English

The Messenger

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Six years earlier, Matty had come to Village as a scrappy and devious little boy. Back then, he liked to call himself "the Fiercest of the Fierce." But since that time, Matty has grown almost into a man under the care of Seer, a blind man whose special sight had earned him the name. Now Matty hopes that he will soon be given his true name, and he hopes it will be Messenger.

Author: 
Grade Level: 
Lexile: 
720L
Length: 
03:44
The Messenger

Alas, Babylon

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This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - "Alas, Babylon." When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly.

Author: 
Grade Level: 
Lexile: 
870L
Length: 
11:11
Alas, Babylon

Macbeth

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Following a London West End run in December 2007 and a sold-out limited engagement at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in March 2008, Shakespeare's "Scottish play" went on to enthrall Broadway audiences yet again with a gripping production starring Sir Patrick Stewart in a triumphant, Tony®-nominated performance. Originating at England's innovative Chichester Festival Theatre, director Rupert Goold's cinematic re-interpretation of his stage production also stars the Tony®-nominated Kate Fleetwood as Lady Macbeth.

Director: 
Grade Level: 
High
Length: 
03:00
Macbeth

When You See Bullying Happen: What a Bystander Can Do (2005)

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Shows elementary students how to take an active role in stopping a bully. Notes that a bystander who does nothing helps the bully, not the victim. Reminds students they can tell the bully how they feel, stand up together as a group, be an ally to the victim, or tell an adult. Encourages them to be part of the solution, not a passive part of the problem.

Grade Level: 
Elementary
Middle
Length: 
00:17
When You See Bullying Happen: What a Bystander Can Do

It's So Much Work to Be Your Friend

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Copies: 1

As any parent, teacher, coach, or caregiver of a learning disabled child knows, every learning disability has a social component. The ADD child constantly interrupts conversations and doesn't follow directions. The child with visual-spatial issues loses his belongings and causes his siblings to be late to school. The child with paralinguistic difficulties appears stiff and wooden because she fails to gesture when she talks. These children are socially out of step with their classmates and peers, and often they are ridiculed or ostracized for their differences.

Timeless Thomas

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What do record players, batteries, and movie cameras have in common?

All these devices were created by the man known as The Wizard of Menlo Park: Thomas Edison.

Author: 
Grade Level: 
Primary
Elementary
Length: 
00:17
Timeless Thomas

The Story of Buildings

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Copies: 7

We spend most of our lives in buildings. We make our homes in them, go to school in them, and work in them. We're surrounded by buildings practically every moment of our lives! But why and how did people start making buildings? How did they learn to make them stronger, bigger, and more comfortable? And why did they start to decorate them in different ways?

Lexile: 
1060L
The Story of Buildings

Stay Where You Are and then Leave

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Copies: 7

As the First World War rages on, Alfie Summerfield has given up hope of seeing his father again. Though his mother maintains that father is away on a secret mission, Alfie knows he must be dead. But when Alfie learns by chance that his father is in a hospital close by—a hospital treating soldiers with shell shock, whatever that might be—he resolves to rescue his father from this strange unnerving place.

Author: 
Lexile: 
880L
Stay Where You Are and then Leave

A Medal for Leroy

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Copies: 7

When Michael's aunt passes away, she leaves behind a letter entitled "Who I am, what I've done, and who you are."

It reveals a story that will change everything. It starts with Michael's grandfather Leroy, a black officer in World War I who charged into a battle zone not once, but three times, to save wounded men. His fellow soldiers insisted he deserved special commendations for his bravery, but because of their racial barriers, he would go unacknowledged. Now it's up to Michael to change that.

Lexile: 
860L
A Medal for Leroy

Serafina's Promise

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Copies: 7

Serafina has a secret dream.

She wants to go to school
and become a doctor
with her best friend, Julie Marie.

But in their rural village
outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti,
many obstacles
stand in Serafina's way—
little money,
never-ending chores,
and Manman's worries.

More powerful even
than all of these
are the heavy rains
and the shaking earth
that test Serafina's resolve
in ways she never dreamed.

Author: 
Lexile: 
HL590L
Serafina's Promise

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