Library Links

"Content that might be of interest to Teacher-Librarians..."

14.10.10

World Digital Library

While the collection is not very large, it is growing. This might be a good place to look for "primary source" materials to support instruction.

Mission
The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world. The principal objectives of the WDL are to:
  • Promote international and intercultural understanding;
  • Expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet;
  • Provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences;
  • Build capacity in partner institutions to narrow the digital divide within and between countries.
The WDL makes it possible to discover, study, and enjoy cultural treasures from around the world on one site, in a variety of ways. These cultural treasures include, but are not limited to, manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, and architectural drawings.

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Canada in Afghanistan (Secondary Resources)

A learning resource for High School Students.
Canada in Afghanistan: 2001-2010:

in English
Teaching Resource: 22 page PDF
This resource provides students with a brief history on the war in Afghanistan and asks them to look further into the issues to better understand the complexity of the Afghan mission. (Overview, worksheets, extension activities, etc)

en français:
Cette ressource permet à vos élèves de prendre connaissance d'une brève histoire de la guerre en Afghanistan, tout en leur demandant d'approfondir les enjeux de la mission afghane, afin de mieux en comprendre la complexité.


13.10.10

NCTE National Gallery of Writing

The National Gallery of Writing is a site created by the American "National Council of Teachers of English" to allow students to read published work, contribute their own writing, start a local gallery and search existing ones.

Browse more than 24,000 pieces of writing, submitted by people from all around the world, and have the opportunity to contribute writing to a local gallery or to any of the 2,400+ galleries that make up the National Gallery of Writing.


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Using Web 2.0 in the Elementary Classroom - PDF download

Taken from the journal "Language Arts" vol 88, No. 1 September 2010

“Profiles and Perspectives: Web 2.0 in the Elementary Classroom: Portraits of Possibilities” (PDF): "teachers describe the power that social networking and other new media have in their classrooms in relation to children’s literacy practices."

First hand accounts from Kelly Doyle, Jody Hayes, Jeff Horwitz and, J. T. Kuzior, all elementary teachers who are using blogs, Twitter, forums and wikis.

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Media Smarts: Video clip on media literacy skills

Media Smarts: Kids Learn How to Navigate the Multimedia World

"Media Smarts", (a clip on the Edutopia site), explains what media literacy is, and demonstrates the ways in which educators are engaging students in analyzing and producing media messages. (Of particular interest to English teachers and those working in Video Production courses.)

In the sidebar, there are some "related links" with additonal clips and documents.

Video clip

Background information
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The 3 Habits of Highly Successful Reading Teachers - preview online


"Based on the belief that "we haven't taught it until our students have learned it," The 3 Habits of Highly Successful Reading Teachers shows teachers how to create an environment where students feel comfortable, appreciated, and safe."

"This timely book offers a host of strategies for making early language instruction meaningful to children and argues that successful teachers (1) believe in their students, (2) teach and review high-frequency words and letter sounds daily, and (3) assess their students so as to inform further instruction."

The 3 Habits of Highly Successful Reading Teachers - 2009 - Megan Milani
(A Quick and Easy Approach to Helping All Students Succeed)

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Stories in the "Anne Frank" tradition

From LM-NET listserv:

Bob Hicks, a TL from Arkansas, recommends the following titles for teachers looking to do a unit based on coming-of-age stories in Nazi Germany/Europe and/or in the "Anne Frank" tradition.

  • "The Boy Who Dared: A Novel Based On The True Story Of A Hitler Youth" (2008) by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
  • "Ashes" (2010) by Kathryn Lasky
  • "In the Mouth Of The Wolf" (1983) by Rose Zar
  • "Gates Of The Forest" (1982) by Elie Wiesel
  • "The Devil's Arithmetic" (1988) by Jane Yolen
  • "The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas" (2006) by John Boyne
  • "The Traitors" (1968) by James Forman
  • "Horses Of Anger" (1967) by James Forman
  • "Clara's War: One Girl's Story Of Survival" (2009) by Clara Kramer
  • "The White Rose: Munich 1942-1943 (1970) by Inge Scholl--the White rose was a protest/resistance organization made up of young people living in Nazi Germany. The most famous are the brother/sister Hans & Sophie Scholl.
  • "Sophie Scholl & The White Rose" (1986, 2006) by Annette Dumbach & Jud Newborn
  • "Hans And Sophie Scholl: German Resisters Of The White Rose" (2001) by Toby Axelrod
  • "The book Thief" (2006) by Markus Zuzak
  • "Sarah's Key" (2008) by Tatiana de Rosnay
  • "The Wave" (1981) by Todd Stresser
  • "We Are Witnesses" (1995) by Jacob Boas
  • "Alicia: My Story" (1988) by Alicia Appleman-Jurman
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12.10.10

Help finding "similar images"

TinEye (http://www.tineye.com/) allows you to find out where else a given image appears on the internet. It will also let you find similar or edited versions of an image. (Useful for Art and Graphic design teachers!)

Watch this short video which explains how it works:
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Story as a Springboard for Early Literacy - preview book online

"The Castle in the Classroom"
by Ranu Bhattacharyya
Preview the entire book online.

"The Castle in the Classroom describes a year in a kindergarten classroom as the children embark on literary exploration. Each child approaches the journey from a different perspective -- some are self-sufficient, others more hesitant; some are literary adventurers, others shyly reluctant. The detailed focus lessons throughout the book use the power of stories -- personal narratives, folktales, and fairy tales -- to deepen the literary experience so that reading and writing become as much a part of kindergarten as playing and pretending are."
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How Boys Read (and other topics) - Dr Marc Aronson

An interview with Dr. Marc Aronson on the topic of how boys read.

"Marc Aronson is an author, editor, publisher, speaker, and historian who believes that young people, especially pre-teens and teenagers, are smart, passionate, and capable of engaging with interesting ideas in interesting ways.

He writes books, visits schools, teaches classes, and publishes books that affirm this belief. His mission is to inspire young people to ask questions, to look around, behind, inside of the stories the world tells us - whether that means being a detective, examining the clues history has left behind, or a reporter, telling the truth about the modern world.

A committed internationalist, Aronson has published two books that were selected as the best books in translation, and created Edge, an imprint designed to bring the voices of coming of age from around the world to American readers. It is his conviction that the mixing of genes, of ideas, of cultures, of networks of trade is the given of the world young people are entering. He is also a supporter of the Guys Read project who feels young males are often neglected by a reading world oriented towards females."
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Creating a looping playlist for Booktrailers

*Book Trailers for All* (BTFA <http://booktrailers4all.4shared.com/>) is a
site that has been created for students, teachers and librarians to share
their self-created book trailers.  Each trailer (More than 130+) is
available for download in mp4 format.  

Once you have the trailers downloaded, you will be able to upload them into
iTunes for continual (or self-selected) playback via iTunes.  For directions
on how to do this, click here:
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See the web the DeweyDigger way

DeweyDigger gives TLs an interesting way to introduce the Dewey Decimal system. The opening page has a shifting slideshow for each of the 100s. Students can have fun guessing the category by looking at the images (although, there are some red herrings!) Across the top is a menu bar with each of the 100s listed. Selecting one of these tabs gives a very detailed breakdown of each topic. You can initiate a search by clicking on the sub categories, although the word cloud used for searching is not very sophisticated. The site is more of a novelty, but may be a different way to introduce, review or consolidate what your students know about the DD system.
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