Library Links

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


21.5.10

RTLA May 2010 - sites

RTLA Meeting - May 2010 - Sites mentioned

Into the book - Reading strategies (Sue Dadson)
(Fun to use on the SMARTBoard!)
http://reading.ecb.org/   (Note: You will need to create a login - easy, free.)

Into the Book is a reading comprehension resource for K-4 students and teachers. It focusses on 8 research-based strategies: Using Prior Knowledge, Making Connections, Questioning, Visualizing, Inferring, Summarizing, Evaluating and Synthesizing. The site provides information and teaching resources for each strategy. Watch the 10-minute professional development videos and explore the Web site for lesson plans, video and audio clips, downloads, and more.

=========

We talked about two sites that might make viewing material on the SMARTBoard a less "cluttered" experience:
Read my blog posts:
Quietube
Readability



Canada's Got Treasures - video project

Came across this today.  Your students could create a short video of their "treasure" and upload it to the site.  Even small groups working together on a short video would work.  Looks like a neat idea.
Mom

Came across this today.  Students could create a short video of their "treasure" and upload it to the site.  Even small groups working together on a short video would work.

==============

Non-fiction "book features" game

Here's another library game to try.

===================

Non-fiction "book features" game (Lynne @ Coyote Creek)

Here is a memory card game using vocabulary describing the features of a nonfiction book.  
The words I use are
  • publisher
  • author
  • illustrator
  • pictures
  • index
  • glossary
  • table of contents
  • copyright
  • call number
  • title page
You will need two of each card.  I've used pocket cards and glued on the words, then laminated.  (You could also use an old deck of playing cards.)

How to play:
Deal out all the cards face down. (Mix them up first!) Flip over the cards two at a time to try and make a match.  Say the word of each card as it is turned over.  If you make a match, you keep the cards.  I have them go on to the next person as that way everyone gets more turns.

Next level:
Once students are familiar with all the words, if they make a match, they have to explain what the feature is (ie "A glossary is a mini-dictionary found in the back of the book.")  
To change it up, the next class I handed out a nonfiction book to each student and they played the game again but when a match was made, everyone had to find that feature in their book.  I challenged them to see who had the newest/oldest book when they got to the copyright word match.
I played the simple version with Grade 2's and the harder version with Grade 3's.  They loved it!




20.5.10

Animal Matchup Game

I've made up a set of cards with pictures from animal magazines and then made up call number cards to go with them.
The call numbers I'm using are (1 big card for each)
597  Fish, Reptiles, Amphibians
598 Birds
599 Mammals
636 Pets
There are more than enough animal cards for all the students.  I keep the call number cards hidden at first and we name all the animals as I hand the cards out.  Then I ask the students to see if they can find a way to group themselves by finding similarities between their animal and someone else's.
They come up with interesting combinations (like a shark and a hippo, both with their mouth open!) but we listen to each rationale as they tell about their groupings.  Then I introduce the idea of similar animals (or the books about them) being grouped together in the library and being given the same call number.  We discuss what the features of the different kinds of animals are (what covers their skin--fur? scales?, how they have their young etc.)  Then I have them switch cards with someone near them, I lay out the call number cards on the tables and they decide where to put their new card.  I hand out the extra cards to the first few finished to place on the tables.  Then we group around each table and decide if all the cards are correctly placed.  If one is not where it should be, we talk about why. Finally we go over to the nonfiction section and look at where the shelves of books for the various call numbers are and I tell them they can choose a book from that section today if they wish.  
This activity is well received by Grade 2's and is something different and fun for year end.

Another card activity I've made is a memory game using vocabulary for the features of a nonfiction book.  The words I use are
publisher
author
illustrator
pictures
index
glossary
table of contents
copyright
call number
title page

You need two of each card.  I've used pocket cards and glued on the words, then laminated.  You could also use an old deck of playing cards.
The game is to lay down the cards and then flip them over two at a time to try and make a match.  Say the word of each card turned over.  If you make a match, you keep the cards.  I have them go on to the next person as that way everyone gets more turns.
Once they are familiar with all the words, they can play where if they make a match, they have to tell what the feature is (ie glossary:  mini-dictionary found in the back of the book).  
To change it up, the next class I handed out a nonfiction book to each student and they played the game again but when a match was made, everyone had to find that feature in their book.  I challenged them to see who had the newest/oldest book when they got to the copyright word match.
I played the simple version with Grade 2's and the harder version with Grade 3's.  They loved it!

Just thought I'd share these ideas as the kids loved playing them and there was lots of learning happening!

Lynne at Coyote Creek




Art and Literacy - two lessons

Art History Goes Graphic
Promotes literacy and reading, using graphic novels to engage students in exploring art history.


The Arts: A Support for Reading
Offers a variety of suggestions for using drama and visual art to help students become more proficient readers. Connections are made to reading across the curriculum.

"Deeper Reading" - preview Chapter 1 online

Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4–12:  Deeper Reading
by Kelly Gallagher

"Do your students often struggle with difficult novels and other challenging texts? Do they think one reading of a work is more than enough? Do they primarily comprehend at a surface-level, and are they frequently unwilling or unable to discover the deeper meaning found in multi-layered works? Do you feel that you are doing more work teaching the novel than they are reading it?"

18.5.10

Using the Newspaper in class

LESSONS
Newspapers in Education (Gr 5, 6,  7-9)

Journaux en classe (5e, 6e, 7 à 9e année)

DIGITAL PAPERS
Local Papers

Journal canadien (virtuel)

STREAMING VIDEO
180510_125920_0.png
Streamed Video Series (for Secondary) News Writing

Streamed Video Series (Grades 3-5) Building Writing Communities

ADDITIONAL LINKS
Newspaper in Education programs (US site)

Article of the Week (short video excerpt)

Front Pages from around the world

Ten Great Activities: Teaching With the Newspaper

Using the Newspaper In the Classroom

Cartoons for the Classroom (Secondary)

Exploring Aboriginal Art in Canada


"This cross-curricular visual art and information literacy resource is designed to help students
develop skills to help find meaning in Aboriginal art and culture. The tasks using information
literacy skills require students to determine the extent of their information needs, to access a
variety of materials to satisfy these needs, then to synthesize and communicate information
within the context of the assignments."

Recommended grades : 9-12 (could be adapted for younger)

(A number of the weblinks in this resource have changed since the time of publication. While there are some useful ideas, the teacher or TL should double-check URLs before using them with the class.)


==============
Additional Aboriginal Art resources:
==============

Playwriting in the Classroom - Gr 4-10

Move Over Shakespeare: offers a step-by-step process for writing a variety of dramatic presentations, e.g., monologues, dialogues, scenes, and one-act plays.

Description: Jennifer Zwiers, Christine Harvey - 65 pages, b/w
Grades : 4-10
Concepts :  Playwriting, drama, dramatic arts, William Shakespeare, theatre, text genres, writer's craft
Subjects :  The Arts, English, Language

"Talk Box" - for oral language development -K-3

About This Resource
The Talk Box promotes oral language development in primary and special needs students. This learning resource includes two original stories about Ollie Otter and his friends, and a program manual with games, songs, and engaging activities. Blackline masters and patterns for puppets extend the learning opportunities.



Word Wall activity

Word wall activities can be used to improve literacy in all curriculum areas by helping students
build vocabulary, improve spelling in written work, and explain ideas through oral
communication.

Description: Jennifer Cronsberry (2004)- 14 pages, b/w
Grades : 9-12
Concepts :  Literacy skills, word wall, new words, vocabulary building, vocabulary words, cross-curricular
Subjects :  English, French As a Second Language, Science, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Business Studies, The Arts

======================

"School Library Learning 2.0" - via CSLA

The California School Library Association is offering a self-paced tutorial on new  

Is this your summer to learn new tricks?  (Members who register for the program will be cheered along "virtually", but the tutorial can be done without registering.)  See what others have said about the course by reading the testimonials from 2007-2009.

British Library - virtual gallery

The British Library has a collection of digital books on its site that are worth viewing.

Called "Turning the Books", this virtual gallery allows you to view scans of classic books, flip the pages and in some cases have the book read to you. Some of the items include: early atlases, masterpieces from the Renaissance, Leonardo sketches, Mozart's diary, etc. You can view static images if you don't have Adobe Shockwave installed,  but the flippable pages make it a great experience. (You may have more luck with Firefox.) Art and Socials teachers will find this particularly interesting. (See the online gallery for more exhibitions: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/index.html)
180510_95205_0.jpg

Audiobook Community - new site

Hello all,
for those of you interested in audiobooks, this site might be something to investigate:
There will be more YA content available this summer as part of their "Sync" group.
=======================
"A social network for audiobook aficionados? Free downloads of YA titles
paired with classic listening? A chance to mingle with narrators who voice
your favorite titles? Audiobook Community is all this and more!

Developed & maintained by the AudioFile Magazine staff, Audiobook Community is an forum for audiobook listeners to discover audiobooks and connect with other fans as well as publishers, authors, and narrators.

Sync <http://www.audiobookcommunity.com/group/sync>, is the Audiobook Community's initiative to promote YA Literature. The top audiobook
publishers are providing two FREE downloads a week this summer, July 1 to September 1, 2010! Teens & other YA lit lovers can download, listen, & join the online conversation about the audiobooks. Public & school libraries can jump aboard the initiative by using the professionally-designed promotional materials that you'll be able to print from the Sync Tool Kit (not quite yet active!) - there's even space for your library to personalize the printables to include your logo or promote your collection with listen-alike lists."