October/Octobre 2015 Newsletter - Historica
Consult the latest e-newsletter from Historica to see what's new this month. (Among the features is the "What's New" section from the Canadian Encyclopedia.)
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28.10.15
27.10.15
Books-to-Games: Transforming Classic Novels Into Role Playing Adventures
What if a completed book was just the beginning of the story?
Ki Sung discusses how students can explore the world of a novel via a tabletop role-playing game, deeping their understanding of characters, themes and setting.
"Through tabletop role-playing games, educators are beginning to tinker with traditional works of literature and, in the process, reimagine how writing and character development are taught. [...] The use of tabletop RPGs in the classroom is still rare, but teachers investing time and energy into turning traditional activities into games are seeing rewarding results. Students who had previously been uninterested in school are engaged, and the experience of making the game includes lessons applicable in students' lives."
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26.10.15
Creating Videos for Instruction
Short videos that really work
Alice Keeler works at California State University Fresno as Teacher and Technology Coach. Attends Boise State University.
"When I create my videos in one shot I pause, I think about what I am going to say, I ramble. I have a lot of seconds that could be edited out. Record yourself saying the information you are trying to get across. Now do it again in 30 second or less segments (Mine are usually about 12 seconds.) Put together in a playlist. Compare the total run time. Same content. My 20-minute video went down to 7 minutes!"
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Rory's Story Cubes iOS & Android Apps
Scaffold story telling with these prompts
Plug in or Airplay your iPhone or iPad and quickly generate storytelling ideas for your English, ELL, FSL or other second language class. Realistic physics - shake to roll the cubes. Move and rotate them as you tell your story. The app comes with both the Original and Action sets. Other sets are available as in-app purchases. (Here's a video of the actual cubes - app works the same way.)
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Using Close Reading to Analyze Propaganda
"How is propaganda designed?"
"I wanted my students to think about how propaganda works. What word choices are used? What connotations do these word choices convey? .... How is propaganda designed? My students were reading dystopian literature because of its highly entertaining action and courageous protagonists, but did they understand the systematic ways the antagonists were controlling their people? ... I thought we'd start with a more mild form of propaganda that is in front of my students every day: advertising."
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30 Music Apps in 60 Minutes
Apps you can use for your music program
"Christopher J. Russell, Ph.D., is the author of the Technology in Music Education Blog and author of several books on the topic. He is the Director of Choirs at Oltman Middle School in St. Paul Park, Minnesota, a school that went 1:1 iPad in the fall of 2013. He was featured for his work in the area of technology integration in music education in the October 2014 issue of Choral Director Magazine."
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21.10.15
Bring International Games Day to Your Library on November 21
Engage with students in a different way
Think about a Friday tie-in at your school library to this international public library event. I'm not sure if the local library is participating, but it could be fun:
Every year on the third Saturday of November, libraries around the world come together to celebrate International Games Day (IGD), an event run by volunteers from the American Library Association, the Australian Library and Information Association, and Nordic Game Day. This event, which falls on November 21st this year, gives participating libraries a chance to raise awareness about gaming in libraries, engage with their students and patrons in a different way, and bring together gamers from across their community.
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Top Page-to-Screen Adaptations to Put on Your Radar
Books coming to film and TV
You may have heard that "the book is better than the movie." And it may often be true.The move from text to film can be tricky to navigate successfully. What works in a book may not work on the silver screen - or the small screen for that matter. But sometimes the movie can be a lot of fun too - and even increase the circulation of those books on your shelves. Follow the link above to see what's being planned!
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Online Poster Creators - 10 options
ePosters to represent learning
There are many tools available for students to represent their learning. These "eposters" offer many of the same advantages of the typical poster, but add projectable and shareable features. Embedding a video or a link make these webapps a powerful way to share an insight or explain a concept: RWT, Canva, LucidPress, tackk, Picmonkey, Poster my Wall, Muzy, QuotesCover, Pixteller, Smore, Quozio, BigHugeLabs, Recite and Ribbet. Some of these choices offer very specific presentation modes, others are very flexible. (The link above takes you to a clickable mindmap - don't forget to explore mondomo too.)
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20.10.15
Recommendations to Improve Your Reading Life
Forty places to start
"[T]here are little ways we can enrich our reading lives every day: small changes we can make or ideas we can try to change up our reading patterns and find new books to love. Here are forty places to start. Add your own in the comments below, or try a couple first and then come tell me how they go."
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Month by month from "Bookinitat50"
Ideas for your library program
Laura, a former elementary TL maintains this blog filled with lots of reading and book-culture ideas. She's put together a week by week set of activities for each month of the year that might offer some inspiration to other TLs - have a look.
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19.10.15
Inquiry research platform
How to be a better researcher
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
"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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16.10.15
JellyBeanScoop - simple news with audio
For reluctant readers, text-challenged students and ELL
"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
(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
"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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14.10.15
Tools from the American Association of School Librarians (AASL)
Resources to support school libraries
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
"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
"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
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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