Getting Crafty

March is National Arts and crafts month, and what better way to celebrate than to show off the latest creations  from Ms. Verock’s drawing class. Check out their “deconstructed books” on display in the media center. A great way to turn trash into treasure! By the way, as a disclaimer, for those of you who may think this is literary sacrilege, all the books that were deconstructed were not in any condition to be given away or sold (insert smiley face here).

Do you have a talent for a particular art or craft? Would you like to share what you know? If you do, be sure to look for the forthcoming craft share announcement at the end of this month. In the mean time, check out the great arts and crafts books we have available in the media center, and discover your inner creativity!

The book club - not your usual format

So what do you do when not everyone in your book club can read the same book? Our book club has found a way around this dilemma. We tried raising money, but found it difficult with so many other fund raising activities of other groups in the school.  The library budget doesn't allow for multiple copies of books, and some of our members have issues with transportation to the public library. We only meet for fifteen minutes per week, so in depth discussions are limited.  So what do we do? Why, we read, of course - to each other! We started out with A Child Called It but put it aside to take turns reading the original fairy tale The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson, after a random discussion of the movie came up.  Everyone is somewhat surprised to learn that the original is a far cry from the Disney version! By reading to each other, we can discuss the book as we go along. How is this different from the movie? What is the moral of the story so far?  We are finding that our rather unusual book club format is (for now) a fun way to read and understand together.

Gareth HInds Visit

 Recently, graphic illustrator and author Gareth Hinds visited the media center. Mr. Hinds transforms classic tales such as King Lear, The Odyssey, Beowulf and others - into beautifully illustrated graphic versions. He spoke about the writing and illustrating process from conception to finished product. His visit was funded by a grant from the Athol-Royalston Educational Fund and the AHS media center. Students from Ms. Verock's art classes and Ms. Lamothe's creative writing classes along with several other students took part in the discussion.


Interested in graphic drawing? Check out these online drawing and cartoon creation programs:

• Inkscape - an open source vector graphics creator An excellent drawing program. Turn your drawings into vector graphics
• Google Sketchup  Create 3D models!   
• Pencil Animation Software   An open source animation/drawing software program
• Chogger Comic Strip Creator  Draw your own characters, or upload photos and images to create unique comic strips
• Toondoo Comic Strip Creator  You can also create a comic book!
• Goanimate Create an animated comic 
• Toonlet  Create comic strip characters using  a wide variety of styles and props

Getting the most out of JSTOR - printing

Articles archived in JSTOR are copyrighted and in order to print them you must accept certain terms and conditions. This means that you will not be able to print directly from the browser; you must view the article in PDF format first. To do this, click on the "View in PDF" link in the box on the top right side of the page. Once you click on that, you will be prompted to accept the terms and conditions and you will be able to print the article.

Some of the articles in JSTOR are quite lengthy. If you do not need the entire article, just select a page range in the print dialog box. Not only will you get just the specific information you need, but you'll save paper as well!

Getting the most out of JSTOR Part 1 - Searching

The JSTOR scholarly archive is an invaluable resource when it comes to researching, but very often students will search JSTOR and other databases the same way they search Google. They usually wind up coming away from their search in frustration. Effective searching in databases involves more than typing in a search statement or question. Using proper search techniques when looking for information can help maximize your success in finding what you are looking for. Here are some hints for searching  JSTOR:

• Choose keywords and phrases - don't just type in a question or sentence
• Use the advanced search feature in JSTOR so you can limit your results
• Limit your search to only the disciplines you are interested in - for instance, limit your search to Language and Literature if you are looking for literary criticism

The short video below from JSTOR User Support provides more information on searching JSTOR, including advanced search techniques. It’s only a little over 6 minutes long – watch it and learn to get the most out of your JSTOR search!