YouTube – Charles County Public Library

S.M.O.R.E.S. (Southern Maryland Outdoors Recreational Expedition Series) explores Smallwood State Park

webadmin — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 12:00:25 +0000

Feeling cooped up? Check out our S.M.O.R.E.S. blog! We will take you on a virtual tour of great places available right here in our area. Discover where you can go to enjoy a variety of recreational activities such as walking, cycling, birding and photography. Find out about some of our historical destinations! This time, we’re taking you on a virtual hike through Smallwood State Park!

Click here to access S.M.O.R.E.S. on CCPL’s YouTube channel

For more information and/or to plan your visit, please visit the:

Smallwood State Park

Looking for books on hiking around Maryland?

60 hikes within 60 miles. Baltimore by Alison Strum & Evan Balkan

It’s Time to Take a Hike in Baltimore, Maryland!

The best way to experience Baltimore is by hiking it! Get outdoors with authors Allison Sturm and Evan Balkan, with the new full-color edition of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Baltimore. A perfect blend of popular trails and hidden gems, the selected trails transport you to scenic overlooks, wildlife hot spots, and historical settings that renew your spirit and recharge your body. You’ll learn about the area and experience nature through 60 of Charm City’s best hikes!

Each hike description features key at-a-glance information on distance, difficulty, scenery, traffic, hiking time, and more, so you can quickly and easily learn about each trail. Detailed directions, GPS-based trail maps, and elevation profiles help to ensure that you know where you are and where you’re going. Tips on nearby activities further enhance your enjoyment of every outing. Whether you’re a local looking for new places to explore or a visitor to the area, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Baltimore provides plenty of options for a couple hours or a full day of adventure, all within about an hour from Baltimore and the surrounding communities.

Hike Maryland : a guide to the scenic trails of the Free State by Bryan MacKay

Maryland offers its residents and tourists a wealth of natural settings across the Chesapeake basin, through expansive farmland, and to the edge of the Allegheny mountains. Lifelong Marylander, naturalist, and avid hiker Bryan MacKay takes you on 25 hikes through the best and most serene settings across the Free State in Hike Maryland. Each guided trail includes a map, background on the natural history and ecology of the park, forest, or preserve, and a brief essay featuring a local plant, animal, or environmental issue of special interest. Take this book with you as you hike the Appalachian Trail, through Patapsco Valley State Park, along Assateague Island, and across many more settings representing Maryland’s natural heritage.

S.M.O.R.E.S.: A Virtual Hike of Chapman State Park

webadmin — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 11:00:01 +0000

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*CCPL Staff picks are chosen by CCPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We’d love to hear your ideas too, so write to us and tell us what you’d recommend!*

S.M.O.R.E.S. stands for the Southern Maryland Outdoor Recreational Expedition Series, where we explore nearby places in Southern Maryland to hike.

This month we’re taking a virtual hiking tour of the coastal trail around Chapman State Park in Indian Head, MD. There is a lot of nature and history to explore!

Go to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources for more information on Chapman State Park.

Looking for books on hiking around Maryland?

60 hikes within 60 miles. Baltimore by Alison Strum & Evan Balkan

It’s Time to Take a Hike in Baltimore, Maryland!

Hike Maryland : a guide to the scenic trails of the Free State by Bryan MacKay

CCPL Film Club presents “Science Fiction Action Time Theater”

webadmin — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 11:00:11 +0000

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Check out the latest radio style production from the CCPL Virtual Film Club, performed entirely on Zoom!

Science Fiction Action Time Theater

Ep. 47: I Borrowed It Tomorrow, I’ll Return It Yesterday

Four students use a time machine to figure out why their cafeteria food tastes so bad, traveling from the beginning to the end of time.

*CCPL Staff picks are chosen by CCPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We’d love to hear your ideas too, so write to us and tell us what you’d recommend!*

Looking for more YA books on making stories you can perform? Check out some of these suggestions:

My Adventures as a Young Film Maker by Andrew Janks

Explores the life and career of the young founder of the Hendrick Hudson Film Festival and creator of World of Jenks.

Be a Screenwriter by Alix Wood

Everyone loves a good twist in a movie and that moment of surprise when the audience screams. The screenwriter is the one to thank for memorable movie plots and characterizations. Creative writers will love figuring out how to take an original concept and create a script that Hollywood moguls will be dying to turn into a blockbuster. They’ll learn how to seamlessly incorporate setting, dialogue, and stage directions into a gripping storyline. All the tips and tricks to successful screenwriting are in this ultimate guide.

Screenwriting for Teens by Christina Hamlett

The 100 Principles of Screenwriting Every Budding Writer Must Know

These books give teens–who go to the movies more than any age group in the world–the tools to do more than just watch those movies. It gives them the tools to write their own films.

Filmmaking For Teens by Troy Lanier & Clay Nichols

Pulling Off Your Shorts

This funny and irreverent how-to takes young would be filmmakers from the moment of inspiration to a finished short film and beyond.

S.M.O.R.E.S.: A Virtual Hike of Chapman State Park

webadmin — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 11:00:15 +0000

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*CCPL Staff picks are chosen by CCPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We’d love to hear your ideas too, so write to us and tell us what you’d recommend!*

S.M.O.R.E.S. stands for the Southern Maryland Outdoor Recreational Expedition Series, where we explore nearby places in Southern Maryland to hike.

This month we’re taking a virtual hiking tour of the coastal trail around Chapman State Park in Indian Head, MD. There is a lot of nature and history to explore!

Go to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources for more information on Chapman State Park.

Looking for books on hiking around Maryland?

60 Hikes Within 60 Miles. Baltimore by Alison Strum & Evan Balkan

It’s Time to Take a Hike in Baltimore, Maryland!

Hike Maryland : A Guide to the Scenic Trails of the Free State by Bryan MacKay

S.M.O.R.E.S. (Southern Maryland Outdoors Recreational Expedition Series)

webadmin — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 12:00:13 +0000

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Feeling cooped up? Check out our first S.M.O.R.E.S. blog! We will take you on a virtual tour of great places available right here in our area. Discover where you can go to enjoy a variety of recreational activities such as walking, cycling, birding, and photography. Find out about some of our historical destinations! Join us for our 1st blog @ Thomas Stone!

Click here to access S.M.O.R.E.S. on CCPL’s YouTube channel.

For more information and/or to plan your visit, please visit the:

Thomas Stone National Historic Site (US National Park Service)

Craving more adventure? Check out our catalog where we have more books on local hikes! To get you started, might we suggest the following book? And don’t forget to check back to see what other expeditions we will go on!

60 hikes within 60 miles. Baltimore by Alison Strum & Evan Balkan

It’s Time to Take a Hike in Baltimore, Maryland!

Need a library card? Sign up here today!

STEM Club: Geometric Shape Art

webadmin — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 11:00:39 +0000

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What are Shapes?

In geometry, a shape can be defined as the form of an object or its outline, outer boundary or outer surface.

Everything we see in the world around us has a shape. We can find different basic shapes such as the two-dimensional square, rectangle, and oval or the three-dimensional rectangular prism, cylinder, and sphere in the objects we see around us. These geometric shapes appear in objects we see all around us such as credit cards, bills and coins, rings, photo frames, dart boards, houses, windows, tall buildings, flower pots, toy trains, and balloons.

Different Types of Shapes

Shapes can be classified into open and closed shapes.

Closed geometric shapes can further be put into two broad categories, namely two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes.

2-Dimensional [2-D] Circle

3-Dimensional [3-D]
Cube

Today we are going to focus on 2-Dimensional shapes. Let’s learn a bit more about some shapes.

Square:

A shape that has four equal sides and four equal angles.

Rectangle:

A four-sided shape that is made up of two pairs of parallel lines and that has four right angles; especially : a shape in which one pair of lines is longer than the other pair

Circle:

A perfectly round shape – a line that is curved so that its ends meet and every point on the line is the same distance from the center.

Ellipse:

A curved shape that is made by an unbroken line. An ellipse is shaped like an egg, but with equal ends. It is a perfect oval.

Equilateral Triangle:

A flat figure with three equal sides and three equal angles.

Isosceles Triangle:

A triangle that has only two sides of equal length and two equal angles.

Scalene Triangle:

A triangle that has three unequal sides and three unequal angles.

Rhombus:

A flat figure that has four equal sides and usually no right angles.

Parallelogram:

A flat figure having four sides, with opposite sides parallel and of equal length.

Trapezoid:

A flat figure with four sides; two of the sides are parallel and two are not.

Kite:

A four sided flat shape with straight sides that has two pairs of sides and each pair is made of two adjacent sides (they meet) that are equal in length.

Pentagon:

A flat figure having five sides and five angles.

Hexagon:

A flat figure having six sides and six angles.

Octagon:

A flat figure with eight sides and eight angles.

Decagon:

A flat figure with ten sides and ten angles.

In our STEM Club session on November 4th we will be learning about even more shapes! We will then use geometric shapes to make unique works of art! If you would like to participate all you need is some paper, scissors, glue, and to print off a few copies of this sheet of shapes.

Additional Resources:

🎬 Gardening with Ms. Kate – Rock Gardens 🎨

webadmin — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 11:00:07 +0000

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Hello, it’s Ms. Kate, and today we are not learning how to garden, at least not a garden that grows and smells nice. We are going to make a rock garden!

Things are weird right, now right? Let’s add a splash of happiness by surprising people with painted rocks.

The thought for this project came from Megan Murphy’s Kindness Rocks Project, whose mission is “One message at the right time can change someone’s entire day, outlook, life.” I wanted to replicate this thought especially in difficult times such as these.

All we need is paint of any kind and rocks.

Any rock will do! Small, flat, large, round, anything that will make you imagine what to paint on it.

We will then need to wash our rocks first to get the dirt off. This will help our paint stick better to the surface. Then we just put it in the sun to dry it off.

For your painting station, we will put down newspapers to make sure we don’t make a mess. Even though it will add more flare to our floor or tables, we shouldn’t forget about the rocks.

Now, it’s onto the fun part!

What do you want to create? What colors do you want to use? Do you want to write your name? Go ham with your rocks! I do not know what is going on with my phrases today … maybe I will make one up for my rock!

When you are done, find the best place to put your rock on display! (Make sure you keep six feet apart when you go outside, to stay safe yourself). Let’s see your neighborhood, yard, street, porch become a colorful rock garden!

Attached, I have an Ebook, Kids’ Act of Random Kindness on Hoopla if you are interested in any other way you can cheer up your community!

Vocabulary for Video:

In the attached video and blog, I use words that may be different, don’t worry, I can help introduce these new terms to you!

Dimension (n): an aspect of a given thing. It is based on the height, width, or depth of something. In the video I used depth to add some depth to the flower stems.
Base coat (n): The top layer of a painting. I am using a white base coat on my rock for the colors to stand out more.
Display (v): a sign for public use
Create (v): to make something.

What am I using for this project?

1 Rock
Acrylic Paint
Paint Brushes

Resource:

Kids’ Random Acts Of Kindness by The Editors of the Conari

Want to Feel Hopeful About the Future?
Share in inspirational stories of generosity written by children of all ages that reveal their surprisingly insightful feelings about kindness and compassion.

Look back at why the Random Acts of Kindness series was such a sensation. When the adult version of Random Acts of Kindness was first published, hundreds of teachers across the country gave assignments to their students to write about unsolicited acts that they had experienced or initiated. Teachers sent the results to Conari Press which then put out a call for similar stories in a teacher’s magazine. Stories poured in and the result was Kid’s Random Acts of Kindness. Whimsical and funny to moving and thoughtful, Kid’s Random Acts of Kindness helps restore your belief in the potential for goodness in man.

🎬 Help Now! A Resource for Parents

webadmin — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 11:00:45 +0000

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What is Help Now! and what can it do for parents of school age children?

Help Now! is an elearning platform that offers many educational and career services. Three of these services in particular can help students ensure academic success. They are live tutoring, help with writing papers and homework help.

Help Now! (Brainfuse) is a resource available with your library card. If you need a library card, sign up here!

Getting Started

To get started go to Charles County Public Library online resources View All Resources »

And scroll down to Help Now! (Brainfuse). At the Get Started box, enter your library card’s barcode number and click login to Help Now.

In the Help Now site there are many educational, testing and career resources available. Here are the three services that would be especially helpful for parents of school age children.

Homework Help

Homework Help is live tutors to help all ages with subjects such as math, science, reading/writing, social studies, and even standardized tests such as PSAT, SAT, and ACT. The student selects their grade and the subject they need help with. Then the student can schedule a session with a live tutor.

Live Tutors

Live tutors are helpful with subjects that need further explanation, but how about book reports or term papers? There is a 24 hour writing lab where the student can submit your essays, book reports, and term papers. Someone from the writing lab will provide feedback and the student can make corrections. The Brainfuse Essential Grammar Guide will help with grammar and usage.

Proofreading

Getting a paper proofread is always helpful, but what about other homework assignments? Not sure if those math problems have been done correctly? Send it into Homework Send Questions and experts will look at it and send it back corrected. Or the student can ask a specific question in the text box.

Additional Resources

There are other resources on Help Now. Here is a quick explanation on some of them. Flashbulb has flashcards on many subjects or the student can create their own. It is a fun interactive way to help students prepare for quizzes and tests. MEET is a platform where students can meet virtually to study or work on a project. SkillSurfer has lessons and tests for elementary through college subject areas. SkillSurfer also has lessons and tests for ASVAB, computer skills, ESL, and more.

Below is a quick video showing you how easy it is to get help from Help Now.

Parents, we hope this helps you and your children with their school work and academic success!

🎬 DIY Storytime: Elbow Grease

webadmin — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 11:00:58 +0000

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Did you know that popular actor and WWE Superstar John Cena was also an author? It’s true! In “Elbow Grease”, we meet a monster truck and his exciting, big wheelin’ family, as they prepare for the big demolition derby! Will Elbow Grease realize his dreams and win the day? Watch John Cena himself read the story, and then scroll down to find some fun activities to keep the monster truck excitement going!

Elbow Grease and his brothers each have a special ability that sets them apart. If you were a monster truck (or other vehicle), what would your special ability be? Draw a picture of what you think you’d look like if you were a super powered car! You could even build a model of your motorized self with Lego or other materials!
In the story, Elbow Grease gets to meet his hero, Big Wheels McGee, and even gets some good advice from him! Who is your hero (real or fictional), and what are some things you’d like to ask them if you could?
The big demolition derby is an exciting race through obstacles like logs, mud pits, and fire barrels. With an adult, come up with your own obstacle course in your backyard, and race with your family to see who the champion is! Search online for ideas of different obstacles, or come up with some yourself! Then at the end, give out awards to everyone, like Best Runner, Quickest Thinker, or Most Gumption!
When Elbow Grease’s battery loses power, he’s stuck! He’s sad, but also scared of the lightning that’s striking. But it turns out the lightning was just the thing he needed to recharge and finish the race. Think of a time when you were scared about something, but it turned out to be a good thing. Then, write the story down, either with words or pictures.
Elbow Grease has trouble finishing the race because he stays up way too late training, and isn’t rested, healthy, and ready to go the next day. He probably would’ve had a much easier time if he’d gotten a good night’s sleep! Make a list of some other things that we can do to make sure we’re at our healthiest.

Check out this Craft!

Here’s a cool monster truck craft from Craftulate! How cool would it be to own our own monster trucks? Very cool, right? Since they’re SUPER expensive (and don’t fit in the garage) we might have to settle for designing our dream monster truck, complete with giant paper plate wheels!

🎬 TGN Game Reviews: Pandora’s Box 🕹️

webadmin — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 11:00:58 +0000

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One of the most popular game systems at our Teen Game Nights (TGN) is the Pandora’s Box. This two player system contains 815 games from the 80s and 90s and is ready to load up any of them at your command. Find out more about some of the games we feature, plus a closer look at two classic games, Qix and Pleaids (actual spelling of the game).