Library Links

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


10.12.10

Google and reading levels of sites

Google: set the reading level for your searches

Google now provides three levels of readability for its searches:  
-basic, intermediate, and advanced.

On Google's search page, click on "Advanced Search" and then select the level you prefer.  Before leaving the advanced search page, click on the Advanced Search button in the lower right corner of the page. (Google's default search level is to show no levels at all.) Above your search results, you will get a bar graph showing the distribution of the search results, with the option to filter as "intermediate" and as "advanced". See Google's explanation here.

This is a good way to differentiate during the research process.
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reading level, Google,


9.12.10

Eisenberg Videos on Information Literacy

Dr. Michael B. Eisenberg conducts research, writes, consults, and lectures frequently on:
  • Information literacy
  • Information technology
  • Information management in learning and teaching
  • information and library education.
He is nationally known for his innovative approach to information problem-solving and technology in learning and teaching: the Big6. Some food for thought about info lit and the role of libraries and teacher-librarians. "Library Information Technology Program"

1. What is Information Literacy? (13 min)

2. How to Implement an Information Literacy Program (15 min)

3. Accountability in the Information Literacy Program (12 min)

4. The Role of the Teacher-Librarian and the School Library Program (14 min)

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Eisenberg, video, information Literacy,



Dynamic periodic table - webpage

Dynamic Periodic Table


"Many other periodic tables use the word interactive to describe themselves while offering nothing more than links to pages of data about elements. Pages of data are fine, and Ptable "outsources" these writeups to other providers like Wikipedia and WebElements through the dropdown in the first tab. However, this is only offered as a convienence. Ptable shines when used as a true application, more interactive and dynamic than any standalone software. Please continue reading to learn about all the interesting things you can do with Ptable that make Mendeleev's creation come alive.

All HTML. No images. No Flash.
This gives all the scalability and accessibility of a normal web page while looking as good as any image or Flash out there. Highlight and copy data, print, and resize to suit your vision, just like you would with any web page."

NFB online - latest films added

New films posted online at NFB

Discover the most recently added films at <NFB.ca>. You can also get a sneak peek at what’s coming up in the months ahead. New titles include: Lights for Gita, Children of Soldiers and Oma's Quilt .
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NFB, video

The Colour of Beauty - NFB short film - 15+

The Colour of Beauty  - Media Literacy
 (High School Level)
"We live in a media-saturated world and are constantly being bombarded by carefully constructed media messages. How can students learn to decipher them?
Watch the short film The Colour of Beauty (age 15+) with your students. Ask them to answer the following three questions:
• What is the main issue? 
• What techniques did the filmmaker use to convey her message? 
• Identify one point made in the film that you agree with and one point that you disagree with. Explain."

Youth and Biodiversity - NFB interactive

Youth and Biodiversity
In December, discover The Test Tube with David Suzuki – an online parable about our insatiable appetites, the fallacy of growth, and the things we can and cannot change. By combining interactive video with live data pulled from Twitter, the story illustrates the problems of increasing consumption and unfettered growth, as well as how all 7 billion of us are connected by a simple mathematical reality.
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biodiversity, NFB

Ecologie Sonore - site interactif - ONF

(Interactive webprojects on the NFB website)

Explorez ce projet - "Ecologie sonore"
En décembre, explorer Écologie sonore, un projet stimulant pour l'imaginaire, et qui offre un média inédit pour insister sur l’importance de la pollution sonore en la mettant en perspective dans une réflexion plus large sur notre rapport aux sons et au silence.

Explorez tous les projets ici: http://www.onf.ca/interactif/
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interactif, ONF,

Éducation/ONF - Nouveautés en ligne

(New videos available online via NFB/ONF)

Découvrez d’un simple clic les derniers films mis en ligne sur <ONF.ca>. Vous pouvez également jeter un œil aux productions à venir en cliquant ici. Voici quelques-uns des nouveaux titres : Jours de plaine, Enfants de soldats et Paow, Paow, t'é mort!
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ONF, vidéos

8.12.10

Books for Young Adults - what authors and kids say

The April 1st, 2010 podcast of "The Next Chapter" from CBC featured interviews with YA authors and adolescent readers on the subject of YA fiction.

  • Rukhsana Khan on "Wanting Mor".
  • Eric Walters on what kids oughtta know.
  • Jill Murray on staying cool to teens.
  • Young Adult Readers Panel on what they want to read.
  • Joan Clark on why YA is a bad category.
  • Susan Juby on "Nice Recovery".
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YA fiction, interview, The Next Chapter, CBC,

GoogleLitTrips - bring your novel to life

Each “Lit Trip” involves mapping the movements of characters over a plot’s timeline onto the real world using GoogleEarth and providing excerpts, pictures, and links at each location. The LitTrip allows students to make connections and develop a context for the story.
(You will need Google Earth installed for these "trips" to work.)

Explanation on Youtube: (Parts 1 and 2)
Introduction to Google Lit Trips presented by Kate Reavey at Peninsula College

Tutorial

An example with "The Kite Runner"
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GoogleLitTrips,

 
 





  

     
 
 
   

7.12.10

Indie "Kids' Next" List


Every season, IndieBound publishes its Kid's Next list of top 10 books. You'll find summaries, video interviews, and book reviews. Some books link to Googlebook previews. You can select from Teen, ages 9-12 and 4-8
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Indiebound, Kids' Next, reading list,

Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Grades - online preview

No More "I'm Done" (Preview the book online!) by Jennifer Jacobson, 2010
Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Grades


071210_104948_0.jpg"Yes! Primary students can grow into being independent writers! Disregarding the false notion that writing instruction in the primary grades needs to be mostly teacher directed, Jennifer Jacobson shows teachers how to develop a primary writing workshop that helps nurture independent, engaged writers."



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Primary, writing,

Figment - A site for teens to share and read

English teachers working with students 13 years or older might want to check out the Figment site, created by a couple of New Yorker staffers. Great potential here for kids who write and want to share their work.

"What is Figment?
Figment is a community where you can share your writing, connect with other readers, and discover new stories and authors. Whatever you're into, from sonnets to mysteries, from sci-fi stories to cell phone novels, you can find it all here.

Who is behind Figment?
Figment was co-founded by Dana Goodyear, a staff writer at The New Yorker, and Jacob Lewis, the former Managing Editor at The New Yorker and Condé Nast Portfolio. Pretty spiffy bunch, no? There are other people who turn the little gears inside the Figment machine, who you’ll meet if you stick around long enough."
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Figment, New Yorker, writing,

From the hula hoop to Transformers...toys in Canada

The Joy of Toys and Games (CBC archives - Topic spans: 1958 - 2004)
(16 television clips  -  4 radio clips)

"From the hula hoop, tabletop hockey, Spirograph and toy guns to Cabbage Patch Kids, Elmo, GI Joe and Transformers, kids in Canada have had no shortage of toys and games to choose from since the 1950s.  Mega-seller Barbie came in various incarnations and the trivial pursuit of digital equipment made popular games seem invisible in the new millenium.  CBC Digital Archives takes a look back at what's been cool and unique in playland throughout the years."
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CBC archives, toys,

FictFact - Track series fiction

This site will help you track series fiction. You can browse by author, series name, or do a title search to see what series the novel belongs to, and what number it is in the series. Choosing a title takes you to a details page, with links to all the major online vendors as well as a GoogleBooks preview if available. If you sign up, you can get alerts, newsletters and more.


"You read books in series. You want to keep track of what to read next. You want recommendations on what to read next. You want to know when new books are coming out.

That's why you need FictFact!

FictFact is a tracking site focused on book series. Let us know what books/series you've read and we'll let you know what you need to read next and what's coming out soon. Registration is free, so let us know how you like it, and what series, books & authors we might be missing."
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reader's advisory, FictFact,

How to teach "synthesizing information"

Nice review of the nature and value of synthesis, with a request for TLs to share their thoughts on how they teach the process. The "winning" ideas will be featured in an upcoming article in School Library Monthly. Follow the link below to read the author's musings and participate in her survey. (http://bit.ly/nudgingsynthesis .)

"For an upcoming issue of School Library Monthly, we're tackling the  
Mount Everest of the research process: how we help students  
effectively synthesize the information they've gathered.

We would love to feature a variety of voices discussing how they  
tackle this issue and really move students beyond merely retelling the  
facts they have found.

If you have successfully climbed this mountain with students, we'd  
love to hear about it -- share your ideas at  

Submissions are open until December 20."
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SLJ, synthesizing,

What is Cyberbullying? Website


"This Web site has been designed as an interactive resource, delivering information on cyberbullying quickly and, by preference. Each item available for download in either Microsoft Word Document or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) so that our visitors can build information packs or handouts, according to what they need to teach or research."

6.12.10

An interview with Sherman Alexie

If you have teachers using "Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, then they might be interested to listen to this CBC podcast interview with the author. (This novel is aimed at the YA-teen readership.) Eleanor Wachtel speaks with this native American writer. "Funny, perceptive and fearless, Sherman Alexie has two new books - a collection of poetry called Face and stories, called War Dances. (Sunday October 11, 2009)"


Links re: "Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian"
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Sherman Alexie, interview,

Find out more about how Google works

The Sunday Edition - CBC

Engineering Search, (in the second hour)
"Someone once asked if God was, in fact, Google. It may not be the divinity but it has become in the last few years almost an autonomous nation state. In our Middle Hour, Ira Basen explains how Google became all-powerful."
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Google, CBC, The Sunday Edition,

For New and Experienced Teachers: Looking for Balance

Mike Anderson: The Well-Balanced Teacher Webinar
(Recorded September 29, 2010)

"Good teaching requires immense amounts of positive energy. Most teachers begin the year energized and ready to tackle all of the challenges that come with a normal year. Then, as the year goes on, it’s easy to feel all of that positive energy slipping away.

How can teachers stay energized and healthy over the course of a grueling year? How can teachers create healthy habits that enable us to eat well, find time to exercise, connect well with colleagues, and maintain a healthy work-life balance? How can teachers set priorities so that we know we’re being effective and staying positive engaged in the profession? Mike Anderson, author of The Well-Balanced Teacher: How to Work Smarter and Stay Sane Inside the Classroom and Out, explored these questions and others in this webinar.

Mike Anderson is a professional development specialist and consulting teacher for Northeast Foundation for Children, a nonprofit organization that supports teachers across the United States in implementing Responsive Classroom teaching practices.

He taught 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades in public schools in New Hampshire and Connecticut for 15 years. He has also taught in preschools, coached swim teams, and taught graduate classes at the University of New Hampshire summer literacy institute. In 2004, he was awarded a national Milken Educator Award for excellence in teaching, and he was a finalist for New Hampshire Teacher of the Year in 2005."

Multiple intelligences theory webinar

Integrating Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom (with Thomas Armstrong)
Watch this online presentation as Thomas Armstrong examines multiple intelligences theory and the eight intelligences and explores the importance of utilizing the theory to reach a diverse group of learners.  Dr. Armstrong is an award-winning author and speaker with over 35 years of teaching experience from the primary through the doctoral level. More than 1 million copies of his books are in print on issues related to learning and human development. (Recorded November 9, 2010)
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Multiple Intelligences, Armstrong,



Jan Brett's video page

For those of you who love Jan Brett, her website has a great collection of activities and extras. She also has a video page (http://www.janbrettvideos.com/video/video_main_page.htm) where you can view and/or dowmload clips for sharing with your students.

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Jan Brett, video,

5.12.10

NextReads newsletter and archives

Looking for the next title to read? Surrey Public Library is offering this interesting service. I liked browsing through the Archives to see what suggestions were made for the last few months.

"Look no further than NoveList’s NextReads.
When you subscribe to NextReads we will send out booklists with all the new hot titles and great suggestions for titles you may have missed directly to your e-mail.

1. Just choose the types of books you like. We have over 20 genres to choose from.
2. Start an account with your preferred e-mail.
3. You'll start receiving monthly newsletters in your in-box right away.
4. If you like a title, you can click on it and go directly to our catalogue to place the item on hold. (SPL only)

You can also have a look at the book lists online at the NextReads Archives."