Ms. Ashburn’s and Mrs. Boilek’s 7th Grade English Language Arts Honors classes were in the NWMS Library last week preparing for their historical fiction unit by getting some research help from the librarian. They brainstormed ideas for their historical topic and learned about available databases, how to evaluate websites, and why and how to cite sources. At the end of the week Mr. Kendrick presented them with a Breakout box activity designed to make them use the skills and resources they learned throughout the week. Breakout is a collection of resettable locks, boxes, and other items that are used to create a learning game that necessitates collaboration and critical thinking. Students formed teams and had to figure out diverse clues that would unlock four locks and reveal their mystery man (and some Tootsie Rolls as an extra reward.) Shout out to Mrs. Bain, OHHS Librarian, who recently shared this idea with district librarians.