What's Happening at the BSS Library?

 I have been working on gathering resources onto a new Google Site! It is still in the beginning stages, but check out what I've added so far.  There are plenty of read alouds and instructions for BSS students to access ebooks on the Destiny Discover library catalog.  If you have any questions, feel free to email me! BSS Virtual Library Site

It is amazing how one homework assignment in school could change the lives of two individuals so profoundly.  In this true story, students in a 7th grade class in a suburban school in Pennsylvania had to choose a country and write a letter to an unknown pen pal there.  Caitlin viewed the list of countries on the blackboard, and liked the exotic way that Zimbabwe looked and sounded. She asked her teacher how to pronounce the name, and when she heard her teacher say it out loud and explain that it was in Africa, that's the one that she chose. Up until that point, Caitlin was more interested in taking trips to the mall with her friends and talking about boys, and she had no idea how this choice would change her life. Martin lived in Mutare, which is the third-largest city in Zimbabwe.  Along with another family, Martin's family lived in a one room shack with no running water. Their only piece of furniture was a mattress, where Martin's parents slept.  Martin's sister an...

Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker and illustrated by Junyi Wu   CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO OF THIS REVIEW This story begins with seven fox kits begging their mother to tell them a scary story. Their mother says if they really want to hear   “a story so frightening it will put the white in your tail," they need to venture out into Antler Wood to find a storyteller who lives in Bog Cavern. So the brave kits do just that. And the kits get just what they asked for - six stories that are so dark and so scary and so creepy that one by one the foxes run back home to their mother. The scary story revolves around two young foxes named Mia and Uly. Mia and her mother are forced to leave their den when members of their family are stricken with "the yellow," a disease which sounds a lot like rabies. When Mia and her mother become separated, she is forced to live on her own until she can reunite with her mother. Uly is constantly t...

I have posted information about required and suggested summer reading in the  Summer Reading page  of this blog.  I love creating suggested reading lists for students, and I know how important it is for students to be able to choose what they want to read.  I will be updating it throughout the summer, so be sure to check back! I also included information on how to access the e-books purchased by BSS for students to read. To go right to my lists of suggested reading by grade,  visit this link .

Hello BSS Students and Families, As we transition into online learning, I have been gathering links to ebooks, audiobooks, and other virtual activities that students can use at home. I've gathered these resources onto my Online Resources   page so take a look!  I have also created pages for: Read Alouds by Mrs. Ferguson Author's Websites and Social Media Pages Weekly Library Choice Board (choices of activities to try, will be changed every week) March Book Madness Voting (to vote for BSS students' favorite picture book) View the Pages section of this blog to see other material too! Feel free to comment on any of the posts to let me know what you enjoyed or if you have questions.  You can also email me with any photos or your child learning at home so we can post to the BSS social media pages. I will be having virtual Zoom office hours on Wednesdays at 11:30 (information will be provided by the classroom teachers on either Seesaw or Google Classroom)....

Overdrive has an app for students called Sora, and the company is giving our school free access to some of their ebooks and audiobooks until June 30th.  Here's how to access them: Visit this link:  https://soraapp.com/library/ blesssacma .  (There is also a Sora app you could download.) For Grades 3-8 and for faculty: Where it says Select your School, choose "Google (Grades 3+)." Then click on the green button that says "Sign in Using Google Grades 3+." You will then log in with the same credentials that you do for your BSS Google account. For Grades PreK-2: Where it says Select Your School, choose "User ID." I will be sending you your usernames and passwords.  You will enter your username where it says "Library Card," and then click the green Sign In button. Once you are logged in, you can browse ebooks and audiobooks.  There are some great ebooks and/or audiobook chapter books like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, In...

April is National Poetry Month! Read a poem out loud each day. Practice it a few times and you will find it sounds better each time you read it! If the page isn't loading correctly, use this link instead.

BSS Library Choice Board #1 Please select at least one of these (hopefully fun!) activities to complete this week. Please comment below or email me if you have questions, if you'd like to share a photo or a description of what you chose, or if you just want to say, “Hi!”  Choice #1- Read a Book! Read a book you have at your house or an ebook from the list of online resources I posted. Or listen to my read aloud of Mrs. Roopy is Loopy from the My Weird School series here . Check out the list of " Amazing Ways to Read ," and challenge yourself to try as many of these ideas as possible! Choice #2- Wonderopolis Wonderopolis answers all your burning questions! Read one of the Wonders of the Day and then click the Test Your Knowledge button to see how much you remember. What are you wondering? Add your question on the Wonderopolis site here . Choice #3- Write a Book Review Search for a book you loved from the BSS Librar...

If you are in need of some entertainment, here's a video I created earlier in the year featuring all the things that BSS does so well. It is one way to see some familiar faces!  I had to make it low quality to upload it here (the original file with better quality can be found here on Facebook ). Enjoy!

FEATURED RESOURCE Here is a sampling of some videos from BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. ***use this login information to get full access to all the videos: username: bsswalpolemass password: bss123 BrainPOP Videos (geared towards Grades 3+) For students who have questions about the Coronavirus, here is a 4 minute video from BrainPOP that does a great job explaining it for children:  https://www.brainpop.com/health/diseasesinjuriesandconditions/coronavirus/ In honor of Women's History Month, learn about Ada Lovelace, whom many historians credit as being the first computer programmer:  https://www.brainpop.com/technology/computerscience/adalovelace/ Forces of Nature:   https://www.brainpop.com/science/forcesofnature/ Space:  https://www.brainpop.com/science/space/ Arts and Music:  https://www.brainpop.com/artsandmusic/seeall/ BrainPOP Jr. Videos (PreK-2) Washing hands:  https://jr.brainpop.com/health/bewell/washinghan...

BSS has over 100 ebooks (or "electronic books") in our collection, which can be accessed by typing the word "ebook" into the search bar above.*** (scroll to the bottom of this post if the search bar won't load). 1. Visit this link: https://bsslibrary.follettdestiny.com . 2. Click on "Blessed Sacrament School" above our logo. 3. Choose Destiny Discover in the sidebar to the left. 4. Then type "ebook" into the search bar. Please note that this catalog is for print books as well as ebooks, so not everything you see is available to read online. Be sure to either search for the term "ebook" or scroll down to the "Ebooks" section and click the purple "See All" tab to the right of the screen. There are over 100 ebooks to choose from. I have also created collections under "Learning Links" for Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, and Middle School Once you are logged in, you are able ...