Castro Valley High School teachers, students and staff now have access to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) through the library. It is so much more than your basic dictionary! Check it out on the Library Database A-Z list.
Search for any word in the Oxford English Dictionary and get a definition, pronunciation (British and American English), word history and historical synonyms. This is a great resource to build your vocabulary or to use in English classes.
CVHS Library seeks teachers in multiple disciplines to be early adopters with BookCreator as part of next year's CVUSD Writes & Creates! Program.
For more information, please
CVHS Library announces a new schoolwide vocabulary building challenge.
The Word Wise weekly challenge encourages students to learn and practice a set of academic words. The academic words are initially selected from Avril Coxhead's Academic Word List (AWL), University of Wellington, NZ.
Teachers can engage students in the Word Wise challenge via this link. New words are posted on Mondays. Self-quizzes are posted on Fridays.
https://library.cv.k12.ca.us/academicwriting/vocabulary
St
udents can also independently find a new “Build vocabulary” section on the library website under the student services menu.
The library will offer prizes at the end of the semester for:
The Words of the Week for November 11-15 are:
This program is inspired by our English teachers' call to all academic departments to contribute to teaching academic vocabulary to our students. Thank you, English teachers!
Students and teachers can now access the library's subscription citation manager, NoodleTools, through their Google accounts.
Visit the academic writing guide on the library website to get started (or click on MLA Citation & Paper Format).
Detailed account setup instructions are on the database page for NoodleTools.
Ten teachers in several disciplines will use BookCreator next year to engage students in creating eBooks. Students can write, record, collaborate, publish and share their fiction and non-fiction works and classroom projects.
BookCreator has been licensed for an initial pilot during academic year 2025-2026 to boost student's productive academic skills as part of the CVUSD Writes & Creates! library program. Students in the arts, social sciences and sciences will be crafting their digital books in several classes.
At the library, all CVHS students will be invited to create
More information for teachers about the program and BookCreator can be found on the Teachers Instructional Services area of the library website. The program will be assessed in Spring 2026 at which time, the libraries will explore options for supporting more librarians, teachers and school sites. If expanded, early adopter teachers and the District Librarian will develop professional development sessions to engage more teachers in 2026-2027.