Inquiry research platform

How to be a better researcher

http://inquiryresearchplatform.weebly.com/

http://inquiryresearchplatform.weebly.com/1-whats-my-topic.html

Click on the dropdown menu on the Weebly page to access:

 -> 1: What's My Topic?

-> 2: Narrowing My Question

-> 3: Searching For Information

-> 4: Is My Source Credible?

-> 5: Organizing & Connecting My Information

-> 6: Big Ideas In BCED (Grade 8)

-> 7: Need Project Ideas? Visit The Choice Board.

-> 8: Feedback

-> 9: Sharing Forum

-> 10 Reflection Space

plus a Curriculum Guide

(Prepared for: ETEC 510: The Design of Technology-Supported Learning Environments. by: Dana Bjornson, Justin Bolivar, Kassan Borthwick, Rob Telford.)

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Explain Everything & Book Creator part 3

"App-smashing" to create something unique

http://explaineverything.com/news/create-comic-book-creator-animate-explain-everything

"Dan from the Book Creator team is back to look at another way in which Explain Everything can be "app-smashed" with Book Creator to create something unique. (This is part 3 of a 4-part series) Learn how to animate a comic book made in Book Creator, and create a fun video. (Note: Book Creator 4.0 has just been released onto the App Store. With this update there are now comic book templates and styles added to the app, to make really simple and fun comic books.)"

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JellyBeanScoop - simple news with audio

For reluctant readers, text-challenged students and ELL

http://www.jellybeanscoop.com/

"Jellybean Scoop is a new innovative way to engage children in reading. Our incredibly high interest nonfiction stories are sure to draw any kid's attention and spark an interest in reading. All stories are true and with a login account, teachers can access full audio files, comprehension tests, vocabulary building practice, sentence building practice and read aloud functions."

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BCTF Project of Heart eBook

Illuminating the history of Indian Residential Schools in BC

http://bctf.ca/hiddenhistory/

(online ebook and downlaodable PDF)

This resource is useful for building background and context for BC teachers on this topic, and selected pages could be used with high school students.

"This eBook is intended to be an interactive resource leading educators from the story to the 'back story' utilizing links on each page to offer related resources. Throughout this book you will find Project of Heart tiles with an 'aura' which indicates that this is a link. Click on each of these tiles to find additional resources including films, videos, documents, articles, activities and more."

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"Teaching Arguments" for HS writing classes

Comprehend, analyze, and respond to arguments

https://www.stenhouse.com/content/teaching-arguments

"Teaching Arguments" gives you a firm grounding in rhetorical concepts, practical writing prompts, and engaging activities—such as the rhetorical précis, descriptive outlining, and the doubting & believing game—to build the skills your students need to comprehend, analyze, and respond to arguments. (Preview the entire book by visiting the link above!)

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Tools from the American Association of School Librarians (AASL)

Resources to support school libraries

http://www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/tools

Articles, brochures, Infographics, Posters and Toolkits to promote support for school library programs. (Some material may have an exclusively American context.)

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New and Improved -> Together for Learning

Learning Commons site has been refreshed

https://www.accessola.org/WEB/OLAWEB/OSLA/Together_for_Learning/Together_for_Learning.aspx

"The Together for Learning vision is coming alive. The T4L website provides a collaborative learning space to create, share, celebrate and lead best practice as schools realize the power of the Learning Commons. All members of the learning community will discover powerful ideas about teaching and learning in today's information and technology rich environment."

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Shortlists For 2015 National Book Awards (US)

Fiction, non-fic, poetry and YA

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/14/448053224/finalists-unveiled-for-this-years-national-book-awards

"Shortlists for the National Book Awards went public Wednesday, halving the number of nominees to just 20 finalists. Among the books that have survived the second round of cuts, a few clear favorites are beginning to emerge — while others have been displaced by less familiar names."

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Engaging Reluctant Middle Grade Readers Webcast

SL Journal Webcast

(archived from Oct 13, 2015)

Quick booktalks re: new series and titles that will appeal to your Middle School aged students:

"Getting a struggling and/or reluctant reader excited about books is a challenge for many librarians. Very often, a voracious reader is hidden within these kids—they just need to find the right books to help spark their interests. This highly informative webcast will feature a panel of authors and market experts providing a sneak peek at intriguing new books from our sponsors."

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Fall 2015 YAACING magazine is now available

The Fall 2015 issue of YAACING is now available. Click on the first link to read it on issuu, or the second to download the PDF.

"Highlights include the Summer Reading Club theme announcement for 2016, a library dance party recap from Amy Dawley, using puppetry to teach narrative from Kristine Stephenson, and two excellent booklists, one on ensemble books from Fiona Trotter and the other on dealing with addiction from Cassidy Owen.  And, of course, dispatches from the regulars: Heather Gloster and Kaitlyn Vardy on teen and children's programming, respectively, and the best new book review sites from Lindsey and Dana."

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Google Power User infographics

Tips and tricks for Googlers

• http://www.coolinfographics.com/blog/2014/9/24/how-to-be-a-google-power-user.html
  
• http://www.spectronics.com.au/blog/techniques-and-tips/get-more-out-of-google-searches-infographic/
  
• http://elearninginfographics.com/using-google-tools-project-based-learning-infographic/
  
  
  

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French Karaoke anyone?

Chantez avec paroles!

https://www.youtube.com/user/karafunfr/videos

Karafun is both a site and an application that allows the user to sing "karaoke-style" in French with a variety of well-known Disney and pop songs. You will need to signup for the complete catalog (about 8 euros a month) but you can try a few on their Youtube channel.

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How a Virus Invades Your Body

It's flu season!

http://www.openculture.com/2015/10/how-a-virus-invades-your-body-an-eye-popping-animated-look.html

"With the help of NPR's Robert Krulwich and medical animator David Bolinsky, we're taking an animated look at what actually happens when a virus invades your body and tricks a single cell into making a million more viruses, and how your immune system eventually deals with the whole mess. It's a nice demystification of phenomena that affects our everyday lives."

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The Guggenheim Puts Online 1600 Great Works of Modern Art from 575 Artists

Give yourself a thorough education in modern art

http://www.openculture.com/2015/10/free-the-guggenheim-puts-online-1600-great-works-of-modern-art-from-575-artists.html

"If you can't make it to New York, then head over to the Guggenheim's online collection, where the museum has digitized "nearly 1600 artworks by more than 575 artists." This is the most sweeping move toward greater accessibility since the private collection went public in 1937. You'll find early representational Kandinskys, Miró, Mondrian and more."

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Classic 1950s Sci-Fi Radio from Asimov, Heinlein, Bradbury

Introduce students to Sci-Fi

http://www.openculture.com/2014/06/x-minus-one.html

Some of the best-known science fiction writers have received the "radio play" treatment. This could be a great way of introducing students to the sci-fi genre. (Students could be challenged to create their own versions using Garageband.)

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"Charting New Paths" - BCTLA conference

BCTLA Annual Conference

"Charting New Paths"

• Friday, October 23
• Fraser Heights Secondary, Surrey
• Featuring 2 keynotes, 42 workshops, authors, take-away vendor displays, great conversation, good books!
• Register @ http://bctlaconference.ca
  

Conference Program:

http://bctf.ca/bctla/pub/documents/conference/Brochure.pdf

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The Critical Thinking Consortium -> Thoughtful Books

Helping young readers to read critically

http://tc2.ca/thoughtfulbooks.php

Downloadable lessons, templates and materials:

"The Thoughtful Books series makes use of exemplary children's literature to help young readers learn to read critically and to thoughtfully consider ethical matters. Each resource in this series features specific tools supporting literacy development and encouraging the deliberation of ethical considerations. Teachers and parents are encouraged to use the suggested activities to introduce the tools and then to encourage their young children to apply them in a variety of situations over time, until the tools are used independently, selectively, and naturally."

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Stellar Book Award Nominees for 2015/16

Read, rank, review, and discuss!

http://stellaraward.bclibraries.ca/

"From November to April, teens throughout B.C. read, rank, review, and discuss favourite nominees. In order to have your say, you must read at least five of these nominated books, then you can cast a VOTE from April 18-22 by emailing:  redcedaraward@gmail.com "

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Five-Minute Film Festival: 9 Videos on News Literacy

Sorting fact from fiction in journalism

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-news-media-literacy

What can you do to help your students become more critical consumers of news media? [This] video playlist should provide a good entry point to the discussion, and then you'll find some resources for digging deeper.

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Nonfiction Graffiti Walls

How to incorporate more nonfiction

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1978

Follow the link to read how Katie Doherty makes good use of non-fiction!

"...The issue was how to incorporate a lot of nonfiction in a way that allows my students to not only enjoy it, but also share the experience and connect it to something they all may care about. The answer came to me as I was reading The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate over the summer. I wanted to connect our read-aloud novels to nonfiction topics of interest...."

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