Welcome back!

So much to read and it’s only September!  We’re optimistic that it’s going to be a great (school) year for reading.  Sit tight and don’t go away--we’ll be right back with more reviews, more programs, and, you know, more of what’s good. --Claudio Leon and Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Queer, There and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sarah Prager and Zoe More O’Ferrall

Full disclosure: I received this book in conjunction with a meet-the-author event at Andrea Swenson’s amazing school library.  And I’m so glad I did because I think every school librarian serving high school students will want a copy of Prager’s chatty collective biography of queer history on their shelves.  Brief as they are, her twenty-two biographical chapters on twenty-three historical figures are intriguing and leave the reader wanting to know more.  Through the brief lives examined, the casual reader will start to grasp the bigger outlines of queer histories.  Prager’s considered and inclusive stance will aid younger readers in exploring multiple perspectives in a world wracked with adversarial and exclusionary politics.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

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Prager, Sarah and Zoe More O’Ferrall.  Queer, There and Everywhere:23 People Who Changed the World.  New York: HarperCollins, 2018.

Interdisciplinary Collaborations-- Hidden Figures

Interdisciplinary Hidden Figures Unit Leadership Team meets at the start of 2018 to co-plan at the Intrepid.

Ms. Chau supervises an NSD student bottle rocket launch after teaching students how to create their own rockets in February.

The books are ready to be distributed to every student at Belmont.

Ms. Ikawa leads "I Have, Who Has... in Ms. Ernyey's Advisory

At the Intrepid, students are challenged to complete simple tasks with gloves on to simulate the challenges faced by astronauts in outer space.

At MoMath in March!

Interdisciplinary Collaborations-- Hidden Figures

At the end of January we kicked off an interdisciplinary collaborative literacy initiative in advisory classes with two language learning activities to prepare students to engage with Hidden FiguresYounger Readers’ Edition.  Our school’s principal purchased a copy of this new paperback for each and every student and we had the fun job of partnering with advisors to distribute these gifts.  Students expressed satisfaction that they would be able to keep the books and were generally eager to begin reading them.

Ms. Ikawa, Speech-Language Pathologist, led students through a round of “I Have… Who Has” first, and then I introduced the terms associated with front matter and back matter.  We walked through the back matter together and concluded with a small competition to see who could utilize the index most efficiently.  Students did not want to stop looking things up at the end of the period.

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Approximately one month later, the unit concluded with hands on learning experiences at the IntrepidMuseum (for placement students) and the National Museum of Mathematics (for detention students.)  We were so consumed with the work at hand--science, literacy, social studies were all involved-- we had little time left over to post, but here are a few photos of the highlights. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber, School Librarian, Belmont

Being Human by William Wegman

Furthering the claim from neuroscientist Gregory Berns that “dogs are people too,” Being Human presents 276 portraits of Weimaraners by William Wegman, the famous photographer.  Students will find chapters like “People Like Us,” “Masquerade,” and “Disguise” more immediately appealing than those that are more abstract like “Physique,” and “Color Fields” or those that make cultural references that are likely unfamiliar like those in “Tales.”  Still, Being Human is perfect for browsers and an accessible invitation to photography and art-looking for readers new to the experience.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Programming Spotlight: Author Fred Aceves

Photo Credit: Ms. Jackson

Earlier today non-secure detention students at our Belmont site participated in a special author visit program with first-time novelist Fred Aceves.  Detention advisors and ELA teachers prepared students for the visit by leading readers through the beginning of The Closest I’ve Come.  Mr. Aceves, who was visiting NYC from Mexico this month, answered students questions about the book and his experiences as a writer.  We are grateful to Mr. Aceves for taking the time to meet with his fans, and to Literacy for Incarcerated Teens for generously sponsoring this library program.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber