February 2010 Blog Posts (15)

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1717233/Digital_Storytelling

Okay, not easy, but much clearer! Kentucky Virtual Library's Research Rocket offers a student-friendly, step-by-step introduction to the research process.



While the screen shot to the right gives you a basic idea of the steps involved, what it doesn't show you is that each individual step… Continue

Rikers High is based on the real-life stories of several students with whom I worked during my six years of teaching incarcerated teens to read and write on Rikers Island, the world’s largest jail. I believe that it is, by far, my best and most…

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Re-post from my Library Media Tech Musings Blog



Dear Sqworl...I Love You!

my new obsession is… Continue

We've got 1 more month to accept submissions to our GotBrainy.com Video

Contest! Compete to win $600 for you and your school by making a fun,

creative video teaching a word off of our list of common SAT words.







* We've already begun accepting submissions! The deadline is 3/15/2010.



* Anyone can enter, and we'll have prizes for runner-ups and iTunes songs for anyone who submits 3 videos.



* If you need… Continue

Cold Skin is a novel in verse that takes place after World War II in a mining town in Barruga, Australia. The story is told from many different characters' points of view who are listed at the beginning of the novel and their name is repeated when they tell their side of the story. Most of the men in Barruga have come back from the war, Albert Holden drove a truck but did not fight during the war. Mayor Paley never went… Continue

5 stars

The mesmerizing story of two close brothers who become torn apart by the civil rights tumult in 1968 Chicago. Roland Childs is a civil rights leader and father to Sam and Stick. For as long as they can remember, they have been involved in their father's demonstrations. Sam is the "good son" who always does the expected and Stick has the fiery temper and tests his father's oath of nonviolence. And it is this conflict between father and son that comes between…

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See this post.



I also discovered Shelly Terrell's post, 12 Word Cloud Resources, Tips,& Tools on Teacher Reboot Camp today that describes how to do the same thing in PowerPoint. May be a little easier to try if you are not comfortable working with photo… Continue

See this post.

Draper's final book in the Battle for Jericho trilogy, Just Another Hero, was great urban fiction. The plot was fast paced, the African American characters believable using as the backdrop---their final year of high school as seniors includes many fire drills, jobs after school and thoughts of getting into college. I just loved Draper's characterization of Arielle and her mother. They really grew from materialistic one… Continue

The final book in the Wake Trilogy, does not disappoint. Janie and Cabel are still in love with one another but Janie knows her future holds a life of blindess and losing the use of her hands as a result of her ability to enter people’s dreams and she sees what Cabel is dreaming and not sharing with her. Janie is coming undone by the pressures of…

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James Morgan and his best friend, Deidre(Dee) have awesome musical abilities. James plays the bagpipes, is annoyingly egotistical, funny and brash to all his friends, and sarcastic towards almost everyone else. He is desperately in love with Dee, but something happened the summer…

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I am thinking about spicing up my booktalks with video book trailers. I found these sites

Coraline http://www.mousecircus.com/flash/coraline.html
Digital Booktalks http://ow.ly/15aCD
There are also a bunch on YouTube.
I will let you all know how it goes.

According to the website:

Whichbook gives readers an enjoyable and intuitive way to find books to match their mood.

Instead of starting from the overwhelming choice of books available, whichbook starts from the reader and enables each individual to build the elements of that elusive 'good read' we are all looking for but don't quite

know how to define.

The standard way of organizing books…

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Murals in Philadelphia



Philadelphia is the city of MURALS on… Continue