Library Links

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

3.12.15

Changing YouTube Playback Speed

Slow the video for second language learners!


Adrian explains how to change the playback speed of a Youtube video. While he mentions why you might want to speed up the playback (ie. boring clip), second language teachers will be delighted to know that you can select 1/2 playback too. While the audio quality will vary depending on the original enunciation, it can make a rapid-fire French video much easier to grasp for FSL students. (ELL teachers could also find this useful.)

Tip: Don't forget to see if the clip has captions - sometimes the "on-the-fly" captions are laughable, but you might be lucky.


(merci ALP de m'avoir donner la suggestion!)

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24.11.15

Reading FollettShelf titles

Follett BryteWave options

Accessing your FollettShelf titles is easy using the link on the left-hand side of your Destiny catalog.
Using your school ID and log-in when prompted, you can read FollettShelf titles in your browser window (ie. Firefox, Safari, Chrome.) The eBooks I have purchased are single user titles, but your school may opt to purchase multi-user titles via Titlewave.

If you want an enhanced reading experience, you can use the Brytewave app. There are many versions available for pretty much any device. (Note: the Mac app can be downloaded and run from the Documents folder - it doesn't need to be dragged into the Applications folder.) I will be offering workshops on FollettShelf in the next couple of months with more pointers - stay tuned!

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The importance of skepticism in science: Joe Schwarcz

Great science-minded video
Here is an interesting TEDx presentation on the role and mistrust of chemistry in everyday life. Good vid for secondary Chemistry students. Joe Schwarcz, who works on educating the public about science, discusses the importance of skepticism in science. He has written a number of great titles on this topic.

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The Media as Portrayed in Movies: A Popular Topic

Analyzing the Media Through Docudramas
"Do your students know that when they watch docudramas, they're not watching history as it actually happened? Do they understand the "artistic license" that movie makers utilize when they contract to take an historical event and condense it into a two-hour film? [...] For every film that is released "based on true events" there are plenty of legitimate news stories, blog posts, or social media postings that attempt to pull back the curtain on what the filmmakers got right and what they might have altered and why. [...] Challenge your students to find news sources that are pulling back the curtain on the current crop of docudramas."

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Making Nonfiction from Scratch - preview book

Create delicious nonfiction full of passion, voice, and insight
"Do you have students whose nonfiction writing is formulaic, devoid of energy and voice? In Making Nonfiction from Scratch bestselling PD and children's book author Ralph Fletcher offers a candid critique of how nonfiction writing is often taught in schools and gives teachers the inspiration and strategies they need to help their students write authentic nonfiction."

Click on the Product preview button


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18.11.15

UbD resources from Jay McTighe

Support for your use of "Understanding by Design" planning

The resources tab on the JayMcTighe website has a number of useful links for teachers wanting more support as they explore UbD planning with their students. Of interest is the "Downloads" section, which offers Design Tools as well as sample Essential Questions for a range of curricular areas.

There are some helpful videos on the site as well: http://jaymctighe.com/resources/videos/

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"Love Over Fear" - A video response to the Paris attacks

Stay strong and stay together
Published on 16 Nov 2015
Ammar, Thomas, Matt and Derin are from 4 different countries and were particularly affected by the ISIS terror attacks from these past few weeks. "At a desperate time, we felt like the most important thing to remember is that we let them win if we divide ourselves... As people we have to stay strong and stay together. Love to you all."

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Story Monsters Ink - magazine

December 2015 issue available
"Story Monsters Ink is a free, subscription-based digest that gives parents and educators the latest news about award-winning and debut books. The magazine also features an author profile each month, listings of authors who visit schools, back to school and summer reading guides, listings of newly published books, as well as other articles about book trends, bookstores, author news, etc."
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The Lord of the Rings Mythology Explained in 10 Minutes

Middle-Earth simplified!
If your students are intrigued by "The Lord of the Rings", either books or movies, and want a quick primer (Magic Card style) on the mythological background, these 2 videos are for you.

"Presented in a rapid fire style like that of motormouth YA novelist and video educator John Green, "The Lord of the Rings Mythology Explained" is exactly that–two very quick tours, with illustrations, through the complex mythological world of Middle Earth, the setting of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, and other books you've maybe never heard of. These videos were made before the final installment of Jackson's interminable Hobbit trilogy, but they cover most major developments before and after the events in short book on which he based those films."

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17.11.15

ELA Authorized Novels - Alberta Ed

Authorized Novels and Nonfiction Annotated List -Gr 4 to 12 (2005)



Some suggestions from Alberta - you might find a title or two - notice that the lists are already a few years old!
This annotated list provides short quotation summaries, suggested themes and literary features. It also identifies potentially sensitive issues. This list also includes video titles that have been authorized to support some elementary and junior high school titles.

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12.11.15

BC Books Online: Launching November 17th

An extensive online database of BC-published books
"For many years, the Association of Book Publishers of BC has been developing the concept for a comprehensive online database of BC-published books. With the input of library staff from across the province, we have developed a searchable, browsable database that showcases books in print from BC publishers in both print and ebook form. The website is now live and ready for use at bcbooks.49thshelf.com ."
Some key information:
  • The database contains robust bibliographic data for approximately 8,500 books published by BC publishers
  • The database is searchable through both a basic and advanced search function
  • Browse titles by curated "BC Reading Lists", compiled by a BC librarian
"We plan to celebrate the creation of the website with a public announcement on November 17. We will also be finding helpful ways of parsing the database for librarians, including sending dedicated emails with title listings by special-interest category so that we can present groupings of books in manageable numbers to selections librarians."
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10.11.15

Critical Thinking Consortium tackles bullying

TC2 - Investigating Bullying
Students investigate bullying - for Elementary and Seconday students. The objectives of this lesson is to sensitize students to the impact of bullying, and discuss the topic through a variety of literacy strategies. (This TC2-developed critical challenge was previously published as a Tools for Thought resource.)

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9.11.15

Using Wikipedia for Academic Research

The encyclopedia that daren't speak its name!
This short clip from the Cooperative Library Instruction Project (creator: Michael Baird) outlines how students can use Wikipedia to get an overall sense of a topic. They also see where it fits appropriately in the research process. (Key words, bibliography, etc.)

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UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive

Recordings made from the late 1800s to early 1900s
Thanks to the University of California-Santa Barbara Cylinder Audio Archive, you can now download or stream a digital collection of more than 10,000 cylinder recordings. "This searchable database," says UCSB, "features all types of recordings made from the late 1800s to early 1900s, including popular songs, vaudeville acts, classical and operatic music, comedic monologues, ethnic and foreign recordings, speeches and readings." You can also find in the archive a number of "personal recordings," or "home wax recordings," made by everyday people at home (as opposed to by record companies).

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6.11.15

Redesigned Curriculum: lots of new "tools"

Context, Planning, Resources, etc
The BC curriculum website was recently updated with lots of new support materials added under the tools tab, both in English and en français: Planning documents, videos, overview documents, etc. (thanks JN)

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Janice

When Reading carried a health warning

A perilous culture of unrestrained reading  
We used to worry about the influence of reading like we worry about "screen time" today!

"Novels were the focus of a moral panic in 18th century England, criticised for triggering both individual and collective forms of trauma and mental dysfunction. In the late 18th century the terms 'reading epidemic' and 'reading mania' served to both describe and condemn the spread of a perilous culture of unrestrained reading."

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2.11.15

The Library: a new short film on the wonder of libraries

Exploring the relationship between memory and place


"The Library is the story of a 13-year-old girl, Emily ((played by Missy Keating) who rides her bike to the library each day after school. She begins receiving notes slipped to her by a secret admirer, one of the two boys she regularly sees in the library – or so she thinks. These notes correspond to romantic passages in the old books in the library shelves, passages Emily repeats to herself with nervous excitement as each subsequent day brings another note and romantic passage."

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Skills and Strategies | Understanding Plagiarism in a Digital Age

How to discuss the complex notion of originality
Here's an NYT lesson plan with lots of resources to address the issue of plagiarism among high school students. (Some of the links might be useful for upper intermediate as well.)

"Do your students have a hard time defining — and thus, perhaps, avoiding — plagiarism? They're not alone. In a cut-and-paste world, examples of both intentional and unintentional plagiarism are everywhere."

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The Digital #5MinPlan

Cover all the essentials in sketching out a lesson.
(Use with Chrome or Firefox)
This online PDF will let the user enter text into each box/field and then print the finished product. (Paid version allows saving and other features.)
"The 5 Minute Lesson Plan championed by @TeacherToolkit has been adapted into an online tool for teachers.[...] Try out the FREE version which allows you to create an online plan and print the lesson plan as a PDF file." -> from this article.

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Art and War - Australia, Britain and Canada in WWII

"Waiting, preparing, fighting, suffering, celebrating."
"Art and War - Australia, Britain and Canada in the Second World War consists of 96 works of art from the collections of the Canadian War Museum, the Australian War Memorial, and the Imperial War Museum. This is the first exhibition of its kind to explore how Australia, Britain and Canada lived through and recorded the greatest conflict in human history. The works on display highlight notable differences in outlook and expectation, both nationally and individually. Some images do not sit comfortably together; others retain an almost ineffable power to move and disturb."

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