Clifton-Fine Library Blog

Welcome Back!

2010-09-07T04:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to a new school year; hopefully one that will be full of reading!! We have JUST gotten a new shipment of High School Fiction books in the library, and have another shipment of Elementary Fiction books which are being shipped here as we speak! There are many things to look forward to this year, so stop into the library whenever you get the chance!
-Miss Bacher and Mrs. Powers

Putting the "Media" in Our Media Center

2010-06-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

Our skyping session with Sheri Amsel was a wonderful success. The class really enjoyed using this technology.....so much so that, as soon as we hung up, they wanted to call her right back!
Below are some pictures from this experience (the lighting in the room is a bit dim so that we could see the projector).

Learning to Skype

2010-05-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

During the first week of June, Mrs. Durham's 4th grade class will be holding a "skyp-ing" session with author/illustrator Sheri Amsel. Skype is a virtual phone call which takes place over the Internet. Users at each end utilize a webcame in order to see one another as they are talking. This will be our first trial usage of the technology in the library. If it goes well, there are many other ways in which we could try using it next year, including skyping with other schools in different areas of the country in order to get firsthand accounts of what life is like in other places! Stay tuned to find out how this first experience goes. I'm sure it will be interesting, no matter what happens!

Thank You, Mr. Masiello

2010-05-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful visit with author/illustrator Ralph Masiello yesterday. Below are some pictures from his 4 presentations to grades Pre-K through 6th. Students got to learn about everything from illustrating techniques to the shape of a giant panda's skull! Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Ralph holds a giant panda skull while some of the elementary classes look on.

Ralph drew many pictures for the students.....and had a staring contest with a monkey skull!

A copy of "The Flag We Love" which was autographed by the illustrator and given to the school.

This print from one of Ralph's books was autographed and donated to the library as well. It will be framed and hung where it can be enjoyed by many students to come!

Springing Into Action

2010-05-05T06:43:00.001-07:00

In celebration of Earth Day, 2nd and 3rd grade classes read books about what we can do to help the Earth, and then decorated and planted seeds during their library classes. As you can see, the seeds have begun to sprout, and we will be planting them outside once the nice weather finally comes to (and stays in!) Star Lake!
We have made it through the April (snow) Showers, and now we look forward to watching our May Flowers begin to bloom!

Get Ready To Draw!

2010-05-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

Clifton-Fine students are getting their pencils ready for author/illustrator Ralph Masiello's visit on Thursday, May 6th! Students will get to spend hour-long sessions listening to Mr. Masiello talk about his life, his inspirations and his drawing. They will even receive lessons on how to draw some of their favorite things!
In preparation for this visit, we have begun talking about the different aspects of being an author/illustrator, as well as preparing some questions to ask after the presentations. This seems as though it will be an exciting and inspiring day, and we look forward to it!

E-xciting new reading!

2010-04-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

The Clifton-Fine Library now has 167 E-books which have been imported into our catalog through SLL BOCES. These books have been provided through Gale, and will probably prove very useful for high school students who are working on research projects.
To see these titles, you can simply type "Ebook" into the keyword search box and browse through what we have available. Once you have chosen a book that you would like to look through, just click on the title (highlighted in blue) which will take you to the item record. Then, under "Material Type," you can click on "Weblink for more info." This will take you to the E-book, and you will be able to search the entire document for the information that you are looking for.
Feel free to leave comments and let us know what you think about this new collection!

New Elementary Books

2010-04-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

We have some new books in the elementary library. We've just received the dog books series below, as well as a 10-volume "Amazing Animals of the World" set. Come on in and check them out!

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

2010-03-31T04:48:00.000-07:00

Our 1st Annual Dr. Seuss Birthday Bash was a success, thanks to all of the parents, teachers and students who took part! 17 students and their parents showed up to party the night away; taking part in "Seussical Chairs", Pin the Green Eggs on the Platter, and read-alongs with our resident Dr. Seuss Muse, Mr. Bish! Enjoy some pictures below....

Thanks to Mrs. Powers, Mrs. Arquette, Ms. Novak and Mr. Bish for taking part in the festivities! And thanks to the students and their parents for coming to party with us!
See you next year for the 107th!

- Miss Bacher

READ!!!!! (.gov)

2010-03-04T06:25:00.001-08:00

Read.gov is an excellent resource that not many people know about. This website is run by The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, and contains a LOT of information for readers and would-be-readers!
Browsing the website can uncover information about famous authors, reading festivals and other activities, as well as national contests for students to enter. There are also Classic Children's books which have been uploaded onto the site so that parents and children alike can page through them "virtually." There are separate sections for Kids, Teens, Adults and Educators within the website, so there really is something available for everyone.
There is such a wealth of information available on this website that it is hard to go through all of it in a short summary. However, one item that may be of interest to students and/or teachers is the "Letters About Literature" contest that is going on right now. Students can write a short essay about their favorite book or author and enter it into a national competition. They can win prizes for themselves and for their school!
For anyone who loves to read, this website is an essential tool!

Read.Gov

Happy Birthday!!!

2010-03-02T05:38:00.000-08:00

Today, March 2, 2010, marks what would be the 106th birthday of children's author, Dr. Seuss. To celebrate this occasion, all elementary library classes will be spending part of the month of March reading Dr. Seuss books, learning about his life and work, and coming up with their own creative products which are inspired by their favorite books and characters.
As a culmination of this project, we will be holding a "Birthday Bash" on Tuesday, March 30th, from 5-7 pm in the library. Students and their family members are invited to come and share their work, as well as listen to various Dr. Seuss books aloud.
We hope to see you there!

The Mystery Continues....

2010-01-29T05:48:00.000-08:00

Our Mystery Person this week grew up on a dairy farm. And their 5 favorite books are:

As of Friday, January 29th, we have had many guesses, but NO correct ones! We will be extending this Mystery Person riddle into next week!

UPDATE!! Our Mystery Person Has Been Revealed!
Mrs. Shene, our Principal, had everyone fooled for almost two weeks. However, in the end, we had 5 students whose detective abilities helped them to figure out this puzzle. Congratulations to:Ashley, Seth, Martina, Tori and Jay. Good work! We will begin again with a new Mystery Person after February Break!!

This Former Ballplayer's Favorite Books Are....

2010-01-11T07:33:00.000-08:00

...going to be appearing on our blog each day this week! This person's identity, however, will not be revealed until Friday. Can you guess who it is?? (For the week of 1-11-10).

*This week, there are two books posted today (1/14/10) because students have no school tomorrow. Our winners will be drawn this afternoon at noon.

***Our Mystery Person this week was Dr. Alioto, our Superintendent. We had many correct guesses this week as well! We drew names to determine our winning guesses, which were from Jay, Maddy, Curtis and Mrs. Betrus. Congratulations! ***

A Virtual View of the Library!

2010-01-05T11:50:00.001-08:00

Click "Play" to take a tour of our library. Enjoy the view!

The First Mystery of the New Year...

2010-01-04T06:20:00.000-08:00

For the week of 1-4-10. Check each day this week for a new clue, and see if you can figure out our newest Mystery Person by the end of the week! Don't forget to enter your guesses in the library....

This week's extra clue: Our mystery person NEVER listens to music while reading!
Get your votes in before noon today (Friday, 1/8) to be in the running!

Update: After much guessing, our mystery person was revealed this afternoon. She is Ms. Campbell, our vocal music teacher! Thank you for all of your guesses! Our lucky winners this week are Forest, Becky and Mrs. Garwood. Please stop by the library to claim your prizes!!

This Week's Mystery Person

2009-12-01T05:57:00.000-08:00

The 5 favorite books of the Mystery Person this week were:

The Mystery Person was Andy Truesdell, who is our tech coordinator. The Extra Clue was "The Keys are the Key!" We had many guesses this week as well. Winners were Jay, Robert and Paul. Congratulations!

We Have New Children's Books in the Library! (Available the Week of 11/16)

2009-11-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

This shelf may take a few moments to load, as there are LOTS of books to be seen!

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

Thanksgiving Stories and Snacks

2009-11-13T11:41:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday the 17th of November there will be a Thanksgiving Story Hour in the Library from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. with Ms. Novak.
Kids can come with their parents, wear their pajamas and have a bedtime snack.

A Mystery No More

2009-11-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

Our Mystery Teacher this week (11/9-11/13) was Mr. Bish. His 5 favorite books were:

The extra clue this week was that Mr. Bish likes the "Twilight" series of books. Once again, we had many guesses. Our correct guesses this week were from Paul, Emelia and Gary. Congratulations, and keep on guessing!

Let's Battle!!

2009-11-10T06:06:00.001-08:00

The library is joining forces with Cranberry Lake Public Library and is looking for a few good readers to enter their ranks!
Each year, the North Country Library System organizes a Battle of the Books through area public libraries. They release a list of 20 books, appropriate for grades 4-6. Students are encouraged to form a team of 4 and divide up the list of books (or, heck, read them all!).
In the Spring, there will be a preliminary Battle, where the teams of students within the school will compete against one-another to answer predetermined questions about the books.
The winner from THAT competition will go on to a regional Battle against the other winning teams from around the area. There will be awards and prizes for the winning teams!

The list of books for the 2010 Battle has been released by the North Country Library System.
The list can be found at this link: Battle of the Books 2010

We hope to have several teams competing in this year's Battle. Come sign up at the library if you think that you have what it takes!

If You Flip His Initials Upside Down, They Are Still His Initials. And He Is....

2009-11-06T10:47:00.000-08:00

Our Mystery Person this week was Mr. White. His favorite books are:

We had many guesses this week! Our winners for the week are Syrena, Paul and Mrs. Durham's fourth grade class. The fourth graders worked together very diligently to decipher the special clue about upside down initials; many of them walked around our alphabet rug with their heads upside-down to figure it out!
Congratulations to all of our winners, and good luck next week!

An Exquisite What??

2009-11-05T07:01:00.001-08:00

Ever heard of an Exquisite Corpse? It's not what you might think. An Exquisite Corpse is an old game in which people write a phrase on a sheet of paper, fold it over to conceal part of it and pass it on to the next player to do the same. The game ends when someone finishes the story, which is then read aloud.

Our "Exquisite Corpse Adventure" works this way: Jon Scieszka, the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, has written the first episode, which is "pieced together out of so many parts that it is not possible to describe them all here, so go ahead and just start reading!" He has passed it on to a cast of celebrated writers and illustrators, who must eventually bring the story to an end.

Every two weeks, there will be a new episode and a new illustration. The story will conclude a year from now. "This story starts with a train rushing through the night...." No one knows where or how it will end!*

To read the latest installments of this ever-expanding story, visit

The Exquisite Corpse

*excerpt taken from from read.gov

A Shipment of New High School Books has Recently Arrived in the Library....Check Them Out (Literally!).....

2009-11-05T04:56:00.001-08:00

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

The Mysterious Teachers

2009-11-04T07:04:00.000-08:00

How much can you tell about a person by the books that they read, and how hard would it be to identify a person by their favorite books alone??
The students in the library at Clifton-Fine are trying to find out! Every week, a different person who works in the school volunteers a list of their 5 favorite books. Starting on Monday, one book per day is posted up in the library as a "clue." By Friday, there are 5 clues available, and guesses can be entered as to who the Mystery Person might be. On Friday afternoon, there is a drawing from the correct guesses to produce 1 or 2 winners, depending on how many guesses there were.
This is proving to be a great way for students to see what other people are reading, as well as a fun way for teachers and students to get to know one another outside of the classroom!

The Mystery Person for the week of 10/30 was Miss Durham.
Her 5 favorite books are:

The Winners for this week were David and Amanda.
Check back next week for the next Mystery Person's identity to be revealed, as well as the next 2 winners!