Library Links

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

9.10.14

A story in only Six Words

The six-word memoir project
"This teachers' guide was created to help educators integrate the six-word memoir project into their own classrooms. As you read through the guide, you will discover how to use Six Word Memoirs as a powerful educational tool to ignite creativity and critical thinking in your classroom, as well as give students a voice to tell their life stories."
(Note: the pdf makes reference to a workbook, which can be bought on the site. There is however enough direction in the PDF to allow teachers to try this project without the workbook.)

Some examples of school projects:

Use images:
Think about "Six Words for Images" as another way to tackle this. Find arresting images (ie Flickr) and get kids to create Six Word captions that sum up the feel, mood, action or setting....

Mixed media:
An alternate project is to superimpose the Six Word text on the image for a mixed media creation.


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Human rights education resources: K-12

A rich digital selection of human rights resources
"The Canadian Teachers' Federation and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights have worked in partnership to bring together a rich digital selection of human rights education resources for Kindergarten to Grade 12 in English and French. The resources in this toolkit were carefully reviewed by teachers and will link you to a variety of literature, media and lesson plans that can be used in the classroom."

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7.10.14

How Teens Do Research in the Digital World - PEW 2012

How the rise of digital material affects teen research skills
"Overall, teachers who participated in this study characterize the impact of today's digital environment on their students' research habits and skills as mostly positive, yet multi-faceted and not without drawbacks. Among the more positive impacts they see: the best students access a greater depth and breadth of information on topics that interest them; students can take advantage of the availability of educational material in engaging multimedia formats; and many become more self-reliant researchers."

"At the same time, ... some teachers worry about students' overdependence on search engines; the difficulty many students have judging the quality of online information; the general level of literacy of today's students; increasing distractions pulling at students and poor time management skills; students' potentially diminished critical thinking capacity; and the ease with which today's students can borrow from the work of others."

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6.10.14

Better Searches - Better results

Be a power user!

This poster summarizes some effective tips for being a better googler. Students and teachers can benefit from using these strategies.

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2.10.14

American Libraries - September/Oct 2014 Digital Supplement on School Libraries

"School Libraries transform learning"
American Libraries, the flagship magazine of the American Library Association, is published 6 times yearly, with occasional digital supplements, by the American Library Association. This month, the supplement has a School Library focus.

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30.9.14

Bibliographies en français?

Comment rédiger une bibliographie/médiagraphie en français...
I used to tell my Immersion students to use the same method they used for their other English papers. My reasoning was that since they were unlikely to do any serious publishing in French, using a common method that they were accustomed to would be good reinforcement for their English work. Hunting around on-line, I found both MLA-like and APA-like guides exist. (I've referenced some below)

I tested some of the suggestions in the first two documents with Bibme, and the MLA style tab gives results that are very close (Students will need to translate the month names and such things as "print", etc) I suggest using some kind of tool to make the process painless - For example, Bibme.org allows students to easily create MLA (or APA) bibliographies, and then make the necessary adjustments for French terms.

Some guides I found:

Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) - based on MLA

Collège François-Xavier-Garneau (CEGEP in Québec) - based on MLA

Université Laval -  APA (French adaptation)

Collège de Maisonneuve (based on APA - very extensive document!)

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TeachBC - Show Racism the Red Card

Anti-racism resource
"The TeachBC website, created by the BC Teachers' Federation, enables BC teachers to share resources relevant to the K-12 BC curriculum. Teachers also have the opportunity to access educational research in BC and share their own research. Here is a sample of one of the many resources available: "Show Racism the Red Card". This list is growing and teachers are encouraged to add materials!


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Six Alternatives to Book Reports

Not another book report!
There are many ways to change up the standard book report in order to get students talking about their reading selections. Gone are the pretty ribbons and glitter glue! John Spence offers some interesting options for students - interview the main character (or bad guy!), write a movie pitch, put two different book heroes together, imagine a roadtrip with your novel's characters, etc.

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25.9.14

National Jukebox - Library of Congress

A Gramophone on your computer
Looking for some music with "turn of the century" appeal, for a project or to set the scene? Check out the National Jukebox.

"The National Jukebox debuts featuring more than 10,000 78rpm disc sides issued by the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1900 and 1925. Imagine your computer as a new Gramophone purchased for family and friends to enjoy in your home parlor. Audition popular recorded selections of the beginning of the 20th century years—band music, novelty tunes, humorous monologues, hits from the season's new musical theater productions, the latest dance rhythms, and opera arias."

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Helping Students Find Creative Commons Images

Finding the right picture
Wade Gegan runs through the features of five tools that he recommends using to search, reference, attribute and download Creative Commons images.

1. Photo Pin
2. Iconfinder
3. Pixabay
4. Flickr (Creative Commons)
5. Freepik

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24.9.14

"Poem Central" - Stenhouse Preview

Where people and poems meet
Preview this book: LINK

"In Poem Central—a place where people and poems meet—teachers and students will discover how to find their way into a poem, have conversations around poems, and learn fresh and exciting ways to make poems. Readers will enjoy the dozens of poems throughout the book that serve to instruct, to inspire, and to send us on unique word journeys of the mind and heart."



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e-Atlas resources

Maps, maps, maps

With the changes in world geopolitical arrangements (Crimea anyone?!) printed atlases may not be up-to-date. Many electronic resources can fill that gap, and may even replace your print-book versions. Here are some sources to explore:
World Book:
Sometimes teachers forget that there is an atlas built into WB encyclopedia. From the maps, you can jump to detailed articles on each country.

Atlas of Canada:

CanGeo atlas

NatGeo MapMachine

EarthTools & Map Coords (long and lat)

Worldatlas (Some advertising)

Don't forget to revisit Google Maps and Google Earth, and for "fun with maps", check out MapFrappe http://mapfrappe.com


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22.9.14

Applications éducatives disponibles au Canada

Get app recommendations for iPad and Android
A Canadian site that recommends apps for pre-K to high school. Some are in French. (The site can be viewed in either language.)

"Destiné aux parents et aux éducateurs, EduLulu est le premier service public qui offre l'évaluation des applications éducatives disponibles au Canada sur iOS et Androïd. EduLulu, c'est la référence canadienne en matière d'applications éducatives en français et en anglais pour les 2 à 17 ans !"

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Remembrance Day - Learning Resources

Great resources for teachers and students


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19.9.14

Seven Considerations When Developing Adolescent Literacy

"It's a challenge, but it is not impossible"
Beth Morrow (a middle school ESL/reading teacher for Columbus City Schools in Columbus) shares her suggestions for building robust adolecent literacy in Middle School and Junior High.

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Physical Activity May Boost Reading Skills

Children might do better in school if they're more physically active
"The study authors, from the University of Eastern Finland, report a link between higher levels of physical activity at recess and better reading skills, and a connection between participation in organized sports and higher math test scores."

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Giller prize Long List

Scotiabank 2014 Giller Prize Longlist
Looking for some adult reads? Here is a new batch of great titles and authors to pick up and peruse: (BTW, there are excerpts on the Giller site.)

 WAITING FOR THE MAN by Arjun Basu, THE BETRAYERS by David Bezmozgis, AMERICAN INNOVATIONS by Rivka Galchen, TELL by Frances Itani, WATCH HOW WE WALK by Jennifer Lovegrove, US CONDUCTORS by Sean Michaels, MOVING FORWARDS SIDEWAYS LIKE A CRAB by Shani Mootoo, THE GIRL WHO WAS SATURDAY NIGHT by Heather O'Neill, PARADISE AND ELSEWHERE by Kathy Page, MY OCTOBER by Claire Holden Rothman, ALL MY PUNY SORROWS by Miriam Toews, THE EVER AFTER OF ASHWIN RAO by Padma Viswanathan.

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Celebrating Canadian Library Month - October

Posters and Bookmarks to download
The Canadian Library Association's Library Tool Box provides downloadables in English and French to promote celebrations and activities during Canadian Library Month.

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Science sites for Intermediate students

Articles on current science topics
BBC -  Science and Environment Page http://www.bbc.com/news/science_and_environment/

Science.ca Canadian science news site

SCience News for Students

NASA - updated several times a week

Smithsonian Tween Page
Science-y articles for intermediate students

Time for Kids - Science archive

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eBooks: Apple iOS 8 User Guides in iBooks Format

iOS 8 is coming!
Do you want to learn more about the ins and outs of iOS 8? Apple has just released free guides in iBook format to take you by the hand. See the links below.
Good for iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad 2. 159 pp

For all you iPhone models. 182 pp


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