I hope you enjoyed the independent choice reading book you read this semester. I also hope you continue to read over the summer - it will keep your brain active and ready for next semester and beyond!
Here is some helpful information for how to find and choose free books to read (or listen to online). - Reading new books is key - but you can also re-read a book you have already read; you can get something new out of it. - Ask your friends and family what books they enjoy and if they have a book to recommend. - Read a book you already have at home. - Amazon (and other online book stores) has used books for sale as well as new. - You can check out an ebook from the L.A. County Library. If you need to, you can sign up for a digital library card here. - You can listen to an audiobook - there are some on YouTube, you can check one out from the L.A. County Library using apps such as Libby or Hoopla, or you can listen to one for free right now on Audible.com (more information below). - For free online book and audiobook options, see my a post I wrote for my Summer School students here. - A book does not always mean a novel, you can read non-fiction books, memoirs, graphic novels, plays, and poetry, too! Helpful Links:
FutureMe is a website where you can write an email right now to yourself in the future. You put in your email address, write and send the email, and choose a time in the future you want it to be sent to you. You can send it to yourself in one year, three years, five years, or any other date.
We are living through a historic time so it might be a good idea to keep a record of what life was like for you as a high school student during this pandemic. Why not write an email to remind your future self what it was like? If you are a sophomore now, two years from now you will be a senior about to graduate! A review from the website reads: "I received a letter from myself completely out of the blue that I wrote 7 years ago. I made predictions about my life and the people in my life. It brought me to tears. Do yourself a favor and write a letter to yourself ❤️ you'll thank you later!" If you are interested in sharing your story, see my previous post about submissions for the library. Canva is a website that helps you create graphic design projects such as posters, flyers, inforgraphics, instagram posts, and more. They also have Zoom backgrounds. The free version is... well, free.
I have used Canva to make posters for school, the yearbook ad for newspaper seniors, and more! I used it to make the "Ways of Talking" poster from my last post. It's easy to use once you get used to it. The L.A. County Library wants the art, stories, diaries, etc. that you have created during this pandemic!
They said: "Stories and art have always helped us share our experiences, connect with others, and show that we are not alone. We invite you to share your story of what living through this time has been like for you... Share your unique story with us in whatever artistic form it takes (from diaries to drawings, poems to songs) and help us capture this historical moment." Submissions will be accepted from now until September 30. You can find out more here: L.A. County Library: Safer at Home My favorite audio recordings of Shakespeare's plays are the ones produced by the company Arkangel. They were originally released on CD and audiocassette in the black packaging you can see above. These are the versions that I sometimes like to play for you in class. I like them because they produced all 38 of Shakespeare's plays with the best and most experienced Shakespearean actors and they include music and sound effects that help the plays make sense.
During this time, I discovered that (I think) all of these versions are available to listen to for FREE using the app Hoopla - you just need your L.A. County library card to access them. I just listened to Pericles and am now listening to Cymbeline, two of Shakespeare's most unpopular plays because of their bonkers plots and because many say Shakespeare either did not write these plays or only wrote part of them (I believe them when it comes to the first half of Pericles, at least). Of course, you can listen to the more popular plays, if you want! If you decide to listen to one or more of the plays, I recommend reading about the play first before you listen. You might consider this a spoiler, but I think it really helps you understand and appreciate the play. You can read a short plot synopsis on Wikipedia, for example. Each play takes about 2 hours to listen to, so you could spend this summer listening to every single one of Shakespeare's plays in a little more than 76 hours! Here are some of the plays I recommend: Comedies are a good place to start. Some of the more famous comedies include: A Midsummer Night's Dream Much Ado About Nothing Twelfth Night The Winter's Tale Tragedies. The most famous plays are tragedies including: Romeo and Juliet Hamlet King Lear Othello MacBeth Julius caesar Histories: The history plays (basically plays about kings of England) are some of my favorite, but you probably do not want to START your Shakespeare journey here). I love the Hollow Crown series which is, in order: Richard II Henry IV, Part I Henry IV, PArt II Henry V If you would rather read the plays yourself than listen to an audio recording, here is one of many websites where you can read the plays: Open Source Shakespeare When you first start to listen to/read Shakespeare, it can take some getting used to, but eventually it becomes much easier to understand and enjoy. Why not give it a try? Remember going to the movies? I used to like to go to the theatre to see indie movies. One of the movies I remember seeing and liking in 2019 is Teen Spirit starring Elle Fanning as a young woman who lives in a small village in England and joins an international singing competition. It sounds like kind of a tired old premise, but the film is actually refreshing.
If you want, you can watch this movie NOW for FREE - but you can also listen to the SOUNDTRACK for free! All you need is a library card (or digital library card) with the L.A. County library - AKA, the one you get to use the Alhambra City Library across the street from our school. If you do not have a library card, you can get one for free without leaving home - see my previous post about it here. You can watch the film using the Kanopy app You can download the soundtrack for free on Hoopla and keep it for a week. Today (Friday May 15, 2020) on 4th street seniors can pick up their cap and gown and other graduation accessories. Online graduation will be on June 8.
Since seniors deserve a sweet treat, Krispy Kreme is offering a free dozen donuts to all Class of 2020 high school and college graduates! This will only happen on May 19, 2020. You need to wear your cap and gown or Class of 2020 gear to pick them up. It might be a bit of a drive from Alhambra, but look how cute the donuts are! That Hogwarts escape room yesterday was fun. Did you ever go to the Wizarding World website? You can take a bunch of Harry Potter-themed quizzes and find out which house you would be sorted into, what form your patronus takes, etc. (If your wand doesn't have a unicorn hair core, what are you even doing?)
Don't forget that you can read Harry Potter books (or listen to audiobooks - I recommend them!) or many other books online for free right now by getting a digital library card through the L.A. County library or by using the card you already have! |
AuthorMs. Naylor teaches English and Journalism at AHS Archives
June 2022
Categories |