Digital Learning Fair

Crossposted from http://intermediatelmtc.edublogs.org, my library’s blog.

On Wednesday, 73 students led stations at Intermediate’s first Digital Learning Fair. Throughout out the day, many of our classes were able to stop by to check out some of the digital tools being used around our school for learning. It was a great opportunity for our students to teach one another and to get a taste of how different tools work. I know many students would have liked more time to try out these different sites and apps.

Watch an overview of our Intermediate Digital Learning Fair.

Some of the stations at our Digital Learning Fair included Voki, Prezi, Glogster, Smore, Edmodo, Little Bird Tales, Big Huge Labs, and Comic Life. For apps, we had Morfo and Sock Puppets on display.

We used a site called Wallwisher (renamed this morning as Padlet) to get some visitor feedback about the fair. You can view that feedback here: http://wallwisher.com/wall/dld20132 and http://wallwisher.com/wall/dld2013

W.H. Beck: A Virtual Author Visit

A class of fifth grade students skyped this past week with W.H. Beck, author of Malcolm at Midnight. Check out our experiences at my school’s LMTC blog.

A Year’s Favorite Fantasy Reads: 2012 In Review

If you’ve stopped by my blog before, it should come as no surprise that fantasy is a genre I enjoy reading. From traipsing through Narnia, Westmark, Middle Earth and Redwall before leaving elementary school to more recently dodging through Camp Half Blood and listening to the capaill uisce (water horses) beat their hooves against the shore, I love the many different faces fantasy books can wear. Here are some of my favorite 2012 fantasies and some 9 word summaries to go with them. Enjoy!

Middle Grade:

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen – To survive, Sage must learn to be a prince.

Malcolm at Midnight by W.H. Beck – Malcolm dare not tell the Midnight Academy his identity.

Ordinary Magic by Caitlen Rubino-Bradley – In a world where everyone has magic, Abby doesn’t.

Goblin Secrets by William Alexander – His brother missing, Rownie falls in with goblin actors.

Winterling by Sarah Prineas – Trouble seeps from a magical woods into our world.

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy – News flash: There is more than one Prince Charming.

The Brixen Witch by Stacy DeKeyser – Do you know the Pied Piper? Read to find out.

Young Adult:

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman – A composer’s assistant must conceal her mother’s draconic heritage.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater – Four boys throw Blue’s life into disarray and magic.

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown – Lake Superior is home to a vengeful mermaid family.

It’s Monday! What are You Reading From Picture Books to YA?

Jen and Kellee from Teach Mentor Texts started a weekly meme about what people are reading and reviewing in children’s and young adult literature. It’s a great way to see what others are reading.

Recent Reading Adventures

Middle Grade Fiction

Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer – I read the bulk of this final entry in the Artemis Fowl shortly after it came out. I didn’t really want Artemis to end so I waited until this week to read the book in its entirety. There is some wonderful symmetry between the ending of book 8 and the start of the series. When I first started the series back in college, I almost didn’t read beyond book 1. I loved the world building. I couldn’t stand the titular character. That had definitely changed by the time book 3 came about.

Little Golden Books

At the start of the year, I’d set out to do a number of reading challenges. It was not a good year on challenges for me. However, winter break has been a good time to get back on a personal challenge, which was to read all the Little Golden Books from my dad’s childhood and mine that we still own. Here’s a glimpse of what I read this week:

Graphic Novels

Reading with Pictures – I started this anthology. So far I have really enjoyed the short pieces by Raina Telgemeier, Eric Wight, Gene Ambaum & Bill Barnes, and Chris Giarrusso. It might be interesting to pair this title with Nursery-Rhyme Comics as a discussion point.

Upcoming Reading Adventures:

I want to finish up Reading with Pictures today as well as Iron-Hearted Violet. I’m going to have a hard time picking what should be the first read of 2013 as there are lots of good possibilities waiting for me.

It’s Monday! What are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA

Jen and Kellee from Teach Mentor Texts started a weekly meme about what people are reading and reviewing in children’s and young adult literature. It’s a great way to see what others are reading.

Recent Reading Adventures

Middle Grade Fiction

The Cloak Society by Jeramey Kraatz – Alex Knight has always known he was meant to be a villain. He was raised in Cloak’s headquarters after all. Yet when he makes the ‘mistake’ of saving the life of one of the heroic Junior Rangers, he finds himself wondering what Cloak is really about. I enjoyed this read and can’t wait to share it with students after break.

May B. by Caroline Rose Starr – May’s voice made this a powerful historical fiction read. May’s troubles are told in verse as she is taken from her home to work in a soddy for a man and his troubled city wife. Events lead to May trying to survive on her own in a place where no one will be looking for her until nearly Christmas.

The Encyclopedia of Me by Karen Rivers – This is a contemporary realistic account of Isadora’s life. While grounded over the summer, Isadora decides to write an encyclopedia of her life. Changing friendships, first real crushes, mistakes in the name of adventure and her life with an older autistic brother all take their turn in this irreverent, heartfelt guide. References to other entries makes this read more interactive.

The Demigod Diaries by Rick (and Haley) Riordan – I liked the short stories in this volume, from what happens on Percy and Annabeth’s one month anniversary to Leo nearly blowing up a good chunk of Camp Half Blood. I enjoyed Luke Castellan’s diary excerpt more than I expected. What I found the most intriguing though was the short story Haley Riordan wrote about a demigod that had served Kronos.

Graphic Novels

Wrinkle in Time adapted and illustrated by Hope Larson – I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of this adaptation. I learned things I didn’t realize before on reading the original many times over. I liked how Meg’s feistiness carried over. Did everything look the way I imagined it to ever since my first read in fifth grade? No, but that never happens with movies either. Also, Calvin O’Keefe rocks.

Reviews>

I made two Smore reviews this week, one on Snowy Day Reads and one on Villains and Heroes.

Upcoming Reading Adventures:

My to read stacks are everywhere and at risk of falling over. One of the books I want to read over break is Grace Lin’s Starry River of the Sky.

Favorite Snowy Day Reads

Click on the image below to see my favorite snowy day reads.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading From Picture Books to YA?

Jen and Kellee from Teach Mentor Texts started a weekly meme about what people are reading and reviewing in children’s and young adult literature. It’s a great way to see what others are reading.

Recent Reading Adventures

Of Giants and Ice: The Ever Afters by Shelby Bach – When Rory starts a new after school program, she has no idea that it is one geared to train Characters how to survive their Tales. For the first time, Rory gets attention, some good and some deadly, for being herself rather than the daughter of a famous actress and world-renowned director. This middle grade read should appeal to fans of the early Percy Jackson books and fairy tale spin-offs. I loved Rory’s determination.

Check out my review on Smore.

Recent Review :

Malcolm at Midnight

Currently Reading:

Five 4ths of July by Pat Raccio Hughes – In this historical fiction novel, we visit Jake Mallery on the 4th of July on 5 consecutive years during the American Revolution, starting in 1777. It’s an interesting concept and it is fascinating to see how Jake changes and remains the same. I’m in the middle of the 1779 segment and war is landing on Mallery’s hometown of New Haven, Connecticut. On a historical sidenote, it’s interesting to see people’s different opinions of Benedict Arnold before he switches sides. Jake idolizes him while his father disdains him.

Upcoming Reading Adventures:

This week I plan to finish Five 4ths of July and to tackle Goblin Secrets by William Alexander.

Of Giants and Ice: The Ever Afters by Shelby Bach

Click on the cover to see my review of Of Giants and Ice on Smore.

Introducing Copyright: An Information Teachable Moment

One of the key information literacy concepts that is covered in the fifth grade research projects that the tech integrator, the classroom teachers and I coordinate is copyright. I want to help students realize that copyright applies to more than just words on a page (or screen)  In the case of words, I want them to realize that copying someone else’s words verbatim is not ok nor is making insubstantial changes to the text.

That’s where my flute comes in.

 

At the start of our first research lesson, I bring out my flute and a sheet of paper where I’ve scratched out a few measures of music. I ask the students if I can share a few measures of a song I wrote. I show the rough written music to a few tables so they can vouch that the music wasn’t printed off a computer or photocopied. Then I start to play. Surprised expressions appear, hands are raised and normally at least one kid blurts out where they’ve heard that song.

What happened?

Those few handwritten measures I play are the opening notes of a popular science fiction movie theme. I stop playing. I ask the students if I could sell that song. Many will chime in saying no or telling me that is stealing. I protest it is in my writing, but they are quick to tell me it’s not mine. 

I tell them I’ll change the song a bit. I play part of the song from before and then launch into a few measures of a different song from that same popular science fiction movie. When I ask if I could sell that song or charge money for a performance of it, they still tell me no because I’m still taking someone else’s work. It’s just from two different places in the same body of work.

The flute playing may seem a bit random, but it sticks with students. At least one of the fifth grade classes later told their music teacher all about copyright and what I played when she was introducing them to orchestra instruments. The playing made a great discussion starter for giving credit, ownership, etc.

What do you do to teach students about copyright?

 

 

 

Capture the Flag: A Book Hook