"We, the digital citizens..."
Here's a succint mini-poster that encourages students to be good digital citizens. (Explore other downloadables on the site.)
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19.5.15
"Character Appeal" Makes Its Debut on NoveList
Looking for a suitably complex character?
NoveList has added "character appeal" to help you find the books your students are asking for. Follow the link for more details. (For home access, you will need your school ID and PW - see your TL)
"For some readers, likeable characters are essential, and if you can add relatable to that, even better! Other readers require more depth, and for a suitably complex character may be willing to engage with a protagonist who is flawed, or even in some cases unlikeable. Some readers may be looking for quirky characters, rather than brooding, introspective ones, and books with large casts of characters may draw some readers in, while warning others away...."
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15.5.15
iBook Author created iBooks
The power of book creation
Using iBooks Author, many teachers are creating textbook-like materials for their students to use. Visit the following link to see what teachers (and students) are developing.
Free Books by Educators in iTunes: (will launch iTunes. Examples will load in iBooks.)
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13.5.15
Comic-Style Projects on iPad
Harness your inner comic geek.
(or "Les bédés règnent!))
Here are two apps that let students create impressive comicbook-like projects. Great for supporting writing, storyboarding or representing learning.
Comic Maker HD (Free) some pop-up ads
"ComicBook!" iPhone app ($3.49)
The image pasted above was made with ComicBook, and I first pulled the images into lunipic.com to turn them into pencil drawings using the "Effects" submenu. (You can do this on your iOS device - very slick.) Note: there is an editor in the app, but it has fewer modification options.
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The Top Ten Fairy Tales Fractured in 2014
Update your fairy tale unit!
Picture books, chapter books and YA titles are all featured.
"Fairy tales are as important to the literary world as bacon is to life — they're foundational, ensconced in our societal psyche. Modern stories still thrive on this foundation, including the ever popular "fractured fairy tales," which present the traditional tale with an unexpected twist. They make for an excellent unit in the classroom with a few example books; fairy tales are a great writing prompt for all grades. The following ten fairy tales have been the inspiration for several new books published last year...."
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12.5.15
iBook Author Student Text: Butterflies
eBook: Butterflies of Nebraska
Thinking about having your students create ebooks? iBooks Author is a powerful tool for this. Read Mr. Hanson's blog to find out how he worked with his students to create a Science text.
"In class students learned about classification, anatomy of insects, life cycle, flowers and pollination, ecosystem, migration, and conservation. These topics became chapters in our books about Butterflies. We used iBooks Author to create our ebook; this allowed us to add interaction to our [work]. Students uploaded projects they had created from each lesson we did: photo galleries, and videos we created in iMovie."
Download the Period 3 eBook as an iBook: Butterflies of Nebraska
Download the Period 3 eBook as a pdf: Butterflies of Nebraska
Download the Period 8 eBook as an iBook: Nebraska Butterfly
Download the Period 8 eBook as a pdf: Nebraska Butterfly
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7.5.15
Aboriginal Ed resource page - WLU Faculty of Education
"Aboriginal perspectives bring the curriculum to life"
A range of Language, History and Social Studies activities / lesson plans (from Ontario), mostly for Grades 1-8, that teach aboriginal perspectives, issues and achievements.
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6.5.15
Read-alongs on Learn360
Celebrate TD Canadian Children's Book Week May 2–9 with Learn360
Login first to Learn360, then click on the links below.
Remember, as an SD38 teacher, you can download clips for showing whenever you want to.
"We've got loads of videos that bring to life your students' favorite books, recounting classic tales like Rumpelstiltskin, The Emperor's New Clothes, and Jack and the Beanstalk, more recent ones like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and Miss Nelson Is Back, and many more. Check out the videos from Weston Woods, Rabbit Ears, and Reading Rainbow to find ones to show in class."
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5.5.15
Reading 'can help reduce stress' - Telegraph
Study indicates reading is the best way to relax
"Reading is the best way to relax and even six minutes can be enough to reduce the stress levels by more than two thirds, according to new research from the University of Sussex research. And it works better and faster than other methods to calm frazzled nerves such as listening to music, going for a walk or settling down with a cup of tea, research found. [...] Subjects only needed to read, silently, for six minutes to slow down the heart rate and ease tension in the muscles."
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"Teacher Librarians - Mavens in a Digital Age"
Vancouver (WA) TLs are leading digital transformation
Read this forward looking article from "School Administrator" magazine about the success of teacher-librarianship involvement in Vancouver Washington school district's strategic technology plan.
"[...]Teacher-librarians bring to their roles a unique 21st-century skill set that includes overseeing digital content, educational technology, collaborative instruction, digital citizenship and materials management.[...]"
Complete May 2015 issue of School Administrator here.
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RPL rolls out "The Launchpad"
What is The Launchpad?
Check out how RPL is rebranding and repositioning itself.
"The Launchpad is a library space where our community can come together and learn through collaborative and creative experimentation. We are proud to offer an innovative workspace where 3D printing, digital publishing tools and a range of digital services tutorials will be available."
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Splice - Video Editor
Combining videos the easy way.
Tutorial:
Looking to put some student videos together, I tried a number of free video joining apps - Splice was the perfect solution. The app lets you add clips from your camera roll, set transitions, add frames, add images, create a title, and even edit clip lengths. Easy to use, powerful and fast.
Here's a sample I made using a couple of random clips I took, with some audio uploaded for fun.
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4.5.15
"My Mother is so Smart" - We Give Books
Here are two Mother's Day reads to share.
(Thanks Phyllis)
My Mother is So Smart
by Tomie dePaola @ the We Give Books site
(it's free to sign up):
Love You Forever
read by author, Robert Munsch on YouTube and on his website:
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E.O. Wilson’s eText - Life on Earth
41 chapters in 7 separate units
"Life on Earth is an iBooks Textbook consisting of 41 chapters in 7 separate units and can be downloaded for free from the iBooks Store. The text provides a complete, original, standards-based, media-rich curriculum to give high school students a deep understanding of all of the central topics of introductory biology."
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Lit2Go - audiobooks and more
Collection of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format
More suitable for high school.
"Lit2Go is a free online collection of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format. An abstract, citation, playing time, and word count are given for each of the passages. Many of the passages also have a related reading strategy identified. Each reading passage can also be downloaded as a PDF and printed for use as a read-along or as supplemental reading material for your classroom."
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30.4.15
The Secret Book Society
Read, and then talk about books!
Cathlin Shahriary, a fourth grade dual language teacher in Lewisville, Texas, created a "secret book society" to generate some excitement around reading at her school:
"I decided to make my book club a secret book club (like fight club but instead of fighting, we read and talk about books). First, I set up guidelines for the secret book club. Ideally, I wanted to use books that I had already read so I could discuss them with the students. ...I started by drafting a letter ... stating that I had selected the student to be a member of the Secret Book Society and to participate all they had to do was read the book and write me a letter with their thoughts about the book. ...."
Mike Murray is trying a similar activity at his school. Click here for the letter he is planning to use. (You could use it with students or staff, or both!) Here's another version to use.
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Batman Returns (his books to the library) Poster
Holy Batbook!
A fun reminder for your tardy types!
Here's another:
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ASCD Webinar - Engage Your Students with Real-World Projects
Plan more authentic, relevant learning experiences with PBL
"With careful planning, teachers can design more relevant learning experiences and also address key content. In this webinar, author Suzie Boss will outline strategies to help you plan for more authentic, relevant learning experiences. She'll discuss how to design academically rigorous projects that are ripped from the headlines; why relevance doesn't mean "all about me;" and how to use the 3 A's to guide students toward meaningful action."
Includes webinar transcript and handouts.
See other archived webinars here.
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How To Use Infotopia in Just Two Minutes
A quick kid-friendly refresher
"Students will learn how to use the free custom search engine Infotopia.info, to find quality research results in just two minutes. Covered: how to do a keyword search, search for exact words or a phrase, and how to browse through the Infotopia topics."
Infotopia, a Google Custom Search Engine, is can be found in each library catalog under the "Visual Tab".
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MediaSmarts: Workshop about teens girls & online image
Half Girl, Half Face: A workshop about online image for girls in Grades 7-9
The workshop, which includes peer-led discussions and activities, revolves around the story of a teenage girl whose image has gone viral. As the video's protagonist tries to explain how this experience has affected her, she questions many aspects of social networking that are relevant to teens.
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