Library Links

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


10.12.11

Weather on other planets

Extreme Weather in Our Solar System

How does the weather on other planets compare to weather on Earth?

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9.12.11

Learn about the attack on Pearl Harbor

Interactive Pearl Harbor Attack Map

National Geographic has a good resource students can explore to learn about the attack on Pearl Harbor. TheInteractive Pearl Harbor Attack Map is a map and timeline accompanied by voice narration. Each stop along the timeline of the attack is accompanied by a short narrated passage. At each stop students can click on the map to read more information about that place and moment in the chronology of the attack.

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8.12.11

Aboriginal Perspectives - NFB

Films giving perspective on Canada's native peoples

The Aboriginal Perspectives module contains 33 documentaries, a short fiction film, and 5 film clips. These productions do not represent the entirety of the films on Canada's native peoples in the NFB collection, which comprises more than 700 such works. We did want it, however, to be a representative sample of the whole.

The Aboriginal Perspectives material is organized by theme: The Arts, Cinema and Representation, Colonialism and Racism, Indigenous Knowledge, History and Origins, Sovereignty and Resistance, and Youth. These topics are very relevant to social studies curricula across the country.

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Keep oceans clean.org

Uncover facts about the ocean

Rollover the trash items to uncover facts about the ocean, Learn about how everyday actions, and waste, can be a problem for fish. Thanks for helping keep oceans clean!

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Tumblebook titles - use them as "Big Books"

What titles are in Tumblebooks?

Here's a list of titles that are carried by Tumblebooks. Consider using a favourite as a "Big Book" by projecting it for your class.

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Cells Alive. (4/5-12)

Interactive Cell web site. (4/5-12)

This site is an excellent interactive web site for educators dealing with all aspects of cells. Galleries, models, animations, etc.

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Earth Cams for Kids

Web Cams from Around the World

This site allows student to search for and view various web cams all over the earth. Some are live, some are still pics (that are refreshed every so often.)

Example (live feed - with audio)

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Learn about the laws of physics in action

Fear of Physics (K-12)

Billed as an interactive, highly visual, and non-technical way for students of all ages to learn about the laws of physics in action. Many animations, clips, and simulations.

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Celestia - travel through space

A Real-time 3D space simulation  

"Celestia is  a real-time 3D space simulation featuring a database of over 100000 stars, nearly a hundred solar system, objects, and a complete catalog   You can travel throughout the solar system, to any of the over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the galaxy.  Celestia comes with a large catalog of stars, galaxies, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and spacecraft."

(Requires a download - version for Windows, Mac and Linux - the Mac version will run from the desktop with no installation required.)

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Virtual Solar System.  (4/5-12)

An interactive Solar system site  (4/5-12)

This site was created by National Geographic and is an interactive solar system map. Mouse over to view images, click to read more detail. An excellent tool for your students to use as they study our solar system. 

Get Body Smart (8-12)

Human Anatomy and Physiology

An Online Examination of Human Anatomy and Physiology.  Visually Learn About the Human Body Using Interactive "Flash" Animations.

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7.12.11

Periodic Table of Comic Books

Chemical Comics!

"Welcome to the Periodic Table of Comic Books. Click on an element to see a list of comic book pages involving that element. Click on a thumbnail on the list to see a full comic bookpage. For technical information about an element, follow the link to Mark Winter's Web Elements. There's something for everyone here!"

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The Future of Print - Webinar

What lessons can publishers learn from the music industry's response to the digital revolution?
[LINK] from Tuesday, May 3, 2011


Speakers:
  • James Crawford, Engineering Director, Google Books
  • Steve Ennen, President and Chief Intelligence Officer, Social Strategy1
  • Bethlam Forsa, Executive Vice President, Global Product and Content Development, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  • Jane Friedman, Co-Founder and CEO, Open Road Integrated Media; former President and CEO, HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide
Moderator:
Richard Sandler, Executive Vice President, Milken Family Foundation.

"Tablet computers as well as the Kindle and other e-readers have created a new platform for books, magazines and newspapers. The California start-up Vook may demonstrate the path forward: It packages cookbooks, workout manuals and even novels with illustrative video clips, then sells these video-text hybrids through Apple's iTunes Store. But what will readers pay for these products, and can this model sustain the big traditional publishers? Some say there will always be a place for print. In the news industry, print is too slow for breaking news, but does printed analysis have a place? In publishing, text-heavy books may be perfect for an e-reader, but will beautifully illustrated, tactile tomes become even more valuable? What lessons can publishers learn from the music industry's response to the digital revolution?"

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Full Text Magazines in EBSCO

PDF Magazines by cover

Simply click on the icons to see "clickable covers" of magazines organized by category. (Kids, Teens, General and Pro-D) From there, you can visit the "landing page" for each of the titles. On each landing page, you will see (on the right of the screen) a list of all the issues by year. Pick an issue and then click on the article title to read. Have fun exploring! (EBSCO is a subscription database: School ID and password required for home access.)

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6.12.11

Bio-Cube - ReadWriteThink

Identify and Summarize Key Ideas

"All writing assignments require the writer to make decisions about what to include and what to leave out. The task seems especially daunting with biographies and autobiographies, when the author is trying to summarize an entire life. The Bio-Cube activity asks children to take on that challenge and limits their information to what will fit on six sides of a small cube. The activity helps children learn how to identify and summarize key ideas."

Students can use the online tool, or work on a blank printed cube.
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Classroom Ideas - Kindergarten

Ideas for the Primary Classroom

Pinterest is an online pinboard that uses the slogan "Organize and share things you love." Check out this page of Primary/Kindergarten ideas - crafts, reading activities, resources.

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Powerpoint in Science - project idea

Grade 8 Science PowerPoint Presentations

"Eighth grade students at Raul Yzaguirre School For Success [RYSS] used PowerPoint 2007 to create presentations based on TEKS/TAKS Grade 8 Science concepts. The PowerPoint presentations online are a selection from the 8th grade class. The students were challenged to take control of the teaching process to make Science more exciting and interesting to study. They researched the concepts online, then used visuals, text and animation to bring them "to life".
(Powerpoint presentations were exported as "movies".)

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Supporting Critical Thinking - Ancient Egypt

Decipher the drawing

"How was life different in ancient Egypt? In this challenge from Legacies of Ancient Egypt students use the 5W questions to analyze a detailed drawing of an ancient scene and gather evidence to support or refute a hypothesis about the depicted event. (Social Studies, Language Arts, Fine Arts)"

(From the Thinking Teacher - December 2011)

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Elementary library routines - wiki

Elementary TLs Sharing What Works

"Where Elementary Librarians share their knowledge! This wiki was born from a short Twitter conversation and the admiration of the work of Harry Wong. Please join & add your expertise to our wiki. No need to reinvent the wheel when you have a strong library PLN."

Topics include:
AV Equipment Management, Beginning of the Year, Book Management & Inventory, Budget/Funding, Daily/Weekly Library Records, End of the Year, Flexible Scheduling, Floor Plans, Library Organization, Library Spaces, Parent Contact, Special Library Events & Programs, Substitute Plans, Procedure Manual/Handbook, and much more.

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5.12.11

"Exit slip" for library lab work

Accountable online research

Students doing research in computer lab settings may not use their time wisely, especially if they think that no-one is holding them accountable. Here are some ideas for an "exit slip". If students know they are responsible for providing this at the end of each session, they may be more productive.

An Exit Slip could include the following questions:
(Tech Tip: a Google form could also be set up with these questions. Students could "submit" an exit slip that the teacher could collate as part of the Work Habit.)

  • 1) Name or Initials
  • 2) What is your topic?
  • 3) What is your essential question(s)?
  • 4) Name one thing you discovered/learned today.
  • 5) What do you still not understand? What do you still need to find out? What do you want to know more about?
  • 6) What search engine(s) did you use today? Google, Bing, Yahoo? Infotopia.info, quinturakids.com, www.ixquick.com, www.kidrex.org? etc.
  • 7) What websites and/or databases did you visit/use today? How did you assess the value of the web sites? RADCAB (PDF)
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"Literary Cavalcade" - High School Teachers' Resources

Teaching literature and writing

Browse the archive of "Literary Cavalcade" (2003-2005)  to find a number of articles and lessons for teaching literature and writing. You can browse issues by publication date, genre, author, or skill.

Current Ideas for students from "Write It" online site

Ideas and Lessons for teachers from "Write It" online site

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100s Day - clip

From PBS - Kids talk about 100s Day

Some ideas for celebrating 100s day. Hear from students.

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#pencilchat - Great Metaphor for surfacing Tech Integration issues

Some articles that reference #pencilchat

Learning in Hand

GOOD Education

The Contemporary Educator

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"School Libraries Work" - report

Summaries of studies from 20 states and Canada
Google viewer link: HERE

Shares data on the impact of school libraries on student achievement.

"This research foundation paper, updated from the 2006 edition of School Libraries Work!, brings together position statements from a variety of organizations and findings from nearly two decades of empirical studies that cite the measurable impact school libraries and library media specialists have on student achievement. It includes excerpts from a Congressional presentation made by the National Committee on Libraries and Information Science in June 2007; the results of new studies from Delaware, Indiana, Wisconsin, and the Canadian province of Ontario; as well as new data, statistics, resources, and strategies to help principals, school board members, teachers, and library media specialists support and improve their library media centers."

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Discovery Channel - videos and extras

Science Clips and Extras


"Covering topics in science, nature, adventure, and technology, discoverychannel.ca is a perfect place to look for material on all kinds of subjects from animals to space [...] Take a look through our A-Z section or use our search tool to find the information you need."

Using material from the website
Please note that content on discoverychannel.ca (images, text, video, or interactive content) cannot be copied or re-used in any way. If you wish to share it with others, just point them to the site.

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4.12.11

World Heritage Site Panoramas

360 Degree Panoramas of 275 World Heritage Sites

"Patrimonium-mundi.org is undertaking an ambitious project to capture and share 360 degree panoramas of all of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. Currently, Patrimonium-mundi.org has up to 275 panoramic images. Visitors can rotate all of the images and some allow you to zoom in and zoom out to look at the details."

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Link a series of informative videos together

Create Choose Your Own Adventure Videos

Use the Sptolight Annotation feature of Youtube to create a series of informative videos and linking them together in a "choose-your-own-adventure" format . This could be a great collaborative multimedia project for your students.

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Fetal Pig Dissection Resource - High School Science

Virtual fetal Pig Dissection (VPD)
Welcome to the Whitman College Biology Department's Virtual Pig Dissection (VPD)!

While not an interactive dissection site, the images could be used to supplement, introduce or even replace the actual dissection.

"This site is designed as a supplement to laboratory dissections exploring introductory mammalian anatomy and physiology — it is basic and many details have been omitted for clarity.  We hope that it is suitable for AP Biology students or for students of introductory anatomy and physiology at the college level."

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