Get your tickets HERE

Come see The Phantom Tollbooth at Greenfield Middle School! Performances will be held Friday, June 6th @ 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, June 7th @ 2:00 p.m. Tickets go on sale Monday, June 2nd in the school library and are priced as follows: $1.00 in advance, $2.00 at the door.

Want to Volunteer?

Helpers are needed to run the GMS Book Fair. Are you available from 12:00 to 12:30 on June 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th? How about some other time during the school day? Please contact Robin Shtulman in the school library. Thanks!

Fifth graders write about Boston

Check out 5th grade teacher Angela Larke's blog, where students on Team 5A have written about their field trip to Boston!

http://angelalarke.edublogs.org

What's important?

In Hole in my Life, Jack makes a decision not to take drugs in jail, even though they're available everywhere. On p. 166 he writes, "I figured getting out of prison was more important than getting high in prison."

What's important to you?

Opportunity

In our Great Stories Club, we are almost finished reading Hole in my Life by Jack Gantos. On page 162, Jack faces being released into the general prison population. He doesn't want to join the "population." So, he asks if he could help in the prison hospital, where he would have his own cell and be safe. He doesn't wait for an offer; he makes his own opportunity.

How can you make your own opportunities? Can you think of a time when you made your own (good) opportunity? As you get older, who is responsible for creating your opportunities?

National Endowment for the Humanities grant!

The Greenfield Middle School Library is one of 3,000 libraries across the country selected by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA) to receive free hardcover books on the theme of “Created Equal.”

The award is part of the NEH’s We the People initiative, which supports projects that strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture. Selected public and school libraries in all 50 states each will receive a set of the 21 books (including Spanish translations of four of the titles), posters, bookmarks, bookplates from the NEH and the ALA, “History in a Box” resource materials on Abraham Lincoln from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and access to online planning and promotional materials.

The We the People Bookshelf on “Created Equal” contains the following books:
· “The Ugly Duckling” by Hans Christian Anderson, “The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln, and “Pink and Say” by Patricia Polacco.
· “Elijah of Buxton” by Christopher Paul Curtis, “Give Me Liberty! The Story of the Declaration of Independence” by Russell Freedman, “Lincoln: A Photobiography” By Russell Freedman, “Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom” by Virginia Hamilton, and “Lyddie” by Katherine Paterson.
· “Saturnalia” by Paul Fleishman, “Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott” by Russell Freedman, “Abraham Lincoln the Writer: A Treasury of His Greatest Speeches and Letters” edited by Harold Holzer, and “Breaking Through” by Francisco Jiménez.
· “Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution” by Natalie S. Bober, “That All People May Be One People, Send Rain to Wash the Face of the Earth” by Nez Perce Chief Joseph, “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, “Lincoln’s Virtues: An Ethical Biography” by William Lee Miller, and “Amistad: A Novel” by David Pesci.

“One of the best ways to get students to understand history is through the reading of excellent historical fiction and non-fiction,” said 8th grade teacher Denise Petrin. “Good books, like Lyddie and Lincoln: A Photobiography make history something students can relate to and are a great way to teach the many stories in history.”

For more information about the We the People Bookshelf grant contact Robin Shtulman at 413-772-1360, ext. 221. For more information about the We the People Bookshelf project, please visit http://publicprograms.ala.org/bookshelf.

Mark Your Calendars!

The Greenfield Middle School Library will host a buy-one, get-one-free book fair on June 3, 4, 5, & 6th! The fair will be open during school (7:45 - 3:45) and Friday night from 5:30 until after the end of the school play. This is your chance to stock up on twice as many books for summer reading!

Scenes from Blood and Guts

Storytelling at the Greenfield Public Library May 17

The Greenfield Public Library, with support from the Greenfield Cultural Council, is proud to be hosting a series of world-class story performances on Saturdays in May. Each performance will run from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Greenfield Public Library and is free and open to all.

On May 17, local musician and storyteller Brendan Taaffe will amuse and entertain with a mix of stories from around the world. A popular elementary school music teacher, Brendan began using story as a way to capture attention in the classroom, and quickly his relaxed and magical telling became the hit of the school. Illustrating the stories with expert music, Brendan is sure to capture the imagination.

FREE COMIC BOOKS!

Today is Free Comic Book Day! Come to the GMS Library for your FREE comic book!
Thank you to Main Vein Comics for donating all the cool comic books!!!