2009 Rebecca Caudill Prairie Pick

During the month of February, Prairie students voted for their favorite of the 2009 Rebecca Caudill titles. The ballots were counted and The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan won by a large margin. Second and third place winners were close with The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick beating Susan Beth Pfeffer’s novel Life as We Knew It by only two votes. We will need to wait a few more weeks before the state winner is announced.

Any students looking for a good book to read should follow their peers’ suggestions and check out one of Prairie’s winners!
Students may be interested in reading some other novels by our winning author, Rick Riordan. His Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is quite popular with middle school students. Many of us are eagerly awaiting his last book of the series that will be published in early May.

Other book suggestion lists can be found on our library site by clicking on the Find a Good Book link.

Social Networking

All the latest buzz seems to be about "social networking". If you haven't heard of Facebook, Myspace or Twitter, you must be living in the dark ages. Well, it seems the world of social networking has progressed beyond the teenagers and many adults now find themselves connecting with others and reconnecting with their past through these sites. I have recently ventured into the worlds of Twitter and Facebook. Twitter is considered a "micro blog". It allows users to send and receive updates from other users. These updates, also known as "tweets", are text based posts that are no longer than 140 characters in length. At first thought, it seems pointless, but the concept is actually quite brilliant. You can subscribe follow a person's "tweets". You can also restrict delivery of your messages to specific people. Twitter is not just limited to computers. Tweets can be sent and received through a mobile phone.

Twitter is a great way to connect with like-minded people. It's also being used as a tool to quickly get information out to users. Many candidates of the 2008 Presidential campaign used Twitter to keep their supporters updated. Intrigued? What to learn more? Visit Tweeternet to learn everything you need to know about Twitter.

Power Pointless

Powerpoint is a great presentation tool, but many who use it make it their presentation rather than using it as a tool to enhance their presentation. It's one thing to master the bells & whistles of the program, but do you really know HOW to make a good powerpoint? Here is a humorous and insightful video by Don McMillan called "Life After Death by Powerpoint".

Snuggle up with a Great Book

This month we are highlighting great books to enjoy while you are trapped indoors during the winter months. Feel free to grab a book from our display or ask for a great book suggestion!

Remember our Caudill 2009 program is nearing the midway point. You have until February to read three of the twenty titles in order to be qualified to vote for your favorite. All of our Prairie votes are sent to the state to help determine the overall state winner. Keep in mind that we also have the extra challenge of reading fifteen books by the end of April. Those of you who are able to reach that goal will be invited to a party in the LMC in May. All of our Caudill 2009 books are on the black display cart so that they are easy to identify. Many of your fellow students are raving about The Lightning Thief, Life as We Knew It, The Green Glass Sea, and The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

For those of you who really like to read series books, two of our Caudill 2009 books are the first of their respective series. Check out The Lightning Thief where Percy Jackson heads on a quest to retrieve Zeus's lightning bolt. Wolf Brother, the first book from the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, also includes a journey. The main character Tarak and his wolf club seek a demon possessed bear that is threatening the clans who live in the area.

Another new series addition that has hit our shelf is The Calder Game by Blue Balliett. Calder, Petra and Tommy continue their sleuthing in the hopes of finding a missing statue. Twice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris continues Queen Marigold and King Christian's story. Did they live happily ever after? Coming in just a couple of weeks is the long awaited book five of the Ranger's Apprentice Series titled The Sorcerer of the North. Will, who is now a ranger, searches for the traitors who posioned the king.

Do you have a favorite series that you would recommend? What is it about the series that you enjoy?

Election Day

Have you ever wondered about how the president of the United States is actually elected? It is not as simple as winning the majority of votes cast on election day. Watch this video made by The Common Craft Show that explains our election process in very simple terms.

Electing a US President in Plain English

Stranded with a Good Book

Have you ever been stuck at the airport waiting for the weather to clear so that your flight can take off? That was the situation I was in recently, and thank goodness I had a good book to keep my mind off of the wait. In fact, the book I was reading transported me to India rather than Chicago which was my desired destination.

Kashmira Sheth, the author of Keeping Corner, tells the story of Leela, a widow at the age of twelve. In fact, Leela was engaged at age two, married at age ten and just before her anu ceremony, her husband was bitten by a poisonous snake. When Leela's husband died, she was looked upon as bad luck. She needed to spend a year keeping corner, which was an Indian tradition. During this year, Leela could not go out of the house, had to wear drab clothing and keep her head shaved. According to Indian tradition, Leela was to not marry again.

Can you imagine what life was like for Leela? Although things looked grim, Leela's brother fought for her right to an education and this opened new doors for her. This break with tradition occurred as Ghandi was encouraging the Indian people to break with tradition and fight against English oppression.

I learned quite a bit about Indian traditions and history while I waited for the flight departure to be announced. What good books have helped you through a long wait?

November 4th

Why is November 4th the most important day of the year? It's the day of the presidential election and the day that the people of America get to choose the leader of our nation for the next 4 years. Everytime you turn on the television, radio or computer, the topic of the day seems to be the presidential election. As a kid, you may tune this stuff out and think "I'm not old enough to vote, so why should I care?". According to PBS.com, young people who vote , do so because they learned about the importance of elections when they were kids and they grew to believe it was an honor and a privilege. The internet is a great way to learn about the presidential candidates and the election, but it is important to to know where your information is coming from. Since anyone can post anything on the web, it's best to learn from reliable, un-biased sources.
So, if you'd like to learn more about the election, here are some good websites:
Time for Kids Election Connection 2008
Scholastic News Online Election 2008
Rock the Vote
Kid's Voting USA
PBS Democracy Project
Ben's Guide to Government for Kids