This Update will keep you abreast as to what is going on the in the Benteen Library Media Center, and possibly beyond. Hopefully, you will be able to find the answer to any of your questions that you may have for Mrs. Brightharp.

As we prepare for the End of Semester, and to celebrate the winter holidays, consider finding out more about the season and the holidays. How? Visit the apps in https://mybackpack.apsk12.org, especially Galileo, Class Pass, and eResources. You may want to take a look at the featured apps in this newsletter: Creativebug and Canva. Oh, don't forget to read the free copy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper. Information to access the online newspaper is available in this newsletter. Read, be informed and enjoy!

On Wednesday, November 30th, Benteen experienced its first Books and Badges experience. Our fourth and second graders were privileged to have Officer Darrell Chamblee, from the APS Police Department, as a guest reader. After the reading of the book, students were able to ask him about his job. They were extremely excited to hear how he served as a body guard for some of the more familiar celebrities. This program was brought to our students through a collaboration between the APS Police Department, the APS School Counselors, and APS Media Services. The next Books and Badges visit is scheduled for January 18th, with our brilliant fifth graders.

Beanstack is Atlanta Public Schools' electronic reading log. Throughout the school year, Beanstack sponsors reading challenges for its participants to join. APS sponsors the Race2Read challenge for all of its schools, including the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. Each school is given a goal for the number of minutes that they are expected earn by the end of the school year. Benteen is challenged to read 258,000 minutes by the end of the 2022-2023 school year. As of December 12, 2022, Benteen has read for 94, 845 minutes, which is approximately 36% of our goal. With a little help from our non-homeroom staff, parents, family members, and community members, we can reach our goal in record time.

Here is how you can help Benteen reach half of its goal by December 31, 2022. Start logging into Beanstack to record the number of minutes you read each day. You can record your time spent reading the newspaper, magazines, journals, books in any format, or articles on the Internet.

This is how you can get started:

1. Enter this URL: https://Race2read.beanstack.org/365
2. Click Register an Individual or Family, using your personal email address (you can also register family members and friends)
3. To log in your minutes, click on Benteen Elementary School, when asked to select a school
4. Click on the orange Log Reading tab, in the upper left corner
5. Click on the Clock, it will ask you, What would you like to read?, your answer is minutes
6. Using the Calendar that appears, click the date that you read
7. Under Time Spent Reading, type the total time read, i.e. 34m, or 1h, or 2h20m
8. Next to the word, Title, type the title of your book , magazine, newspaper, comic book, etc. You do not need to enter the Author, this will automatically populate
9. Then click on the orange Log button, and you have just logged in your Race2Read minutes

And Just Keep Reading, and logging in your minutes!

A Family is a Family is a Family, is a picture book written by Sarah O'Leary and illustrated by Qin Leng. It is the APS Social Emotional Learning Book of the Month for December. The book consists of students accounts what makes their families special. Each account is different, but similar in one way. This book is available in the Benteen Library Media Center, and the Fulton County Public Library. Try searching for the book on AFPLS Class Pass. This book does not have a quiz on AR. Please remember to include the time spent reading this book on Beanstack, our online reading log.

As we approach holiday seasons and time away from school. It would be so awesome to visit the Creativebug website. This website consists of a plethora of free how-to videos that encompass art, arts & crafts, and cooking just to mention a few. To access this site, the user will need to log into the Fulton County Library's Class Pass. To find a refresher on how to reach Class Pass, click on the link from the November edition of the Benteen Media Center Updates (https://www.smore.com/xpjfy) Have fun!!

Canva is a very popular online graphic design tool that allows you to create to create social media posts, presentations, posters, videos, logos and more. The basic version is free to use, however, Atlanta Public Schools students and staff have access to the Pro version via https://mybackpack.apsk12.org. Some of our students have used this platform to create their very own birthday announcements, holiday cards, posters, etc. Let me make this one recommendation, to print your creation, consider downloading your finish product to a PDF and print the PDF. Printing directly from Canva will cost you. For information about how to use Canva effectively, watch the attached video or click on this link, https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLymLhEOiXOxtCedjD5Fuk4PaUGZWznZkF . The author of these tutorials is one of APS' dynamic Instructional Tech Specialists, Ms. Jennifer Hall.

Well, no need to fear, GALILEO is here to the rescue! GALILEO is a virtual library that is an initiative of the University System of Georgia. Students of all levels find this tools to be quite valuable. Here, the user has access ebooks, journals, newspapers, encyclopedias, copyright free images, and a wealth of other reference tools. The difference between using this tool and using Google to research is that GALILEO contains reputable sources, where Google, sometimes contains questionable resources. To access this information, the user must enter a password. Fortunately, APS students and staff have two ways to gain information: 1. For access via APS, enter the name of our school Benteen Elementary School, and when asked, enter this password-capture; 2. For access via the Fulton County Library System, type in the library system's name, and when asked, enter this password-works. These passwords will change periodically, and the updated passwords will be posted in this newsletter, in the library media center, and on the Benteen Library Media Center webpage.

Our Benteen Library Media Center webpage serves as the 24/7 version of the largest classroom at our school. To access our webpage, one needs only to click on this link https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/domain/4922 or click on https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/Page/4349. Visit often as we are making updates regularly.

Benteen's students and staff have access to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution online newspaper Monday through Friday. This service is only available during the school year. To access the newspaper, the reader will need to login to https://www.nieonline.com/ajc/ , and enter benteen for the username and students for the password.

Library Media Specialist

Mrs. Wilma S. Brightharp

OUR VISION

The Benteen Elementary School Media Center exists to provide an environment that promotes reading, discovery, and creating for all students.

OUR MISSION

The Benteen Elementary School Media Center mission is to provide access to information, teaching information literacy skills necessary to support a comprehensive and rigorous curriculum that will prepare all students to be life-long learners and globally-minded citizens, who are growing in academics, character, and leadership.

HOURS OF OPERATION

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday - 7:15 until 2:30, and Wednesday - 7:15 until 3:30

Email: wbrightharp@apsk12.org
Location: 145 4th Avenue Southeast, Atlanta, GA, USA
Phone: 404-802-7312
Twitter: @benteenmc