Welcome to Sykesville Middle's Media Center
We promote the joys of reading and teach information literacy skills necessary to be critcal thinkers in today's media rich world. ~ Mrs. Mayo & Mrs. Vondy
Check out our New Sykesville Media Blog! http://thescorpion.edublogs.org/
and the
Sykesville Middle School Research Wiki Page (links to teacher recommended sites for research)
Our Featured Genre: Fantasy
The characteristics of Fantasy include: Magic, adventures, talking animals, quests, apprentices, kingdoms, mythical creatures, imaginary words, time travel, and prince and princesses. It would be unusual for a book to have all of these--- but if it has one it is likely to have several.
Our Favorite Fantasy Books
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.“ Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, becomes a thief for a band of dwarves and soon finds himself in the midst of a war with the evil goblins and wargs, and forced to make a decision between the call of duty and the pull of the simple life.”
House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer.“In a future where humans
despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patrón, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.”
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.“Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.”
Redwall by Brian Jacques.“When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy.”
Bone by Jeff SmithFone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone are run out of their home, Boneville, and become separated in the wilds, but better fortune begins when the three cousins reunite at a farmstead in a deep forested valley, where Fone meets a young girl
named Thorn." he Warriors Series by Erin Hunter"Rusty, a bored house kitten, is apprenticed by the ThunderClan and must struggle to fit in when the group of feral cats is threatened by the enemy ShadowClan."
Electronic Resources:
Student Resource Center-Science Resource Center -Junior Edition- articles
http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/sykesvillems username-sykesvillemspassword-syke_log
World Book Online –encyclopedia http://www.worldbookonline.com
SIRS Discoverer- articles, reference http://discoverer.sirs.com username-MD0978password- 21784
SIRS Knowledge Source-articles, http://sks.sirs.com username-MD0978 password-21784
Proquest Literature-author bios, lit info http://literature.proquestlearning.com/login.jsp username-sykesmspassword-pqll ( all letters)
Bridges CX Online-career info http://cxonline.bridges.com site ID-0025814password-sykes
Carroll County Public Library-research resources, reserves, check account,Smarthinking, Read Much? http://library.carr.org
Sykesville Middle School Research Wiki Page links to teacher recommended sites for research
Other Good Sites to Visit:
http://www.lexile.com
This website allows you to search by title or by a lexile range. Click on Families, then click on Lexile Book Database and enter your search information. Remember that our goal is to develop a lifelong love of reading so the specific lexile range should not be the first factor you consider when choosing reading materials. However, it may be interesting to discover the lexile of books you have read, or search out a book you like within a specific lexile range.http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklistsbook.htm
This website is the Young Adult Library Services Association website and it offers many different lists of books. Be sure to record the title and author of any books you are interested in so you will be able to reserve them online or locate them at the library.
http://www.reading.org/resources/tools/choices.htmlThese lists have been developed through the votes of the readers themselves and compiled by the International Reading Association. Select from the Children's Choices, the Young Adult Choices, the Teachers' Choices, or check all three lists for titles that may interest you.
The Amazon website allows you to browse lists by subject or popularity. You can also read and write reviews for individual titles. Just use the pull down arrow in the Search Window to select books.
On this website of Carroll County Public Library, you can reserve books, read summaries of titles, or check what books are available by an author you enjoy. You can also use the research resources to access information through many different databases.
http://citationmachine.net/
Citation Machine: Use this link to access an online tool that will properly format the sources you used and help you to create a citation page. You will need to copy and paste the citations it creates into a text document such as Word.
Check out all of the databases available to you electronically! These databases offer high quality information that you can trust from reputable print publishers, as well as selected web sites. Research through these databases will save you time, and ensure that you are using reliable sources for your research
Some Favorite Links:
The Caves of Lascaux 6th grade Social Studies
CIA World Factbook 7th grade Social Studies
Ready Reference 7th grade Social Studies
Carroll County Public Schools ~ 2007
