Library Links

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

28.10.10

IN FLANDERS FIELDS - Music Videos

As we approach Remembrance Day, consider exposing your students to John McCrae's memorable poem "In Flanders Fields".

There are many versions of "In Flanders Fields" set to music, done as choral readings or acted out as dramatic presentations (some professional, some amateur). The following version (which also appears on a site selling the video along with sheet music and lesson plans; http://www.flandersfieldsmusic.com ) is on Youtube, and shows a number of "related videos" that all deal with the poem in some form or another. (Always preview clips before using them with your class.)

Creating their own slide show to a musical version would be a great activity.
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Radio Canada - les archives - l'halloween

Halloween : bonbons, sorcières et frissons
La nuit du 31 octobre, les rues s’emplissent de créatures mystérieuses. Des ribambelles d’enfants déguisés arpentent les trottoirs, vont de porte en porte en quête de bonbons, chocolats et autres sucreries, tandis que les adultes rivalisent d’ingéniosité dans l’organisation de soirées costumées. Les racines de cette fête populaire remontent aux Celtes.
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26.10.10

Kandahar Through Afghan Eyes 2010

PHOTOS FROM AFGHANISTAN
A photo exhibit is available for schools and classes from CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency). The exhibit, called “Kandahar Through Afghan Eyes 2010,” is free for schools to use, and is composed of photos, poetry, and creative narrative by young people from 18 to 24 years of age.
To view the photos online you can go to the “Youth Zone” of the http://www.afghanistan.gc.ca web site.
The exhibit could provide a starting point for discussion about the content of the photos and how they relate to the war, as well as why the Canadian government has created and funded this project.

If you are interested in booking the exhibit, e-mail to info.afghanistan@international.gc.ca.
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SLJ Summit speaker- Illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky

A presentation by Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky. at School Library Journal's Leadership Summit: "The Future of Reading," October 22-23, Chicago.

View other SLJ Summit speakers at this URL as well.
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Author Eva Ibbotson dies at 85

"Award-winning author Eva Ibbotson, known for her tongue-in-cheek ghost stories for young adults and her adult romances, died October 20, at her home in Newcastle, England. She was 85." <more>
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CK-12 Foundation - free senior math and science texts

CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization with a mission to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both in the U.S. and worldwide. Using an open-content, web-based collaborative model termed the “FlexBook,” CK-12 intends to pioneer the generation and distribution of high quality educational content that will serve both as core text as well as provide an adaptive environment for learning.

These are available as PDF downloads.

Page listing available books with PDF links.

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also
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Scribd is another document distribution source (like Youtube for documents) that will allow one to upload files and then embed them into webpages as a flippable book, a scrollable page or a slideshow. Here's the CK-12 Chemistry Book.
Controls at the bottom left allow the view to see book, scroll or slide view.

I can also embed them in an existing webpage:
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25.10.10

"Everyday Editing" - preview chapter 1 online

Everyday Editing - by Jeff Anderson
Inviting Students to Develop Skill and Craft in Writer's Workshop
Preview Chapter 1 online.
"Written in Jeff's characteristically witty style, this refreshing and practical guide offers an overview of his approach to editing within the writing workshop as well as ten detailed sets of lessons covering everything from apostrophes to serial commas. These lessons can be used throughout the year to replace Daily Oral Language or error-based editing strategies with a more effective method for improving student writing."

View/hear a webcast by the author on this topic:
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Easy lesson to create comics - step by step

This lesson on the "Teaching Comics" website gives the teacher a simple, easy to follow unit that could be used with ComicLife. A similar process could be followed for hand-drawn comics as well. In addition to this lesson, the site has many other articles on the topic of graphic novels and comics.

If you don't have access to Comic Life, there are some great web-based comic creators being out there: PikiStrips is one example.
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Looking to organize your class library?

Have you had requests from your teachers re: finding the reading level of books in their class library?

This link, while not a comprehensive list of all books available, nonetheless has over four and a half thousand of the more common titles found in class libraries. You can view the books by author, title or Fountas & Pinnell level. There is even an excel file that teachers can download.

As well, here is a reading level comparison chart that will help you see where the FP levels are in relation to other commonly used systems:
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Wonderwheel is gone?

If you are a regular user of Wonderwheel from Google, it isn't gone for good, just tucked away. Follow this link for the trick to finding it.


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Some Scholastic Video Book Talks

Follow this link to view video clips on the Scholastic site. [LINK]
Each series of book talks will play as a video loop. Might be good for a library open house!
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