Elections Canada - Teacher resources

Spark Interest in Voting in Your Classroom

http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=yth/tea&document=index&lang=e

Many downloadables, in both offical languages

"Educational Products and Resources – We Provide the Tools! Elections Canada offers elementary, secondary and ESL teachers free educational resources, tools, activities, information and links, all designed to make your work a little easier."

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How concerned should we be about reading level?

What do you read for fun?

http://www.mackinvia-connext.com/2014/05/15/why-do-middle-high-school-students-choose-books-with-lower-reading-levels/

Tracy Luehrs writes a spirited defence of teen and adult reading habits in the wake of a study that maintains teens are choosing below-grade-level books when they read for pleasure. (read her complete article)

"...I know that I'm preaching to the choir, but I have to say it: Challenging fiction is more than just big words. Fiction, especially after elementary school, is challenging because of characterization, themes, figurative language and all that other stuff which is hard to put a number on."

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Reading A- Z Level Correlation Chart

What level is that again?

http://www.readinga-z.com/readinga-z-levels/level-correlation-chart/

On the back of the book it says: "Level B, Age 4-6, Grade K, Reading Recovery 1, DRA- A1, PMR Starters 1, Lexile BR-70" .... do the terms and the levels seem a little confusing? Here's a great chart that lets you see at a glance how the different systems compare to one another. The next time someone asks you if a "PM reader 5-6 yellow red" is the same as Lexile 300, you'll be able to say "yes" with confidence!

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Building Literacy with Popular Web 2.0 Tools

Teaching Literacy in the Digital Age

http://www.iste.org/docs/excerpts/LITTEC-excerpt.pdf

Here is an preview chapter from "Teaching Literacy in the Digital Age" (Ch 14) published by ISTE. The author discusses the use of Blogger, Edmodo, Wordle and Audacity to promote literacy.

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Red Cedar Nominees for 2014/2015

Get a jump on your summer reading!

http://www.redcedaraward.ca/index.php

The nominees for next year (2014-15) are:

• Ultra by David Carroll
• The Metro Dogs of Moscow by Rachelle Delaney
• Home Ice Advantage by Tom Earle
• Poser by Alison Hughes
• The Spotted Dog Last Seen by Jessica Scott Kerrin
• September 17 by Amanda West Lewis
• The Hidden Agenda of Sigrid Sugden by Jill MacLean
• Athlete vs. Mathlete by W.C. Mack
• Pieces of the Past (Dear Canada series) by Carol Matas
• Amelia and Me by Heather Stemp
• Curse of the Dream Witch by Allan Stratton
• Enigma (Camp X series) by Eric Walters
  

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Education Week: The Day of the Teacher in pics

One Day in Teaching: A Photo Gallery

http://www.edweek.org/tm/section/community/one-day-in-teaching.html

A snapshot of the lives of teachers...

"On May 6, 2014, National Teacher Appreciation Day, we asked teachers who use the photo-sharing service Instagram to post photos throughout the day capturing moments they saw as representative of their daily lives as educators. The result was a fascinating and many-sided glimpse into the real world of teaching, unobstructed by media and policy-debate characterizations."

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Free SYNC audiobook downloads begin

Let the "listening" begin!

http://www.audiobooksync.com/free-sync-downloads/

SYNC offers 2 FREE audiobooks each week May 15 - Aug 20, 2014. Sign up for email or text alerts that invite you to download the new titles as they become available.

This Week's Audiobooks (available to download free May 15 – May 21) are -  Warp: The Reluctant Assassin By Eoin Colfer and The Time Machine By H.G. Wells.

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Katzie Learning Commons: Voting Week!

"Block" voting

http://katzielc.blogspot.ca/2014/05/voting-week.html

This week, my wife's library is running their vote for Surrey Book of the Year. Rather than using a pen and paper vote, she has opted to use Jenga blocks to give a more visual representation of the results. Students place a block in front of their favourite, and then blocks are stacked for a quick tally. (If you want a more confidential approach, kids could place their block in a basket, and then the contents could be stacked in front of the titles.)  Makes for a fun numeracy exercise too!

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iBooks Textbooks from KQED

Bring science to life with these eBooks

http://blogs.kqed.org/education/e-books/

"Bring science to life at the touch of a fingertip. Download the latest iBooks Textbooks from KQED! Explore STEM topics and careers through real-world examples. Designed to engage learners through a blend of high-quality media, interactive elements and informative text, the books and accompanying iTunes U courses offer rich learning experiences both in and out of the classroom."

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"Pick me" book speech balloons

Shelf Talkers - Books speak for themselves!

http://www.risking-failure.com/2012/07/pick-me-shelf-talkers.html

Thanks to Susan Nishi for sharing this idea with the TLs at our meeting yesterday. Susan found this idea on the "Risking Failure" blog (Carolyn Vibbert's TL page.) Download the PDFs of these speech and thought bubbles and let your books speak for themselves! Breath some circulation into books on display, titles on the shelf or older texts that just don't seem to get picked up. (Print on neon, glue to tagboard, laminate, and "voilà!")

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About Young Adult Literature: some Google Book previews

Some perspectives on Young Adult Lit

You can often get a feel for a topic by reading previews from titles available in Google Books. (While some pages are omitted, you can get a sense of the content and the usefulness of the book.) Just google the topic in Google Books and look for versions with Preview available. Here are 4 titles that discuss YA fiction:

• Young Adult Literature: From Romance to Realism [LINK]
• Teaching Young Adult Literature Today: Insights, Considerations, and Perspectives for the Classroom Teacher [LINK]
• Campbell's Scoop: Reflections on Young Adult Literature [LINK]
• Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies [LINK]
  

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"Transforming Curriculum" screencasts

Thanks to Janice Novakowski for creating these 4 overview Jing screencasts of the Ministry "transforming Curriculum" website. If any of your staff members would like a quick refresher, these may be helpful. (They are slow to load, so you will want to pause each recording initially to give it a couple of moments to load in memory before viewing.) See all four links below.

----- Original Message -----

Hi there

I did up some screencasts overviewing the website. Please feel free to share with schools.

Tranforming Curriculum Overview 1

http://www.screencast.com/t/M4F9f6yZT

Tranforming Curriculum Overview 2

http://www.screencast.com/t/Uc8PScTx7

Tranforming Curriculum Overview 3

http://www.screencast.com/t/1ceIE4BUfoGc

Tranforming Curriculum Overview 4

http://www.screencast.com/t/LT9uxK0Tk5Kc

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Canada's History - Kayak Illustrated History Contest

Create an illustrated story based on Canada's past

http://canadashistory.ca/Kids/Contests/Kayak-Illustrated-History-Challenge

"Start writing your exciting Canadian History tale and you could be on your way to Ottawa for the 2014 Governor General's History Awards. The award is open to Canadian kids between the ages of 7 and 14. Students are invited to create their own illustrated story based on any element of Canada's past they find of interest. The deadline for entries is June 14th, 2014!

"Stories should be between 500–1200 words in length and should include 1–3 illustrations or archival photographs to accompany the story. Comic Strip formats are eligible; students should keep in mind a 5-page comic typically entails 500 words. Stories can be written in either English or French.

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Crash Course in Literature - Video series

Why do we read? with John Green

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOeEc9ME62zTfqc0h6Pe8vb&app=desktop

"In which John Green kicks off the Crash Course Literature mini series with a reasonable set of questions. Why do we read? What's the point of reading critically. John will argue that reading is about effectively communicating with other people. Unlike a direct communication though, the writer has to communicate with a stranger, through time and space, with only "dry dead words on a page." So how's that going to work? Find out with Crash Course Literature!"

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Research Guides on Aboriginal Resources

Learn more about First Nations

Here are some research links from UBC library (thanks Sarah Dupont) related to Aboriginal Resources:

Two research guides that might serve as helpful starting points:

Aboriginal Education and Aboriginal Children's Literature.

Also -  Indigenous Librarianship guide and Aboriginal Publishers, Distributors, and News Media guide. (Note: Anyone who is an alumni of UBC can borrow up to 5 books at a time, and use materials in-house (including databases).

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Some ESL links to explore - better for High School

Looking for some text/audio pairings to help students develop an ear for English? Here are some links to explore.

Voice of America (Current events: text with audio)

http://learningenglish.voanews.com

http://learningenglish.voanews.com/section/level-one/3774.html

MaryGlasgow Plus (articles at different levels - some with audio)

http://maryglasgowplus.com/students/features/archive

A site for ESL learners - activities, texts, audio etc.

http://www.manythings.org/listen/

http://www.manythings.org/elllo/

http://www.manythings.org/wikipedia/

http://www.manythings.org/voa/stories/

TinyTexts

http://tinytexts.wordpress.com

(Short text with link to "audioboo spoken file" at the end of each article)

3 levels of text from a variety of current events

http://www.newsinlevels.com/

(audio of the easier texts in video format)

See also: eResources from the district. These can be found under the Visual Tab in Destiny - use School ID and password for home access:

EBSCO magazines

http://public.sd38.bc.ca/sdweb/Lis/magazines/

TumbleReadables (Chose "Teen" for older read-along titles and themes)

(Access link via the Visual Tab in your school library)

Orca Digital (text but no audio)

http://my.bigtimbermedia.com/login/

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Booklists by "Divergent" factions

Thanks to Cheryl Youse (Media Specialist & Webmaster at Colquitt County High School) for assembling this list of novel titles that align with the factions in Divergent. Her students came up with this final selection:

I can see a great book display in my mind's eye.....

Dauntless:

• Percy Jackson Series and the Kane Chronicles / Riordan
• Maze Runner / Dashner
• Abhorsen / Nix
• I am Number Four / Lore
• Incarceron / Fisher
• Keys to the Kingdom Series / Nix
• Leverage / Cohen
• Eragon / Paolini
  

Abnegation:

• The Impossible Knife of Memory / Anderson
• The False Princess / O'Neal
• My Book of Life by Angel / Leavitt
• Allegiant / Roth
• Finnikin of the Rock / Marchetta
• Every Day / Levithan
• Girl of Fire and Thorns / Carson
• The Zookeeper's Wife / Ackerman

Amity:

• Jump / Carbone
• Anna and the French Kiss / Perkins
• Charlotte's Web / White
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower / Chbosky
• Jane / Lindner
  

Erudite:

• Artemis Fowl series / Colfer
• Ready Player One / Cline
• Winger / Smith
• Erebos /  Poznanski
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks / Skloot
  

Candor:

• To Kill a Mockingbird / Lee
• The Story of an Hour  / Chopin
• Where the Red Fern Grows / Rawls
• My Life Next Door / Fitzpatrick
• Grasshopper Jungle / Smith
• The Mockingbirds / Whitney
• Hate List / Brown
  

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Nature Soundmap

Hear the World Like Never Before

http://www.naturesoundmap.com/

"A group of professional nature recordists from around the globe have collaborated to develop Nature Soundmap, an enjoyable and interactive way of exploring the natural sounds of our planet. Immerse yourself in a pulsating insect chorus in Borneo's tropical rainforest, or climb the Himalayas and relax to the melodies of birdsong in an alpine meadow."

Use Nature Soundmap to discover the wonderful soundscapes and wildlife sounds of our planet.

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Get to Effective Weeding.

"Raise you hand if you can't face weeding."

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=45253839&site=ehost-live

Diane J. Young's humourous but useful take on that bane of librarians everywhere: weeding! (EBSCO ID and password needed for home access)

"You are not alone. All over the country, books are stacked three high on window sills, Fodor's Yugoslavia 1987 languishes on the shelf, and HVAC systems send out BTUs to heat and cool the broken spines of Harry Potter. This can change. ... I've discovered that, whether our expertise is paleontology or board books, most of what holds us back from weeding is psychological. I'm reminded of that first step in most recovery programs: "We admitted we were powerless over [blank]--that our lives had become unmanageable." So, here's a program for people whose collections have become unmanageable--and it's only eight steps."

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Not all scientific studies are created equal - TED-Ed

"I am not convinced"

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/not-all-scientific-studies-are-created-equal-david-h-schwartz

Could be a good way to introduce the concept of scientific studies to senior students.

"Every day, we are bombarded by attention grabbing headlines that promise miracle cures to all of our ailments -- often backed up by a "scientific study." But what are these studies, and how do we know if they are reliable? David H. Schwartz dissects two types of studies that scientists use, illuminating why you should always approach the claims with a critical eye."

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