The Center for Cartoon Studies

Thank you to Mr. Haas for his recent recommendation of The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) resource! A fantastic website and blog for the novice comic book artist (I know there are many here at HHS), CCS is the place to go for resources related to the comic books and graphic novels. From reading recommendations to classes, workshops, and degree programs, CCS is a fairly local (White River Junction, VT) institution that will appeal to any person even mildly interested in the genre.

Don't forget to check out some of those summer workshops. Great stuff!

And also be sure to take a look at their How to Draw Comics, A Guidebook to the Center for Cartoon Studies (free for digital download)!

*Images from cartoonstudies.org

First "Marathon" Refueling Station - Wednesday, December 17th

Our first “refueling station” will be held after school in the library on Wednesday, December 17th. Stop by, if you have the chance, for some informal book chats with other participants, a preview of new library materials, and a designated photo booth area to take your “shelfie” (a selfie of you holding a recently read and enjoyed book), to be posted on our marathon wall. Please see Mrs. Fournier and Mrs. Belcher for more details!

*Image from idealbookshelf.com

December Newsletter

Don't forget to take a look at the December issue of the HHS Library newsletter! See what's new at your school library!

JSTOR

The HHS Library now has it’s own subscription to JSTOR! A shared digital library, and a tremendous resource to you for all of your research needs, JSTOR includes more than 2,000 academic journals, as well as books, monographs, pamphlets, etc. Approximately 3 million pages of new information are digitized annually. With it’s clean interface and student friendly features, JSTOR provides accessible content in an easy-to-use format.

Here's a tutorial to get you started!

October Newsletter

The October issue of the HHS Library newsletter is now available!

Author Visit Recap

Recently, local author Michael Tougias visited HHS to discuss his book A Storm Too Soon with a group of freshman students, who read the book for their summer reading requirement. Students had a chance to learn more about the incredible Coast Guard rescue, and ask Tougias their own questions about the event, his writing process, and the research that goes into writing such a book. Students had great questions, and had a chance to have their book copies signed by the author himself.

A special thank you to the HPTA, for sponsoring our author event!

It's Banned Books Week!

It's Banned Books Week! Banned Books Week celebrates the value of free and open access to information. In honor of BBW, be sure to visit the HHS Library and exercise your freedom to read. For a list of frequently challenged books, click here. How many have you read?

Freshman Summer Reading Discussion Groups

Freshman summer reading discussion groups will be meeting on Thursday, 9/18 during Advisory. Please check the lists posted outside the HHS Library to find out which room your group is meeting in. And please see Mrs. Fournier with any questions. Hope everyone enjoys their book discussions!

Comic Book/Graphic Novel Club

The first meeting of the HHS Comic Book/Graphic Novel Club will be held Tuesday, 9/16 at 2:00pm in the library. New members are always welcome!

September Newsletter

It's almost back to school time...with the last days of summer dwindling, check out what's waiting for you at your school library. Mrs. Fournier and Mrs. Belcher look forward to seeing all of you soon!

8 Elements of Digital Literacies

Doug Belshaw, a researcher in education, defines digital literacy as part of his doctoral dissertation. Based on his research, the 8 elements Belshaw has identified a being central to digital literacy are:

Cultural: The context in which the literacy is situated

Cognitive: How do we think when using a device?

Constructive: We should aim to use technology constructively

Communicative: We should be using technology to enhance our communications

Confident: Confidence is key in learning how to master technology

Creative: Using technology in the classroom requires some creativity and risk taking

Critical: You need to be able to evaluate technologies with a critical eye

Civic: You should be using the technologies available to us for the greater good

For more info, check out the TED video!

HHS Book Club Meeting 6/12

The HHS Book Club will be holding it's last meeting of the school year this Thursday, 6/12, at 2:00pm in the library's seminar room. We are reading the discussing The Maze Runner by James Dashner. New members are welcome!

Great job on those Senior Projects!

The HHS Library had the privilege of hosting senior projects this morning! Great job to all of those students who showcased their incredible efforts. Thank you for sharing your work with us!

Using Video in the Classroom

A new Using Video in the Classroom resource guide now posted! Take a look here.

Sweet Search

                 
Check out the new Sweet Search widget on our sidebar!

A search engine designed for students, Sweet Search only searches the 35,000 websites that their staff of research experts, librarians, and teachers have evaluated and approved. Organizations such as the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, PBS, and university websites are all included in the Sweet Search results bank.

Save yourself some time by searching directly from the widget on the HHS Library website, and be confident you are getting clean search results for your academic assignments.

Live A.P. Prep Session from C-SPAN!

This Saturday at 9:00am, C-SPAN Classroom is hosting a live prep session for students taking the A.P. Government and Politics exam next week. Teachers Dan Larsen and Andrew Conneen from Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, IL will discuss the exam, preview sample questions, and offer study suggestions. Students will also have the opportunity to ask questions during the live session by Tweeting @cspanwj or by emailing journal@c-span.org. Student can also call in with their questions using phone number (202) 585-3880.

Author Event - May 20th!

The Hopkinton Public Library presents, as part of the Hopkinton Public Schools "Desire to Inspire" initiative, award-winning author Michael Tougias, Tuesday May 20th at 7:00pm in the Hopkinton High School auditorium. Michael will be discussing his book The Finest Hours (soon to be a Disney motion picture!) which recounts the U.S. Coast Guard's most daring sea rescue, in gripping detail. Enjoy "...a visual journey of this rescue and the leadership and resiliency lessons learned from this event."

This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome!

A Comic Book/Graphic Novel Club Original!

Thank you to one of our junior students, Vasilios Dentiste, for sharing one of his original works with us and granting us permission to share it on the library blog. Vasilios created all of the illustrations and text for each of these panels himself, and has quite a portfolio that he recently shared with the rest of our comic book/graphic novel club members. We're all excited to see more of his artwork in the future!

Celebrate National Poetry Month with the HHS Library!

As part of our celebration of National Poetry Month, the HHS Library will be holding a screening of the documentary Brave New Voices, after school on Tuesday, April 15th in Room A308. Watch the Russell Simmons produced Grand Slam Finals competition between 4 teen poetry teams - Denver, Albuquerque, the California Bay Area, and New York City, all performing in front of an audience at L.A.'s Saban Theatre.

April is National Poetry Month

National Poetry Month has been held every April since 1996, and is a month-long observance recognized by schools, publishers, booksellers, and poets celebrating poetry and its significant role in American culture. Check out some of the resources linked to below to celebrate poetry your own way!

30 Ways to Celebrate

Poem in Your Pocket Day

Poet-to-Poet Project

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Celebrate books and school library month by watching the Academy Award winning digital short, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. It's a great one!

April is School Library Month

April is School Library Month, the American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) celebration of school libraries and their programs. Popular author Jeff Kinney created two PSAs celebrating school libraries that can be found here.

Stop in to the HHS Library and take advantage of all of the resources available to you here!

Author Event Recap

Thank you to all who attended our author event Wednesday (3/26) evening. And a huge thank you to author David Yoo for visiting the HHS Library and speaking with all of us! The HPTA generously donated the funds to help us host this event.  Students, staff, and parents enjoyed David's reading of one of his short stories and being able to ask him questions about his experiences as a writer and where he finds his inspiration.

Check out some photos from the event!

Winter Reading Challenge Finale

Thank you to all who participated in the HHS Library Winter Reading Challenge.  We have a student winner! Our winner is Swati J., grade 9 who read 32 books over the course of the challenge! Congratulations Swati!  All WRC participants are invited to an after school get-together today to celebrate everyone's reading accomplishments.  Certificates will be awarded, as well as the winner's prize!

Click here to see the list of all the great books we've been reading this winter!

2014 Marathon Essay Competition

The Alpha Omega Council, in association with the Consulate of Greece in Boston, the 26.2 Foundation, the Hopkinton Public School District, and the Desire to Inspire initiative presents the 2014 Marathon Essay Competition.

ALL High School students are invited to write an essay on the Marathon on the following topic (750 - 1,000 words, typed):

“How does the Battle of Marathon relate to modern day concepts of democracy, citizenship, and freedom?”

Entry Deadline: Sunday, April 6, 2014

Please see here for more details and entry forms.

Winter Reading Challenge Celebration

Stop by the library after school on Friday for a little gathering and chat with other participants about all the great stuff you’ve been reading! I’ll also be presenting a gift card to our student winner! Students please get me your blurb sheets by Friday, so I can tally up the results and announce the winner of our challenge!

When: Friday, March 21st, 2:00pm

Where: Library

Why: Recognize your Winter Reading Challenge accomplishments!

To date, this is the most recent list of books our participants have been reading!

Boston Public Library Exhibit

In celebration of Women's History Month, the Boston Public Library's special collections department organized an exhibit of books and manuscripts illustrating the public and private lives of esteemed writers such as Emily Dickinson, Louisa May Alcott, and Julia Ward Howe, as well as lesser-known authors such as Hannah Adams, Hannah Webster Foster, and Annie Fields. The exhibit is open to the general public and will be on display through May 30th (M - F, 9:00am - 5:00pm), in the Rare Books Lobby, located on the third floor of the McKim Building.

March is Women's History Month

During the month of March, the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum all pay tribute to the generations of women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable to society.

The National Women’s History Project has designated this year’s theme “Celebrating Women of Character, Courage and Commitment. International Women’s Day is celebrated March 8th.

Author David Yoo to visit the HHS Library!

 On Wednesday, March 26th at 7:00pm, local author David Yoo will be visiting the HHS Library to give a brief reading from one of his books, followed by a Q&A session and book signing. David is the author of the young adult novels Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before, a Chicago Best of the Best Selection, and Girls for Breakfast, an NYPL Books for the Teen Age selection and a Reading Rants Top Ten Books for Teens choice, along with a middle grade novel, The Detention Club, published in 2011. His first collection of essays, The Choke Artist: Confessions of a Chronic Underachiever was published in 2012.

This is a community event - all are welcome!  We will have a limited number of David's books available for purchase at the event.

Student Poetry

Thank you to student Colin Palmer for sharing some of his original poetry with us! We are posting his work on the library blog with his permission.  Next month is National Poetry Month and we will be looking for more student submissions, please see Mrs. Fournier or Mrs. Belcher with some of your own work to post and share!

Sleeping In by Colin Palmer

That noise you can see
even when you're eyes are closed.

There's a slight breeze from the window
running over your toes.

Creaking on the floor
the house is alive.

The sweet smell of bacon
i'll be down in five.

Heading down the stairs
heavy on your feet.

Overjoyed faces
from the crowd in the seats.

Take a deep breath 
of that cool, salty air.

Grandpa's pancakes thrown down my throat
where's the bacon, how is this fair.

Next Meeting: Comic Book Club

The next meeting of the HHS Comic Book/Graphic Novel Club will be Tuesday, March 11th after school, from 2:00 - 3:00pm in the library. Thank you to all of our members who participated in last week's movie afternoon. New members are always welcome to join us!

Some Recommended Reading

For those students and staff participating in the Winter Reading Challenge (and anyone else for that matter!), check out some of these recommended reading lists. LibraryReads.org is a great resource for when you are looking for your next book. I've already added several titles to my to-be-read (TBR) list. Looks like there's some great stuff!

March Newsletter

The HHS Library Newsletter is now out!  Have a read here.

Comic Book/Graphic Novel Club Movie Afternoon

The HHS Comic Book/Graphic Novel Club will be having their movie afternoon Friday, 2/28 after school.  Join us as we watch Watchmen together! We recently read the graphic novel as a group and are exited to see how the movie compares.  All are welcome!

*If you are under 17, you must see Mrs. Fournier for a permission slip, to be signed by your parent/guardian.

Winter Reading Challenge Update

The HHS Library's Winter Reading Challenge is in full swing!  Take a look at some of the titles students and staff have been reading. There's still time to take the challenge!  See Mrs. Fournier for more details.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
Blythewood by Carol Goodman
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Building Great Sentences: How to Write the Kinds of Sentences You Love to Read by Brooks Landon
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
Cinematic Storytelling by Jennifer Can Sijll
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Dr. Sleep by Stephen King
Engaging Readers and Writers with Inquiry by Jeffrey Wilhelm
The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The House Girl by Tara Conklin
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Joyland by Stephen King
The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym by Edgar Allen Poe
Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
Paper Towns by John Green
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Perfect by Rachel Joyce
Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester
Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead
The Shining by Stephen King
A Short History of Film by Wheeler Winston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster

Singing School: Learning to Write (and Read) Poetry by Studying with the Masters by Robert Pinsky

Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager by Buzz Bissinger

Tragic by Robert Tanenbaum

The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan

The Violet Hour by Katherine Hill

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
Wild Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks by Max Brooks and Ibraim Roberson

February is Black History Month

Black History Month is an annual celebration which recognizes the achievements of African Americans throughout history. This year's theme is "Civil Rights in America." A great resource for learning more about Black History Month, the Library of Congress has many online exhibits which pay tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.

Free Art Books

Looking for an art or art history book? Try the Getty Publications Virtual Library hosted by the Getty Museum. The Getty Museum has put more than 250 art books online free for reading or downloading. The collection is searchable by author, keyword, or title. This is a great resource - check it out!

Another FREE Movie Night!

The HHS Library and Student Book Club are hosting another movie night to raise money for their spring field trip to visit the Boston Public Library and Boston Athenaeum. On Friday, February 7th we will be showing The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in the HHS Auditorium. The movie is free and will begin at 6:30pm. We will be selling concessions starting at 6:00pm. Bring the family and enjoy the movie! Open to the community - all are welcome!

A Special Thank You to the HPTA!

The HHS Comic Book/Graphic Novel Club would like to give a huge thank you to the Hopkinton Parent Teacher Association (HPTA) for recently awarding us a grant to fund our club! With so much discussion in the education world about the use of comic books and graphic novels to support the common core in the classroom, it is a great time for us to be offering an extracurricular club fostering students' interests related to the genre.

Some recent acquisitions by the HHS Library include several of Wayne Vansant's graphic novel series depicting epic battles and historical events.  A fun way to learn some history at your school library! And for those of you participating in the HHS Library Winter Reading Challenge, yes, these books will count towards your total!

For our next meeting, Tuesday February 4th after school, the Comic Book/Graphic Novel Club will be reading and discussing Watchmen. All are welcome!