January 13, 2009
by Mrs Sinclair
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New Fiction – Coming Soon

A number of new fiction books will soon be available for borrowing. They should suit a range of tastes with a mix of teen chick lit, sci-fi / fantasy and adventure.

Boys might be interested in Geoffrey Malone’s Pirates or Andy Briggs’ Hero.com: Rise of the heros. For those out there who maybe don’t really like reading but are prepared to give it a go, then John Townsend’s Firebomb about a boy whom the police think is aterrorist, whilst the real one is plotting to bomb a planet… or Thomas Bloor’s The Dragon and the Warlord a fantasy tale where a Warlord has destroyed Sheng’s life. Both are no more than 70 pages long, printed on cream paper (easier on the eye) and have easy to read font.

For the girls, Narinder Dhami’s Bindi Babes and Superstar Babes or Belinda Hollyer’s Everthing I know about you will provide the teen chick lit read many of you like. If you have read all the Rennison, McCombie, Cabot or Brashares available in the library then these might be for you.

New Books January 2009

Enjoy your reading!

January 12, 2009
by Mrs Sinclair
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To Google or Not to Google?

That is the question everyone who searches the internet should ask themselves. Why? Google, as big and good as it is, and handy because we all know about it, and the fact that many sites use Google links, is NOT the only search tool out there. In fact, did you know that there are different types of search tool? More about that later!

Why should you use and / or try different search engines?

Fact: An individual search tool like Google does not search the whole of the web! (nor do the metasearch engines)

Different engines may give you different results because each of them use different methods of indexing or cataloguing the millions of webpages out there. By using a variety of engines, you may well get more results. This means you do need to evaluate the information you are finding so you can weed out irrelevant results.

Search engines are good for helping you to find detailed information and you can find information about every conceivable subject under the sun, BUT you often get far too many results which are time consuming to sort through and the information is often completely irrelevant or inappropriate to your needs.

The different search tools

There are three types of search tool: Indexing, Directories and Metasearch engines.

Indexing

These are the ‘Search Engines’, but the term is now commonly used to describe all search tools. The indexing engines use automated ‘bots’ or ‘spiders’ to trawl through the internet to create massive indexes which enable you to search billions of webpages. These are useful for searching using keywords or phrases.

Altavista	Google
Gigablast	Lycos

Directories

Directories are commonly compiled and catalogued by human editors, meaning that you may get fewer, more relevant results. They are best for general or topic searches. They tend to index homepages of sites, rather that every single web page. You can browse across broad and specific subject categories.

About
The Open Directory
Yahoo

Metasearch Engines

These search tools will carry out a search through a number of engines and directories. There may be fewer hits but the results may be more relevant.

Ask	Ixquick
Clusty	Mamma
Dogpile	Metacrawler
Hotbot

For more information about searching the internet go to: Searching the Internet; or for a quite comprehensive list of search engines: Hero (Search Engines)

January 9, 2009
by Mrs Sinclair
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View from the Window

January 6, 2009
by Mrs Sinclair
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Pupil Librarian Pages up-dated

Information about becoming a pupil librarian has been posted on the Pupil Librarian pages: http://salibblog.wordpress.com/pupil-librarians/

The duty rotas are also here but are only available to enrolled pupil librarians.

January 6, 2009
by Mrs Sinclair
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Poetry Picnic Report

A new page for the 2008 poetry picnic has been added to this site. Take a look at it to see a review of October’s National Poetry Day events in the school library. http://salibblog.wordpress.com/events/national-poetry-day/2008-work/

December 18, 2008
by Mrs Sinclair
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Reading Challenge well under way

Over half the books in the challenge box have now been borrowed by enthusiastic pupils. Some have been less than overwhelmed with their choices, but that was the challenge: to read somthing they normally wouldn’t pick off the shelves. A few mini reviews have already been returned and some of the pupils comments are noted below:

Mermaid Curse: The Silver Dolphin by Louise Cooper

Lucy Baxter is thrilled when her family moves to Cornwall. She doesn’t realise it, but she has a special connection with the sea and everyting in it. Good book, nice sentences, powerful and clever storyline. A future classic. 5« ?

Space Cowboy by Justin Stanchfield

While out herding cattle on a remote planet, Travis comes across his worst nightmare and he is given the job of tracking it down. It killed lots of animals and even killed two men. He found out it was man-made and designed to kill. I thought it was really good, it was mind gripping and exciting. It was also scary but overall I enjoyed it. 5« CB

Escape from the Dark by Peter Lancett

A girl is ill. She goes to see the Dark Man. She got followed. It was a very very short book but I liked it. I recommend this book to people who like reading short stories. 3« NC This book is part of a series aimed at reluctant readers. It has great illustrations and very little text. FS

Ghost in the Screen by Paul Blum

Iti s a really sad story about a mother killing her child as she had a baby girl and wasn’t married, she is trying to do the same to her granddaughter. I was very upset when I heard that the Grandmother had killed her child. I recommend this book to people who like emotional stories. 4« NC

December 18, 2008
by Mrs Sinclair
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Poetry Winners

Well done to all pupils who entered the poetry competition. Some of the prizewinners are pictured below.

poetry-winners-2008

Here are some of the prize winning entries:

Anaphora

I’m so sorry

I’m sorry I’m late for work

I’m sorry I skipped school

I’m sorry I didn’t clean my dive kit

I’m so sorry

I’m sorry I didn’t clean my room

I’m sorry I didn’t clean the car

I’m sorry I didn’t cook

I’m sorry I didn’t cut the grass

I’m so sorry

I’m sorry I didn’t finish the course

I’m sorry I didn’t go to the Coop

I’m sorry I didn’t move my bike

I’m so sorry I just hate the work…

Damnit computer you just won’t listen

I shout blithering things, you don’t know submission

I click and I click and I click some more

You make my brain feel tired and small.

I gently kick you with my foot

If I could have my way with you you’d be ashes and soot

But alas my friend your end is not nigh

You are of property that is not mine.

Error occurred should I send a report?

No! I want you and your problem to have yourself sort

Why do have this problem you persist on me?

There is no error. That I can see.

Oh sod it I’ve had it you’re going to die

For this matter at hand I’m not going to lie.

I’ll put you on a battlefield against a javelin missile

Your CPU board I’ll be ecstatic to hear sizzle.

I’ll smack and I’ll wack you up against the wall

My extent of anger is infinitely tall

You are small but I am double

How’d you manage to cause this amount of trouble?

I don’t even know what you’re trying to say

I have to go home soon you’ve wasted my day

You have caused me an entire day of sorrow

This day has been hell and I’ll see you tomorrow.

I HAVE TO CLEAN

Ha! Ha! Ha! Goes the sound of laughter on the TV

I have to clean

EE! EE! Goes the sound of the mop as it mops up the muddy floor

I have to clean

SH! CLICK! Goes the sound of the kettle and a clatter of footsteps followed

I have to clean

SCRATCH! Goes the sound of the pens as it writes out the cheques

I have to clean

CLICK! Goes the sound of the mouse on the computer

I have to clean

DRIP! Goes the sound of the tap as the dishes are washed

I have to clean

PURR! Goes the sound of the cat as it rubs against my leg

I have to clean

SIZZLE! Goes the sound of tea being cooked

I have to clean

CLANK! CLANK! Goes the sound of money as it is counted

I have to clean

What a wonderful day everyone else has had

I STILL have to clean!!!!!

December 9, 2008
by Mrs Sinclair
2 Comments

Festive decorations

The wallcharts

Many thanks to the first year class who have spent the last 3 weeks (2 periods a week) creating an informative display about Christmas, covering traditions, Scottish Christmas, Orkney & Shetland Christmas and Christmas around the world. They also have created book displays roughly based around their wallchart themes and decorated parts of the library.

12 Days of Christmas

Reading Zone

Busy with tinsel, glitter and glue

I have been ever so impressed with the calm attention the pupils gave to the project, never getting over excited, because it was ‘Christmas’ related. During the final lesson on the project they worked well together, helping each other to put the final touches to the display.

December 9, 2008
by Mrs Sinclair
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New Books

Around forty new fiction books have recently been added to library stock. A handful are on display, but the rest have been Xmas wrapped for the reading challenge.

new-books

If you want a chance to try one of the new books, then take the Christmas Reading Challenge.

Try reading something different. Do you dare to choose a book from ‘Pandora’s Box’? Choose a wrapped book f xmas-box rom the box in the library to read over the Christmas Holidays. Unwrap it and get it stamped out at the Issue Desk. Read it over the holidays, then fill in the mini review slip provided. Over 65 wrapped books to take a lucky dip on. Mostly new books with some older ones thrown in for good measure.