Virtual Reality and The Global Read Aloud

WOW! New York Times Virtual Reality-  Shared  "The Displaced" with Monique's 5th grade  "Global Read Aloud" students. They are reading the book Fish- about refugees Awesome- get the app!  http://goo.gl/SJgTKz

Dav Pilkey Reading Gives You Superpowers Event

"Reading gives you superpowers & that makes all of you in this room the real superheroes."--Dav Pilkey at SCS October 8, 2015. Thanks Flying Pig Bookstore! and Scholastic for the event and the capes!

Digital Writing For Classrooms: WriteAbout - WOW

"A COMMUNITY WHERE STUDENTS ENGAGE IN HIGH-INTEREST WRITING FOR AN AUTHENTIC AUDIENCE AND TEACHERS HELP STUDENTS GROW THROUGH THE ENTIRE WRITING PROCESS"

The School-IT listserve (Steve Webster-SB) posted a question about student blogging - "What are you using for blogging these days? "This was my "hopeful' response- because it is new -I can't say I've used it for years, months or days- but I'm "all in" - I think they've thought of everything.

Write About - WriteAbout.com - a new social writing platform created by educators

Watch Cofounder Brad Wilson talk about how to shift away from talking about technology itself and instead, to talk about writing -an Ignite Talk at the Michigan Reading Assoc.

https://youtu.be/wpN2409YL38

John Spencer http://www.spencerideas.org/  another cofounder see minute 5:30 on his TEDx Tallk https://youtu.be/F-Wm0glaZ7E

• Kids can join groups within the WriteAbout community- they can post and submit to a group so that kids with the same interests can read and comment - connecting readers and writers with similar interests.
• Students can record audio messages - teachers can leave in-text comments, private comments and audio messages.
• There are 1000s? of visual & audio writing "ideas" - "Write About was built to be a part of the writing process in classrooms, helping students find an audience and teachers give personalized feedback. Social publishing and writing pedagogy are part of the same conversation, and these resources and lessons will help your class make the transition to digital writing!" **See ideas->ideas by genre
• Everything is safe; all can be moderated by the teacher. No student email accounts
• Outsiders can comment safely without being members (all guest comments are moderated by the teacher). Post to the world - a group-  or only the class- you decide
• There are options for schools or districts who are looking for a writing and publishing platform - classroom options are not expensive

AND - IF you are participating in The Global Read Aloud - FREE Classroom PLUS membership for the year - built-in GROUPS & audience already there.

https://youtu.be/wecn3wb3zzs    short video about Write About

They know the rules: Students under the age of 13? Please ensure you have attained appropriate parental consent to use an online learning tool and for students to publish work online.

*You need permission for ANY site where under 13's are publishing

(Download a sample parent letter and learn more about our privacy policy. View privacy layers for student posts.)

OK - if you made it this far - Wow! This was originally meant as a quick response to a listserve question from Steve Webster in S Burlington - "What are you using for blogging these days?"

Maybe it was because I was looking for the same thing- an authentic writing experience for students- I guess I am going "All In" - nothing to lose- lots of great resources created by educators who inspired me. - FYI - I am a believer in in all things GAFE - I don't think I have ever been a fan of "pay for" platforms- but it is just too hard to create something as big as this and make it free -I THINK this is something worth trying. If you have any thoughts or decide to dive in - I would love to hear about it.

Thanks,

Kari

The World's Best Literature Guide

litcharts.com

How does the Chart Board work?

• Each wedge of the red ring represents a chapter.
• Each row of colored boxes extending from a wedge represents a part of the chapter. The closer to the red ring, the closer to the beginning of the chapter.
• The colors in each row indicate which themes are “active” in that part of the chapter.

The Chart Board is interactive.

• Themes: Hover over or tap any of the themes in the Theme Key to show only that theme. Click a theme in the Themes Key to lock it.
• Summary: Hover over or tap any row of colored boxes to read the summary associated with that row. Click the row to lock the summary.

March Madness Books-KETBall Tournament 2015

SCS Middle School Students

March Madness is here, but why should basketball fans have all the fun? At your library, you can help us name a SCS Library Middle School Book Champion for 2015. Through a series of votes, we are narrowing our list of the 32 at SCS to one grand champion.

It's time for MARCH MADNESS BOOKS-KETBALL TOURNAMENT - WIN PRIZES, PRIZES, PRIZES!

Read the directions below - fill out a bracket- before 3/25 when voting starts!! Watch your email to vote online!! or use the iPad voting center in the library.
Questions? Confused? ASK us at the library.

32 well-read titles (including some classic longshots) have trained up to earn their spot in this year's tournament. Some of last year's competitors have returned, some have lost their spot to shiny young upstarts and/or older and steadier favorite reads. Can Katniss hold onto her championship title, or will she fall to Max’s Wild Things? So many "series" books and so little time...

Starting as soon as the brackets go on display on today, the books will face off in 16 matches with East and West divisions of some kid’s favorites and popular Literature. Come by the library to fill out a bracket today. Vote for your favorite books online starting Wednesday after you all turn in your brackets. Prizes will be awarded to students with a winning bracket AND all voters have a chance to win.

Round 1 votes for the Thunderous 32 will be counted next Wednesday afternoon. Vote now on lots of books you have known and loved, known and despised, or need to know!
Let the passionate wuthering of your tell-tale literary hearts begin!

CLICK THIS LINK TO VOTE HERE

Zaption for Formative Assessment

inklewriter - create interactive stories

inkle is looking to bring interactive stories to the classroom, and give teachers free and simple get-stuck-right-in software to use with their students. From within a web-browser, the inklewriter will let students make and play interactive stories with no programming required.http://www.inklestudios.com/inklewriter/education/
​

What Do Teenager's Think of Social Media and Why They Don't Use Facebook.

This is relevant

"I read technology articles quite often and see plenty of authors attempt to dissect or describe the teenage audience, especially in regards to social media. However, I have yet to see a teenager contribute their voice....." 

READ THE ARTICLE (and the comments) HERE

Presenting YA RETELLINGS – an epic chart brought to you by Epic Reads. Read your way through this list of 162 young adult books that are retellings or re-imaginings of popular classic literature, myths, fariy tales and Shakespearean plays.

http://www.epicreads.com/blog/an-epic-chart-of-162-young-adult-retellings/

Using Twitter in the Classroom

This post about using Twitter in the classroom is from our local Tarrant Institute.

Spell Up: A Chrome Experiment

Chromebooks in the classroom

Click this link to go to the site:

Bookmark this site:

 http://goo.gl/m4rMV

A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes with a Laptop

Just in case you were wondering....

A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes with a Laptop by Cindi May for Scientific Americant

Students who used longhand remembered more and had a deeper understanding of the material 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-learning-secret-don-t-take-notes-with-a-laptop/

Really interesting study published in Scientific American

We know that.....

-Laptops in the classroom enhance their academic performance. Check

-Laptops do in fact allow students to do more, like engage in online activities and demonstrations, collaborate more easily on papers and projects, access information from the internet, and take more notes.

 Check Check Check

Obviously it is advantageous to draft more complete notes that precisely capture the course content and allow for a verbatim review of the material at a later date.  Only it isn’t.  New research  demonstrates that students who write out their notes on paper actually learn more.

When it comes to taking notes, students need fewer gigs, more brain power.

I have a great 2 color pen method -stop by and learn how

​Read more HERE 

Want free YA audiobooks this summer? Sync Week is here!

The SYNC free audiobook project is back, with a pairing of free YA and classic audiobooks. Download each pair during the week they're offered but listen anytime (no annoying DRM or files that expire). 

Details about SYNC are here.

This week's downloads:

June 5 – June 11
ALL OUR YESTERDAYS by Cristin Terrill, Narrated by Meredith Mitchell (Tantor Audio)
JULIUS CAESAR by William Shakespeare, Performed by Richard Dreyfuss, JoBeth Williams, Stacy Keach, Kelsey Grammer, and a full cast (L.A. Theatre Works)

Look for these great titles in the coming weeks:

June 12 – June 18
CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein, Narrated by Morven Christie and Lucy Gaskell (Bolinda Audio)
THE HIDING PLACE by Corrie Ten Boom, John Sherrill, Elizabeth Sherrill, Narrated by Bernadette Dunne (christianaudio)

June 19 – June 25
I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU by Ally Carter, Narrated by Renée Raudman (Brilliance Audio)
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by L.M. Montgomery, Narrated by Colleen Winton (Post Hypnotic Press)

June 26 – July 2
FORGIVE ME, LEONARD PEACOCK by Matthew Quick, Narrated by Noah Galvin (Hachette Audio)
OCTOBER MOURNING: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Lesléa Newman, Narrated by Emily Beresford, Luke Daniels, Tom Parks, Nick Podehl, Kate Rudd, Christina Traister (Brilliance Audio)

July 3 – July 9
TORN FROM TROY by Patrick Bowman, Narrated by Gerard Doyle (Post Hypnotic Press)

PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, Narrated by Jim Dale (Brilliance Audio) 

You'll also need the free Overdrive Media Console app (details here; Overdrive Media Console interfaces with iTunes if you want to integrate your downloads into your existing iTunes Library).

SYNC is open to anyone over age 13.

SYNC offers 2 FREE audiobooks each week through Aug 20, 2014. Sign up for email or text alerts that invite you to download the new titles as they become available.

Find out more...

A bunch of stuff you can do with Google!

GET STARTED 

Flip a Card

Try Kaizena with Your Google Apps

Kaizena is an audio recording tool syncs with Google Drive to provide teachers and students the easy ability to record their voice within Google docs.  Teachers and students can also add text comments and resource links.  Teachers report that many students prefer to listen to their teacher's comments rather than read them.  A student audio reflection can also be added to the learning process.  Perhaps most importantly, this tool has the potential to save time.

The MAGIC of AUGMENTED REALITY-- Create Your Own!

The magic of augmented reality… Create your own!
Some of you have seen the awesome example of AR- “augmented reality” we shared in the library (The Fantastic Flying Books… ) you focus your iPad on a page in the book and it comes alive - the “reality” (page in book) is “augmented” with technology. AR blends real life with virtual reality.
 There is a wow factor - but what about the “so what?” Now we - teachers, students can create our own augmented reality experiences! Easy as 1-2-3! I see sooooo many amazing possibilities for learning. It’s hard to imagine it if you have not experienced it. Stop by the library for a tour!




 
See the IMAG·N·O·TRON in action! from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.

It's Complicated: the social lives of networked teens by danah boyd

Read the book for FREE! http://www.danah.org/books/ItsComplicated.pdf

 Read why danah is giving the book away and why you should still buy a copy- Click HERE.

Powerful Questions

Your students can find answers to these questions at the library. http://t.co/uFYTOcgWTW pic.twitter.com/CobNh4S7kN

— Kari Ahern (@kariahern) February 5, 2014

Sorting Fact from Fiction: The News Literacy Project for Middle School

Excellent teaching points - lessons - short videos to help us learn how to sort fact from fiction on media sources including Twitter - check out the stories about Hurricane Sandy & Boston Bombing - HERE
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO BELIEVE

"The News Literacy Project (NLP) is an innovative national educational program that mobilizes seasoned journalists to work with educators to teach middle school and high school students how to sort fact from fiction in the digital age.

Students learn how to distinguish verified information from raw information, spin, opinion and propaganda — whether they are using search engines to find websites with information about specific topics, checking a friend's Facebook page, viewing a video on YouTube, watching television news or reading a newspaper or blog post.

The project gives students the critical-thinking skills to become smarter and more frequent consumers of credible information across all media and platforms. They are taught to seek news and information that will make them well-informed and engaged students, consumers and citizens."