WeGiveBooks - virtual reader

For those of you who loved Lookybook (no longer active), WeGiveBooks allows teachers and students to view "virtual" picture books online. It is easy to create an account and you can read from a growing number books to your class using a projector or Smartboard.

This site allows you to read picture books online and for every book you choose, they will donate to needy schools. They currently have a new promotion, and are trying to set a reading record.

For more details about the contest, please visit - http://www.wegivebooks.org/newsletter/view/15

The featured book is "The Snowy Day" and the site offers a number of downloadable activities to go with the story.

http://www.wegivebooks.org/pf/rftr/index.html

(See the bottom of the page for activities)

sample: http://www.readfortherecord.org/site/DocServer/A_Snow_Story.pdf?docID=5461

Digital Textbooks

Turning the Page: Forget about those bulky backbreakers, digital textbooks are the future.

Here's an interesting article from School Library Journal on the rise of digital textbooks.

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/886880-312/turning_the_page_forget_about.html.csp

"As more digital learning environments emerge, they’ll need to be effectively managed. School librarians, in particular, Mardis says, must demonstrate their unique resource expertise and skills in content management. If not, it may not get done and we’ll likely find that the promise of digital textbooks and flexbooks will never be realized."

Using Digital Riches to Enhance Learning

Beauty and the Beast: Using Digital Riches to Enhance Learning

By Jamie McKenzie, ©2010

http://fno.org/mar2010/beautyand.html

Digital resources can be a blessing to both teachers and students, bringing a richness to learning that is dramatically different from what was available to schools four decades ago. At the same time, the shift of popular culture to embrace such digital possibilities often entails risks, difficulties and liabilities that usually go unmentioned by cheerleaders and digital promoters. This article takes a more balanced perspective, celebrating the benefits while identifying those risks.

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National Gallery of Art - digital tools

Here's a range of fun tools to do "digital art" inspired by works of the great artists.

http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/zone.htm

Each tool can be linked to individually.

(Works best on a Mac with Safari.)

Collage Machine • Mobile • PixelFace • 3-D Twirler • Cubits • Diamonds • Dutch House • Photo Op

PaintBox • Wallovers • RiverRun • SwatchBox • Flow • Jungle • BRUSHster • Still Life • Faces & Places