What's new in the library...

Kids' Book Fest 2011

2011-11-07T12:46:00.000-05:00

The Family Reading Partnership Kids' Book Fest is this weekend:

"Reading Magic"

When? 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, Saturday, November 12, 2011
Where? Boynton Middle School, Ithaca, NY

Many of our classes will have their work on display.

Come and celebrate the

magic of reading!

Summer Reading!

2011-06-22T08:02:00.002-04:00

The importance of summer reading

Just because school is out, it does not mean that children should stop reading and learning. Studies have shown that students who fail to read over their summer break show a significant loss of critical reading skills when they start school the next fall.
Over the course of a child's public education, summer reading loss can amount to more than a two year achievement gap. This gap accounts for up to 80% of the achievement differences between economically advantaged and disadvantaged students.

Visit the Tompkins County Public Library to get started
on your summer reading adventure!

Click here for the ICSD Elementary LIbraries Summer Reading List

To learn more about the importance of summer reading, click here.

Book making and another author

2011-04-22T08:34:00.000-04:00

Classes are wrapping up their class books modeled on Charles R. Smith's photography and writing. We're learning about the editing process and making sure that all of our pages come together under the class theme.

While we harness our enthusiasm for literature and use our newly learned photography skills in more curriculum-focused photography work we also prepare to welcome another author to Beverly J. Martin. Throughout the next two weeks we'll ask students to use their detective skills to guess the name of our guest.

Thank you to the Beverly J. Martin Community!

2011-04-01T11:53:00.000-04:00

Thank you to the many people who helped in some way with the author's visit and student photography/ book-making project.

On March 30th we had a wonderful visit with Charles R. Smith. He shared with us how he came to be interested in photography, the path he followed to become a professional photography and author, showed us some of his beautiful photography and performed several of his poems.

During the month of March students read many of Charles R. Smith's books and discussed his writing and photography. Nicky Koschmann and Brad Rappa, parents of two BJM students, spent March working with our students, teaching them how to look at and take photographs and how to combine their words and illustrations on a page.

Every class chose a theme similar to a Charles R. Smith authored book and each student took and chose one or more of their photographs to go in a class book. Next we went to the computer lab and each student combined their writing and photography on a page. Older students also learned how to edit their photographs, cropping, enhancing color, turning it black & white, etc.

Leslie Schultz, Jimmy's mother printed out many pages and put together most of the beautiful posters of each class's work we displayed during our March 30th author's visit with Charles R. Smith Jr.

The Ithaca Fine Arts Booster Group provided a grant allowing us to give each child a high quality color copy of the class book.

Thank you also to the BJM PTA who catered an author's luncheon for our author, special visitors, and BJM staff.

Tomorrow's the big day!

2011-03-29T17:47:00.000-04:00

If you are in the area on Wednesday, March 30th stop by the library and meet Charles R. Smith Jr.

He will be meeting with all kindergarten through 5th grade students to talk about his books, photography, and the writing process.

Author's visit on March 30th

2011-03-13T15:10:00.001-04:00

Charles R. Smith Jr. will be visiting Beverly J. Martin on March 30th and meeting with all students.

How many of his books have you read?

Which are your favorites? Take the poll on the right side of this page.

Focus on poet/author/photographer Charles R. Smith

2011-02-28T07:20:00.002-05:00

Fairy Tale Detectives

2011-02-12T15:10:00.005-05:00

If you ever wondered where your favorite fairy tale characters go when they grow up you might want to try out the Grimm Sisters series by Michael Buckley. The Fairy Tale Detectives opens with Sabrina and Daphne Grimm learning that they are descendants of the famous story telling brothers and that the stories may be more truth than fiction. They are thrust into the role of detectives alongside the The Three Little Pigs and Prince Charming and meet many strange and magical characters along the way. (Books 1-8 are available at the Beverly J. Martin Library)

Check out our new books

2011-02-08T11:38:00.000-05:00

New Books in the library - February 2011

Youth and Technology

2010-11-22T08:30:00.003-05:00

Watch this New York Times story about technology use at one high school.

How Technology is Distracting Students - a New York Times feature

Bridges, Bridges, Bridges!

2009-04-06T15:59:00.003-04:00

It's Science Fair time at BJM and we're learning about bridges.

Click here to watch a video about bridges:
Understanding Bridges @ How Stuff Works

BJM Mock Election

2008-10-29T09:19:00.000-04:00

U.S. citizens around the world will be voting for president on Tuesday, November 4th.

If you would like to participate in a mock election here at Beverly J. Martin, please use the widget on the right side of this page to vote between now and November 4th.

To vote, please click on the circle next to the name of the candidate you would like to select. Each student or teacher may vote ONCE, and voting will close at 9 pm on Tuesday, November 4th. You'll be able to see the final results on November 5th.

Check out the websites below to learn more about the 2008 U.S. Elections:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/election2008.htm

http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/election08/candidates.html

http://www.pocanticohills.org/election/election.htm

If you'd like to see what it's like to vote in the real election, ask your parents to take you with them when they vote Tuesday, November 4th. Have fun voting!

http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/election08/candidates.html

Welcome Back BJM!

2008-09-23T08:09:00.003-04:00

Welcome back! We've got a great new set of books on display in the library. Getting to Know the Worlds Greatest Artists, by Mike Venezia is a set of over 30 volumes featuring a wide range of artists and artistic styles. Come take a look.

Families are welcome to check out books from the library. Come to the library between 7:45 am and 2:15 pm and we can create a library card for you allowing your family to check out up to 5 books for 2 weeks.

Summer Reading

2008-06-03T13:13:00.004-04:00

We are wrapping up the year in the library but that doesn't mean you can't keep reading.

Join the Summer Reading Program at the Tompkins County Public Library and get in the habit of visiting the public library.

Have a great summer!

New Year New Books

2007-12-20T14:34:00.000-05:00

It's almost the New Year and we have many new non-fiction books in the BJM Library. Please come take a look and check out some books about animals, science, health, the senses, sports, the planets, holidays, geography, and countries.

Happy New Year!

Learn to type

2007-10-29T22:24:00.000-04:00

If you'd like to help your child learn to type, check out "Dance Mat Typing" from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/. You can paste this URL into your browser address bar or use the "Dance Mat Typing" link under the Links for Everyone section.

Welcome Back BJM!

2007-09-14T09:52:00.000-04:00

BJM students are starting the school year off on a great foot by READING! Graphic novels have been flying off the shelf this fall. 4th and 5th graders are visiting us first thing every morning to find books in our two most popular series: Bone by Jeff Smith, and Baby Mouse by Jennifer Holm and many children are coming in several days a week to check out books in their favorite genre. Ask your child what she or he is reading.

Would you like to check out books for your family? Come see Ms. Eileen at the main desk and ask her to make you a family card. We're here from 7:40-2:30.

Family Reading
Ms. Scott, Family Literacy Facilitator has a space in the library. Ms. Scott is challenging all families to set aside 10 minutes a day when everyone in the household turns off their electronics and other distractions and READS!

Blast Off! Science Fair

2007-03-27T09:25:00.000-04:00

It's only 7 days until BJM's science fair. It happens Thursday, April 5th, and we'll also have the Sciencenter's Star Lab in our Library on the 5th & 6th.

We're all putting together experiments and exhibits and learning about space. Please check out the "Websites for Everyone" section to find web sites about the solar system, space travel, and astronomy.

Africa Slideshow

2007-03-27T09:02:00.000-04:00

The 3rd grade classes are learning about Africa. Please check the 3rd grade links on the right for a slide show filled with a beautiful diversity of faces and places throughout Africa. You can also cut and paste this URL to get there:
http://www.olympus-global.com/en/event/DITLA/

Happy New Year!

2007-01-04T10:16:00.000-05:00

For the month of January, most classes will be hearing biographies about civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Ruby Bridges, Rosa Parks, and Harriet Tubman. We will also be looking at websites to learn more about the struggle for civil rights.

Mr. Bauchner's students wrote and recorded biographical reports about prominent African Americans and others who worked for civil rights. Ask your student how you can listen.

Please take a look at the new website links on the right to learn more about civil rights and the underground railroad.

3rd Grade

2006-11-15T12:21:00.000-05:00

We've been studying New York State Geography and Symbols using maps and websites. Look at the links on the right to learn about glaciers.

5th Grade

2006-11-09T17:57:00.000-05:00

The 5th grade classes have been talking about immigration and the Erie Canal during library time. Check out the links on the right.

4th Grade

2006-11-06T20:52:00.000-05:00

This month we're doing research on the Iroquois. Use the links on the right to do your research.

After you complete your research, look at Six Nations of the Iroquois, and the Iroquois Museum to learn about present-day Native Americans living in New York state.