The Chocolate War: Read A Long

A close reading of Cormier's novel

http://blogs.slj.com/teacozy/2013/05/13/cw-part-1/

From School Library Journal....

"SLJ blogger Liz Burns reads the YA classic by Robert Cormier, sharing her reader response reactions, culminating with her full review on May 18. This will be a chapter-by-chapter commentary; and yes, there will be spoilers. Read along as she discusses the novel's gender politics, narrative elements, lack of parental involvement, and much more."

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Why Reading Aloud to Older Children Is Valuable

Reading aloud  to 14year olds confers both academic and emotional benefits

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/05/why-reading-aloud-to-older-children-is-valuable/

Reading aloud to older children — even up to age 14, who can comfortably read to themselves — has benefits both academic and emotional, says Jim Trelease, who could easily be called King of the Read-Aloud.... "Research indicates that motivation, interest, and engagement are often enhanced when teachers read aloud to middle school students," wrote research authors Lettie K. Albright and Mary Ariail.

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Thinking beyond the (summer) list

Is your summer reading list a dinosaur?

http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2013/05/10/thinking-beyond-the-summer-list/

Read Joyce's full post and explore this "media rich" iBook format aimed at hooking students! (You'll need to create a free Bookry account in order to download the iBook)

Joyce Valenza happened upon a media-rich, interactive Choices Summer Reading list (created by Elissa Malespina, TL at a New Jersey Middle School) that offers suggestions for fiction, nonfiction, classics, graphic novels but presented in an iBooks Authors format and hosted on the Bookry platform.

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Using Graphic Novels?

Some GN titles, tricks and trailers from MacMillan

A comprehensive list of this publisher's adult, teen and kids collections of graphic novels

• http://us.macmillan.com/Content.aspx?publisher=firstsecond&id=5639
  

A video archive of trailers made to promote some graphic novel titles. (The trailers would also make good writing prompts for students to tell their own stories.)

• http://us.macmillan.com/VideoArchive.aspx?publisher=firstsecond
  

Lesson plans and book study guides to accompany some titles

• http://us.macmillan.com/Content.aspx?publisher=firstsecond&id=2537
  

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Teaching comics and teaching with comics.

Comics can fit comfortably in the English classroom!

http://us.macmillan.com/uploadedFiles/FirstSecond/Menu_Items/NCTE_handout.pdf  (Print and fold this handy primer)

"There are any number of different ways comics can fit comfortably in an English classroom, ranging from teaching them as literature, as you would a prose novel, to having your students write, draw, and self-publish their own work. It's impossible to address all the different contexts and levels at the same time, so consider this handout a starting point to help orient you in your own exploration of teaching comics and teaching with comics."

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NoveList K-8 Plus - Can You Dig it? Summer Reading Lists

Suggestions for Kids, Tweens and Teens

[LINK to reading lists] School ID and PW needed for home access

You will find listed on these three suggested reading ideas, books ranging from stories about subterranean worlds to factual information about prehistoric skeletons, all to support this year's Collaborative Summer Library Program, "Beneath the Surface." Summaries, reviews and clickable links for every title helps readers make good choices.

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Favorite Online Reading and Writing Tools Round-Up

Edmodo, Wonderopolis, and more!

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1570

"Our tech-savvy contributors remind us that learning with technology should be embedded with sound instructional practice and have new ideas for how that can be done.  In this installment we have two different reflections on Edmodo as well as applications for Wonderopolis, kindergarten blogging, and teacher message boards.

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Summer Reading List - in iBook form

What are tweens reading this summer?

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/choices-2013/id646557520?ls=1

Download this iBook format reading list to your iPad.

"Choices 2013: This is a list of recommended books for students grades 6-8 to read for their summer reading assignment. Nonfiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Classics and more are included in the list. The list is designed by the public and school librarians of both South Orange and Maplewood NJ.

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Fighting Plagiarism - Jamie McKenzie

Structure research to make answers rather than just finding them

http://fno.org/may2013/plagiarism.html

Jamie McKenzie addresses the underlying causes of plagiarism in this month's issue of "From Now On". Rather than trying to catch students in the act, he writes about how we might structure assignments to eliminate it in the first place.

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