops and bottoms of the ground! Our 1st graders have been completing their individual stories and working on Spring poems. The 2nd graders are also working on Spring poems with a "flare" and are also learning about the website Kerpoof.

The 3rd and 4th graders are completing their PowerPoint projects on Countries and Picture books respectively, while our 5th graders are finishing their webpages. Please check out the "Technology" link on the upper right hand corner of the MES homepage.

We hope you had a chance to visit the school during the recent Curriculum/Art show night. The children's displays are so beautiful and inspiring to us all! It was simply wonderful to have the children visit the library and share their projects with their parents. We also love to see the children's reaction when they use the Promethean boards for their displays...we have many future teachers at MES!

We wish you warm weather and a calm close to our school year!

Go Pens!!

2010-03-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe we were still talking about snow in April, but the snow days have put us behind a bit! We hope you enjoy 1B's Animoto Video from their snow poems. You can listen to their recording of their poem from the link called "Technology Projects" from our MES homepage! Here's what's been happening in the library.

Kindergarten students continue to work on logging on and off the computer and are also beginning to learn how to access the website links from the MES homepage. We stress to the students that they are able to get to these websites even from home, as long as Mom and Dad allow them on the computer/Internet. Our 1st graders have been very busy working on creating their own individual story. This project began in the computer lab where the students had to select a setting and 2-3 characters utilizing a website called Kerpoof! They also utilized PowerPoint to create a WordArt title of their story as well. The students then wrote their story and we are now busy compiling all the parts to their project.

Our 2nd graders have been busy working on their Rainforest Animals report as well as finishing their animal reports and Leprechaun wishes paper. It was beautiful reading what the children would wish for if they caught a Leprechaun....Mrs. McMahon and Mrs. Tomczak only wish we saw the children more often in library class!

Our 3rd graders continue to work on their country reports and are creating some beautiful PowerPoint presentations! Our 4th graders are also working in PowerPoint and completing their literary elements report. Our 5th graders have begun webpages and are progressing nicely!

We would like to wish everyone a very safe and happy break. We hope you will enjoy our beautiful Pittsburgh weather!

2010-02-18T09:49:00.000-08:00

We have been wondering if there is more snow in Vancouver, the North Pole or Pittsburgh....hmmmm!

As the 2010 Winter Olympics are now in full swing, so are several of our classes who have been busy researching the history of the Olympics, specific events and even participating countries. This is a Voicethread report from 2D about the history of the Olympics. Marshall is participating in an Olympic Wiki with schools from around the world. This Voicethread has already been uploaded to this website. Take a look at this great collaborative project at: http://2010olympics.wikispaces.com/Participating+Schools.

Here's what's been happening in the library.

Kindergarten has been continuing to work on logging on and off the computer. They have visited Starfall and are learning how to navigate the MES Library website. Our 1st graders have been busy writing and typing a snow poem, while 2nd graders have been researching either an Olympic sport or the history of the Olympics.

Our 3rd graders have begun country research for their upcoming PowerPoint project and our 4th graders have been working on a literary elements project as well as researching a favorite Olympic sport. Finally, our 5th graders are beginning their Career research, which will has been nothing less than a ball of fun! It is wonderful to hear what they want to be when they "grow up". Sadly, this is coming way too fast!

We hope you are surviving all the snow!

4th GRADE BOOK REVIEWS ARE HERE!

2010-01-31T10:30:00.000-08:00

Our 4th graders have been very busy over the past few months writing, typing and recording their book reviews. Please take a look....and feel free to make comments. The children love to hear from you!

Here's what's been going on in the library:

Our Kindergarten classes have been listening to Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Awards and also continue to work on logging on and off the computer. Our 1st graders have also been listening to nominated Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award books as well as working on a snow poem. Our 2nd graders have been working on Olympic and celebrations research.

Our third graders have completed their Wordle projects and they are great! It was exciting to hear comments like, "this was so much fun..I am going home to make another Wordle!" In fact, many of the students have definitely been on that site, because they are busy teaching us many nuances of this program as well!

Our 4th grades have almost all completed the recordings of their book reviews and have begun Olympic research as well as a new literary elements project, designed to help them "teach" their book buddies about great literature. Our 5th graders are listening to The Lightning Thief and continuing with their career research.

We hope everyone stays warm in this chilly weather!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-16T07:25:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

So what does Marshall mean to you? This Wordle was created by students from 4B...see how much kids know? I don't know about you, but this pretty much sums up our thoughts on Marshall! Here's what's been going on in the library...

Kindergarten has been learning to log on and off the computer. One little boy came in the library last week saying, "Control, Alt, Delete....Control, Alt, Delete"! Such big words from a little boy, but they were music to our ears!

First grade continues to hear the book nominees from the Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award, and is recording their Mammal Reports. Check the library web page for your children's class.

Second grade is beginning research on the history of the Olympics, while 3rd grade is researching the countries that will be part of the competitions. Fourth grade also began researching their favorite sport in the Olympics and will continue working on recording their book reviews.

Our 5th graders have begun their career research. The only word to describe their thoughts and comments is, "delightful"! How fun it is to hear what careers they hope to pursue..."I want to be a doctor, engineer, lawyer, animator for Disney" One student even mentioned being a Librarian - Yippie!

Keep watching our Library webpage as we upload our class Podcasts and projects! 7:15:00 AM by MES Library Live!

2009-12-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

Wordle....Wordle....Everywhere! Worldle is a new tool which takes words and creates a graphic based on the number of times each word is used. It has been great fun creating these graphics which are eye-opening to many of the children! This one was from a 4th grader who had read the book, "The Lightning Thief". Watch for this movie coming to theaters in February!

It hardly seems possible that it is the end of 2009...but here we are! Here's what's been happening in the library.

The Kindergarten classes have been busy listening to the Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Books and some have even begun logging onto the computers!

Our 1st graders have been busy working on a report about their favorite Mammal and will be recording their findings on Voicethread...more to come in 2010!

Our 2nd graders have also been working on a report about a holiday or celebration. They have looked at various holidays around the world including Boxing Day, Canada Day, Cinco de Mayo and more!

Our 3rd graders have been working on Microsoft Word and learning all about spell checker and formatting their documents. Ask them if spell checker catches every mistake!

Our 4th graders have been working on completing their book review, wordle, book jacket cover and report. Some students have even begun recording their review onto Voicethread. Be watching for those reviews on the library webpage coming in January!

Our 5th graders are completing their Greek god reports which included a WordArt graphic, report and Wordle. They have also begun creating a "Memory" PowerPoint which they will work on throughout the year.

We wish everyone a wonderful holiday break and all the best for 2010!

2009 Make A Wish Kickoff

2009-11-20T15:12:00.000-08:00

Today marked the official kick off for the 5th Grade Make A Wish Drive for 2009. The students practiced their presentation which was made to all our students (except Kindergarten) during their Integrated Arts time. Mrs. Rich and these students have already put in a great deal of time just getting ready. Lauren from 5B and Jake from 5C were busy taking pictures and they are already posted on our Marshall Website. Take a look...and see what you think!

Our lobby looks so empty now that the book fair is over! Here is what has been happening in the library.

Some kindergarten classes have been busy working on logging onto the computer, while others have been listening to wonderful Thanksgiving stories. Our 1st graders have been busy writing thankful poems and also listening and responding to stories celebrating the season.

Our 2nd graders have been working on compiling their animal reports, while some 3rd grade classes have begun a Wordle project on various areas of the library.

Our 4th graders have been finishing their book reviews and 5th grade is almost done with their Greek god Wordles and reports. Because we have missed a few Mondays, not all grade level classes are exactly on the same track, but will be soon!

2009-11-07T02:14:00.000-08:00

Yes...it's another Animoto video! We just love Animoto! It's great to be able to capture the students who tell the whole story in our library!

It has been a busy few weeks in the Library and at MES! Last week the students were able to preview the bookfair and had a great time at their Halloween parade and parties! This week, the students were actually able to visit the bookfair with their classes. A great big thank you to all the parent volunteers and especially Mrs. Hannah and Gongaware, who donated endless hours of their time to ensure the bookfair is a success. Thank you to all!

Here's what's happening in the library:

Kindergarten students began hearing Thanksgiving stories this week. They love The Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie....let them tell you what happens to her at the end of the story!

First graders were either listening to Thanksgiving stories or creating their "thankful" list on the computer using Word. Our 2nd and 3rd graders were also working on their "thankful" list, but with more phrases and clipart added, too!

Our 4th and 5th graders have been busy beginning their Wordle projects. Our 4th graders will be creating a Wordle graphic on the various sections of the library, while our 5th graders will be taking their Greek god research and creating their Wordle on their particular god. Wordle is a really neat tool that allows the users the ability to take a written document and actually create a graphic document based on the number of times words are used within that document. Wait to see these..they are fantastic!

2009-11-05T17:53:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween Everyone!

The annual Halloween Parade was simply delightful! Of course, we saw some beautiful creatures and some pretty scary ones too! All throughout the week in every class, children were busy listening to Halloween stories and creating spooky poems. For those of you interested, the video above was created through Animoto. Animoto is a great tool not only for teachers, but personally for your home photos as well. Enjoy!

2009-10-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

So it was off to KOK we went last week! The 5th graders had a great time as you can see...and boy did the weather cooperate! The highlight for us was the Geocaching activity this year. This was made possible through a grant from the NA Foundation. Through this grant, we were able to purchase 15 hand-held Garmins and create a 21st Century Scavenger Hunt! Thank you to the NA Foundation!!!

Other activities in the library include.....

Our Kindergarten students have been busy earning their "Drivers License" on the computers. The 1st and 2nd graders have been listening to Halloween stories and creating "spooky" poems. Our 3rd graders have also been listening to Halloween stories and have been creating poems on Word as well. Our 4th graders have been busy completing their book reviews which will be recorded on Voicethread and posted on the library website...be watching for those in the coming weeks. Our 5th graders have been busy with their Greek god research....keep a look out for those rather "unusual" reports coming soon as well!

2009-10-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

Does this picture look familiar to any of your children? The man (author Jeff Kinney) may not be well recognized, but his friend with the backpack is sure to be known....the young man with a few sprigs of hair is actually Greg Heffley. Greg Heffley is the main character in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series. These books have been very popular among the students at MES! We are so lucky because he will actually be in Pittsburgh on Sunday, January 24th at 2:00pm, at the Carnegie Music Hall. Tickets are still available, but going fast. If you are interested, tickets may be purchased online at the Pittsburgh Arts & Lecture website. Hope to see you there!

2009-09-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

So we are officially back "in the groove"! It hardly seems possible, but we're all back....a little taller, a little older looking and ready for some fun! It's been great seeing everyone again. Here's what's been happening in the library!

All the classes have now completed their official "Library Orientation". We spent a short period of time reviewing the library procedures and actual book check outs. We have stressed to the students how important it is to continue reading and reminded them the library is open every day should they like to exchange their books. Several classes have been on our brand new beautiful computers and it is such a kick to see their reactions!

We look forward to seeing everyone at the MES Family Social on Tuesday, September 15th. Please don't forget to look for our Birthday Book display!

The First Day of School 2009 - 2010!

2009-08-27T14:03:00.001-07:00

2009-06-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

Good Luck 5th Grade!

It's so hard to believe we have to say Good Bye and Good Luck to our 5th Grade! They have been a great class and will definitely be missed! Our 4th graders were already practicing being 5th graders by waving their hands during the assembly!

As the year draws to a close, we want to thank all our parents and the PFA for their continued help and support. We could not do all the things we do without you!

Have a safe and wonderful summer!

CURRICULUM NIGHT 2009

2009-05-03T13:25:00.001-07:00

Curriculum Night has to be one of the best nights of the entire school year. This is a time for the children to shine as their parents have an opportunity to really see what they have been working so hard at! The library was packed most of the night, as the students showed their parents their PowerPoints, their Word Documents, their favorite library links....and even their Web Pages! Some of the students even utilized our two Promethean Boards, to showcase their work! It was a great night!

Way to Go Marshall Students!!!

2D Makes Predictions!

2009-03-16T16:21:00.001-07:00

2009-03-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

We hope you will enjoy this video of 2D as they display their very own weather prediction page! Prediction is a skill not only for weather forecasters, but for skillful readers as well! We have wrapped up our unit on prediction with our 1st and 2nd graders. Our 3rd graders will begin discussing Genres and continue with their country reports. Our 4th graders Literary Elements Project is near completion, and our 5th graders have done a wonderful job on their webpages. Please watch the Library website over the next few weeks, when we will be posting their websites on the MES webpage!

IT'S PROJECT TIME MARSHALL!

2009-03-07T18:41:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe it's already March! Our research projects are in full swing!

The 5th graders are beginning their webpages. They will start with a page on a chosen career, and if time permits, they will also be able to create pages on a topic of their choice. Our 4th graders are continuing their Literary Elements Project and the beginning of their PowerPoint on Pittsburgh buildings. They will all present their projects using the Promethean Board, and these will be on display the evening of our our upcoming Art show. Our 3rd graders are continuing their country research and PowerPoint project. Our 2nd graders have just completed a dragon tour of Pittsburgh, while our 1st graders created their very own story while celebrating Read Across America Week! Our Kindergarten classes have been busy learning to log onto the computer...they are getting ready for 1st grade!

We hope you will enjoy the following report by 4A on Owls. The students researched their very own owl, created a report and actual owl, and recorded their findings using a tool known as Voicethread. The students did a wonderful job!

Enjoy!

It's Raining Pizza and Candy in Kindergarten!

2009-02-18T15:48:00.002-08:00

February sometimes becomes the month when all forms of precipitation occurs....rain, sleet, snow....but pizza? Candy? Ice Cream?

Our Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders will be hearing the stories, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", and later, "Pickles to Pittsburgh". Following the stories, the students will be asked to illustrate their city and make predictions regarding the weather forecast. We are seeing some wonderful imaginations at work!

Meanwhile, the 3rd graders are busy beginning their country research and introduction into PowerPoint. The 4th graders are continuing their Literary Elements project, as well as researching famous Pittsburgh buildings. Fifth graders have been busy researching about careers, which will form the basis for their upcoming Web Page design.

The year is going so fast. We hope you are staying warm and healthy!

It's "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" in KB!

2009-02-18T15:48:00.001-08:00

4th Grade Gets Ready to Read!

2009-01-24T12:00:00.001-08:00

These students from 4th grade are getting ready to read! Our 4th graders began working on a Literary Elements project, where they will be illustrating and re-telling their favorite picture book to students in younger classes. Although a list of authors was available, most of the students had already had their own ideas of their favorite book! Our 4th and 5th graders are also working on a Microsoft Word graphics and editing project, along with digital camers. Some 5th graders even began research this week on a career they might like to pursue!

Our Kindergarten and 1st graders have been creating snow poems and illustrating their favorite character from Margie Palatini's book, "Earthquack", while our 2nd graders have also been working on illustrating the Literary Elements of fiction as well. Our 3rd graders have been busy this week working on researching information about a country, which will serve as a basis for their upcoming PowerPoint project.

Just a week or so ago the school was treated to a wonderful band concert, and just this past week we enjoyed listening to our orchestra students as well. There is certainly a great deal of talent at Marshall!

Stay Warm Everyone and Keep Reading!

2009-01-08T11:41:00.000-08:00

MES 1st and 2nd graders are in a "Fuzz Frenzy"! Our 3rd graders and Kindergartners have also been joining in the fun! We just finished reading "The Great Fuzz Frenzy" about a community of delightful Prairie Dogs! In addition, we completed research on what exactly a Prairie Dog is and whose animal family they belong!

Our 4th and 5th graders have been busy writing book reviews and learning more about MS Word.

The students have already settled back into their usual routine and are simply awaiting our first real snow of the season! Happy New Year Everyone!

Research...Report...Review

2008-12-12T00:10:00.000-08:00

It's not exactly the traditional "3 Rs" we think about in education, but it certainly explains MES student activities in the library over the last few weeks.

Kindergarten students continue to learn about the MES computer resources and are exploring new programs and websites during their computer classes.

All students in K-5 have been listening to the books which have been nominated for the annual Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award for 2009.

Students in grades 1-3 have been working on the Worldbook online resource and learning about subscription databases and locating reliable information.

Our 4th-5th graders have been busy preparing a review on a favorite book that they have previously read. These reviews will be shared among all the students, and will provide a wonderful resource when they often ask, "What should I read"?

All students in grades 1-5 have also been busy learning about Microsoft Word and how to open, edit, save and even print files.

One of our most exciting ventures has been with the 2nd graders. Each 2nd grader has been working one day a week learning keyboarding skills. We are now officially 1/2 way through learning all the keys. It has been so much fun watching the students.....they are so excited to learn new keys and can't wait to log onto the computer and begin typing. These lessons have become the quietest times in the library as the students concentrate on their posture, finger positioning and strokes!

As always, should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our MES community for their continued support...and especially for sharing your wonderful children with us!

Keep warm Marshall!

Is It Really November?

2008-11-09T16:16:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that it's November already. Change is certainly in the air...the weather, a new President, and of course, the Book Fair!

First, we would like to give a heartfelt thanks to all the parent volunteers who helped make the Book Fair such a success. We especially would like to thank Mrs. Hannah and Mrs. Gongaware for their continued dedication as Book Fair Chairpersons. Countless hours are spent by many parents who make sure that our students have great books to buy and eventually read in our library. We are so lucky to have such wonderful parental support!

It's also hard to believe that KOK was now several weeks ago. The fifth graders had a great time and are now in the process of writing and typing KOK reviews. During library, we also began our new Wiki Project. This year, our fifth graders will be sharing a Wiki with the 5th grade students at Bradford Woods. It has only just begun, but the students are already making new friends! We have just finished our election posters and will be beginning our study of the Pennsylvania (PA) Young Reader's Choice Award book nominees.

The fourth grade students have also been busy working on their own version of an election poster as well. During the next month, they will be introduced to the Wiki concept, and will be busy creating a book review to post online.

The third graders have been working very hard at learning "Tigercat", which is our online library catalog (the old "card catalog" for those of us who can remember!). We have been learning all about searching for both fiction and non-fiction books and websites. When the connection is finally made between Tigercat and the actually location of the book within the library, it is always such fun....it's like a giant light bulb goes off....."that's not so hard" one of the students said! Of course not!

For the first time ever, we have also begun working on Tigercat for the 2nd graders. We began with fiction and are working our way toward non-fiction. They have also been listening to several of the books nominated for the PA Young Reader's Choice Award.

Our first graders have been listening to several books about the election, and even completed an election booklet. During computers, they have been exploring author websites as well.

Our Kindergarten students have also been listening to books about the election, and working on "Bailey's Book House" software. This software helps with sight word recognition and allows a great deal of student interaction to reinforce their beginning reading skills.

Within the library, we will begin to move away from the "Election" theme, and move into the overall school theme of "Pittsburgh 250".

Please keep warm as we wait for our first snowflakes!

5th Graders KOK Trip

2008-10-23T18:25:00.001-07:00

I guess everyone knows by now that we just love Animoto! It's easy and so much fun to create a memory-filled video from just our pictures! The 5th graders had a wonderful (and thankfully uneventful) trip to KOK. The weather was beautiful...not too cold or warm, and only a little bit of rain.

It was great to see the children bond with each other and build confidence in themselves when they finally canoed, cooked, shot an arrow and most importantly....missed Mom and Dad, but were able to stay both days by themselves! We hope you will enjoy this video. We are hoping to collect more pictures and possibly even create more videos. Please feel free to email pictures directly to us! Enjoy!

5th Graders KOK Trip

2008-10-23T18:24:00.001-07:00

Back to School

2008-09-17T19:18:00.001-07:00

Back to School Family Social

Welcome Back Marshall!

2008-08-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

A Great Big Welcome Back MES!

We hope everyone has had a great summer and read some wonderful books!

We are so excited to begin the new year. You will notice several changes in the library. Probably the biggest change is the new location of our computers. While they are technically in the same place, they now are placed in a giant "U" shape! We've also been busy relocating some of our series and biography books!

We'll talk more about these changes during library class. We look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday!

Mrs. McMahon and Mrs. Tomczak

Welcome To the MES Library Live!

2008-06-01T06:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the very first post of our new MES Library Live! We are so excited to incorporate yet another Web 2.0 tool for our students and MES community.

This is one of our favorite pictures from the Wiki recess days. These students were trying to upload an image that identifies their postings. This is one of the Wiki tools the students have enjoyed most!

The Web 2.0 environment is exciting because it is all about collaboration and sharing. In that spirit, we hope you will enjoy this "home base" for future library updates and as always, we welcome your comments.

Mrs. McMahon and Mrs. Tomczak