Cobb County elementary and middle school students will have more ways to explore their summer reading enrichment through a new collaboration with the Cobb County Public Library (CCPL). For the first time, the Cobb County School District and the library system have developed complementary summer reading programs that include shared suggested reading lists, common themes for both academic levels and cross-curricular activities. Both corresponding programs promote the importance of literacy to student achievement and reinforce the value of resources in our public libraries to Cobb County citizens.

Suggested reading lists for 2013 were developed to represent both school and public library collections, including current, popular books and literary classics, with Lexile levels/reading ranges provided for each title. Students still have the option of choosing any age- and level-appropriate book they prefer to read. Students in Kindergarten through fifth grades will “Dig Into Reading” and middle school students will dive “Beneath the Surface,” into books aimed for the pre-teen reader. The primary and intermediate lists for elementary schools and the middle school reading list have corresponding activities for students to choose from, designed to help reinforce study and research skills, critical thinking and application of knowledge.

Students may participate in the summer reading programs for free at any of the 16 branches of the Cobb County Public Library. Library cards are free to all Cobb County residents, property owners and business owners, and to students, with permission from a parent or guardian.

Local schools are also providing fun incentives for students to participate, with specific “reading rewards” criteria for the elementary and middle school programs. Students may also record the titles of all books read on the CCPL Summer Reading Log and return to any branch to be eligible for additional prizes.

Cobb County School District Library Media Education supervisor Janell McClure said, “Research consistently indicates that summer reading programs help boost student achievement and bridge the ‘summer gap’ of retention and learning focus. We’re excited to partner with our local libraries to create a unified reading experience Cobb students can enjoy.”

The Library Media Education department has set up special websites for the elementary and middle school summer reading programs that include promotional videos, suggested reading lists and activity sheets.

Elementary School Summer Reading Site | Middle School Summer Reading Site

Elementary School Summer Reading Video

Middle School Summer Reading Video

The Cobb community is invited to attend the ‘Inspired by the heART’ art show May 9-11, featuring the creative work of Cobb County students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. The show will be hosted by the Cobb County Central Library at 266 Roswell St. in Marietta.

An opening reception will be held on the first night, May 9 at 6:30 p.m., with complimentary desserts and a student slideshow.

The Dowell Elementary Singers chorus were special guests at Turner Field in Atlanta April 17, performing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the Atlanta Braves vs. Kansas City Royals game. Check out the video below!

The Daniell Middle School 8-1 Band recently had the unique opportunity to receive feedback on their performance, directly from the composer. Using online video conference technology, the band linked up with Larry Clark, composer of “Whispers,” one of the band’s selections for its March 27 large group performance evaluation. The band played “Whispers” for Clark, who listened from his home in Florida and provided suggestions for improvement.

Mr. Clark spent additional time chatting with the Daniell band, sharing his background and inspiration for composing “Whispers.” He also allowed students interested in choosing music careers to ask questions about his career as a professional musician and composer.

Mr. Koji Mori and Mrs. Chrissy Holbrook, Daniell’s band directors, also use video conferencing between their own band groups. During 6th grade classes, woodwinds have class in one band room while the brass and percussion sections have class in the other. Both sections use webcasting to perform for one another, as student musicians share ideas and challenge their peers to perform at the highest levels of excellence.

Watch a video of the Daniell 8-1 Band’s performance for composer Larry Clark:

The fifth grade team from Birney Elementary are Georgia elementary champions in the statewide Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl! Birney’s team won first place at every level of the 2013 reading event – District, regional, divisional and finally the state championship. The finals were conducted Saturday, March 9 at the University of Georgia conference center in Athens, where Birney students faced off against the team from Lyman Hall Elementary in Hinesville, GA. More than 500 total teams competed in the bowl this school year.

The Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl challenged students read 16 chapter books and use buzzers to compete against other schools in answering detailed questions about events from those books. As you can imagine, the competition is intense due to the speed, accuracy, and composure necessary for such circumstances.

Birney is the first Area 2 school in Cobb to advance to and win at the state level of the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl.

Submitted by Kaylee Custance, Birney Elementary HRRB Team Coach

Sixty fourth and fifth graders from Tritt Elementary performed the musical Oklahoma! March 5-9 at the Lassiter High School Theater. The shows marked the 10th consecutive year of musical performances directed by Beth Irwin and choreographed by Ellen Linebaugh. The first Tritt musical was Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. in 2004; next year’s production will be Annie, Jr.

For the next several weeks, the Cobb community can enjoy artwork by students from Floyd Middle School on display at the Mable House Gallery and Cultural Center in Mableton. The Floyd Celebrates the Arts exhibit will open with a special reception tonight, March 12 at 7 p.m. with artists, teachers and community members on hand.

The show features 827 art pieces, the largest collection the school has produced. Floyd art teacher Lisa Collins includes a gallery of the artwork on display on her class blog.

UPDATED WITH MORE PHOTOS!

Cobb County schools joined in the fun of Read Across America Day on Friday, March 1. For 16 years, this nationwide celebration of literacy has taken place on or around March 2, the birthday of famed children’s author Dr. Seuss. The National Education Association launched Read Across America to foster a love of reading in our nation’s youth.

Many Cobb schools welcomed special guest readers from the community and held special, literacy-focused events. We’ll update the gallery of images from Read Across America in Cobb as we receive them!

Kell High School artist Jackie Ducros's piece, Cocoon, was awarded the Gold Key.

Kell High School student artists Jackie Ducros, Marissa D’Onofrio, Marissa Keith, Marrissa Jimenez, and Roxanne Newcity recently had their artwork and portfolios recognized during the 2013 Scholastic Art Awards. Jackie Ducros won the show’s highest honor – the Gold Key award – for her piece Cocoon; she will now compete at the national level.

View all of the Kell students’ artwork from the Scholastic Art Awards on the blog of art teacher Laura LaQuaglia.

Students from 39 Cobb schools competed to be recognized as the best readers and fastest buzzers at the seventh annual Cobb County Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Jan. 19. The winners of this year’s competition are: Walton High School in first place and Hillgrove High School in second; for the middle school level, Campbell Middle School took first and McCleskey Middle School took second place; at the elementary level, Birney won first place with Hayes Elementary in second place. These teams advance to the West Regional competition Saturday, Feb. 2 at the University of West Georgia.

Cobb County has had a tradition of producing winners. Last year, Campbell Middle School also won the State competition. In previous years, Austell Elementary went to Divisionals, Lovvingood Middle and McEachern High Schools have won the state competition.

The Bowl was started by Helen Ruffin, a now retired DeKalb County media specialist. In an effort to motivate the students at her school to read more, she decided to capitalize on their competitive natures. Thus, the idea for an academic competition was formed. High school students read the nominated books for the Georgia Teen Peach Book Award. Middle and elementary students read the nominated books for the Georgia Book Awards. In six rounds of competition teams compete against each other. Factual questions about the books are asked. To respond to a question, competitors use a game show style buzzer system. The first student to buzz, responds. If he/she answers the question correctly their team earns 10 points. Thus, speed and accuracy is the name of the game! Winning teams are those that earn the most cumulative points. Due to the round robin nature of the competition, it is impossible to know who will win until the closing ceremony. The Cobb County Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl is organized by a volunteer committee of Cobb County Media Specialists.

Submitted by Barbara Powell-Schager, Library Media Specialist, Big Shanty Elementary