Our first Varsity Reader!

 

Meet Leslie Connor!

 As you know, The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle is one of my favorite books on this year's list. 

On Wednesday, February 3, 2021 author Leslie Connor will join us to talk about the book, her life as a writer, and play some games with us to see how well we know Mason Buttle. 

Don't miss out! Read the book!

Other books by Leslie Connor:

MCBA 2021 is live!

Today we kicked off this year's Massachusetts Children's Book Award at Bement. Our readers are excited to dive into this year's list and we have many fun activities planned along the way. Stay tuned!

 

Let's Kick it off!

It's coming...
11/11/20
8:15 a.m.

The Great Molasses Flood

I love learning more about local (Massachusetts) history and this book was terrific. It is so hard to imagine that this really happened---a tsunami of thick, gooey molasses flowing down the street and trapping everyone in its path.

The I Survived series is one of the most popular series in the library, and each book opens our eyes to an exciting historic event.

Learn more about the Great Molasses Flood Here.

The new list is here!

This is the moment readers have waited for all spring...the 2021 MCBA list is here!

Happy Summer Reading!

Ladies and Gentleman...we have a winner!

Varsity Readers

Congratulations to our 16 Varsity Readers who read 20 or more MCBA books! It is a huge accomplishment and shows determination and persistence. Great job!

BOTB Champions

#yearoftheteacher

After seven years the time has come!
Congratulations to our 2020 Battle of the Books Champions, the Teacher Team!
Katie MacCallum, Sue Robertson, Casey Ahern, Eric Bordua, and Anna Wetherby

Congratulations to our Parent team who came in second:
Erin Cherewatti, Elizabeth Dunaway, Jenn Gagne, Anne Lozier, and Emily Rich

And our third place team, the Sixth Grade Champions
Wilder Mahoney, Charlie Rolland, Daisy Rolland, and Isabel Sorkin-Camacho

It was a close, fierce fight until the end. Congratulations to all of our participants!

Stories in Action

More than 60 readers filled the Polk Building on Thursday afternoon for our third Stories in Action. Students tried their hand at MCBA Mini-Golf, experienced Scar Island, and enjoyed the winning book cake, mummy sticks and dog treats at the snack station. They tried to make money on Poplar Lane, tested their book knowledge with Minute-to-Win-It games and MCBA Jeopardy, and visited the Ancient Egypt Museum. It was a fast-paced, super fun afternoon celebrating the books we have read together this MCBA season.
 

Thank you to our amazing teachers: Jerry Dobosz, Alice Gearhart, Erin Cromack, Emily Lent, Eric Bordua, Katie MacCallum, Patrick Tenero and Barak Blackburn for all of their help in creating and running games. Thank you to a wonderful group of parents who volunteered their time to help make the afternoon special: Anne Lozier, Will Furness, Jen Paasch, Wendy Van Epps, Kate Rolland, Jane Zhang, Jennifer Cox, Desiree Kicza, Jenn Gagne, Jordi Herold, Sarah Schatz, Sharon Qin, Jaime Billings, and Kerry Shaw. It takes a village to raise strong readers. 💗

The Winning Book is revealed!

Bement students have chosen Ban this Book by Alan Gratz as their favorite for 2020. Honor books were Restart in second place, The Crossover in third, and in a tie for fourth place, The Girl who Drank the Moon and New Kid. Our results have been forward to Salem State University where they will be added to the state vote and the winner announce in just a few weeks.

The team are set for a Monday showdown

On Thursday, the teacher teams competed to determine who would move on to the finals. It could not have been closer! The team of Ms. Ahern, Mr. Bordua, Ms. MacCallum, Ms. Robertston, and Ms. Wetherby narrowly squeaked by Ms. Boyden, Ms. Gage, Ms. Gearhart, and Ms. Lent to move on to Monday's school tournament.

In the Wildcard playoff, we had ten teams competing for the final tournament slot. The sixth grade team of Charlotte, Justice, Melody, Michelle,  and Tianni were victorious.

                                     

On to Monday!

Book Battles Galore!

Last week, we began our Battle of the Books tournaments. This year we have over 70 participants including teams from grades four, five and six, teachers, and parents. The competition has been stiff!

Grade level winners are:
Grade 4:
Eamon, JJ, Noah, and William

Grade 5:
Alexander, Ethan F., Ezra, and Hayden

Grade 6:
Charlie, Daisy, Isabel, and Wilder

The Wildcard and Teacher rounds will take place on Thursday morning, February 27.

The school tournament takes place on Monday, March 2 at 8:10 in the Barn.

House Arrest with K. A. Holt

Today,  fourth through sixth grade readers of House Arrest had the opportunity to talk to author Kari Anne Holt at her home in Texas. They learned the inspiration behind Timothy, why she uses K.A. as her pen name, and if Levi is going to be ok. Students had great questions to ask and got a glimpse into the life of this favorite author.
If you haven't read House Arrest, don't wait! This story in verse is intense and will leave you asking yourself some big questions.

Our visit with Jerry Craft

On Friday, December 13, 2019, we were very fortunate to host author and illustrator Jerry Craft. The author of New Kid, Mr. Craft had one of the most popular books of the year. He spoke of his years creating comics and self-publishing, and hitting it big with New Kid. He spoke about writing the books he never had when he was a child, and the importance of children being able to see themselves represented on the page.
In addition to an inspiring and entertaining presentation at the all-school meeting, he spoke to grades K-3, 4-6, and 7-9. He also enjoyed lunch with ten lucky students who had created comics telling us why they should have lunch with him. It was a fabulous, memorable day, learning with a talented artist!

Demonstrating how he draws on his tablet

Designing a comic with K-3

Luncheon