School and Home Librarian

Inquiry-Based Learning Wordle

2012-01-16T12:39:00.005-05:00

Wordle created by Virginia Wallace

Pump up the Volume!

2010-09-27T12:47:00.006-04:00

As a librarian-in-training, life-long reader, and mother, I think everyone should read, and read more. At our house, we go to the library two to three times a week and have a minimum of 30 books checked out at any one time. In the evenings, instead of watching TV, we all sit in the family room and read. I am fortunate that my children not only love to read, but are good readers.

But let's face it. Not everyone is a good reader. Some don't enjoy reading, while others have difficulty reading due to visual impairments, attention disorders, reading disorders, dyslexia, or developmental disorders. Does this mean they have to give up on enjoying a good story? Does this mean they will never appreciate fine literature, or keep up with the best sellers? The answer is a loud, resounding NO!

Audio books are more widely available, and in more formats, than every before, and are an affordable, enjoyable, and fun alternative to those who find reading difficult, for whatever reason. Options include Playaways, books on tapes or CDs, and down-loadable books. And here's the good news: listening to audio versions of books

increases interest in reading
increases comprehension
improves reading skills and literacy, especially when students follow along in the book, alternate between the book and tape, or read the book after listening to the recording
increases motivation to read.

Preschoolers and kindergartners can get a jump on reading when you let them listen to books of their choosing while freeing you up to help older kids or make dinner. Older kids who struggle with reading can keep up with their friends' latest reading craze, whether it be Harry Potter, Twilight, or The Children of Djinn.

Playaways are digital recordings that come complete with battery and ear buds. About the size of a credit card (but about 1/4 of an inch thick), Playaways have control buttons (volume, play, pause, etc) on one side, and the book cover on the other. Although they are currently fairly expensive, they have the cool factor, and are available from many vendors including amazon.com, Borders, and all major booksellers, as are the more traditional books-on-tape and CDs. Many libraries are beginning to carry Playaways. Check them out.

Many books are available as wav or Mp3 downloads online. The Internet Archive has free downloads of books, poetry, and alternative news programs. Other sources include Project Gutenberg, Bookshare, and Accessible Books. Both Bookshare and Accessible Books provide free text-to-speech software for those with qualifying disabilities. All of these sources are reviewed in an earlier blog: More Accessibility: Free Audiobooks Available Online.

So, go ahead, pump up the volume, and let your kids do it too!

New Moon Girls-- A Wonderful Resource for Tweens

2010-08-31T10:49:00.003-04:00

My daughter, now 13, has been receiving New Moon Girls magazine since she was 9, and absolutely loves it! When the newest issue arrives in the mail, she drops everything and reads it cover to cover, and then reads it again.

New Moon Girls "provides innovative, safe, respectful, and advertising-free spaces online and in the magazine where girls develop their full potential through self-discovery, creativity, and community" (from the magazine's inside cover). Overseen by the Girls Editorial Board, New Moon Girls has articles written about, by, and for girls from around the world. The goal is to empower girls with positive self-esteem, a healthy body image, and a strong voice. You won't find any dating advice, popularity contests, or dieting advice within the pages of New Moon. Instead you'll find poetry, short stories, articles on topics from world politics to the differently-able to sleep disorders, interviews, art, and projects.

The Web space offers everything the magazine does and chat, video, and articles in a moderated, educational environment. My daughter has been participating online for several years and has made some excellent friends. She has posted information and has been published in the magazine. During a developmental period that can be very confusing for girls and fraught with pitfalls and traps, New Moon Girls has helped to sustain her, build her self-confidence, and open her eyes to an exciting world of possibility.

To learn more about New Moon visit their website: http://www.newmoon.com/
Read an interview of New Moon founder, Nancy Gruver at http://www.ypulse.com/ypulse-interview-nancy-gruver-founder-ceo-new-moon
Read/join Gruver's blog for parents about raising strong, healthy girls: Daughters.com

Book Review Sammy Keyes and the Dead Giveaway

2010-08-17T17:42:00.005-04:00

Recently, I picked up Sammy Keyes and the Dead Giveaway by Wendelin Van Drannen for my 5th grade son. The cover looked interesting (yes, I sometimes judge a book by its cover), it looked about the right length, and it was at the right reading level. About half-way through the book, my son said he wasn't really interested. Turns out Sammy is a girl, and although she really rocks, my son just wasn't interested in Sammy's date for the middle school dance.

So I read the book, AND I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!! In fact, my husband went up to bed saying "Don't stay up too late reading." Several hours later, way past my usual bedtime, much to my regret, I finished the book. It was that good! And the whole time I was reading, I kept thinking "I know this style. Have I read this author before?". Turns out, Van Draanen is the author of the infamous Shredderman series and their spin-off, The Gecko and Sticky, books my son absolutely loved (and so did I)!

There are currently 12 Sammy Keyes books, the most recent entitled Sammy Keyes and the Cold Hard Cash. Sammy is a forthright, outspoken seventh grader, is willing to stand up for herself. She faces life, and its mysteries (she seems to find many) with her own indomitable style. Her character is one of the best developed I've encountered in quite some time. The books are fast-paced, engaging, funny, and real. I recommend these books for middle schoolers, and not just girls: Sammy might just challenge some guys' preconceived notions about girls.

Shredderman, about a elementary school kid who stands up to the school bully by becoming a superhero and creating his own website, is a must for kids grades 3-5.

Be sure to visit Van Draanen's website (http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/vandraanen/).

Learn more about Sammy, solve a mystery, and download a song from Sammy's page
(http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/vandraanen/sammykeyes/).

Visit Shredderman's page at http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/vandraanen/shredderman/

Protecting Your Privacy Online

2010-08-03T11:34:00.007-04:00

Over the past several days, the Wall Street Journal has run a series of articles "What They Know" about how Web sites and service providers collect information about users. This information is sold to advertisers so they can target advertising to you, based on the sites you visit. Below I summarize some of the key information from "The Web's new goldmine: Your secrets" byJulia Angwin, and "How to avoid the prying eyes" by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries. Both articles were published in the Weekend Journal July 31, 2010. You can see this information at WSJ.com

According to the study by the Wall Street Journal,

the top 50 Websites installed, on average, 64 pieces of tracking technology on users' computers
tracking technologies include cookies, flash cookies, beacons, and third party tracking files
individual's profiles, constantly updated each time you use the computer, are bought and sold on stock-market like exchanges, mostly for advertising.

The vocabulary:
Cookies: text file put on your computer by websites and marketing firms, usually to remember your preferences and log-in information (passwords); however, they can track you across sites.
Flash Cookies: files placed on your computer by Adobe's Flash software. Flash is the most common way to show videos online (think about how many times you've been to Youtube!). They are also used to remember preferences, but can also track you online, and can reinstall cookies you have previously deleted.
Beacons: software that can track your web surfing and online activities, including mouse clicks and keystrokes.
Third-Party Tracking: A cookie or beacon installed on your computer by an ad network or research firm that can track your activities across websites.

The worst offenders? Dictionary.com, Merriam-Webster.com, Comcast.net, Careerbuilder.com, Photobucket.com, MSN.com, Answers.com, Yellowpages.com, MSNBC.com, and Yahoo.com (how many yahoo groups do you belong to?).

How to protect yourself:

Check and delete cookies: all major browsers let users view and delete cookies. On Firefox, go to tools, click on clear recent history, in the drop-down box choose time range, click on details, and check the boxes to delete. Click "clear now". You can view the cookies by going to tools, clicking on options, and clicking on the privacy tab. Click on the "show cookies" buttons. You have the option of deleting the cookies on in the cookies window. On Internet Explorer, go to tools, pull down to "Internet Options", and choose an option under the "general" tab. Caution: you may have to renter passwords or other login information the next time you go to a site.
Adjust your browser settings: Allows you to surf the web without saving any information on which websites and pages you have visited. Firefox private browsing does not save information like visited pages, form and search bar entries, passwords, and download lists. Cookies and cache (temporary files) are deleted when you turn off private browsing. You can also go to tools, click on options, click on privacy, and set-up your privacy preferences including browsing history, download list, searches and forms, cookies and third-party cookies, and set up clear history. Internet Explorer allows similar options. Look under Tools/Internet Options/Privacy.
Monitor Flash cookies. Go to the Adobe website: www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager.html. Identify flash cookies on your computer and adjust settings.
The Better Privacy plug-in for Firefox (addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6623 allows you to set rules for deleting third party-flash cookies.
Ghostery (ghostery.com) helps you control beacons by alerting you when there is a beacon on a page you are viewing. With Firefox and Internet Explorer, you can then block the beacon from capturing information.

For more information, visit the Wall Street Journal Online.

More Online Accessibility

2010-07-14T17:23:00.006-04:00

Again, I am indebted to Ira David Socol. His article "The Unhappy Place: What Libraries Can Do to Welcome Kids Who Struggle with Print" in the May 2010 issue of School Library Journal has many ideas for making libraries and computers more accessible to students with learning difficulties. You can read his article online at http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6727276.html

Microsoft Word can be customized for students who need help with spelling and grammar. In the Word program, click on help (or the little question mark in the top right hand side of the screen). Type"spell check" in the search box, and click search. Look for the following heading: "Choose how spelling and grammar checking work". Click on the link and follow the instructions. For help writing math equations, click on the insert tab, and then on equation (right next to symbol).

You can add the WordTalk plug-in to Word for free! WordTalk is software that will speak and highlight text as the student writes in Microsoft Word. It is customizable and has a talking dictionary. You can convert text to speech and then save it as a .wav or .mp3 file so you can replay it on your iPod or mp3 player. The web address is http://www.wordtalk.org.uk.

Users of Windows Vista or Windows 7 can install free voice recognition software. Windows Speech Recognition enables users to dictate documents and emails and to use voice controls. The web address is: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/windowsvista/speech.aspx.
Other Windows accessibility plug-ins, including onscreen keyboards and magnifiers, are available on the Windows accessibility page or http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/accessibility.

Here are some other free tools identified by Mr. Socol:

A Graphing Calculator, indispensable to anyone taking Algebra II, Trigonometry, or Calculus, available from GraphCalc (http://www.graphcalc.com/index.shtml).

A talking calculator is available from myZIPS (http://www.myzips.com/software/Talking-Calculator.phtml).

NaturalReader (http://www.naturalreaders.com/), free text-to-speech with natural sounding voices. Can read any text and convert it into audiofiles, and you have a choice of voices!

PowerTalk (http://fullmeasure.co.uk/powertalk/) speaks the text on PowerPoint slides.

Click-N-Type Virtual Keyboard (http://www.lakefolks.org/cnt/) is an onscreen keyboard. Type using your mouse!

Here's one my kids like to use: Create A Graph (http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx). Enter your data and make a pie, bar, or line graph.

More Accessibility: Free Audiobooks Available Online

2010-07-08T16:33:00.010-04:00

To follow-up on my last entry about making the Internet more accessible to people with visual or reading difficulties, I thought I would highlight online sources of free audiobooks. Most of these are included on the libraries page of my website: The School and Home Library: The Online Library for Home Schoolers.

LibriVox Free audiobooks from the public domain (public domain works are creative works that are not protected by copyright and may be freely used by anyone. In the U.S., this includes books published before 1923, works for which the copyright has expired, books for which the author failed to establish a copyright, and works by the U.S. government). You can receive books in thrice-weekly podcasts, download complete books from the catalog, or subscribe through iTunes.

Bookshare Free accessible books and periodicals for individuals with print impairments (loss of sight, visual impairment, physical disability, learning disability, developmental disability and ESL). Free reading software and Braille options. Others may join; however, registration and annual fees apply.

Project Gutenberg Over 32,000 free books to download to your computer, iPad, Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone, or other portable device. Human-read and computer generated audiobooks. Sheet music. All materials are in the public domain.

Accessible Book Collection High interest, low-reading level digital texts (formatted for individuals with visual disabilities) for qualified people with disabilities. The html text can be used with text-to-speech software. Subscription required.

Internet Archive A free digital library of Internet sites (active and archived), downloadable software, movies, audio, live music, ebooks, and texts including children's books, fiction, historical texts, and academic books. Software is available to convert text-to-speech for users who have blindness, low vision, or learning disabilities.

For text-to-speech software, see the last entry in this blog or consider:

vozMe Install a speech synthesis bookmarklet into your browser. Then, just click the vozMe button to listen to the text. Free!
Humanware Hardware and software for individuals with blindness, low vision, and learning disabilities.
Don Johnston Software for a variety of learning disabilities or impairments including autism.

Members of Bookshare (see above) may obtain Humanware VictorReader Soft Bookshare edition or Don Johnston READ:OutLoud software free with their membership.

Making the Web Accessible with Firefox

2010-06-27T14:48:00.017-04:00

Mozilla Firefox has many free, easy to install, add-ons and extensions that make the Internet more accessible to users with disabilities, particularly visual disabilities and print impairments. To find them, visit the Firefox Accessibility Extensions page. Here are just a few of the many useful tools available:

C LiCk Speak With the click of a button, CLiCk Speak will read any text you have highlighted or can automatically read the contents of any web page.
Fire Vox A text-to-speech talking browser extension that reads web pages and the Firefox user interface including menus and sub-menus. Keyboard shortcuts are customizable.
FoxVox reads highlighted text. It can also be used to create audiobooks in mp3, ogg, and wav formats and can turn blogs and articles into podcasts.
Quick Dictionary Lookup Press shift + right click on any word; get a pop-up with definition, usage, and audio pronunciation.
Readability Remove unnecessary page elements to reduce clutter and make the page more readable (reduces distractions).

I am deeply indebted to Ira Socol whose article "The Unhappy Place: What Libraries Can Do to Welcome Kids Who Struggle with Print" in the May 2010 issue of School Library Journal brought the Firefox accessibility add-ons to my attention.

Information Literacy: Teaching Your Kids to Evaluate Advertising

2010-06-23T17:54:00.004-04:00

In my last post, I discussed the importance of teaching your children to evaluate the information they find on the Internet. Equally important is their ability to evaluate the barrage of information that confronts them every day: Advertising!

Advertising is insidious and crops up everywhere, all the time. You can't seem to escape it. From commercials on TV and the radio, to ads in newspapers and magazines, pop-up ads and paid advertising on Web sites, billboards, posters in shop windows, toys in fast-food meals, on the fronts (and backs) of people's t-shirts, and the packaging of almost every product you buy, advertising (like poo) is everywhere! (Adam on the Discovery channel's MythsBusters once famously said "Poo is everywhere!" My kids loved it, and now apply that little chestnut whenever possible).

Since it is as ubiquitous as it is inescapable, it must be addressed. We need to teach our children how to understand it: how to decode it, evaluate the messages, and gain control over the manipulative forces.

admongo.gov is an online game sponsored by the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission. The goal is teach children to recognize and understand advertising in all of it's forms. Read a New York Times article about the game.

My ten year-old son took the game on a test drive for me. He said the game was fun, but needed a little more action. He recommends it for children ten and under. He claims that he ignored the information about advertising, but then spent the next two days pointing out ads to me. Although the game may not have all the bells and whistles of commercial computer games, it is a good teaching tool.

Timelines.com and Information Literacy

2010-06-15T15:22:00.004-04:00

Timelines.com may be useful for homeschoolers but not as a source of accurate historical information.

Creating timelines is popular among some homeschoolers, followers of the Well-Trained Mind in particular. This website does not include timelines as most people conceive them: A long line noting important dates and events as history unfolds. Instead, the website highlights specific dates in history and organizes them by category such as assassinations, great sports moments, or battles in the American Civil War. The home page focuses on "This Week in History". This is the week of June 14, 2010. Important events include

June, 14, 1777, the Continental Congress Approves the First American Flag
June 14, 1967, Thurgood Marshall is the first African-American appointed to the Supreme Court, and
June 15, 1804 the 12th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified.

However, some not so important and possibly profit-driven events are included. Today's headline event, for instance, is the founding of Pizza Hut on June 15, 1958.

The Importance of Information Literacy!
Users need to beware: Some of the information on timelines.com may not be accurate! As a school librarian in training, I always caution students that they need to carefully evaluate sources of information for authority, accuracy, and credibility, especially information they find on the Web. So many people, not just students, assume that everything and anything on the Web is fact, but we need to use good judgement. Anyone, anywhere with access to the Internet can post any information, true or false. Just because we find it on the Web does not mean its true.

Timelines.com is a socially-constructed website. Information is posted by individuals who register for accounts. These individuals may or may not be scholars or experts. Most likely, they are not. Take a look at this page: http://timelines.com/1074/battle-of-anatolia about a battle fought in the Crusades. The information is posted by Aimee Lucido and her information source is Wikipedia. Who is Aimee Lucido? Beats me. I've never heard of her, but here's her timelines.com profile: http://timelines.com/profiles/hadrad1000. We still don't know anything about her, but note some of her other contributions to timelines.com-- entries about popstar Justin Bieber and actress Dakota Fanning. Is Ms. Lucido a historian who specializes in Medieval history and popular culture? I guess its possible, but I doubt it. (I found a facebook account for an Aimee Lucido, student at Brown University). As for her information source... Ms. Lucido has lifted her decription of the Battle of Anatolia almost word for word from this Wikipedia article: First Crusade (scroll down the page to the third paragraph under the heading Situation in Europe.

Putting the problem with plagiarism aside, I hope that all of you know by now that Wikipedia is not an authoritative source. Like timelines.com, it is created by users who may or may not have expertise, can submit any information without substantiation or citations, and can alter and edit others' contributions. Only use information from Wikipedia if you can back it up with other, more authoritative sources (such as a standard encyclopedia article).

So What's the Bottomline?
While I would not use timelines.com to obtain historical information, I would use it to construct some excellent learning experiences about information literacy, knowledge construction, and participationin online communities. Try out these ideas:

Have the student choose a timelines.com event and research it for accuracy, authority and credibility. You will be teaching your student important evaluative skills in very meaningful way.
After studying an historical event, have your student create and submit an original entry citing reliable, authoritative sources of information and using good grammar and composition.
Have your students use timelines.com to find news events that occurred on their birthday. See if they can find other sources of information (newspaper archives, microfilm or microfiche at your local public or college library, encyclopedias and almanacs, other online sources) to corroborate these stories.

More: What to read next?

2010-06-08T19:55:00.006-04:00

Here are some more great ways to find books you'll love:

What Should I Read Next? "A database of real readers' favorite books" with over 70,000 titles. Enter a few details from a book you have read (Jane and Rochester for Jane Eyre) and receive recommendations. Register with the site to build your own favorite's list.

What Do I Read Next? Search by author, title, series, genre, character, topic, or time period. (I have found that the embedded link to this website does not always work. If this happens, just google "What Do I Read Next?" and you should be able to find it.)

AllReaders.com Search for books and movies by title, author, character, plot, setting or genre. Book reviews are available.

LibraryThing Book Suggester Type in the name of a book you have read, click on the appropriate title, and receive a list of read-alikes and books by the same author or with similar themes, settings, or plots.

For lists of award winning books and suggested reading, visit my website The School and Home Library.

That Age Old Problem: What to Read Next?

2010-05-15T14:02:00.006-04:00

Finding a good book is always a challenge. At our house, we find an author or series we like and read every available book, only to feel stumped by the eternal question: What to read next? Perusing the library shelves sometimes feels like a directionless waste of time and effort. Much to our disappointment, the old adage "you can't judge a book by its cover" proves to be all too true.

Author Rachelle Rogers Knight comes to the rescue with Read, Remember, Recommend for Teens: A Reading Journal for Book Lovers" (and I would add home schoolers). With over 185 pages of reading lists, the Journal will help voracious and reluctant readers find a good book. Lists include award winning fiction, literature, mysteries, thrillers, crime, Westerns, folklore, graphic novels, poetry, biographies and autobiographies, college-bound, nonfiction, science, social studies, and books from other countries and cultures. The lists are inclusive from date of origin to 2009 (with space to write in 2010 and 2011 publications) and suggest the lowest age at which each book should be read. Space is provided to make notations about each book. The rest of the book consists of pages for journaling with sections for noting books to read, writing about books read, and recording recommendations.

Announcing The School and Home Library!

2010-05-07T16:11:00.002-04:00

Here it is at long last! The School and Home Library, (http://www.theschoolandhomelibrary.com/)
a virtual library for home schoolers, complete with

a reference section,
databases,
places to download free books, newspapers and magazines,
search tools,
resources to supplement the curriculum,
suggested reading lists,
information for parents,
online museums,
information literacy, and
Web 2.0

I am currently working on a new page for the site: About Home Schooling. This page will contain information and links about some of the major (and not-so-major) approaches to home schooling.

Please visit the web site, bookmark it, share it with friends. I am eager to receive feedback about what you find helpful, not so helpful, links and resources I should include, and other suggestions.

Free: HistoryThroughArt

2010-04-27T13:11:00.004-04:00

Gerome, Jean-Leon. (1868). Bonaparte before the Sphynx. Retrieved from Free HistoryThroughArt at http://historyatourhouse.com/?page_id=276

So, what do you make of this enigmatic painting? What is Bonaparte doing? What is he thinking? What wisdom is he seeking from the Sphynx as his troops muster in the background? What can we learn about history from this painting? And, how does our knowledge of history influence our interpretation?

Intrigued?

Then visit Scott Powell's HistoryThroughArt webpage, and listen to a couple of free lectures in which he discusses this painting in depth. Currently, he explores five paintings (with two lectures each), and plans to add another painting each month. He begins the series with Norman Rockwell's Young Lady with a Shiner, which does not have any particular historical significance but is a wonderful example of how a painting can tell a story. He uses it to teach students how to look at art, take it apart, and think about it in order to understand the artist's message. Later lectures place the paintings in historical context and require the student to draw from their knowledge of history.

The lectures are recorded live with Mr. Powell's upper elementary History At Our House class, delivered via teleconference. Mr. Powell interacts with the students and encourages their participation, while they view an image of the painting on their home computers. He instructs them on note-taking, asks them questions, and prompts critical analysis. Although these lectures are directed toward students in 4th through 6th grade, students of all ages will learn something.

To learn more about Mr. Powell, History At Our House, and HistoryThroughArt, visit his website at http://historyatourhouse.com. To hear free sample lectures, go to http://historyatourhouse.com/?page_id=171

Back to Blogging! Watch for my new web site: The School and Home Library!

2010-04-27T13:02:00.002-04:00

I'm Back!!!

After several weeks in which I did not post anything to this blog, I am back and ready to go! I've been working on my website The School and Home Library: A Virtual Library for Home Schoolers which will be published to the web within days. It has everything thing from reference (including Ask-a-Librarian services), to sources for free down-loadable books, databases, search tools, museums, information literacy and Web 2.0, all in a user-friendly, well-organized format. Be on the look out for it!!!

Virtual Choir

2010-03-26T11:46:00.005-04:00

Here is the penultimate example of the power of Internet for collaboration and creation, and for pushing the boundaries on the possible. Eric Whitaker created a choral piece with 185 singers from 12 countries, each singing their part to musical accompaniment while he conducted, and then combining their video and audio. Amazing!

Here is the link to Eric Whitaker's blog where he explains how the recording was made. This is the potential we offer our children when we teach them how to use technology to explore their own interests, to connect with others, and to participate in the creation of new knowledge!

Coming soon: School and Home Library Web Site

2010-03-20T10:50:00.002-04:00

I realize that my posts have been few and far between in recent weeks. Everyone is busy, yet I claim that as my excuse. Between home schooling, taking classes at the University of South Carolina, teaching a home school class on water rights using online technologies, and writing a book with my professor, I find that I have little time for anything else.

I spend most of my free time working on my School and Home Library web site. I am creating the web site to fulfill a graduation requirement for my Master's Degree in Library Science. It is supposed to be a school library web site; however, as I plan to make my career in home schooling, I have obtained permission to create a virtual library site for home schoolers. The site will be a portal to free, online tools and applications including reference, databases, search tools, digital libraries, curriculum materials, information literacy, and Web 2.0. I hope to have it up and running within a month. So, please, bear with me during the interim. I have not forgotten home schoolers, and I am constantly search for ideas and technology to expand our curricula and to benefit our children.

Bookshare: Free Downloadable Books for Individuals with Print Impairments

2010-03-11T11:34:00.002-05:00

Bookshare is a wonderful resource for individuals with "print impairments"-- loss of sight, visual impairment, dyslexia or other learning disabilities, developmental disabilities, or learners of English as a second language.

At Bookshare, you can download free books and periodicals, free software for assistive reading technology (i.e. screen readers), and Braille embossers. Bookshare offers more than 60,000 books, textbooks, teacher-recommended readings, newspapers, and periodicals. Books include best sellers, Newbery Award winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, and winners of the Hugo awards and Edgar Allen Poe awards.They also have over 1,000 Spanish language books.

Free memberships are available with documentation of disability and includes access to 100 books per month, downloads of Humanware's Victor Reader Soft Bookshare edition, Don Johnston's READ: Outloud Bookshare edition, other software and hardware options (like an Mp3 download), and BRF format for Braille embossers. People without reading difficulties may also obtain a membership for $75.

Visit the Don Johnston web site to learn about assistive technology for students with learning disabilities, including writing software for individuals with dysgraphia, and for individuals with Autism. (Please note that these products are not offered on the Bookshare website and are not free).

World Maths Day

2010-02-26T10:17:00.003-05:00

World Maths Day is next Wednesday,March 3, and it's not too late for you and your home school children to join the fun! Visit the World Maths Day web site to enter the competition:

Students play at home and at school against other students around the world in live games of mental arithmetic. Each game lasts for 60 seconds and students can play up to 500 games, earning points for each correct answer. The students who answer the most questions appear in the Hall of Fame. Students cannot select their level but will move up as they progress (quoted from the web site).

Registration is free and only takes few minutes. The competition last for 48 hours, the amount of time that it is March 3 somewhere in the world. You can even play with your iphone or itouch! All participants will receive a certificate and winners receive prizes. Last year 452,681,681 questions were answered correctly by 1,952,879 students from 204 countries! Hurry, registration ends March 1!

Rich Curriculum Resource from the Annenberg Foundation

2010-02-22T11:19:00.003-05:00

Annenberg Media, created by the same people who work in partnership with public television to produce high-quality educational programming, have free online curriculum for high school, college, and adult learning. Teacher education courses are available for curriculum topics in grades k-8. Go to Learner.org to take a look.

Curriculum is available for the Arts, Foreign Languages (Spanish and French), Literature and Language Arts, Science, Mathematics, Social Studies and History.Most courses includes free video streaming which can be used on its own, with purchased printed materials (textbooks, etc), or in conjunction with another curriculum. Courses which do not include video streaming (and those that do) have DVDs or Videos available for purchase. Teacher guides and continuing education courses for educators are also available.

I viewed the introduction to Algebra, the first of 26 half-hour algebra lessons, which explained the importance and relevance of algebra. The video was high quality, kept my interest, and I actually learned something. I also viewed the first Spanish lesson of Destinos, An Introduction to High School and College Level Spanish. The 52 half-hour video lessons use a telenovela to immerse "students in everyday situations with native speakers and introduces the cultures, accents, and dialects of Mexico, Spain, Argentina, and Puerto Rico" (quoted from the web site).
Lessons include speaking, listening and comprehension skills.

The material for grades k-8 are aimed at helping teachers to better understand student learning, facilitate classroom activities, and increase the understanding of curriculum concepts. The videos are not meant to be viewed by the students, but parents may be able to use portions of some to illustrate important concepts or ideas.

Creating Comics

2010-02-18T11:59:00.009-05:00

Those of you who enjoy graphic novels and comics might enjoy making your own comics. Kids especially will enjoy these online applications for comic creation which, believe it or not, have educational value. Creating online comics can increase their information literacy and media literacy, enable them to participate in an online community, foster creativity, and provide a fun way to demonstrate learning. Just think about it. They could use a comic to summarize a book plot, illustrate and explain a scientific concept, summarize an historic event, or create their own story. Creating a comic requires planning, sequential thinking, artistic ability, and a sense of humor.

The following are some of my favorite comic making applications. Most are free; I think one of them has a 14 day free trial and then charges $1 per student for 30 days. ReadWriteThink's Comic Creator is straight-forward and easy to use, and provides backgrounds. Results can be printed. MakeBeliefsComix is free, can be written in Spanish and some other languages, and has information for teachers and home schoolers. Pixton has the 14 day free trial, and of the sites I'm previewing here, has the most creative flexibility. I used Bitstrips to make the comic below after registering for a free account.

Soomo and Too Late to Apologize

2010-02-11T11:15:00.006-05:00

This satirical video Too Late to Apologize:A Declaration was created by the guys at Soomo publishing, the creators of online educational resources for high school and college. Lessons are created by college professors and include primary sources, videos, interviews, and assessments (multiple choice and short answer), all available online! I took a test drive of their Americans Governing course with my 12 year-old daughter who urged me to make an account immediately so she could start using it!

Unfortunately, I was unable to create an account because I am not a professor affiliated with a college. I called Soomo's corporate office and shared my frustration that I was unable to use this fine resource as a home schooler. The representative I spoke to assured me that there was a way for home schoolers to use it-- A home school association in Pennsylvania is using it. She took my name and number, and promised me that me area sales rep would call me. I sure hope so, because I would definitely like to use their materials!

Soomo also has web resources for: International Relations, Comparative Governments,
and is developing classes for writing, political science, Spanish, biology, business, and history.

Take a look at these Soomo and let me know what you think! I would love to be able to tell Soomo that home schoolers are interested. Better yet, if you like what you see, contact them yourselves, and let them know that home schoolers are a potential market for their products.

Graphic Novels and Mangas

2010-02-09T16:27:00.013-05:00

Last week, I attended a Library Media Connection webinar on the "Best of the Best" Graphic Novels for 2009 with Michele Gorman. Michele is an expert on graphic novels, having published at least 3 books on using graphic novels to promote literacy. As I pointed out in an earlier post, graphic novels are a great way to engage reluctant readers, introduce the classics, and expose children who have difficulty reading to good literature. Graphic books are also tackling nonfiction topics like history, biography, and science. In the books that Michele recommends, the artwork is often exemplary. And besides, graphic novels are just fun to read!

Michele reviewed 10 books each at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Here, I share some of her recommendations. Please keep in mind that I have not yet read any of these books, but they are all on my reading list. (I usually only endorse books I have already read, but given Michele's expertise, I feel fairly comfortable sharing her recommendations.)

"Best of the Best" for Elementary School:

Babymouse #11: Dragonslayer by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm. Random House Books for Young Readers. Michele's comments: Incorporates Math into the plot. Focus on empowering young girls.
Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires. Kids Can Press. Michele's comments: Very funny, solid story.
Fairy Idol Kanon, Volume 1 by Mera Hakamada. Udon Manga. Michele's comments: Manga for kids, especially kids with older siblings who enjoy manga. Theme of empowering girls.
Little Mouse Gets Ready by Jeff Smith. Toon Books. Michele's comments: Little mouse gets dressed. Great for toddlers, preschoolers, and beginning readers.

Sticky Burr; The Prickly Peril by John Lechner. Candlewick Press. You know those sticky burrs that lurk in the grass and get stuck on your clothes? Michele's comments: Smart.

"Best of the Best" for middle school:

The Chronicles of Arthur: Sword of Fire and Ice by John Matthews and Mike Collins. Aladdin. Based on the King Arthur legends. Michele's comment: Great art and great story.
A Family Secret by Eric Heuvel, translated by Lorraine T. Miller. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Award winning. Developed in cooperation with the Anne Frank House/Resistance Museum. Jeroen's grandmother believes her father, a Nazi sympathizer, delivered her best friend to the Nazis.

Gettysburg: The Grahic Novel by C.M. Butzer. Harper Collins. Nonfiction. Michele's comments: Illustrated in shades of blue and gray. Depicts the impact of the battle on the town. Gettysburg addressed told through imagery.

Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook by Eleanor Davis. Bloomsbury. Michele's comments: Perfect for science and math nerds.

"Best of the Best" for high school:

Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood by Tony Lee, Sam Hart and Artur Fujita. Candlewick Press. Michele's comments: The upcoming Russell Crowe movie is based on this book. Gives the Maid Marian back story and the politics of the time. Well-researched. Realistic drawings.
The Photographer: Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors without Borders by Emmanuel Guibert, Frederic Lemercier, and Didier Lefevre.
Pride and Prejudice by Nancy Butler and Hugo Petrus. Marvel Books. Michele's comment: Remarkably true to the original.
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Tim Hamilton. Hill and Wang. Authorized and created by Ray Bradbury himself. The classic book about book burnings takes on a new life.

The Stuff of Life: A Graphic Guide to Genetics and DNA by Mark Schultz, Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon. Hill and Wang. Michele's comment: Could be used as a text book.

The Olympics and Science

2010-02-05T16:57:00.002-05:00

The 2010 Winter Olympics will be coming to us live from Vancouver next Friday night (February 12), and what a great opportunity for all of us to learn, regardless of our interest in sports.

Visit NBC Learn for videos and lessons related to the games. From the NBC Learn web site:

"NBC Learn interviews athletes, coaches, and scientists in this original 16-part series, and unravels the physics, biology, chemistry, and materials engineering behind the Olympic Winter Games. The Science of the Olympic Winter Games is made possible through a partnership with the National Science Foundation." (NBC Universal. 2010. NBC Learn. Retrieved February 5, 2010, from http://www.nbclearn.com/olympics)

The National Science Digital Library

2010-02-03T16:18:00.004-05:00

Ever get stuck trying to explain a science concept to your 12 year-old? I do, all the time, but now I've discovered The National Science Digital Library. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) provides organized access to high-quality Web sites and digital resources in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Advanced searches can be fine-tuned by grade level, subject, and format (e.g. audio, video, interactive, text). Resources are available for students preK through college. Professional and research collections are also available.

Why is NSDL better than google? Well, when NSDL identifies an online resource, you don't have to worry about whether the science is accurate. Also, none of the web sites are .coms, which means that you won't have to pay to use a resource. NSDL enables you to do a more targeted search, so you won't have to wade through pages and pages of irrelevant hits. And you don't have to worry about accidentally stumbling on inappropriate content.

The Roman Mysteries

2010-01-29T15:00:00.003-05:00

My son's obsession with Greek mythology led us to the serendipitous discovery of The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence, a series of 17 stories set in Rome, 79 AD. (An additional 7 books support the series.) Flavia Gemina, 10 year-old daughter of a Roman sea captain, solves spine-tingling mysteries with her three friends; Jonathon, son of Mordecai, one of the first Messianic Jews; Nubia, a former slave; and Lupus, an orphan they have befriended. Incorporating both Greek and Roman mythology, The Roman Mysteries are meticulously researched and incorporate historic events, people, and architecture. Each book includes a glossary of Latin words, names, and places, and brief description of the historic event central to each story.

My son loves these books and has waited impatiently for each to arrive through inter-library loan. My 12 year-old daughter reads them just as eagerly. A BBC television series is based on these books,and the DVDs for the first two seasons are available throughAmazon.com. Also visit The Roman Mysteries web site for more information about the books, their author, school-related activities, audio samples, the author's blog, and instructions for making a Roman costume.

Recommended for ages 7-14. If you are studying Ancient History, be sure to include these books in your child's accompanying reading.

Shmoop

2010-01-27T10:07:00.002-05:00

Here's another great online resource for home schoolers: Shmoop! It provides lessons, background, summaries, and analysis for literature, poetry, history, civics, biography, music, and bestsellers. All of the information is written by the faculty, PhD students, and Masters students at Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford and other universities in an easy to read, conversational tone. In their poetry section, they have a guide to reading poetry, a glossary of poetry terms, and study guides for 77 major poems! Full texts of the poems are also provided. I wish I had known of this resource when we were studying The Rime of the Ancient Mariner last week, and we will definitely use it next week when we study Wordsworth and later this spring when we read Pride and Prejudice.

Almost all of the content is free! Teacher lesson plans can be purchased for $5.99 per lesson, but home educators will find sufficient information and resources without making any purchase.

Check it out:

Black History Month

2010-01-18T14:37:00.002-05:00

Although I believe that African-American history should be taught part and parcel with American history, February is Black History Month and today is Martin Luther King Day. In honor of the men and women who have contributed so much to our country, and who deserve to be included in our national consciousness of who we are--not relegated to one particular day or several weeks--I am sharing a number of wonderful resources well-worth exploring. Please note that my list is not exhaustive, nor does it provide a complete history, but it is certainly a good place to start.

Please see my wiki whitneyswikiways for a list of picture books, chapter books, poetry, videos and websites.

Below are a number of excellent web sites.

Civil Rights Legislation

Civil Rights Center
FindLaw for the Public

A collection of articles and resources on the topic of Civil Rights. Links lead to legal definitions, specific types of discrimination, and a timeline of significant events. Information is provided from a legal perspective, and links to relevant Constitutional Amendments, federal and state law, and litigation are included. The site is very easy to use and written for the lay person, providing both depth and breadth of information. For those wanting detailed information about a specific subchapter or section of a law, links are provided to FindLaw for Legal Professionals.

Primary Documents/Curricula

Teaching Documents/Lesson Plans
The National Archives

This website, part of the National Archives Education service, provides detailed lesson plans that are correlated to National History Standards and National Standards for Civics and Government. All lesson plans are based on primary documents and can be accessed by clicking on “Lessons by Era 1945 to 1970s” or one of the bulleted topics (“Civil War and Reconstruction” or “Postwar United States”). Lesson plans are available for specific topics, such as the arrest records of Rosa Parks or letters and telegrams to the President from Jackie Robinson. Background information and pictures of relevant documents are provided along with creative, thought provoking teaching activities and suggestions for using the documents. All necessary worksheets are provided as PDFs.

The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail Resources for Teachers
The National Archives

Part of the Never Lose Sight of Freedom project, this website provides detailed lesson plans along with teaching materials, historical documents and photographs, transcripts of speeches and personal histories, and the text of associated laws and court decisions. An online video of the March is also available. Links to other websites, including the Spider Martin Photo Gallery of the 1965 Montgomery Voting Rights March and the National Voting Right Museum are provided. All lesson plans include all necessary materials in html and PDF versions, and were written by Alabama teachers whose qualifications are provided following each lesson.

The King Papers Project
The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University

Since 1985, the King Papers Project has been editing and publishing the works of Dr. King. The site includes transcripts and some audio of Dr. King’s sermons and speeches, excerpts from his autobiography, and numerous scholarly articles about Dr. King. A comprehensive encyclopedia of the Civil Rights Movement and an inventory of Dr. King’s sermons, speeches, letters, publications, notes and outlines are also provided. The website provides the Liberation Curriculum, an educational resource for high school teachers which includes lesson plans and classroom resources.

Virtual Tours

We Shall Overcome: Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement--A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary
U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, U.S. Department of Transportation, The Federal Highway Administration, and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers.

In addition to a brief history of the Civil Rights Movement, this site provides a map and a list of places associated with the movement. Links lead to a page for each place on the map or list. Each page includes pictures of the place and people associated with events at that location, and an explanation of the location’s significance in the Civil Rights Movement. Internal links lead to biographies, explanations of events, and other historic places. Links to the National Park Service and the National Register of Historic Places are also included. A bibliography of histories, biographies, autobiographies, reference sources and other web resources is provided.

Voices of the Civil Rights
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Library of Congress

This site chronicles the Voices of Civil Rights Bus Tour which retraced the route of the 1961 Freedom Riders, and includes videos from stops and events along the route. Voices of the Civil Rights collected thousands of personal stories and oral histories of individuals involved in the Civil Rights Movement. These stories will be housed at the Library of Congress, but are available from archives in the website. A timeline of events, music, video, introduction to new activists, and evaluations of the civil rights movement in the present and future are included. Links are provided for other oral history projects, websites and other online resources, and books.

Online Exhibits/Museums

National Civil Rights Museum
National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, TN

In addition to providing information about the museum (hours, location, etc.), this website has an online exhibition which includes pictures and written material about major events and brief biographies about people in the movement. The museum’s annual Freedom Awards, honoring people who have made significant contributions to the advancement of civil rights nationally and internationally, are archived and include brief biographies of the recipients.

African-American Oddyssey
The Library of Congress

This website is an online exhibit based on a 1998 exhibition at the Library of Congress which showcased the Library’s African American Collection in all three of the Library’s buildings. The exhibit divides the history of African Americans into nine sections which include Slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction and the Depression. The ninth section focuses on the Civil Rights Movement which presents documents, artwork, and photographs of people and events along with descriptive narrative. The site includes a complete list of objects included in the exhibition with links to items found in the online exhibit and to the LC division where the item is housed.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Seattle Times

In addition to providing links to articles and commentary about Martin Luther King, Jr., published in the Seattle Times, this website includes a photo gallery and biography of the Civil Rights leader. A timeline details significant events in Dr. King’s life, as well as in the Civil Rights movement. Links are provided to audio and transcripts of Dr. King’s speeches and written work, including “I Have a Dream” and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. A study guide, quiz, and list of resources are also included.

If you have gotten all the way through this list, don't forget to look at my wiki where you'll find all kinds of picture books appropriate for all ages (nobody is ever too old for a read aloud).

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

2010-01-17T16:08:00.005-05:00

The Lightning Thief , the movie, is due out in February, and my kids can't wait!

The movie is based on the five-book series Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. My 9-year old son read all five of them last fall in about 2 weeks. I couldn't tear him away from those books! Ever since, his all consuming interest has been Greek and Roman mythology. I think he has read every book the library has on Greek and Roman mythology, and has branched out into Norse mythology. Any home schooler basing their curriculum on The Well-Trained Mind knows that mythology is required reading.

The gods still rule--from high atop the Empire State Building in New York City-- and they still fall in love with humans with whom they have children. Children who are demi-gods: half god, half human. Percy is one such child, although he doesn't know it until he is attacked by a school teacher turned Harpy and fights off a raging Minotaur!

I'm reading the books to my children, and they are enjoying them just as much as the Harry Potter Series. The boy I take care of after school, who doesn't particularly like reading and wasn't interested in having storytime, asks if we can read another chapter as soon as I pick him up every afternoon. These stories are page turners, and every child who has ever been the underdog or picked on by other kids will laugh out loud when Percy turns the tables.

Manga and The Merchant of Venice

2010-01-08T14:57:00.005-05:00

Last year, we studied The Merchant of Venice with history rather than with English literature. In history, we had been studying European trade, the city-state of Venice, and the reconquest of Muslim Spain by the Catholic Spanish (which led up to the Inquisition). We augmented our studies with The Atlas of Great Jewish Communities: A Voyage Through History by Sondra Leiman, Unit II, Sephardic Jewry. The Merchant of Venice seemed like the perfect way to sum up and review some of what we had learned.

I always try to use books written during or about the time period we are studying, and just by chance, I discovered the young adult novel Shylock's Daughter by Mirjam Pressler. Based on Shakespeare's play, Shylock's Daughter presents the story from the perspective of four different characters: Shylock, his daughter Jessica, an adopted daughter raised as Jessica's sister but now Jessica's maid, and the housekeeper (the last two characters are Pressler's creation). Through Jessica, the city of Venice comes alive and the Ghetto becomes both a sanctuary and a prison. Through each of the major characters, we get a different perspective of Judaism. Shylock represents the importance of the Law; his housekeeper maintains the rich traditions and superstitions. Jessica rebels against her faith but cannot abandon it entirely. Amalie, the adopted daughter, struggles to make Judaism her own in a dangerous world that is constantly changing. Amalie, perhaps, is the daughter of the title. At the story's end, she begins a journey to Palestine, carrying the hope and promise of Judaism in her heart.

After reading Shakespeare's Daughter, we moved onto Manga Shakespeares' Merchant of Venice. As I mentioned in my previous post, this is a highly interpretive and abridged retelling, with definite anti-Semitic overtones. Shylock, for instance, is depicted as evil, and has an almost demonic appearance. Critics have debated whether Shakespeare was anti-Semitic. My daughter and I certainly debated it, and had some wonderful conversations about bigotry, prejudice and hatred.

Finally, we watched a DVD of the BBC 1980 production Shakespeare's Comedies: The Merchant of Venice starring Gemma Jones as Portia (she was excellent). My daughter was able to follow the play and really enjoyed it. In this production, scenery is quite spare, and the story depends on the actors' abilities and on Shakespeare's words. The beauty of his words lives on!

A quick word about the 2004 movie starring Al Pacino: My husband and I watched this and really enjoyed it. Al Pacino is fantastic as Shylock and gives a truly masterful performance. The casting and scenery is excellent and the movie really makes Shakespeare very accessible. Despite the fact that the DVD comes with a teacher's guide, this movie is R-rated for a reason! The relationship between Bassanio and Antonio takes on a decidedly homosexual nature (which may or may not have been intended in the original, but certainly helps to explain Antonio's depression and motivation). One scene occurs in a brothel, and shots of bare-breasted women are interspersed throughout. We were very disappointed that we could not share this fine drama with our 11 year old daughter; as always, you must decide for yourself.

Teaching Shakespeare

2010-01-01T11:35:00.015-05:00

Recently while lunching with home school friends, one of the children said something abut reading graphic novels. I mentioned that last year, we used mangas to introduce Shakespeare's plays. My friend responded "What a good idea!"

Well, I was a little surprised, because I didn't think we did anything special. Surely, others have considered the use of mangas and graphic novels to introduce classic literature; within the library world, mangas have been a hot topic for some time now, and many libraries are quickly adding them to their collections. See the American Library Association's Great Graphic Novels for Teens. Titles include biographies, science, history, and fiction.

Mangas are basically a Japanese comic book. They have a very distinctive artistic style, and they are often made into anime (cartoons). Graphic novels are a Western version, and even old standards like the Hardy Boys mysteries are being adapted. Manga forms of Shakespeare are generally abridged versions of the original, and the art work is highly interpretive. For instance, in the Manga Shakespeare The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is given an evil, elfin appearance (to which I take exception--its very antisemitic). (Manga Shakespeare is a registered trademark for a manga publisher. I avoid their web site: It shuts my computer down every time! The publisher I prefer is Amulet Books.)

With their limited text and lively illustrations, mangas appeal to kids in general, reluctant readers, and those with reading problems or learning disabilities. And let's face it, Shakespeare is not easy reading, especially for a middle school student. So mangas are a wonderful way to introduce Shakespeare.

We started with Much Ado about Nothing, one of my favorites. The DVD starring Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson brings the play to life. Beautifully filmed in the warm Italian sun, Branagh and Thompson make the play incredibly accessible and fun to watch. My daughter loved it and watched it twice! The Manga Shakespeare was not available at that time (it was published in August, 2009).

Othello was much more challenging. We started by reading Othello, A Novel by Julius Lester (better known for his picture books). His retelling from an African-American perspective focuses more attention on the racial aspects of the story. Considered Young Adult literature, the book is very readable. We then took a look at the Amulet Manga, and read the play. I wanted to use the 1995 movie starring Kenneth Branagh and Laurence Fishburne, but its rated R. My husband and I watched it and enjoyed it, but we agreed that it was not appropriate for middle schoolers. Upper-level high school students might enjoy it, but parental discretion is advised.

The last play we studied was A Midsummer Night's Dream. My daughter found the Amulet Manga a little difficult to follow, so I would advise telling your students the story first, so that they are familiar with the plot. We then watched the movie version starring Calista Flockhart, Kevin Kline, and Michelle Pfeiffer. This is a very goofy, silly adaptation, set in the Victorian era, which uses bicycles as a major prop. A Midsummer Night's Dream is Shakespeare at his bawdiest (afterall, he appealed to the masses--as I explained to my daughter, his plays were like our blockbuster movies), and this adaptation lives up to it. Very silly, but fun. Rated PG-13, use your discretion.

On my next post, I will talk about The Merchant of Venice, which I taught with history, rather than with our literature studies.

See the Front Page of Newspapers from Around the World

2009-12-24T15:55:00.003-05:00

Here's a quick one that student's will find fun and interesting:

View the front page of newspapers from all around the country and all around the world at Newseum an interactive museum in Washington DC that chronicles five centuries of news with hands-on exhibits and multimedia displays. The museum emphasizes the role of media in reporting and in creating the news.

Parents may want to look at free lesson plans under the education tab. On the left side menu, click on Resources for Teachers and then Lesson Plans.

Older students may enjoy exploring this website on their own.

Web 2.0 Applications for the Musically Inclined

2009-12-15T11:10:00.018-05:00

Recently, a reader commented that her daughter is very interested in music and technology. There are a number of online applications for music creation that students will enjoy. Piano and music teachers will find these programs innovative and useful, too!

NoteFlight is an online music notation system which enables users to compose, create, view, and hear music notation, collaborate with others, and share their music. The application is free for individual users and does not require you to download anything. Music teachers may be interested in Noteflight Learning Edition which works with the Haiku Learning Management System. With this fully web-based system, music teachers can post assignments, assess student work, lead class discussions, engage in online music composition and more. Noteflight Learning Edition does have a fee schedule based on number of classes and students, but does not require any downloads. I am definitely not a musician (as you will be able to tell from this demo I made):

Thounds is an online music platform and social network where you can record your original music just by using a microphone or plugging your instrument into your computer. Once you post your sample, other users from all around the world can add to or contribute to your basic recording. The idea is to share musical ideas and inspiration and to collaborate with others to create original music. Again, it's free and there's no downloading! Watch this demo from the Thounds web site.

Kisstunes enables users to create and record tunes online using their qwerty keyboard. Easy-Peasy! You can store your work online and share with family and friends. Again, it's free, free, free, and no downloads!

JamStudio The Online Music Studio allows you to create and mix your own music, add instrumentation,and experiment with different styles and sounds. Accounts are free; however, with an inexpensive 6 month all access pass*, you own the rights to the songs you create and can have MP3 mixes mailed to you for unlimited use. Educational grants are available for classroom use. I have emailed JamStudio about grants for homebschoolers, and will post an update when I receive a reply.

* Always, always, always read the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Policies and Procedures for Copyright violation (all may be included in one statement or they may be in separate statements). Some of these sites retain the right to use your creation on their web site or in their network of services. Before you share or allow others to edit, add to, or change your music, make sure you understand your rights to the content you create and how it may be used by others.

Animoto.com

2009-12-09T19:20:00.003-05:00

Here is another exciting use of Web 2.o technology for educational purposes. After researching the Baroque Period, my daughter created this Animoto to demonstrate her new knowledge.

Animoto enables users to create short videos or trailers from images or video clips uploaded from their own cameras or from web sites. Then, they can add text and musical accompaniment, either from their own collections or from Animoto's collection, and Animoto creates a professional, animated mix.The process is incredibly quick and easy, and very easy to learn. My daughter grumbled and complained when I first gave her this assignment, thinking it would be really difficult, but her resentment quickly turned to excitement when she realized how easy Animoto is. In order to create a full-length video like this, you have to buy an account ($30 for one year of unlimited videos); however, you can make short, 30 second videos for free!

I have posted the instructions for the Baroque Art Animoto Assignment to my wiki: whitneyswikiways, along with the grading rubric, the written portion of the assignment, and my daughter's references. The written portion is my daughter's analysis and reflection. In the first part, she had to answer specific questions about the Baroque period. Just telling her to find images of Baroque art and architecture would be pointless. She would do a Google search for images and never bother to learn anything. Requiring her to write an analysis forced her to do some research, take some notes, and actually learn something. The reflection gave her an opportunity to think about what she had learned, the research process, and her use of technology.

Requiring a reference page is incredibly important: We need to teach our children respect for for others' intellectual property. We should not allow them to write a report or use images without providing information about their sources. Whenever a student uses a quote, someone else's ideas, or someone's artistic work, they need to provide a citation. I am teaching my daughter APA style. MLA is also an option. Even young children can provide basic information like the author's name and the title of the work.

I encourage you to experiment with Animoto and the other Web 2.0 applications I've highlighted in my blog.

Hanukkah Books

2009-12-06T19:32:00.004-05:00

Visit my wiki for reviews of my favorite Hanukkah books. Every year, we read a Hanukkah book on each of the eight nights of Hanukkah. I always try to find new ones to add to our collection; however, some, like Eric Kimmel's Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins, we greet like old friends when they come to celebrate the holiday with us. Our latka recipe comes straight out of Granma's Latkes, and one year, The Ugly Menorah inspired my children to make their own hanukkiahs.

For each book on my list, I have provided a link to the author's or illustrator's web site (when available), publisher information, and an age or grade recommendation. Remember to check back, because I will update the list as I find new favorites.

More Skills Students Need to Succeed

2009-12-02T10:58:00.006-05:00

In my last post, I talked about the importance of giving our home schooled children tests. Being successful on tests requires the development of important skills which will serve our children well in college and beyond.

What are some other skills they need?

This question can be explored from two perspectives: 1) what skills will they need in college, and 2) what skills will they need to succeed in the work place? These questions are deceptively simple. The first focuses on academic skills such as being able to listen to a lecture, take notes, read a textbook or other written material, and engage in self-directed study. The second draws attention to important vocational skills like punctuality, following directions, and getting along with co-workers. When we consider the work environment of the 21st century and the explosion of information, the questions become more complex.

The amount of information in the world is growing at an exponential rate. According to How Much Information? 2003, a study by two scientists at Berkeley, new stored information grew by 30% between 1999 and 2002 and 92% of new information is stored magnetically (primarily on hard discs). This study is now 6 years old, and you know information continues to expand. According to information management industry experts, the amount of information produced annually between 2006 and 2010 was expected to increase more than six times, and the amount of digital information doubles every 18 months.

Our children are growing up in a world in which information is proliferating and more and more communication is digital (through computers, cell phones, laptops, palm pilots, etc). In this world, the goal of education can no longer be knowledge mastery-- there is just too much information, and that information constantly is changing. Consequently, our goal should be to teach our children how to learn rather than what to know.

Our children need to learn:

how to ask questions
how to find high-quality, relevant information, in both print and digital formats
how to evaluate and interpret information
how to analyze and synthesize information to produce new understanding (or knowledge)
how to use technology to find information and to create information products
how to collaborate both in-person and on the Web

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills identify 3 sets of skills students need: Life and Career Skills

1. Learning and Innovation Skills

Creativity and Innovation
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Communication and Collaboration

2. Information, Media and Technology Skills

Information Literacy
Media Literacy
Information, Communications, and Technology Literacy

3. Life and Career Skills

Flexibility and Adaptability
Initiative and Self-direction
Social and Cross-Cultural Skills
Productivity and Accountability
Leadership and Responsibility

The International Society for Technology in Education identifies six separate skill sets necessary to succeed in the 21st century including: Creativity and Innovation; Communication and Collaboration; Research and Information Fluency; Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making; Digital Citizenship; and Technology Operations and Concepts.

So what should we be teaching our children? Skills! Of course children do need to learn content. They need a base of knowledge against which to evaluate new information and learning, but more importantly, they need to learn how to learn! Our job as home schooling parents is not just to teach them history, science and math. Our job is to use these core subject areas as jumping off points for directed inquiry, guiding our children through the process of raising a question, finding relevant information, evaluating the quality of that information, and analyzing and synthesizing that information to create new knowledge. By preparing our children for the 21st century, we will be creating independent thinkers and problem solvers who are ready to participate in our democracy.

Test taking and home schooling

2009-11-20T16:32:00.005-05:00

More than a month has gone by since I last posted. Sometimes, life gets busy, especially when you're home schooling, attending school yourself, caring for a friend's child, and making sure everyone gets to their activities and sports. Somehow, pursuing my extracurricular activities always comes last (and every once in a while, I need to get some sleep). I'm sure home schooling parents everywhere know what I'm talking about. The first home schooling conference I attended offered multiple workshops on time management. I should have known then that life was about to change!

Something that has been on my mind lately is the role of testing in the home schooling curriculum. So many parents have told me that they do not test their children. Many of them have good reasons (or perhaps they have good rationalizations). Some use the Socratic method and believe conversation provides them with an adequate measure of student learning. Others are unschooling. Still others say that their child does not respond well to testing for a variety of reasons: learning problems or disabilities, the stress of testing, tests' inability to measure actual learning, or memory problems. Some of these reasons may be valid, and home schooled students who are not given tests may learn just as well as home schooled students who are. Nevertheless, I can't help wondering if we are doing our children a disservice by not testing.

When developing my child's curriculum, I always think about our educational goals for her. Most simply, we want her to attend the college of her choice and to have a career that is financially, intellectually, and socially rewarding. (Of course, we have other goals for her as well, which I may share in a future post about life-long learning. Keep an eye out for it.)

Given these goals, what are the skills she needs in order to attain them? More specifically, what are the academic skills? Like it or not, she has to know how to take tests (among other things). In order to get into college, she will have to take the PSAT, SAT, and possibly the ACT. Once in college, she will have to take mid-term exams and final exams. If she opts for graduate schools, she may have comprehensive exams and orals.

Taking tests requires skills. Why do you think public schools are so busy teaching children how to fill in the little circles? Multiple choice tests require students a) be able to read, b) evaluate possible answers based on their knowledge and memory, and c) rule out unlikely answers, and d) choose the best answer. Fill-in the blank tests require recall. Short answer tests require knowledge and application. Essay tests often require the analysis and synthesis of information in order to produce a logical, well-organized response. Preparation for midterm and final exams require the student to master large amounts of information, have it available for recall, and be able to produce it when needed.

If I never test my child, how is she to develop these skills? How will she learn the necessary study skills? By giving her tests (and this year, I introduced mid-term exams), I am helping her to acquire organizational and study skills. She is learning to take notes as she reads materials; to create outlines; to review material and quiz herself; to use flashcards, charts and other graphic organizers; to develop hypothetical questions and answer them. She is learning to keep an organized notebook in which she can quickly and easily locate important information. By sometimes setting a time limit on a test, I am teaching her how to pace herself, to prioritize, and to use her time well. In response to short answer questions, she must identify the most relevant information and produce it. When responding to essay questions, she must synthesize her new knowledge to produce a coherent, well-organized argument supported by examples. She must learn how to "think on her feet".

Most importantly, she is learning self-discipline because studying for tests requires a great deal of self-discipline. Sure, she would rather be playing a computer game or reading a book in her spare time, but she is learning to postpone that short-term gratification in order to achieve her goals.

Home schooling provides parents the opportunity to do things differently from the traditional public school. We can tailor the curriculum and teaching methods to meet the needs of our individual children, but we must also provide them with the skills they will need to succeed outside of our homes. If your child is college-bound, test-taking is an important set of skills.

Blogs, The FTC, and Disclosure

2009-10-19T12:01:00.003-04:00

Controversy has been swirling since the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its revised "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising" which applies regulations regarding endorsements and testimonials to online publications including blogs and social networking applications like Facebook and Twitter. The FTC maintains that people writing online should disclose any material relation with the sellers of a product or service. For instance, someone posting a book review should reveal whether they received the book, other goods, or compensation from that book's publisher. The goal is to apply truth in advertising to bloggers and other online publishers.

An opinion piece in today's Wall Street Journal (October 19, 2009) "Bloggers Mugged by Regulators"by Information Age columnist L. Gordon Crovitz raises serious questions about the effect of these guidelines on the First Amendment Right to Free Speech. Should people writing on the Internet have less freedom than those writing in other media? The Wall Street Journal daily publishes a book review; the authors of these reviews do not reveal their relationship to the publisher or author of the book or whether they received a copy of the book for free. Should writers on the web be required to make a disclosure?

On the other hand, bloggers who receive payment for product endorsements are advertising, and shouldn't they come under the same regulations as other advertisers? See Is that blogger review really a paid ad? The FTC wants to know on ConsumerReports.org for a discussion on this topic.

A full analyis of the FTC Guides and their implication for bloggers can be found at Andy Sernovitz blog. Sernovitz, the author of Word of Mouth Marketing, is an expert on interactive marketing.

For the record, I do not receive compensation, payment, or free samples from the publishers or manufacturers of any of the products I discuss in my blog. All book reviews and demonstrations of Web 2.0 applications are based solely on my experience with these products, and are in no way, shape, or form paid advertising.

Philadelphia Photo Story and Copyright Law

2009-10-07T15:51:00.025-04:00

At last, my daughter's Photo Story about visiting The Brandywine Battlefield, Valley Forge and historic Philadelphia!

Song credit: Fennell, F. & The Eastern Wind Ensemble. "Yankee Doodle - Field Music of the US Army ". God Bless America--The Ultimate Patriotic Album. 2002. MP3

This Photo Story took a little longer because I had to learn how to a) download a song from iTunes, b) burn that song to a disc, and c) rip it from my disc to save to my computer. Why? Because even though I purchased the song, iTunes uses Digital Rights Management technology to impose limits on the use of digital content. This prevents the user from playing an iTune on a non-Apple player. It also prevents the user from copying the song directly to Windows Media Player. Fortunately, there is a way to do it. Then, its an easy matter to upload the music from the computer to Photo Story 3.

Copyright Law and Fair Use
Is all of this legal? Ethical? Well, the whole point of copyright protection is to protect the intellectual and creative property rights of an author, composer, artist, or creator. According to Dictionary.com, copyright is "the legal right granted to an author, a composer, a playwright, a publisher, or a distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work". So, technically, even though I purchased this piece of music and provided attribution (a citation), I may be violating copyright law by distributing it on the Internet as a part of my daughter's Photo Story.

But what if I'm using the copyrighted material for education purposes? This is where things get a little tricky. Many educators believe that they can use copyrighted materials under the Fair Use doctrine as long as that use is restricted to instruction. This is not quite true. There are four factors one must consider when determining Fair Use:

1. the purpose or character of the use (i.e., is it for non-profit educational use?),
2. the nature of the copyrighted work (i.e., was it published, out of print, or factual?),
3. how much of the original work was used, and
4. the potential impact on the market for the original work.

In this case, the answers are:

1. the purpose of the use is educational (both for my daughter learning how to use the technology and in this blog which is written for educational purposes),
2. the nature of the work is a creative, published work; however, the song "Yankee Doodle" could be argued to be in the public domain,
3. The entire work was used (twice; typically, the 10% rule should be followed: only 10% or less of the cited work should be used), and
4. the potential impact on the market for the song is negligible.

Based on this analysis, the use of "Yankee Doodle" in this case would most likely be considered legal, but you never know.

Home schoolers using music or other creative works for the purpose of educating their own children probably do not need to worry about copyright law; however, Education World has a wonderful series of articles explaining copyright law and Fair Use.

Our trip to Philadelphia

2009-09-22T15:25:00.007-04:00

Recently, we went on an extended field trip to Philadelphia. My husband had a conference to attend, and the kids and I tagged along to go sightseeing. It was the perfect opportunity to see Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the Betsy Ross house. We have not reached this period in history yet, but we had the opportunity and took advantage of it.

On the first day of our trip, we drove out to Kennett Square in the historic Brandywine Valley, about 45 outside of Philly. Kennett is the home of Longwood Gardens. Pierre duPont, of the duPont chemical company, purchased the land in 1906 from Quaker farmers to preserve an arboretum. He added classical gardens, water fountains, a conservatory, an outdoor theater meadows, and ponds to create the foremost horticultural showplace and educational center in the United States.

When I first told my children we would be visiting Longwood Gardens, they rolled their eyes and groaned, but boy, were they in for a surprise! With its tree houses, fountain show, indoor childrens' garden, model train garden, giant lily pads, banana trees, topiary garden, and carillon tower, Longwood Gardens won them over. We visited for over four hours, and left only because my children could walk no farther. Below is a photo story, created by my daughter, of our day in the gardens. Unfortunately, the batteries in her camera died, and she was unable to get pictures of the tree houses which were spectacular.

Photo Story 3 is a free microsoft product which you can download to your computer. Upload and alter your photos, add text, narration, and sound, and ta da!!! You have a video. Its very easy to use and a great way to record a field trip, the steps in a science project, or tell a story.

My daughter is currently working on a photo story of Valley Forge and Philadelphia. When it is complete, I will upload it so you all can see the wonderful places we visited in Philadephia.

Report on Captain John Smith

2009-09-07T20:12:00.008-04:00

My daughter just completed a biography of Captain John Smith on Glogster! Be sure to click on the blue play button to listen to her narrative.

To view a copy of the assignment, including the grading rubric, visit whitneyswikiways.

Edu.glogster.com is a Web 2.0 application that enables you and your students to create posters that include images, graphics, text, sound recordings, and videos (either your own or something uploaded from schooltube). Students can create posters to illustrate their stories, poetry, book reports, biographies, geographical studies... the possibilities are limited by only their imaginations.

The service is free, and you can enroll up to 200 students in one classroom. As the teacher, you control the account and privacy settings, determine what gets published, flag anything that's inappropriate, moderate comments, etc. Here is a tutorial that will help you get started.

my first glog!

2009-09-03T16:03:00.004-04:00

Check this out! Librarymama Rules!

Go to edu.glogster.com to make your own!

Internet Safety

2009-09-02T11:51:00.004-04:00

Having posted about some online tools (Voicethread, Voki) and discussed the important role of technology in education, I thought it was about time to discuss Internet Safety for children. In some ways, the Internet is the like the wild, wild west--there's a lot going on out there, few rules, and the U.S. Marshall is no where in sight!

Filters
Several online protection tools are available. Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide parent control options. Your anti-virus and spyware software may also enable you to set some limits on what can be accessed and sent on your computer. Inexpensive filtering software is available. These filters can block sites, prevent personal information from being sent, and monitor and track online activity. Warning: None of these methods are perfect!!! Some inappropriate content may still get through, and many valuable, educational sites may be inadvertantly blocked. If you think you want to go this route, take a look at TopTenReviews for more information.

Guidelines
I'm sure you have seen these before, but they are all worth repeating:

Become computer literate: the more you know, the better position you will be in to guide your children's online experience and monitor their online behavior.
Keep the computer in a common room (we keep ours in the kitchen, the place I'm most likely to be).
Set-up your child's e-mailbox through your account, so you can monitor email if necessary.
Spend time online with your children teaching them appropriate behavior.
Bookmark the children's favorite websites or your approved websites so your children don't have to search the web. For a list of great websites for kids, see below!
Set rules and enforce them (Ours are: No more than 30 minutes computer time/day; Permission must be obtained before going online).
Encourage your child to talk to you about anything online that makes them feel uncomfortable, embarrassed or threatened.
Report any obscene, threatening, or pornographic content to your ISP, the police, and the FBI.

Teach Your Children

Never provide personal information online. OK, this seems obvious to us, but believe me, its not to children. Teach them that personal information includes: the name of the school, the neighborhood, town and state in which they live, the names of their teams and other activities (e.g, " I go to Westside Ballet"), the names of family members, the names of friends, where they go to summer camp....
Personal information includes pictures of themselves and their friends! Many children, especially teenagers do not realize this!
Create an online identity and use it in chatrooms and social networking sites. For instance, I might call myself "booklover" instead of my real name.
Never agree to meet in person someone you meet in a chat room or a social networking site. Aslo, if they give you a phone number, don't call!
Never respond to a threatening, scary, inappropriate, or pornagraphic message or email.
Always talk to your parent about anything online that frightens them or makes them feel uncomfortable or embarrassed.

Especially for Teens

Do not share anything online that you do not want everyone to know or which you might regret. Once something is on the Internet, you no longer have any control of it or how it is used or to whom it sent. You can't take it back.
Remember: college admissions committees and employers are now doing online searches on applicants, which includes looking at Facebook and MySpace accounts!

Warning Signs
If you notice any of the following changes in behavior, check it out. Your child may be having online difficulty.

Reluctance to talk about online activities.
Your child turns off the computer or closes a window whenever you enter the room or walk behind them. Find out why.
Your child withdraws from the family or becomes uncommunicative.
Your child spends long hours online, especially at night.
Your child starts receiving phone calls from people you don't know.

For more information about onlnine safety, go to ConnectSafely.

Social Networking
Social networking is a big part of being a teenager. If your child expresses and interest, check out yoursphere.com, a site created by a mother of five children. The site goes to extraordinary lengths to protect children. Also see yoursphere for parents for more information about internet and social networking safety.

Terrific Websites for Kids

KNOWITALL.ORG- ETV’s site provides links to many interactive websites for children K-12, as well as sites for teachers and parents.
Awesome Library - kids can find information and activities by grade level or subject. Includes down-loadable worksheets and lessons. Teachers and parents can find lesson plans as well.

International Children's Digital Library - the world's biggest online multicultural repository of children's literature.
ALA's Great Websites for Kids - provides websites chosen by librarians specifically for children. Can be searched by topic; however, a reference desk is also provided.
FirstGov for Kids - Provides links to government websites (e.g., Smithsonian, Library of Congress) by topic and grade level.
KidsClick - Owned by the School of Library and Information Science at San Jose State, this site is a huge database of websites selected by librarians.
Federal Resources for Education Excellence provides more than 1,500 free learning tools and websites for kids and teachers from federal agencies.

Factmonster - a product of Pearson Education, this site provides access to a dictionary, encyclopedia, and almanac, as well as facts about any topic imaginable.

ask for kids - Similar to the site Ask.com for adults, kids can search on a subject in which they are interested and find information.

yahoo for kids - Similar to Yahoo.com for adults, kids can search information here.

Primary search - Contains more than 70 popular full text magazines for kids. Also has a children's encyclopedia and a dictionary.

The Squire's Tales

2009-08-27T13:18:00.004-04:00

Those of you studying the medieval period may enjoy reading The Squire's Tales Series by Gerald Morris, eight books based on the Arthurian legends. I stumbled on to this series by accident last year when my daughter was struggling with Tolkien's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (recommended by Wise Bauer in The Well-Trained Mind). Tolkien's version is in verse, includes some old English, and is very difficult reading. Morris's retelling, The Squire's Tale, stays true to the original tale, but is so much more fun! Morris creates Terrence, Gawain's squire (and Nimue's nephew), from whose perspective the story is told. Terrence has his own adventures and, like all Arthurian heroes, must go a on a quest, but Gawain's story remains the center of focus. My daughter loved it!

I read the entire series to my children who begged for storytime every night (which made it very easy to get their night-time chores done). I can't tell you how many quests my children went on as we read this book, and my son created endless games involving the characters(King Arthur, Guenevere, Lancelot, Sir Dinadan, Sir Galahad) and mythical beings (the Lady of the Lake, Puck). All of the books are based on an ancient tale: Queste del Saint Graal (Quest for the Holy Grail), Tristam and Iseult, Le Morte de Arthur, etc. At the end of each book, Morris includes a note about the story's provenance and some information about the medieval writers, the time period, or the genre. The American Library Association has included several of the books in their Best Books for Young Adults.

The series includes:

The Squire's Tale
The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady
The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf (my favorite)
Parsifal's Page
The Ballad of Sir Dinadan
The Princess, The Crone, and the Dung-Cart Knight (my daughter's favorite: Lancelot is the star of the show)
The Lioness and her Knight
The Quest for the Fair Unknown (starring Sir Galahad)
The Squire's Quest (due out in September)

More information about Morris and his books can be found at the Children's Literature Network

All images were retrieved August 27, 2009, from the Children' Literature Network at http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/aifolder/aipages/ai_m/morris.html

Voicethread

2009-08-20T10:50:00.010-04:00

Okay, here is some information about Voicethread, one of the American Association of School Librarians' Best Websites for Teaching and Learning.

Voicethread is an online network which allows teachers and students to create multimedia slideshows using images, documents, video, and comments (voice, text, audio file, and video via webcam). You can even "doodle" on a slide to make a point or clarify a comment. Take a look at this voicethread I created as a demonstration for a unit on the solar system. It's a little hokey, but you'll get an idea about the potential of this online technology for creating lectures or lessons, collaborative projects, and student demonstrations of learning. Other examples of educational voicethreads can be found at their library.

Home schoolers will really enjoy the opportunities for collaboration. Because Voicethread is an online network, students around the world can work on a project together, each adding and editing content and comments. Here is a voicethread created by students in Utah (2nd grade), Colorado (9th grade) and Texas (5th and sixth grade) using art, creative writing, and music.

Most of the images in my voicethread were obtained from other websites, which was a little laborious, especially when I created the citations page where I provided the web address for each picture. Now, Voicethread has direct access to 700,000 images from the New York Public Library (NYPL), including primary source materials, maps, photos, drawings, and paintings. They also have access to the Flickr Creative Commons Search where you can find images which are not limited by copyright restrictions. Voicethread enables you to search and import images from NYPL and Flickr, and the links are automatically inserted to make citations and attributions.

Voicethread is a social network; however, you, the parent/teacher, control who has access to your account, and how and with whom your voicethreads are shared. You can moderate all comments, and even have the option to disallow comments.

Here's the best part: You can make unlimited voicethreads for free!!! Who believes it? For $10, you can create groups and have access to the controlled K-12 network. And Voicethread provides wonderful support with tutorials, a help manual, blog, and online help. They are very responsive to email requests for help.

Techonolgy and Learning

2009-08-11T09:51:00.010-04:00

One of the things I'd like to do with this blog is to highlight some of the wonderful online utilities and applications that can be used for educational purposes. Our world is becoming increasingly technology and media-driven, and our computers play a more centralized role. I know that I do more online with each passing day: keep up with my friends and family through e-mails and social networking sites; manage our finances; pay my bills; attend classes at the University of South Carolina; research areas of interests; read and write papers; research consumer information prior to big purchases; shop; find recipes; play games; store and organize photos... the list goes on and on. And the fact is that our children are growing up in a world where technology is ubiquitous. We have cellphones, iphones, ipods, mp3 players, wii, and whole virtual worlds.

We often think that our children take to technology naturally. We ask them to program the TiVo or DVR (whereas we used to rely on them to figure out the VCR). They seem to know how to use all the functions on our cellphones way before we do. They search the Internet without fear and download games and applications. Despite this seeming expertise, they still need us to teach them Internet safety, the responsible use of information, and how to use Internet applications to create, collaborate, and communicate. More than likely, they will need this knowledge when they enter the work world, regardless of the field they enter. Doctors, bank presidents, politicians, plumbers, mechanics, seamstresses, chefs, whatever--they are all using ever-changing technology.

Educators around the world are recognizing the importance of incorporating technology into their lesson plans. Take a look at the National Education Standards promoted by the International Society for Technology in Education. The American Association of School Librarians (of which I am a proud member) has also published information literacy standards which address the use of technology in education.

Online technologies, also known as Web 2.0, provide numerous ways for home schoolers to learn, collaborate, create, and share. Web 2.0 applications include, but are not limited to, social networking sites, blogs, wikis, podcasts, video blogs, content creation applications, photo sharing, virtual worlds, and games. Using technology, homeschoolers can hold live, real-time classes online; video conference; collaborate on projects or assignments; deliver information in a variety of formats; create posters, mosaics, photo albums, stories, videos, etc; publish... the list goes on and on. And the best part it: KIDS LOVE THIS!!! Using online technologies engage kids in learning in ways that traditional methods never will. Ask a kid to write a report and you'll hear a lot of grumbling and complaining. Ask that same child to create a voicethread, wiki, or webquest on that same topic, and they can't wait to start.

Some of you may have noticed the Voicethread project included in the multicultural study of the year 1492. If you didn't look at it in the last post, take a look at it now http://ed.voicethread.com/share/379377/ . My daughter created this all by herself! I gave her the assignment, taught her how to use the technology, and just let her go! She loved this assignment, worked independently with enthusiasm and gusto, and was incredibly proud of the product. She didn't even mind doing all of the necessary reading and research. And boy, did she learn and remember the content. This is just one example of what home schoolers can do with the Internet and Web 2.0. Next time, some more information about Voicethread.

6th Grade Curriculum for Real

2009-08-05T10:19:00.005-04:00

Okay, this week I really will post the curriculum materials we used last year for sixth grade. In future blogs, I will comment on some of things we did, books we used, and the special projects my daughter completed, as well as explore other topics.

Science: Exploring Creation with General Science, 2nd ed. by Dr. Jay L. Wile, Apologia
Math: Saxon Home School 7/6
Grammar: Voyages in English, Volume 6, Loyola Press Rex Barks: Diagramming Sentences Made Easy, Davenport
Spelling: Spelling Workout Level G, Modern Curriculum Press
Writing: Writing Strands Level 3, National Writing Institute
Logic: Critical Thinking, Books 1 and 2, Harnadek, Critical Thinking Company
Social Studies: The Story of the World, Vol 2, Wise Bauer, Peace Hill Press The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia
Geography: The Geography Coloring Book, 3rd ed., Kappit, Prentice Hall
Jewish History: The Atlas of Great Jewish Communities, Leiman, UAHC Press
Hebrew: Rosetta Stone Homeschool ed.

Assigned Readings

Assigned reading roughly followed the topics we were studying in history (The Medieval Period)

Beowulf

The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliffe

The Shadow of Ghadames by Joelle Stoeltz

The Horn of Roland by Jay Williams

The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow by Allen French

Tales from India

The One Thousand and One Nights

Gods and Heroes from Viking Mythology

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

Magna Charta by Jame Daugherty

A Door in the Wall by Maurgarite De Angeli

When Plague Strikes by James Giblin

The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly

Akbar Birbal

Shylock’s Daughter by Mirjam Pressler

Othello: A Novel by Julius Lester

I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Button de Trevino

Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

Merchant of Venice Graphic Novel by Gareth Hinds

Merchant of Venice DVD

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

Manga Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Kate Brown

A Midsummer Night’s Dream DVD

Much Ado About Nothing by Williams Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing DVD

Multicultural Study of 1492

The World in 1492 by Jean Fritz, Katherine Paterson, and Pat McKissack

Encounter by Jane Yolen

The Other 1492: Jewish Settlement in the New World by Norman Finklestein

First Voyage to America: From the Log of the Santa Maria by Christopher Columbus

My daughter's Multicultural Voicethread: 1492 http://voicethread.com/share/379377/

Evolution Unit

The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (skimmed)

Evolution by Joanna Cole

Evolution by Andre Llamas Ruiz

Charles Darwin by Don Nardo

6th Grade Curriculum

2009-07-29T16:54:00.005-04:00

Oh my gosh! Where did the time go? I intend to publish by-weekly, but already I'm having trouble meeting my goal. I overdid my time on the computer in June, and ended up with tendonitis in my wrist, elbow, and shoulder. As a result, I avoided computer use and reorganized my workspace for better ergonomics.

I thought I'd start out with the curriculum materials I used last year, when my daughter was in the 6th grade. It was our first year home schooling, so I stayed pretty close to Wise Bauer's suggestions in The Well-Trained Mind (TWTM).

One exception was science; I think TWTM is pretty weak when it comes to science. We used Apologia's Exploring Creation with General Science by Dr. Jay Wile. For those secularists or non-Christians out there, I know this probably would not be your first choice, but the science is excellent. Furthermore, my daughter went from saying, "I hate science. I always do bad in science. I can't do science" to absolutely loving science and saying it is her favorite subject. The experiments are particularly good, and most can be done with materials you already have in your kitchen.

As for the Christian slant... We're Jewish and believe that God created the world, so I didn't really have a problem with Dr. Wile's occasional comments about "God's awesome creation". However, I did pre-read each chapter, and had my daughter skip sections which were more like proofs for Jesus, the Savior. These section occurred rarely and, if I'm remembering correctly, were limited to one early chapter. Dr. Wile is very honest about his Christian bias and strives to present both sides of important debates like evolution v. creationism. When we studied the chapters on this very important topic, I supplemented my daughter's readings with the following texts:

The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (skimmed)
Evolution by Joanna Cole
Evolution by Andre Llamas Ruiz
Charles Darwin by Don Nardo

We also read Evolutionism and Creationism by Ben Sonder which provides a good history of this debate. This book is published by Franklin Watts. They also have an excellent biography series that I will discuss later in this blog.

Our unit on evolution was very intensive. My daughter emerged from it able to fully explain the opposing views, discuss the history of the debate and the goals of each side, and to state succinctly her opinion and back it up with facts. We also had some great dinner table conversations with the family.

I've gone off on a tangent... the full curriculum will have to be my next post.

2009-07-07T16:06:00.003-04:00

Having just complete my first year of home schooling with my 12 year old daughter, I am eager to share some of our experiences and what I have learned. Believe me, we both went through quite an adjustment, especially becoming accustomed to being together all day, every day. We both had to acquire new roles, that of teacher and student, and to accept each other in those roles. All in all, I'd say everything went well. Not only did we survive, we both learned a lot, grew from our experiences, and lived to tell the tale...

The focus of this blog is not so much on our personal experiences, but on the materials (books, DVDs, curriculum, technology) we used. As a future media specialist, I bring a love of information in all of its formats and a fascination with Web 2.0 to our home school classroom (aka our kitchen). I really enjoyed supplementing the curriculum with literature, movies, information from the web, and outings. Using Web technologies was an excellent way to engage my daughter in the learning process while teaching her important technology skills that she will need to compete in the 21st century economy. She absolutely loved assignments which incorporated technology, and I think your kids will, too.

In the posts that follow, I plan to review the material we covered last year (6th grade), introduce concepts like Web 2.0 and 21st century learning and then go on to explore various curriculum topics, and the many fun and fascinating technologies on line (and how to use them). Please share your ideas. After all, I'm still a novice at both home schooling and information science, and have much to learn as well!