Speed Dating with Books
At CMS a few weeks ago, students did speed
dating with books. They would "date" the
books for two minutes by looking at the books
at one table and see whether they would like it
or not. Then students would write it down with
its call number on a sheet of paper. There
books." There were kids enjoying what types
of books they enjoy best. And at the end of it
you could check out the book or books you
liked most. But if you didn't find one, you could
go to a table with books wrapped up in newspaper and blind date that book.
The lady who came up with this wonderful
idea is Natasha Wands. She is learning to
become a librarian at the University of Illinois.
She is apprenticing with Ms. Pantle to learn
more about being a librarian. Natasha got the
idea for the speed dating online. Her favorite
type of book is fantasy but is starting to get
into non-fiction, graphic novels, and is iffy on
sports books. Books are an amazing way to
spend your time.
were many different types of books, and some
choices included Chains, Beauty (Beauty and
the Beast), Never Mind, Lost &Found, and
The Last Mall Rat. The coolest part was the
atmosphere. There were candles, music, and
piles of exciting new adventures to be discovered by kids in seventh and eighth grade.
Isabelle Kieffer said, "It was a great idea that
was out of the box to discover new types of
By Patience Beever
Scholastic Bowl
Scholastic Bowl is an extra-curricular activity in which team members use a simple buzzer system to “buzz in” to answer questions. Questions range from all subjects from World War II to
popular movies and tests general knowledge. Answering a normal or “toss-up” question correctly
results in the awarding of ten points to answerer’s team. Another way to score points is by answering “bonus” questions. Each bonus has four parts, all in a similar subject and the team must
work together to answer the parts, giving their answers for a part to the captain. Each part answered correctly awards the team with five points, so if they answer all parts correctly, they earn
a big boost of twenty points. In the end of a match the team with the most points wins, or if a
team achieves a score of three-hundred the match will automatically end with the team that had three-hundred wins.
There are three rounds, one against one school, another
match against another school, and a final match between
the teams that have not gone against each other. Our middle school, has a Varsity and Junior Varsity (JV) team. Varsity players are players who played last year as well as this
year, whereas Junior Varsity members are new. On February 11, CMS had a great kick-off match to start the season
at Crestwood School in Paris. Mattoon Middle School also
competed. The first matches were between CMS and Crestwood for both JV and Varsity. CMS won both and also won
another match against Mattoon. Best of luck on the rest of
your season!
Argumentative
Writing
In Mr. Bily’s language arts, students are talking about argumentative writing. Argumentative is a style of writing when you get a topic
and find a way to object or disagree about the
topic. You can also explain why a theory or
topic is correct. The style of writing is fact and
opinion based. In an argumentative paper you
have an introduction with a thesis statement,
then three body paragraphs of support, an
objection/rebuttal, and a closing statement.
Their first topic is about fast
food. Some students are
giving arguments about
whether there is healthy fast
food, if the fast food industry is abusing animals, and
whether it is the main cause
of obesity. Students researched, took notes, and highlighted for two
or three days and then got started on the paper. They found their research on a database
called Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context,
and they have been able to find other information online as well, such as a Google
search using reliable websites. After researching, they went step by step and wrote the
thesis statement and supporting paragraphs,
the objection, and closing statement. After
writing their papers by hand during class, the
students then typed them in the computer lab.
They are turning it in through a newer way
called Microsoft Office 365. Students can turn
in their papers without printing them which will
save ink and paper.
By Chase Bosler
By Lahiru Periyannan
CMS
Classroom Courier, page 7