Google World Wonders Project

Discover some of the most famous sites on earth

http://www.google.com/intl/en/culturalinstitute/worldwonders/

"Using Street View technology, Google makes world heritage sites available to users across the globe. Viewers can now go off the beaten track to see some of the most significant places in the world. The World Wonders Project presents a valuable resource for students and scholars who can virtually discover some of the most famous sites on earth. The project website also provides a window to 3D models, YouTube videos and photography of the famous heritage sites."

Teachers guides: http://www.google.com/intl/en/culturalinstitute/worldwonders/education/

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Why Our After-School Book Club Can't Wait to Get Its New E-Readers

Can e-readers engage students in ways print cannot?

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2013/04/why-our-after-school-book-club-cant-wait-get-its-new-e-readers

"After reading the current research on digital literacy, we felt e-readers could engage our reluctant readers in a way that print has not thus far.  ...  By shifting to a medium that embraces interactivity, the chance that they'll read may independently increase. E-readers, even the basic ones we have purchased, boost the relevancy of reading and shows that the school is trying to speak their language: technology."

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Speaking Well in the Age of Digital Media

How to teach speaking effectively with technology - Ch 1 Preview

http://onlinebooks.stenhouse.com/digitally-speaking-demo/chapter-1-speaking-well-in-the-age-of-digital-media/

"...it is not enough for teachers to use technology for feedback only; we must blend technology into instruction and teach students how to make strategic use of digital media. For some of us, this new responsibility is scary. We may not be comfortable with digital tools, and we don't have time to surf the Internet looking for useful tutorials. That's why I created this project—to remove some of the common obstacles to learning how to teach speaking effectively with technology."

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How to Send E-mail Without Checking E-mail

A time-saver for emailing

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/how-to-send-e-mail-without-checking-e-mail/48033?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

Sending email means opening your email client. And that's a recipe for extensive time-wasting. Before you send that message, you will invariably want to read the latest few messages from friends and colleagues and even the spam! But if you're a user of Gmail, there's a brilliant easy-to-implement solution. Open the URL pasted below, then bookmark it to your shortcut bar. (You can also drag the URL from the address window to the shortcut bookmark bar.) Simply click on the shortcut to open an e-mail window and hit send when you're done. No need to even look in your inbox!

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&shva=1

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Engaging With Literature: A Video Library, Grades 3-5

Enhance the literary experiences of Gr 3-5 students

http://www.learner.org/libraries/engagingliterature/signposts/

"Welcome to "Engaging With Literature: A Video Library, Grades 3-5!" This nine-part video library is designed to help language arts teachers in grades three to five enhance the literary experiences of their students. This series overview introduces Dr. Judith Langer's theory of literary envisionment and envisionment-building classrooms and invites us into real classrooms of real teachers to see how this theory plays out in practice with real students."

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How to Dump a Reading Slump

Not reading enough? Here's some advice.

http://bookriot.com/2013/03/04/how-to-dump-a-reading-slump/?utm_source=ebookfling&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=swap

In a guest post, Josh Corman offers some suggestions for adult readers to beat a reading slump. His suggestions might just help kids too!

How to break such a cold streak, you ask? Here's the plan:

Step 1. – Narrow the scope.

Step 2. – Be more intentional with reading time.

Step 3. – Seek familiar waters.

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60 Second Shakespeare - Shakespeare's plays, themes and characters

BBC - Shakespeare - in a minute

http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/shakespeare/60secondshakespeare/themes_index.shtml

"Not sure which of Shakespeare's plays to cover? Chosen one, but need a quick refresher course on it?  Check out our fine range of 60 Second Shakespeare newspapers for quick summaries of the plot and characters of fourteen major Shakespeare plays.

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Kindergarten.com | Apps for Every Child

ABA Flash Card apps

http://kindergarten.com/

These Apps (9 in total) are free for the month of April

ABA Alphabet Flash Card

ABA Animal Flash Cards.

ABA Food Flash Cards

ABA Sight Words.

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Stenhouse Publishers: National Poetry Month - ebook sampler

Resources for National Poetry Month

http://www.stenhouse.com/html/npoetry.htm?r=n273

April is National Poetry Month and Stenhouse has collected some great resources for you to bring poetry into your classroom. Download a free poetry sampler of collected poetry lessons and classroom ideas gathered in one handy e-book.

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eBOUND E-books catalog

A digital catalogue of independently-published Canadian ebooks

https://bnccatalist.ca/ViewCatalogue.aspx?id=1438

This Digital catalogue is now available on CataList.

"eBOUND Canada, a project of the Association of Canadian Publishers, has created a digital catalogue of independently-published, Canadian ebooks and features over 4000 titles in the major digital formats (epub, modi, pdf)."

See cover shots and in some cases, embeddable book trailers to share with your teachers and students.

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Are Books Your Brand? How Libraries Can Stay Relevant to Readers

Keeping readers at the forefront of the library mission

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/01/webcasts/library-services-webcasts/are-books-your-brand-how-libraries-can-stay-relevant-to-readers/#_

Archive now available!

"The core mission of libraries – providing books for readers – is as relevant today as it was years ago.  Formats might change, and library patrons might only visit the library virtually, but the library is still the place where readers go to find books.   

View this (archived) webinar with several librarians who are keeping readers at the forefront of the library mission. The panel will discuss:

• Shifts in how people are using the library
• Examples of successful library programs and services for readers
• Strategies and tools for engaging communities of readers
  

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Poetry Resources to explore

Infotopia Poetry URLs

http://www.infotopia.info/poetry.html

Browse this selection of poetry links courtesy of Infotopia.

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How to Read a Book in 10 Minutes | ALA Editions

Learn more about the books in your collection

http://www.alaeditions.org/blog/62/how-read-book-10-minutes

Jessica Moyer offers a strategy for readers' advisory that draws on the  appeal factors published in Joyce Saricks' "Readers Advisory Service in the Public Library". Some of her suggestions could be modified to use in a student "speed book dating" activity.

"To get started grab a book you haven't read before, by an author you don't know, and preferably one that you don't intend to read later. As you follow the steps below be sure to make notes.  Remember you only have 10 minutes so read and write quickly!...[more]"

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TED-Ed | How fiction can change reality

How popular fiction can shape culture.

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/jessica-wise-how-fiction-can-change-reality#dig

"Reading and stories can be an escape from real life, a window into another world -- but have you ever considered how new fictional experiences might change your perspective on real, everyday life? From Pride and Prejudice to Harry Potter, learn how popular fiction can spark public dialogue and shape culture."

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Teachers’ Ultimate Guide to using online Video

Ideas on how to inspire students with video

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/03/teachers-ultimate-guide-to-using-videos/

"Among all the millions of videos out there, how do you find the great ones? How do you evaluate the quality of a video? Who are the great content creators, and what are the best curation sites? In collaboration with educator Catlin Tucker, MindShift presents Teachers' Guide to Videos [PDF], to answer these questions and more. You'll find a slew of valuable resources, including video links for all kinds of subjects — history, math, science, language arts, and more.

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2013 Book Spine Poem Gallery

"Found" poems in book piles

http://100scopenotes.com/2013/04/02/2013-book-spine-poem-gallery/

A fun way to get students looking at your collection. Some of the poems created are profound!

"National Poetry Month has landed, and we're celebrating with book spine poetry. Three (maybe even four) cheers for everyone who gave it a shot. If you try book spine poetry in April, snap a picture, post it to your blog, or email it to me at scopenotes (at) gmail (dot) com. I'll add to this gallery for the entire month."

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Create an All-iPad Class Radio Show

Podcasts the easy iPad way

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2013/03/30/create-an-all-ipad-class-radio-show-with-audioboo-bossjock-goodreader-soundcloud/

"iPads are among the most powerful and useful technology tools in many classrooms as well as homes. Watch this fifteen minute screencast tutorial, demonstrating how to create an "all-iPad" class radio show. (ENTIRELY recorded, edited, and published with an iPad.) To do this, we used AudioBoo (the "classic edition" iPhone app running on iPads,) Bossjock, GoodReader, & SoundCloud with a self-hosted WordPress site."

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Teacher Assessment With Exit Tickets

Use exit tickets to assess learning and plan future lessons

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teacher-assessment-strategy

"How does Mr. Crandall use exit tickets to help plan future lessons? How does Mr. Crandall ensure that exit tickets are a low-stress assessment? What might you assess using exit tickets?"

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National poetry month - kidlitosphere events - Jama's Alphabet Soup

Cool ways to celebrate National Poetry Month during April

http://jamarattigan.com/2013/03/28/national-poetry-month-kidlitosphere-events-2/

"Here's a great roundup of the various events/series going on on kidlit blogs in April. There are so many fantastic things to choose from. If you read the summaries and then see what fits your needs the most, you could pick one blog to follow all month and get involved. Use poem starters to write your own poems. etc.

Scroll down and check out the "Poem-a-Day" links as well.

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Classroom Library Company | Book Retriever

Use your Smartphone to circulate class books

http://www.classroomlibrarycompany.com/book-retriever.html

The Book Retriever software makes it easy to match appropriate books to readers, and  Level, Manage, Track, Lend and Organize your whole Classroom Library.

While there are some bugs, for 99 cents, it might be a solution to book lending in your classroom.

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