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Reading Club, Teens can now
borrow books, blog books, request books,..... Drop by or visit us online to learn more...
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New Library Resources, Projects and Events:
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 Grade 10 Research Unit starts this week
All Grade 10 students participate in an extensive 5 lesson collaboration with the Library through English classes. This unit acts as a level playing field, in that each and every grade 10 students has the opportunity to learn critical information literacy and technology skills commonly required in grade 12 or post-secondary settings. This unit is focused on the resaerch process- an inquiry cycle of research skills- as they develop support for an in class term paper.
This 5 lesson unit provides students with the opportunity to develop sophistication with internet research skills and thesis writing. Teacher-librarains, Ms. Bede and Mr. Smith, team teach with all English teachers, to instruct students directly using a range of print and digital media. A range of writing and research tools, in addition to the use of eBooks, and online databases are practiced. Information evaluation and the appropriate use of citing sources is emphasized. The unit concludes with an in-class essay or other presentation of writing.
Staff Implementation -COWS: Mobile laptop carts
KSS teaching faculty now have access to more computing power. In addition to the specialty computer labs and library computer centres, students may
use new Thinkpad notebooks. These COWS(computers on wheels) are managed by academic departments heads. The KSS Library has also added 2 COWS
for booking classes into collaborative units focussing integration of information technology skills.
see topography
Technology Thursdays: faculty drop-in sessions 3:30pm
we are again hosting a series of faculty technology sharing and support
Tech Thursdays: Faculty Drop-in sessions 3:30pm
The Library staff will host a series of mini-workshops every Thursday during the month of November. Topics with be introduced and practice time or rehearsal will follow. All staff are welcome to join in and help teach each other. Large or small, share your practice and successes. Bring your tips and tricks!
Suggested themes
NOV 5: BCeSIS help time- review and troubleshooting Report Cards
NOV 12: Empowering Student Writing with Discussion Groups- using Firstclass Conference, private blogs or wikis reviewed
NOV 19: Web Site production for teachers- options and review
NOV 26: Exploiting the power of online databasases and magazines
DEC 3 : How to use YouTube within your lesson documents
DEC 10: Manage your photography-camera setup, archiving, and some image software
Book Clubs and Lit Circles
Create a new book club or join in a reading group. Book club members receive special library privileges and get priority on all new releases.
Some English classes are
also engaged in 'Lit Circles' units that are similar to recreational book clubs.
Join in the discussion and power-up your brain by reading.
Bulletin...
LIBRARY HOURS:
There will be closures during the first week of school so staff can complete startup and admin. duties
Even if the Library is open for circulation, library staff may not be available for any service.
Expect some interruptions.
 STUDENT TRAVEL?:
If you are travelling this summer or later in the year, see your teacher-librarians
KSS Library:
- Guidebooks such as Lonely Planet ,
- Photographic equipment and recommendations
- Language translation guides, and
- general assistance with planning your own global adventure and education
NEW: Cite Your Sources: our new tool to serve you....
Drop Everything and Read - Oct 27, 11:00am :
Literacy event for everyone as a celebration of National School Library Day. Need a book or magazine?
Drop by and sees us or send a request
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Featured Reader ...
Our Current Feature Reader is....
 Mr. S. Parker just read...
Presentation Zen,
Mr. Scott Parker is a Administrator at KSS who loves books and fishing!
Mrs. Buna, just read....
Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons
Ms. Terhljan Just read...
Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte
Club Dumas, International Bestseller
Lucas Corso is a book detective, a mercenary hired to hunt down rare editions for wealthy and unscrupulous clients. When a well-known bibliophile is found hanged, leaving behind part of the original manuscript of Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers, Corso is brought in to authenticate the fragment. He is soon drawn into a swirling plot involving devil worship, occult practices, and swashbuckling derring-do among a cast of characters bearing a suspicious resemblance to those of Dumas's masterpiece. Aided by a mysterious beauty named after a Conan Doyle heroine, Corso travels from Madrid to Toledo to Paris in pursuit of a sinister and seemingly omniscient killer.
Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries have won legions of fans for their evocative portraits of Venetian life. "The Girl of His Dreams" offers a spectacular, heart-wrenching addition to the series.
 Mr. Melle Just read...
The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.The Glass Castle is truly astonishing -- a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar, but loyal, family. Jeannette Walls has a story to tell, and tells it brilliantly, without an ounce of self-pity.
A Long Way Gone memoir of a boy soldier by Ismael Beah.
It is estimated that in the more than fifty violent conflicts going on worldwide, there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.
In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now in his mid-twenties, tells how, at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels in his homeland of Sierra Leone and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.
Mr. Smith Just read...
Merle's Door : by Ted Kerasote: is a wonderful read that is centered around the new relationship of a man and a stray dog who befriends him. The man's life is changed! Patrick Lawlor delivers an animated performance, both literally and figuratively. His portrayal of Merle's enthusiasm and loyalty is so endearing. The book has a genuine anthropomorphism while the author tries to illuminate Merle's expressions and behaviors a true dog lover cannot help but indentify. I have not been able to grant the freedom that Kerasote lent Merle, but nevertheless, he made me think hard about my love for the dog in my life- a pup chocolate lab.
 Also read: The Philosopher's dog / Raimond Gaita and The Art Of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein: Watch review...
Mrs. A. Holmwood is reading,
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.
A New York Times bestseller that has changed the way readers view the ecology of eating, this revolutionary book by award winner Michael Pollan asks the seemingly simple question: What should we have for dinner? Tracing from source to table each of the food chains that sustain us—whether industrial or organic, alternative or processed—he develops a portrait of the American way of eating. The result is a sweeping, surprising exploration of the hungers that have shaped our evolution, and of the profound implications our food choices have for the health of our species and the future of our planet.
"...What should we have for dinner?" asks Pollan in the opening of this unique history of four meals--from McDonald's fare to personally hunted wild pig. Award-winning narrator Scott Brick--truly one of the best in the business--takes the listener on a mesmerizing adventure to find some answers. The investigation could have bogged down in Pollan's exhaustive details, but Brick captures each experience with a tempo and emotional coloring all its own. From the comedy of gobbling Chicken McNuggets while speeding down a highway to the deliberately paced tension of stalking and killing a wild pig, Brick gives each story a distinctive voice--and taste."
Be our next Featured Reader- apply here:
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PREVIOUS NEWS....
UNICEF- a Rwanda Experience
John Nsabiwana and Alison Smith
speak in the Library
Political Science student, Alison Smith and Rwandan Refugee, John Nsabiwana,
presented to Social Studies students. John , at the age of 7 was re-located from a Rwanda regugee camp. He immigrated to Canada and was supported to enter school at Pearson College on Vanouver Island. John is currently studying at UVIC and speaks around the world for UNICEF. Alison, a Pearson College alumnus, and UBC Graduate, who volunteered in Nicaragua, has joined John to advocate for Rights of the Child.
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Research Inquiry Collaborations
- Mr. McConnell, Ms. Schmidt, Ms. MItchell, Mrs. Schlennburg, Mr. Wong, Ms. Kehler, Mrs. Lewis- Grade 10 research quests
- Mr. Manderioli- Grade 10 Shakespeare
- Ms. Lewis- Comparative Civilization 12: Rome culture research
- Mr. Gibson- Museum Studies:WW1I Primary Research Portfolio
- Mr. Bingham: Kelowna Community news 1930's
- Ms. Blancher: English 11 novel carousel and study
- Lit Circles: English 10
- Social Studies- canadian history -CCF: -answer template or LAN I://data/handout/clarke
- English 12 Gallo - literature essay
- Students research and study an issue that is raised in a novel and create a thesis statement for an major essay.
- Farewell to Arms, Regeneration, Brave New World or Grape sof Wrath
   
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All grade 10 Social Studies and English classes will visit the library during the next 3 weeks. Students will receive general library and research guidance, network accounts and Firstclass training.
 
 
This Gale eBook collection replaces many of the large and expensive print resources. The KSS Library eCollection
includes titles from SD23 accounts and KSS acocunts.
The text and pdf content is vetted and includes extensive bibliographies, yet most titles include clear synopsis'. Each title and section have 'persistent URL's' so they can be hyperlinked within documents.
History, Modern--20th century. History, Modern--21st century. World history. World politics.
Brief Description: Presents in-depth information on conflicts appearing in today's headlines. Users are provided with historical background and analysis to events to give a greater understanding of the politics, players, and layers of current affairs.
Sample Page:
Source Citation: Marcus, Brian. "U.S. Militant Separatist Movements: Freedom Fighters or Terrorists?." History Behind the Headlines: The Origins of Conflicts Worldwide. Eds. Sonia G. Benson, Nancy Matuszak, and Meghan Appel O'Meara. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2001. 295-302. 6 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Kelowna Secondary School. 25 Sep. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/gvrl/infomark.do?&contentSet=EBKS&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL&docId=CX3410600037&eisbn=0-7876-9159-3&source=gale&userGroupName=kelo75088&version=1.0>.
U.S. MILITANT SEPARATIST MOVEMENTS:
eg. Download PDF
Library Supports Pro-D
WIRELESS: The Library staff is assisting the faculty with a wireless computing rollout.
Training sessions for laptops and applications are ongoing. School-wide and student services TBA for later in year.
Now Playing: Go Digital - Go Wireless
TEACHER INTERNS: The Library staff is currently providing teaching support and services to a dozen UBCO and UVIC student teachers.
Collaboration with research methods, teaching practices and lesson design are available and ongoing as are a range of technology support. Now Playing: BCeSIS TA
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Students who independently read educate themselves....
Stay Informed...
George has a snapshot of the news. http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/content/about.html
 
George and The Hour want to mobilize Canadians to do One Million Acts of Green. Thousands of people have already added their Acts
http://green.cbc.ca/default.aspx
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