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Free Online Resources

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Hello all!

Even though the school and library is closed, that doesn’t mean that you can’t have library fun at home!  For all pupils, teachers, parents, carers and anyone with an interest in books and reading, I’ve compiled this list of free online resources that you can access from home!

Glasgow Libraries eLibrary

Glasgow Libraries are available online!  All pupils, as well as anyone with a library card, are able to access eBooks, eAudiobooks, eMagazines and music for free online through the Glasgow Libraries eLibrary.  All you need is your library card number and four-digit PIN to access.

If any pupil needs help accessing these resources please get in touch with your English teacher.

#UnitedByBooks

Follow this hashtag on Twitter and other social media to see an amazing range of free resources online, promoted by a range of organisations, authors and illustrators.  This will provide a variety of activities to do at home, as well as access to free reading materials.

Also, keep an eye to your favourite authors on Instagram and Twitter, as many are doing live readings of their books, offering free eBooks and a variety of other activities during the lockdown that anyone can join in with from home.

Scottish BookTrust: Live Author on Demand

Watch videos of talks and discussions with authors and illustrators of children’s books for a range of age groups.  There are accompanying activities with each video.  You can find the schedule for promoted events at the link above or visit the Authors Live on Demand page to browse the authors and illustrators available.

BookTrust HomeTime

Enjoy free online books and videos, games, quizzes, competitions and a host of other activities with BookTrust HomeTime.  There are a variety of activities suited to a range of age groups so there’s something for everyone to get involved in!

Elevenses with The World of David Walliams

A free audio story is released every day featuring a character from David Walliams popular books, which I know many of our pupils will be familiar with!  Previous audio stories are available for a limited time so make sure you take the opportunity to listen in every day!  The website also has other activities available to help pass the time in lockdown.

Dekko Comics

Dekko Comics have made a variety of their educational comics available to read for free online.  These can help pupils keep on top of school work during the lockdown as they cover a range of topics including maths, english, science, history, geography and PSHE.  Find them at the link above.

Coronavirus: A Book for Children

The situation we find ourselves in is scary and confusing for everyone.  This free illustrated book, which can be accessed online, helps to explain what’s happening for children and answers many of their questions and concerns.

Authorfy

A free online resource good for any budding writers out there!  Find creative writing resources, activity packs, and writing masterclasses from well known authors.  People everywhere are getting involved in their 10-minute challenges – why not give it a try yourself!

For Witches, Wizards and Muggles alike

For fans of Harry Potter, there are a variety of free resources to explore, including the first book in the series which now has unlimited access on the Glasgow Libraries eLibrary for every library user.  See Glasgow Libraries eLibrary for information on how to access.

In addition to this, you can also visit the British Library: A History of Magic exhibition online for free, which explores magic in muggle history, as well as the wizarding world.

You can also visit Harry Potter at Home where you can find a variety of Harry Potter and magical activities to keep you occupied, including videos, games, quizzes and puzzles.

 

I’ll do my best to keep this post updated with resources as I find them, but remember to keep an eye on the library Twitter page @JPaulLibrary for more regular updates and to take part in our Wednesday #virtualbookclub – I want to hear all about what people are reading during lockdown!

Stay safe and well.

Working from home: day … 9? 40? 3 zillion?

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Lady Georgiana Octavia von Cthulhu of the Atlantic Cthulhus, here guarding the washing machine.

Time has ceased to have any meaning, in these strange times of social distancing and staying indoors. An octopus moved into my flat (her name is Lady Georgia Octavia von Cthulhu, of the Atlantic Cthulhus), so that’s been interesting. She’s excellent company, a fellow , and a great storyteller (I wish I’d been able to capture on film her performance of Tennyson’s sonnet The Kraken, but she’s still a bit shy; you can read the poem below). She does maintain that this poem is about one of her ancestors, but who’s likely to be able to contradict her?  There are strange little purple flowers springing up all over the garden for the first time ever, and a ridiculously large bumblebee is fighting with a butterfly for control of the sunny windowsill (no victor yet). Having spent so much uninterrupted time in current Library HQ, I’m now debating doing some Green Knowe-style interior decorating; this means gargoyles, hawthorn blossom growing inside the house, spooky doll houses, old swords hanging on the walls, and mysterious mirrors in which you think you might see a ghost. So, yes, in short, “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”.

The Kraken

Below the thunders of the upper deep;
Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
About his shadowy sides: above him swell
Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
And far away into the sickly light,
From many a wondrous grot and secret cell
Unnumbered and enormous polypi
Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.
There hath he lain for ages and will lie
Battening upon huge sea-worms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
Then once by man and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1830)

As you may already know, if you follow the library on Twitter and/or Instagram, today is National Unicorn Day. The unicorn being Scotland’s official national animal, attention must be paid. So here are some book recommendations! Elizabeth Goudge’s The Little White Horse is a fairytale about Maria Merryweather, an orphan who moves to live with a distant cousin in Moonacre valley, where she discovers that it is her destiny to right several ancient wrongs, reunite brokenhearted couples,  and restore happiness to the valley. Thinking about it, I might need to add some Moonacre Manor style to my Green Knowe interior decoration plans (above). You should also read Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn, Lari Don’s Legend of the First Unicorn (a new book this year) the comic Phoebe and her Unicorn by Dana Simpson, and the science fiction short story ‘Mythological Creature’ by Stephen Donaldson, in his short story collection Daughter of Regals. Do you have any recommendations? Add them in the comments. I would also recommend the 1985 film Legend, though you would do well to ignore Tom Cruise if you can, and watch it for Tim Curry’s role as the Lord of Darkness.

Competition

Take a good look at the picture to the left. Does it set your imagination alight? What does it make you think of? Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create something inspired by the picture. If you’re a wordsmith, you can write a story of no more than 500 words or a poem of no more than 10 lines. If you are more of a visual artist, you can create a comic with no more than 10 panels, or a short film maximum 10 minutes long.

You have until 10pm on Wednesday 22nd April to email me your competition entries. Please put your name and year group in the email. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions, in the comments or by email. Good luck!

 

Our New Normal

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Hiya!

I’m Katie and I started working at St Mungo’s in February. It was weird time of year to join as everyone was so busy with exam prep…life got even weirder soon after. For everyone. Within a small amount of time life changed. We can’t go outside, toilet paper has become a precious resource and for the foreseeable my couch has become my office.

Welcome to my office. Fabulous slippers optional!

If ever there was a time to take solace in reading, this is it. I’ve spent this time in lockdown practically inhaling books, getting bendy with online yoga classes and living vicariously through virtual tours of the outdoors. When our worlds become unrecognisable we must get creative to stay sane.

I tweet daily (follow me on @stmungo_library) to make you aware of all the free, online content available that can stimulate your mind + stop your brain from getting Covid-sluggish. The great things is, the online library catalogue has loads of online material, all you need is your library card. Whether its films, make-up classes or writing competitions – you have options, so get liberated!

This is also a time for planning. I’m preparing for the next year and creating lots of exciting projects and clubs as well organising author visits. When this fresh hell is over, I hope to see you in the library.

Today the library registered with INTOFILM, Possibly the coolest film club around. It’s funded by the British Film Institute (BFI). They focus on film education and they encourage schools to run film clubs. In their film clubs, pupils are in control and decide what films to show.

There are a number of incentives attached to the film clubs – they have special activities such as a course called Film Detectives  for S1 and S2 pupils which focuses on the material aspect of film and the ethical discussions around restoration.They have awards so the best film club goes to the BFI in London to attend a fancy awards show. 

INTOFILM usually send out DVDs but due to the current situation they have a created a list of films that can be streamed from home and also 50 film guides for use at home too.

The library belongs to you. Make the best use of it.

Any questions, email me: katiemcgrath@glow.ea.glasgow.sch.uk

Useful links:

https://www.intofilm.org

https://libcat.csglasgow.org/web/arena/elibrary

Access FREE online resources with your school library card

Muhammad Khan: Author Visit

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On Monday 3 March, Notre Dame High School welcomed Muhammad Khan, author of I Am Thunder and Kick the Moon. This was organised as part of Glasgow’s Wee Write! Festival.

He talked to our S3 girls about his books and writing process, and also about Islamophobia and toxic masculinity. This event really resonated with our students and I know it was enriching for me personally.

 

EAL Event at Springburn

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Springburn Academy Library recently hosted an event in partnership with Skills Development Scotland which provided information for EAL pupils, parents and guardians on their post school options. The EAL department at Springburn has identified that pupils from overseas, including asylum seekers and refugees, do not have the same access to opportunities as everyone else, often due to legal and financial constraints.

Much of the information and advice given to them needs to be tailored to their circumstances.

There were several speakers, including the school’s EAL Teacher, Graham Park, who opened the event, and Stephen Coyle, Careers Coach, who explained the SDS service offer to pupils. Graham Thomson from Glasgow Kelvin College, covered the various learning pathways offered by the Further Education sector, and his colleague Norma Stewart, described the ESOL programmes and the application process. Shukrya Addow of SDS delivered a presentation on the benefits of undertaking Foundation, Graduate and Modern Apprenticeships. She was followed by Paula Blair from the University of Glasgow, who discussed the university application process and widening access to Higher Education. Ian Maclellan of the University of Strathclyde, discussed their Asylum Seeker Scholarship Fund, and Angeline Mwafulirwa spoke about how she benefited from the Fund and her subsequent career path. The final speaker was Alan Reekie of SDS, who touched on funding issues and the eligibility criteria for learning opportunities for asylum seekers, refugees, EU citizens and international students.

Interpreters supported the event and the languages covered included Arabic, Portuguese, Mandarin and Urdu.

Damien Love: Author Event

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Today was a very special day at St Thomas Aquinas Secondary. We were lucky to have author Damien Love in to talk to us about his new book as part of Glasgow’s Wee Write! Festival. We took the opportunity to have a transitions event, and invited all of our feeder primary schools to attend. Nearly 190 P7s and around 20 of our S1s packed the social area!

Damien talked most about his debut novel, Monstrous Devices:

On a winter’s day in a British town, twelve-year-old Alex receives a package in the mail: an old tin robot from his grandfather. “This one is special,” says the enclosed note, and when strange events start occurring around him, Alex suspects this small toy is more than special; it might be deadly.

Right as things get out of hand, Alex’s grandfather arrives, pulling him away from an attack–and his otherwise humdrum world of friends, bullies, and homework–and into the macabre magic of an ancient family feud. Together, the duo flees across snowy Europe, unravelling the riddle of the little robot while trying to outwit relentless assassins of the human and mechanical kind. (From Goodreads)

Our S1s were absolutely captivated and I hope it was an enriching experience for the P7s as well.

Book Reviews

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Arrived just in time for World Book Day! The first batch of reviews from the Rosshall Academy Library Group, now on display in the Library and in the English corridor.

More to come, so watch this space!

 

February 2020 Roundup – Shawlands Academy School Library

LGBT History Month: The Library celebrated LGBT History Month by displaying the fiction and non-fiction titles selected by the school’s LGBT group. The titles were chosen as part of the LGBT SLIF-funded project. Pupils used homemade bunting as well as resources from the TIE campaign website.

Purple Friday was celebrated in the school’s Fuel Zone with live music and a bake sale. The Library marked the occasion as well by implementing our new Pride section that features fiction and non-fiction books about LGBT and equalities themes. The school’s LGBT group have decided on the criteria for the section. Double copies are placed within the relevant genre sections throughout the Library in order to cross-promote LGBT stories and authors.

We’ve created an LGBT reading list that includes the titles chosen by the pupils: LGBT+ Book List

Blind Date with a Book: Our amazing pupil Library Assistant, Sharia, created her first Library display. To coincide with Valentine’s Day, her ‘Blind Date with a Book’ display featured books wrapped in paper. She wanted pupils to take a chance on a book they may otherwise not have chosen themselves and participants were told they had to read at least one chapter of the book before returning it. The display was a hit! One hundred books were issued from the display and the students had a lot of fun guessing which book they were matched with. Great job, Sharia!

Senior Participatory Spend Consultation: The Library will be dedicating a portion of our 2020-2021 budget on books for our Senior Section. This will involve engaging with S4 and S5 pupils through discussions and surveys in order to identify the authors, genres, and subjects that interest them the most. So far we’ve visited five S5/6 English classes and received some interesting feedback from the students. Throughout March we will work with S4 PSE pupils. Our findings will be published o the blog in April.

JPA Library Book Club

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New Club!

Today was the first meeting of the JPA Library Book Club!

The Book Club will now run every Wednesday at Lunch Time, and the library will only be open to members during this time.

The Book Club has been created after requests from pupils to have a quiet reading space in the school during leisure time, offering a peaceful place to enjoy reading during a busy school day.  It also gives kids the opportunity to read what they want to read, without worrying about being quizzed or questioned on it.

The Book Club also gives pupils the chance to challenge themselves, set reading goals, monitor their reading habits, read together, and write reviews and recommendations for other pupils in the school.  All of the kids taking part in the Book Club are actively participating in the First Ministers Reading Challenge.  Already, kids are challenging each other to finish reading 100 books this year! 

Bookflix at JPA

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Introducing our interactive Bookflix!

Available now in the library is an interactive ‘Bookflix’ that can be used on the large touchscreen in the library.  This lets pupils browse through different genres and top picks, and find out where the books are in the library.

Not sure what to read next?  Why not spend some time browsing through Bookflix!