Media Center

The year is off to a great start!  Over the summer, many second, third and fourth grade students checked out up to 8 books from the Media Center for summer reading.  The children really enjoyed this opportunity!  Over half these children have turned those books back in and checked out some more.  If you still have yours, bring them on in and check out some of the NEW books  we are putting out each day.

Merrick-Moore’s fourth grade students will compete in a poetry competition the week of April 27th to celebrate National Poetry Month.  Students will compete in three rounds.  The first round will be held in classroom, the semifinals will be held in the Media Center, and the final round will showcase 20 poets presenting their original work to family, students and staff.

Third and fourth grade boys turned out Tuesday, April 21st after school to grab a snack and settle in for 60 minutes of reading in the Media Center.  Family and friends and the boys themselves pledged money that will go towards buying library books of high interest to boys .  Way to go boys!!

Merrick-Moore will be having their Fall Book Fair the first week of December.  Please save a few hard-earned dollars to buy books that week.  It will pay off in the long run!  Did you know that an adult with poor literacy skills earns about $550 less per week than an adult with excellent literacy skills? Studies by the National Assessment of Educational Progress have consistently found that the more reading material available in the home, the better students’ reading levels are likely to be.   At the Fall Book Fair, for just a few dollars, families will be able to purchase popular, good quality literature.

The Book Fair runs from Monday December 1st to Friday December 5th.  Please come out to visit us and spend a few dollars for the future.  See you there!

Fifth graders are VERY enthusiastic about the Elementary Battle of the Books (EBOB) competition this year! Forty-five eager students showed up for the first meeting! Only 12 students are allowed to compete on the team, so the competition will be stiff. Good luck to all Merrick-Moore tigers!

This year’s list of books is:

The 12 member Elementary Battle of the books team took fourth place in the District-wide competition on June 3rd, 2008.  The team spent several months preparing and were totally professional and on their game during competition.  Their teamwork was splendid and they enjoyed the day.  Congratulations team!  You made us very proud!

 Thanks also to the many parents and family members who turned out to support our team.   You are the best!

To celebrate School Library Week this year, the students and staff dressed up like book characters and came to school.  We had characters from The Wizard of Oz, On Top of Spaghetti, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude, The Cat in the Hat, Caps for Sale, and many, many more.  To see photos of our fun, click here!

Six bookcases full of brand new books, tables and displays covered with fascinating materials - all full of wonderful reading opportunities for you and your family!  The Merrick-Moore book fair will be held in the Media Center from Monday, March 24th until Friday, March 28th.  Scholastic Book Fairs will be providing the fair.  Parents, mark your calendars and plan on stopping by to look at the selection, or be on the look out for your child to bring home their book fair flyer and reading wish list.  We can’t wait!!

     Tuesday and Thursday mornings, during Open Circulation time in the Media Center, you will find a special program going on.  Leading to Read is a Reading is Fundamental (RIF) program organized by Ann See, one of our Merrick-Moore Guidance Counselors.  Second grade “Master readers” come in to read to first grade “Star readers”, and now first graders are reading to the second graders too!  Several other members of the staff have volunteered to assist in the program as well from the Deaf and Hard of Hearing program (DHH), the English as a Second Language Program (ESL), and the Exceptional Children’s program (EC).      As part of this RIF program, the children will be given 2 books to take home with them.  This program has also received grants from Donor’s choose for books for the program, and from Adopt-A-Classroom.     

     The entire third grade, 5 classrooms of children, sat on the floor in the Media Center Friday afternoon, November 9th, eagerly awaiting the visit of a local celebrity.   Suddenly the doors opened and in walked Joe Surgan, kicker for the Duke Football Team, along with Leslie Barnes, Director of Student-Athlete Development at Duke.  The room exploded with cheers as the third graders gave these Blue Devils a very warm Merrick-Moore welcome! 

     As part of the Read with the Blue Devilsreading program, Duke athletes will come out twice this year to read with our third graders.  Joe spoke to the children about the importance of reading in his life and theirs, then he read them A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon which they greatly enjoyed.  After the story, Joe and the children discussed the book, then the third graders were able to ask Joe questions.   He left an autographed message to be shared with them which brought on the cheers again.

     Many third graders are up to level 3 already in the Read with the Blue Devils program and have received bookmarks, Duke temporary tattoos, and Duke Football posters.  Keep reading, third graders!  See you at level 4!