Happy Christmas - traditional and modern

Happy Christmas everyone !

Christmas Hallelujah Chorus flashmob
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE

Christmas 2.0 - the digital story of the Nativity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZrf0PbAGSk

Book art - Hokey Stokes

A friend shared this blog with me - amazing, magical, book art with a surprise behind the covers / beyond the spine - created by artist and scientist Julia Field
http://hokeystokes.blogspot.com/

Here are a couple of beautiful book page wreaths for Christmas...
http://hokeystokes.blogspot.com/search/label/papercraft

Thanks Linda :)

Thinkfinity

Here is a website from the US Verizon Foundation with a wealth of resources for teachers, students and parents...
http://www.thinkfinity.org/

I've found some fun activities for children at home http://www.inventionatplay.org/playhouse_tinker.html

the Thinkfinity blog has a post about summer learning loss http://www.thinkfinity.org/thinkfinity-blog with links to activities http://www.thinkfinity.org/summer-fun-activities

and now I understand how microscopic creatures turned into oil ! http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/energy/interactive/index.php

From the website :
Verizon is a long-standing partner in national and global campaigns to improve literacy and educational attainment. The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon, invests in initiatives that leverage innovative technology and interactive learning to increase teacher effectiveness and advance student achievement. We are committed to enabling children and adults to acquire the complex set of skills that are required for success in the 21st century and empowering them to access, absorb, evaluate and use the infinite amount of information that broadband delivers

• Quick and easy access to the highest-quality teaching and learning materials
• Sharing resources and ideas in our online community
• At-home activities for students and parents
• Professional development training
  

Bookshelves of Doom blog

This lively and personal book blog Bookshelves of Doom http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/
was highlighted in the National Library's Reading at the beach online community http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/reading-beach

Book trailers and teachers as readers

Lawrence High School Library, Lawrence Kansas website "Building a community of readers" has some good resources and ideas....
http://library.lhs.usd497.org/home.html

Here is a link to getting started with book trailers - "digital booktalks"
http://library.lhs.usd497.org/BookTrailers.html

And here is a link to Teachers' favourite books - photo, book list - highlighted in post on basketball... http://library.lhs.usd497.org/teacherpicks.htm#Jackhood

Celebrations, authors and Dewey

Here is a blog by a school librarian, Susan Rigsby, http://susangrigsby.wordpress.com/ who does a compilation post each month on the aspects being celebrated - special days, appeal weeks, and selected author / illustrator birthdays. It is US based and there are so many "celebrations" listed it is overwhelming, but it could be useful in a school library to pick some days to feature and highlight.

Thanks to this I've discovered that today is Dewey Decimal System Day (Melvil Dewey’s b’day, 1851). I think I've mentioned this great article from School Library Journal before but if you haven't read it, it will give you a whole new appreciation of the man !
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA148748.html

Instructions by Neil Gaiman

Instructions by Neil Gaiman was originally published as a poem in A wolf at the door and other retold fairytales (Simon and Schuster, 2001) but here is published in small picture book format, illustrated by Charles Vess (Bloomsbury, 2010) and it is a wonderful guide to what to do if you find yourself in a fairytale...



Here is a youtube book trailer for it - effective the way the colour saturates the illustrations - and it sounds like Neil Gaiman reading it himself...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWRvqO1MjIs

Here for a copy of the poem, http://www.endicott-studio.com/cofhs/cofinstr.html

and here is Neil Gaiman's website with plenty to explore about this prolific and varied author http://www.neilgaiman.com/

Mouse circus http://www.mousecircus.com/ is the official Neil Gaiman website for young readers, and here is the page about Instructions which ends with "Its message of the value of courage, wit, and adventurousness makes it a perfect gift for anyone embarking on a journey, especially graduates of any age."

Reading Instructions instantly transported me to my childhood reading of all the Andrew Lang fairytale retellings of Perrault and Grimm and others in The Olive Fairy Book, The Crimson Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, The Orange Fairy Book - with all the third sons setting off to find their fortune, old crones under trees repaying kindness with directions, impossible tasks and creatures with mysterious powers - wolves, toads, eagles along with witches, giants, goblins and ogres...
Andrew Lang was my great-aunt's godfather, and I have all the books from the early 1900s he inscribed for her at Christmas and birthdays, with their gold edged pages, embossed and decorated front covers, colour plate illustrations with tissue linings.

Here is a link to Neil Gaiman's advice for young writers... read a lot, live a lot, write a lot... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpNb5NwxX_g&NR=1

Obsolete occupations

From NPR (National Public Radio) USA :

The Jobs Of Yesteryear: Obsolete Occupations
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124251060
As computers and automated systems increasingly take the jobs humans once held, entire professions are now extinct. Click through the gallery to see examples of endangered professions, from milkman to telegrapher, and hear from people who once filled those oft-forgotten jobs.

Booklinks : historical photographs

Here is an interesting article from Booklinks about "bring[ing] the historical evolution of photography to life for your students through quality literature and Library of Congress primary source photographs." http://www.booklistonline.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=4566919

Classroom Connections: Photography as Art—Books as Hooks to Primary Sources. Petri, Gail (author). December 2010 (Book Links).

It includes links to information about Dorothea Lange's arresting photo Migrant Mother

Using resources such as Matapihi, Digital NZ and Te Ara, we can help our students access their New Zealand photographic heritage.

Dictionary of NZ Biography moving to Te Ara

From Jock Phillips, General Editor, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Kia ora
We are writing to let you know that the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography is moving from www.dnzb.govt.nz to its new home on Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. The biographies are now available at www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies.

We'll be officially launching on 8 December 2010 and are releasing new biographies about Edmund Hillary, David Lange, Bill Rowling, Robert Muldoon, Sonja Davies, Arthur Lydiard, Douglas Lilburn, Hone Tuwhare, Allen Curnow, Janet Frame and Peter Blake.

If you are linking to biographies at www.dnzb.govt.nz those links will be redirected to the new biographies from Monday 6 December 2010. To reassure you, we're putting in place redirect rules so your links to specific biographies get to the right place on the new site. If you notice any problems with the redirect rules please let us know (email matthew.oliver@mch.govt.nz).

Alternatively you can update the links by using the same alpha-numeric ID that you currently link to with the following prefix: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/

For example, a link to Michael Joseph Savage looks something like this: http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=4S9

The new link uses the ID of 4S9 and looks like this: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4S9

We hope you enjoy the new look biographies.
Kind regards, Jock Phillips, General Editor
Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Ministry for Culture and Heritage

www.mch.govt.nz - www.teara.govt.nz - www.nzhistory.net.nz

Bookshelves

How about these for bookshelves ?

From the Reading Matters blog
http://kimbofo.typepad.com/readingmatters/2010/11/gifts-for-book-lovers-part-1.html
which has the tag line Book reviews of mainly modern and contemporary fiction
Check out the various lists in the right hand columns, including a long list of book blogs...

Falling Books Bookend (red and green versions also available), £22.50, Design My World

Umbra Conceal Invisible Bookshelf, £10.50, Henry Tibbs

Literary map of UK...

Now we need one of these of NZ - might be a project for some student librarians ?
http://www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/literary-map-2678-p.asp

World's greatest bookshops

How about this as a world tour ?
http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20101118-the-worlds-greatest-bookshops

The world is just awesome...

Here is one for last Thursday, Thanksgiving in the US - a Discovery channel video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_f98qOGY0&NR=1&feature=fvwp

(People have been invited to create their own video in response and here is a Doctor Who version for fans http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1J_MUUQLlw&feature=related )

I came across it in this blog http://www.readingupsidedown.com/ . I also enjoyed this post about how to treat a book - do your books look well-loved or well-preserved ? http://www.readingupsidedown.com/?p=1799

I love what Anna Fadiman has to say on this subject, in one of the essays "Never do that to a book" in her warm, funny, clever, articulate book Ex Libris - Confessions of a Common Reader which revels in language, books and libraries.
http://www.amazon.com/Ex-Libris-Confessions-Common-Reader/dp/0374527229

Junie B Jones - Barbara Park

My niece is enjoying working her way through the Junie B Jones series by Barbara Park.

We visited the webpage http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/junieb/ to find some activities - printed out the paper doll and dressed it and then laminated it for a Junie B bookmark...
http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/junieb/pdf/JunieB_PaperDolls_WEB.pdf

and I've found this read-alike list which we'll explore too
http://www.joplinpubliclibrary.org/kids/booklists/juniebjonesreadalikes.php

21st century learners : AASL

If you haven't seen it already, check out the AASL's Standards for the 21st Century Learner
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_Learning_Standards_2007.pdf

This concise, accessible document is structured around some common beliefs, and four key learning areas with expanded standards statements for each around skills, dispositions in action, responsibilities, and self-assessment strategies...

Common beliefs

• Reading is a window to the world.
• Inquiry provides a framework for learning.
• Ethical behavior in the use of information must be taught.
• Technology skills are crucial for future employment needs.
• Equitable access is a key component for education.
• The definition of information literacy has become more complex as resources and technologies have changed.
• The continuing expansion of information demands that all individuals acquire the thinking skills that will enable them to learn on their own.
• Learning has a social context.
• School libraries are essential to the development of learning skills.

Learners use skills, resources, & tools to:

1. Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.
2. Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.
3. Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.
4. Pursue personal and aesthetic growth.

Exquisite Corpse

The Exquisite Corpse collaborative story is finished now and can be read - and listened to - here
http://www.read.gov/exquisite-corpse/

Imagine a story written by Jon Scieszka, Katherine Paterson, Kate di Camillo, Susan Cooper, Gregory Maguire, Patricia and Frederick McKissack, Shannon Hale, Natalie Babbitt, Nikki Grimes, Megan McDonald, Steven Kellog, Lemony Snicket, MT Anderson, Linda Sue Park and Jack Gantos - what a roll call of great writers for children... and then there are the illustrators...

"Ever heard of an Exquisite Corpse? It's not what you might think. An Exquisite Corpse is an old game in which people write a phrase on a sheet of paper, fold it over to conceal part of it and pass it on to the next player to do the same. The game ends when someone finishes the story, which is then read aloud...

"This story starts with a train rushing through the night...."
No one knows where or how it will end!

Teenagers and reading in 21st century

"Teens today don’t read books anymore” - A study of differences in interest and comprehension based on reading modalities

Are teens really not reading as much as they did in the past?
Are teens reading, but in non-traditional formats that are under-reported?
If surveys focus on book reading, what about teens who do all their reading online or in digital formats?
What about teens who listen to audio-books?
If questions are only concerned with literature, how are we counting the many people who read non-fiction, newspapers, magazines, and websites?

http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/2010/11/teens-today-dont-read-books-anymore-a-study-of-differences-in-interest-and-comprehension-based-on-reading-modalities-part-1-introduction-and-methodology/
from The Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults, November 2010

www.befunky.com for cartooning photos

At this site you can alter photos with different effects
http://www.befunky.com/

100 Best Book Blogs for Kids, Tweens, and Teens

Here is a link to a list of book blogs for kids : '
http://www.onlineschools.org/2009/10/27/100-best-book-blogs-for-kids-tweens-and-teens/

Links and one line annotations in the following categories :

• Picture Books and Younger Readers : From picture books to beginning readers, these blogs focus on books for the youngest book connoisseurs.
• Tweens and Teens and Young Adult : This category of books shares the prestige of being enjoyed by both teens and adults alike. Discover the best of the best with these blogs.
• Well-Rounded Book Blogs : These blogs feature literature across several age ranges and between many different genres to produce well-rounded kid’s lit reading.
• Multicultural Book Blogs : These blogs seek out the best books helping readers to identify with their culture or learn about cultures outside their own.
• Poetry : Find a great selection of poetry books as well as original verse among these blogs that feature children’s poetry.
• Children’s and Adult Literature : These blogs feature quite a bit of children’s and young adult literature, but they also feature adult literature as well.
• Graphic Novels and Comic Books : With a focus on graphic novels, comic books, and manga, these blogs feature both recent and past literature from this genre.
• From and For the Professionals : Listen to what these professionals have to share, from librarians to writers to publishers, all from the world of children’s literature.

Growing knowledge: The evolution of research

Shared by Maria Nagelkerke from The Scout Report, 5 November 2010

How will research change and evolve in the 21st century? It's a broad question, and the British Library has created this website http://www.growingknowledge.bl.uk/ to offer insight into the world of innovative research tools.
First-time visitors will want to watch the video on the homepage that features commentary by various scholars and professionals on "The Modern Library", "Information Overload", and "Digital Research".
All of the offerings on the website complement an existing in situ exhibit that includes multimedia research stations and a "collaborative zone". In the "Start Researching" area of the site, visitors can look at standout examples of recent collaborative digital projects that push the contemporary boundaries of research.
Further along, visitors shouldn't miss the "Tools" area which brings together high-quality online tools that can make the research process much easier and streamlined.
Finally, the site is rounded out by a range of social media tools that users can use to stay on top of the latest posts and materials added to this site. http://www.growingknowledge.bl.uk/

The Shadow by Donna Diamond

There is a new wordless sophisticated picture book in the National Library collection - The Shadow by Donna Diamond, a US author /illustrator.

I haven't seen it yet but read Barbara Murison's review in the latest Around the Bookshops (November 2010 page 10) which ends "It is the most frightening picture book aimed at young readers I have seen. An adult needs to be close by or at least aware the book is being looked at."
Those are strong words from the very knowledgeable Barbara, and I checked out a couple of other reviews and found similar reservations...

School Library Journal says "...In the final spread, the little girl is asleep in bed, and seemingly all is well. That is, until readers turn to the last page, where the menacing shadow is seen, eyes aglow as in a Halloween mask, hiding under the bed. The menace remains present, and readers are left fearing for the girl's safety. The dark intensity of the art and the unresolved ending make this a book for children old enough to understand that this story is not to be taken literally. This is a great example of mood in a picture book, but it is not for storytime..."

and here is a review from The Book Aunt http://bookaunt.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-of-shadow-by-donna-diamond.html who makes a link with the trickle-down effect from Twilight et al... "I've been watching with interest the rise of the paranormal in YA and its trickle down into middle grade fiction and picture books..." I enjoy this blogger's reviews, and she has a great list of children's and YA blogs in her "Blogville" list.

I think this book sounds sinister, and could be unwittingly picked up by younger children who will follow the pictures to their unresolved and disquieting ending...

International Children's Digital Library (ICDL)

Promoting tolerance by showcasing the best children's literature from around the world, the International Children's Digital Library (ICDL) gives students free access to browse thousands of books. Hook them with the 444 books in English, or push their boundaries with books from many other languages...
http://en.childrenslibrary.org/

Book battles and shelf guides

Miriam Tuohy at Russell Street School Library shared on the list serv news of Round 2 of the Year 5 and 6 students' Bookapedia book club and the school-wide "Book Battles" they have organised...

Here is a link to the website all about the Battle of the books http://bookapediabattles.weebly.com
and here is the Russell Street Bookclub Blog http://rssbookclub.edublogs.org/

What lively and fun reading promotion is happening at that school!

Miriam also shared this link for icons for labels
http://icons.mysitemyway.com/category/glossy-black-icons/
and her Dewey labels are on the SLANZA wiki as an attachement at the bottom of this page http://slanzawiki.wetpaint.com/page/Dewey+Decimal+Classification

Teaching about genres

Here are a few suggestions shared on LM_NET re teaching about genre:

• Try this link for genre posters that are simple enough for second grade: http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/Genres.htm

• Depending on how many times a week you have them, you could do a "think, pair, share" activity. Split them into groups of two or three according to genre, I would place the higher readers on fairy tales/legends/folk tales and non-fiction text. They could create a poster on that particular genre with drawn, or printed examples of that type of text, and also telling their classmates the overall objective, and characteristics of each type of text (i.e. fairytales teach a lesson, generally use magic, etc.) Then they come together to discuss the genre and their poster. Of course they will need some background info, but they should be learning genres as early as 1st grade, so this shouldn't be all new. Prob. Biography, poetry and legends will be new to them.
• There was a lesson in Library Sparks on genres which pulled in simple picture books to teach the genre....I use some of the ideas with fourth grade...they love it and "get it" better doing it that way....look through the archives of Library Sparks...I think it was last year................
• My tiny hint is that when I first intro the word to them I tell them genre is a french word so it's pronounced a little different. Then I write John Ruh next to it. Perhaps after introducing the basic genres, you could have them go to 4-5 tables, each one of which would have a certain genre of books and ask them to guess which table has which genre of books. They'd have a paper numbered Table 1- 5 on which to write their guesses. No talking or sharing answers! See who gets them all right and give them each an extra book to check out.
  
• I just got a book last week Joe and the Genre Dudes. The only book I have seen that addresses genre, and the kids loved it! Read the Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk to her class... It is a great read aloud and it talks about all the different types of genres, mystery, fiction story, autobiography, etc... Then the kids could create their own little books!
  
• I teach Genres to my 2nd graders. I tell them that genres help them find similar books. Each week I discuss a different Genre & what makes it fit in that category. I point them out in the library or pull a table full for examples. We are making a 'genre tree' in the hall where they can write the name of their book on a leaf with their name & put it on the tree. I will add a branch each time we learn about another genre.
  

How to accelerate a reader

A great post from Donalyn Miller in her Book Whisperer blog
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/2010/09/reading_rewarded_part_ii.html

An extract :

Abundant reading research proves that the following components of an independent reading program increase students' reading achievement and motivation to read:

• Access to books: Students need access to a wide array of reading materials at their independent level.
• Time to read: Students need consistent, daily time to read at school.
• Reading engagement: Students need classroom conditions that engage them with reading and foster reading self-efficacy.
• School-wide support: Schools must create a culture of reading that values reading in all subject areas.
• Well-stocked libraries with qualified librarians: School library collections should contain current, well-maintained collections of interesting reading material manned by trained, licensed librarians.
• Student choice: Students need frequent opportunities to select their own reading materials for both personal and academic reasons.

Bembo's Zoo

A good friend reminded me about a link I'd shared with her a few years ago and so we went to have another look. Here is the alphabet like you've never seen it before...
http://www.bemboszoo.com/Bembo.swf

Youth Privacy Kit

From the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, there is a new kit aimed at secondary schools to help students become aware of privacy of information issues : http://privacy.org.nz/youth/

The youth privacy kit is aimed at secondary school students and teachers. Secondary schools are entitled to one kit, free of charge. If you would like more than one, the cost will be $25 per kit subject to availability. There is limited stock.
The kit includes: background information; a DVD (and a link to the film online); posters and brochures; links to material at www.privacy.org.nz/youth: guidance notes for presenters, privacy stories with discussion points, activities and a quiz; and a link to footage of the official launch of the kit, which includes the presentation.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner PO Box 10094 Wellington 6143
Email: sharon.newton@privacy.org.nz
Phone: 04 474 7590 Fax: 04 474 7595
For more information about the Office of the Privacy Commissioner go to www.privacy.org.nz

Teaching notes for New Zealand Books

From the latest NZ Book Council newsletter The School Librarian :

Did you know the Book Council has collected links to all the sites where publishers have made teachers’ notes available? It’s a great resource for teachers and librarians http://ow.ly/2nfFQ

Publishing houses often create teaching resources for their New Zealand publications, as well as linking to resources for all of their overseas partners. To see whether teaching notes exist for a title, find out which publisher it is from (this information will be on the imprint page, if not the spine of the book), and use the below links to search for and download the notes.

• Allen & Unwin
• HarperCollins (NZ)
• Gecko Press
• Penguin (NZ), also represents Reed, Raupo, Mallinson Rendel and Puffin imprints
• Random House (NZ), also represents Vintage and Black Swan imprints
• Scholastic (NZ)
• Text Publishing (AU)
• Walker Books (AU), also represents Candlewick Books (US)

Not a New Zealand book but here is a link to teaching notes for The Hunger Games, http://www2.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/h/HungerGamesTrilogyDiscussionGuide.pdf shared by Jane Ryan from Howick College.

How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age

A new report published

Truth be Told : How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age

http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2010_Survey_FullReport1.pdf

BY ALISON J. HEAD, PH.D. AND MICHAEL B. EISENBERG, PH.D.
PROJECT INFORMATION LITERACY PROGRESS REPORT NOVEMBER 1, 2010
THE INFORMATION SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
RESEARCH SPONSORED BY MACARTHUR FOUNDATION

Abstract

• A report about college students and their information-seeking strategies and research difficulties, including findings from 8,353 survey respondents from college students on 25 campuses distributed across the U.S. in spring of 2010, as part of Project Information Literacy.
• Respondents reported taking little at face value and were frequent evaluators of Web and library sources used for course work, and to a lesser extent, of Web content for personal use.
• Most respondents turned to friends and family when asking for help with evaluating information for personal use and instructors when evaluating information for course research.
• Respondents reported using a repertoire of research techniques—mostly for writing papers—for completing one research assignment to the next, though few respondents reported using Web 2.0 applications for collaborating on assignments.
  
• Even though most respondents considered themselves adept at finding and evaluating information, especially when it was retrieved from the Web, students reported difficulties getting started with research assignments and determining the nature and scope of what was required of them.
  
• Overall, the findings suggest students use an information-seeking and research strategy driven by efficiency and predictability for managing and controlling all of the information available to them on college campuses, though conducting comprehensive research and learning something new is important to most, along with passing the course and the grade received.
  
• Recommendations are included for how campus-wide stakeholders—faculty, librarians, and higher education administrators—can work together to help inform pedagogies for a new century.
  

Making books and lighthouse libraries

Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord has a wonderful website with inspiration and instructions for making hand made books with children using recycled materials - brown grocery paper bags etc. Making the books is a brilliant catalyst for getting children writing in them...

"Making books has been my passion for the past twenty years. I am inspired by book forms from different cultures. I use recycled materials and keep the process as simple as possible—no rulers allowed here. I believe we are all creative beings. I encourage you to celebrate that creativity with books of your own."

http://makingbookswithchildren.blogspot.com/

The October post on this blog is an account and image of the travelling lighthouse libraries that were rotated around the various lighthouses in the US in the 1800s http://makingbookswithchildren.blogspot.com/2010/10/lighthouse-libraries.html
I wonder what titles were on lighthouse shelves in NZ ?

Key Competencies posters

Key Competencies posters created by Rangi Ruru School in Christchurch are available for purchase. The contact details are on the web page.

http://www.rangiruru.school.nz/index.php/aboutus/publications/key-competency-posters

Primary school "50 book challenge"

A boys' school in Auckland runs this programme from the library called "Literacy Awards" for Years 2 - 8 :

"For each of six levels (Yrs 2-3, 3-4, 4-5 etc) we publish a booklet with 450-700 titles in each, sorted by genre. For Yr 2-3 the boys have to read 20 titles but no more than two by the same author or in the same series. The older ones there are the same stipulations plus a max of five and a minimum of two per genre with a combined total of 30 books. This encourages the boys to read widely rather than stick to the same-old, same-old. The incentive is a certificate presented by Headmaster at assembly plus 10 House points - boys being by nature competitive beasts, this works extremely well. Yr 8s who complete the last award also receive a point towards the "Achiever's Tie", something that is highly sought after. It works for us and the boys are the ultimate winners. "

Copyright and the internet

Tony Millett who is LIANZA's resident expert on Copyright advises :

"Section 47(2) of the Copyright Act 1994 (as amended) permits a sound recording, film, or communication work to be played or shown for the purposes of instruction to "persons who are students or staff members at an educational establishment or are directly connected with the activities of the establishment" without infringing copyright. However, the copying of a film is not permitted without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

It is certainly not true that "anything on the Internet is fair game". There is copyright in most types of material on the Internet, unless the author or copyright owner has waived copyright, specifically granted permission, or made the work available via a Creative Commons licence which permits copying or downloading, or unless the work is out of copyright.

Bloom's taxonomy in the 21st century

A post on the Australian list serv by Barbara Braxton, re posted on the NZ school library list serv by Carol Gardiner, provides a link to a rich resource on Bloom's taxonomy revised for a 21st century learning environment with connections to web 2.0 tools and resources. This has been developed by Andrew Churches (Curriculum Manager Computer Studies & TLT (Teaching and Learning Technologies) Trainer at Kristin School, Auckland). The wiki has a range of other resources too...
Andrew Churches - Bloom's Digital Taxonomy http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom%27s+Digital+Taxonomy and http://www.usi.edu/distance/bdt.htm

Issue desk made with books

Here's an idea for an issue desk...
http://publishingperspectives.com/2010/09/delft-universitys-massive-library-desk-made-from-books/

Shared by Angela Soutar on the school library list serv.

Web 2.0 in libraries

A guide to using Web 2.0 in libraries from the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland (CILIPS).

These guidelines are meant to highlight the potential of social media within library services and to encourage organisations to reassess restrictive practices regarding access - http://www.slainte.org.uk/files/pdf/web2/Web2GuidelinesFinal.pdf

There is an associated Slainte2.0 website http://www.slainte.org.uk/slainte2/index.html which aims to provide librarians with the necessary information and support required to approach new technologies with confidence.

Xtranormal text to movie, and kindness...

Here is a post shared on LM_NET :

"Joyce Valenza was the keynote speaker at our annual NYC librarians' conference last week. To say the least, it was inspiring to see how she uses Web 2.0 tools with her students. I am teaching a College Research class and having my students keep blogs of what they are learning in class using the write-to-learn process. The students are not always motivated to write on their blogs but today I taught them how to make blog entries with xtranormal. Here are 2 examples of what my students did. They are now highly motivated to write blog entries via xtranormal.
http://alacr.blogspot.com/
http://mhpcr.blogspot.com/

Patricia Sarles, MA, MLS Jerome Parker Campus Library Staten Island, NY USA http://csihslibrary.wikispaces.com

Have a look at the wikispace, and here is a link to xtranormal text to movie http://www.xtranormal.com/

And Patricia signs off with these great quotes about kindness :

"Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind." - Henry James

"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong....because someday in your life you will have been all of these." - George Washington Carver

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof. What I want is so simple I almost can't say it: elementary kindness. Enough to eat, enough to go around. The possibility that kids might one day grow up to be neither the destroyers nor the destroyed. That's about it..." - Barbara Kingsolver

"Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind." - Henri Frederic Amiel

School Libraries Worldwide

School Libraries Worldwide is the official professional and research journal of the International Association of School Librarianship.

It is a refereed, peer-reviewed journal, published twice yearly, in January and July and is available online only on the IASL web portal http://iasl-online.org/pubs/slw/

School Libraries Worldwide publishes current research and scholarship on any aspect of school librarianship. Contributors are invited to submit new scholarly works, such as research reports and reviews of research.

Animated talks

I was having a look at this blog - Learning with 'e's http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/
and it has a post with a video of a talk by Ken Robinson about the need for a new education paradigm. Ken Robinson is always easy to listen to- I've enjoyed his TED talk on creativity for example, but what is new to me is the way this has been brilliantly illustrated by RSAnimate -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&feature=player_embedded#!

Here is another talk by Dan Pink on what motivates us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&feature=channel

and this one is by Philip Zimbardo on how our perspectives on time affects our work, health, and well-being http://comment.rsablogs.org.uk/2010/05/24/rsa-animate-secret-powers-time/

Here is a link to the RSAnimate site with the videos of various talks
http://comment.rsablogs.org.uk/videos/

Here is the RSA website : http://www.thersa.org The RSA is the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.
“In the light of new challenges and opportunities for the human race, the RSA seeks to develop and promote new ways of thinking about human fulfilment and social progress. We do this by providing a platform for ideas and debate, a programme of innovative research and development, and through the activities of our 27,000 strong Fellowship. By combining thought leadership, social engagement and powerful forms of collaboration, the RSA can make a vital and unique contribution to civic capacity.”

The Great New Zealand Remix & Mashup Competition

Remix: an alternative version of any type of media (eg. song, film, literature, artwork), made from an original version.

Mashup: any type of media (eg. story, poem, song, video, photograph, painting, map, cartoon) that combines material from two or more sources to create a new work.

It's all about encouraging use of New Zealand digital content and data.

• Mix & Mash is a competition where you get to show everyone what you can create using New Zealand digital content and data.
  
• There's BIG cash prizes up for grabs as well as lots of digital toys.
  
• They give you plenty of different categories to enter and loads of corresponding ideas, plus suggestions for data and content sources. Sound good?
  
• Then take a look at the Mix and Mash website and get creative, the competition is only for this month.

Check out the poetry competition : http://www.mixandmash.org.nz/poetry.html

And the cartoon remix is also lots of fun: http://www.mixandmash.org.nz/cartoon.html

There are also categories for creating a poster about the great kiwi summer holiday, music videos, as well as the chance for teachers to remix their own teaching resources...

This is only running for November!

Gift guide for library and book lovers

Shared on LM_NET :

"Please help the California School Library Association promote our Gift Guide for Library and Book Lovers. Enjoy it and share it widely with your friends and family. http://gifts4booklovers.csla.net/
No books here! Just lots of gift ideas for book, library, and literature lovers...

and

http://www.cafepress.com/LibraryGifts

Support the Campaign for Strong School Libraries!

* Students deserve equitable access to school library resources.
* Library standards provide blueprints for strong school libraries.
* Strong school libraries build strong students, who are life-long learners.

Proceeds go to the California School Library Association Foundation

The case for slow reading

Here is a recommended journal for articles on reading:
Educational Leadership: reading to learn.
And see this link for the online copy:

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar10/vol67/num06/toc.aspx

This issue includes an article by Thomas Newkirk : The Case for Slow Reading

Reading to Learn Pages 6-11 March 2010 | Volume 67 | Number 6
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar10/vol67/num06/The-Case-for-Slow-Reading.aspx

"Teachers can enhance students' pleasure and success in reading by showing them how to slow down and savor what they read."

In this article, the author suggests some strategies for "slowing down and reclaiming the acoustical properties of written language—for savoring it, for enjoying the infinite ways a sentence can unfold— and for returning to passages that sustain and inspire us. Many of these strategies are literally as old as the hills...."

These strategies include memorisation, reading aloud, attending to beginnings, rethinking time limits on tests, annotating a page, reading poetry, savouring passages...

"Not all our reading, nor all our students' reading, can or should have this depth. We read for various purposes. But some of our reading should have such depth, inefficient as that might be."

Y.A author Michael Grant

From Beattie's Book Blog : Sunday Nov 7 2010 http://www.beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com/
This is just the most amazing rich, prolific, focused, interesting blog about books ! I've just added Gone to my pile of books to read and so this bio caught my eye...

Michael Grant (left) is the author of the current best-selling Young Adult series, Gone, the story of a society where anyone aged 15 or older has disappeared. There are three books in the series, #1 Gone; #2 Hunger and #3 Lies, with another three to come.

In his own words:
Mostly I write. Type type type. With two fingers. I sit on my porch drinking coffee and smoking a cigar and type type type. Sometimes I go to a coffee shop and type type type. Occasionally when I get really excited about what I'm writing I can engage a third finger.

Hmmm. That's boring, isn't it? So. Okay. I'm sitting on my porch type type typing when a car pulls onto my street. I don't recognize the car and the driver is in shadow, but something about the tilt of his head, his silhouette . . . I'm over the railing, spilling coffee and MacBook before he can squeeze the trigger. I hit the dirt as the bullet hits the railing. But that was my one trick used up. Now I'm flat on my back with no cover but a shrub and he has plenty of bullets, a clear sightline and nothing but time.

I've published 150 kid books under 11 different names. These include (with my lovely wife, K.A. Applegate,) the ANIMORPHS series, EVERWORLD, BOYFRIENDS/GIRLFRIENDS, and even, early on, back in the so-poor-we'd-write-anything days, SWEET VALLEY TWINS. My career runs from Jessica Wakefield's first period, to crazy fights between Bengal tigers and razor-covered aliens.

I retired from writing for a couple years, did some other things, including producing documentaries. Now I'm back writing. (insert shameless plug here) I have a six book series called GONE.

Previewing non-fiction - THIEVES

This approach may be useful in giving students strategies for using non-fiction...

Developing Literacy & Numeracy Skills : Strategy for Previewing Textbooks (Manz 2002)

Manz, S.L. (2002). A strategy for previewing textbooks: Teaching readers to become THIEVES. The Reading Teacher, 55, 434–435.

Manz (2002) outlines a strategy for previewing textbooks called THIEVES, which is used to identify the elements of a text that need to be thoroughly surveyed and previewed in advance of actual reading. This method should enhance the use of prior knowledge, help provide a purpose for reading and stimulate metacognitive processing. The following steps are suggested :

• T - Title
  What do I really know about the topic? What does it have to do with the preceding chapter?
• H - Headings
  What do they let me know about what I will be reading? How can I turn each heading into a question?
• I - Introduction
  Does the first paragraph introduce the chapter? Do I know anything about this already?
• E - Every first sentence in a paragraph
  These are often the topic sentences and may help to decide whether this portion of the text is relevant.
• V - Visuals and vocabulary
  Are there photographs, drawings, maps, charts? What can I learn from them? Vocabulary may help identify the meaning of a chapter. Highlighted words may be keys to important concepts. Is there a key list of vocabulary terms? Do I know what they mean?
• E - End of chapter questions
  These study questions may flag important points and concepts. Questions that ask `why’ may be particularly informative. What do the questions ask? What information do I learn from the questions?
• S - Summary
  Encourage students to read the entire summary as part of the review, as it provides a frame of reference for the content of the chapter.

There is also a site with a lesson plan: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/using-thieves-preview-nonfiction-112.html

Thanks to Gail Cochrane for sharing this.

SLANZA awards

The SLANZA awards are now open and will close on 15 April 2011, being the last day of term one next year. Information and criteria related to the awards process can be found on the SLANZA website at http://www.slanza.org.nz/awards.html

Think of anyone you wish to nominate in Northland, and if I can be of any help putting an application together just let me know...

Selina Tusitala Marsh

Selina Tusitala Marsh
http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/pasifika/marsh2.asp

The SLANZA Auckland Christmas meeting is hosting Pasifika poet Selina Marsh who is both a poet and scholar. Selina is the first person of Pacific descent to graduate with a PhD in English from the University of Auckland, where she currently lectures in Māori and Pacific literary studies. Selina established Pasifika Poetry, an online hub that celebrates the poetry of tagata o te moana nui, the peoples of the Pacific. Selina’s first collection of poems, Fast Talking PI, was published by Auckland University Press in 2009, winning the 2010 NZSA Jessie Mackay Best First Book Award for Poetry.

St Kentigern - Corran School Library, 514 Remuera Road, Auckland
Wednesday 24 November 2010, 4.00 pm to 6.00 pm

The three most important documents...

"The three most important documents a free society gives are a birth certificate, a passport, and a library card."
E.L. Doctorow

More library quotes : http://labecpl.bfn.org/quotes.html

The moon and Farmer McPhee

Margaret Mahy's new picture book is an absolute delight - exquisitely illustrated by David Elliot, it tells the story of a hardworking farmer who is oblivious to the marvellous moon that brings all the animals out to frolic and celebrate in the magical night-time, until one night...

Everything about this book is perfect - the story, the language, the art work, the book design (by Sarah Elworthy and David Elliot) with its cut-out window and open-the-flap barn door, and the whole experience leaves you with a smile on your face and the memory of all the times that you've been filled with wonder yourself at a world transformed by silvery moonlight.

E-book primer

From PC magazine, here's an interesting article on the current state of e-books from the consumer's point of view - "This primer covers the current e-books ecosystem, from the hardware to the software to where to shop for freebies and bestsellers..."

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2371575,00.asp

Blogs about writing

Some interesting blogs on writing :

A Year of Reading
http://readingyear.blogspot.com/

Raising Readers and Writers
http://www.raisingreadersandwriters.com/

The Write Brained Teacher
http://writebrainedteacher.blogspot.com/

Once Upon a Teacher
http://onceuponateacher.blogspot.com/

Book dominoes

From a post by Julia on Kerikeri High School Library's great blog, Cover to Cover, here is a fun book domino event at Bookman's bookshop in the USA...
http://kerikeri-covertocover.blogspot.com/2010/11/book-dominoes.html

Electronic book and e-reader device report

Over the past six months or so, there has been much attention given to electronic books and e-readers, particularly as to their use in higher education. To cut through the speculation, the National Association of College Stores (NACS) has organised a study to see exactly how much college students are accessing e-books and on what devices.

The survey found that only 13% of college students had purchased an electronic book of any kind during the previous three months. Of that percentage, slightly over half (56%) stated that the primary purpose of their e-book purchase was required course materials for class. The survey also confirmed a finding that 74% of college students preferred print over digital.

Overwhelmingly, students are reading e-books on a computer rather than a dedicated e-reading device. In fact, 92% of students indicate they currently do not own an e-reader, and of those, 59% said they don’t plan to purchase one in the next three months.

http://www.nacs.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=blmPMgdQ_LA%3D&tabid=2471&mid=3210
SOURCE: ResourceBlog, 29 October 2010

Attention, and other 21st-century social media literacies

If you were the only person on earth who knew how to use a fishing rod, you would be
tremendously empowered. If you were the only person on earth who knew how to read and write, you would be frustrated and empowered only in tiny ways, like writing notes to yourself.

When it comes to social media, knowing how to post a video or download a podcast - technology-centric encoding and decoding skills - is not enough. Access to many media empowers only those who know how to use them. We need to go beyond skills and technologies. We need to think in terms of literacies. And we need to expand our thinking of digital skills or information literacies to include social media literacies.

Social media - networked digital media such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and wikis - enable people to socialise, organise, learn, play, and engage in commerce. The part that makes social media social is that technical skills need to be exercised in concert with others: encoding, decoding, and community.

http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/AttentionandOther21stCenturySo/213922
SOURCE: Current Cites, October 2010 (1 November 2010)

School Libraries Count!

American Association of School Libraries’ (AASL) national longitudinal survey of School Library programmes.
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/researchandstatistics/slcsurvey/2010/slc2010.pdf
SOURCE: ResourceBlog, 29 October 2010

Reading photos - Steve McCurry

Browsing a magazine I was enchanted by a photo in an ad taken by Steve McCurry which shows an elephant leaning on a rock and seemingly looking over the shoulder of his mahout who is - incongruously, delightfully, quietly - reading a book...

Here is Steve McCurry's website http://www.stevemccurry.com - (I downloaded his PDF catalogue under the Fine Art prints button to browse images) but better still, go to his blog - each post is a mini-exhibition... http://stevemccurry.wordpress.com

These 3 posts feature images of readers - Fusion : the synergy of images and words...
"We are familiar with words describing images, but not so familiar with images describing words and the impact reading has on our lives."

http://stevemccurry.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/fusion-the-synergy-of-images-and-words/
(and the second picture in this post is the one I mentioned)

http://stevemccurry.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/fusion-the-synergy-of-images-and-words-part-ii/

http://stevemccurry.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/fusion-the-synergy-of-images-and-words-part-iii/

Other posts celebrate fathers, or mothers, or elephants or sleep, the power of one or the power of two... such a talent.

Reading Rockets November newsletter

Here is the link to the Reading Rockets November newsletter with focus on fluency in reading,
amongst other things including an interview with Timothy Basil Ering - illustrator of Kate di Camillo's The Tale of Desperaux as well as author / illustrator of his own picture books...

"If stories come to you, care for them.
And learn to give them away where they are needed.
Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive."
writer Barry Lopez

Non-fiction reading

From Booklist online November 2010 (Book Links).

Books and Authors: Nonfiction and the Joy of Learning.
by Vicki Cobb

If you take a leap of faith and use nonfiction literature as your primary reading material, you will instill the joy of learning and reading in your classrooms, and the assessment tests will take care of themselves.

In the world of children’s literature, I write for a stepchild genre—nonfiction. Yes, it’s gaining more awareness these days through awards and blogs, including one I contribute to, INK (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids) http://inkrethink.blogspot.com/ But it’s not getting the attention it deserves in most classrooms...

In a seminal study 10 years ago, literacy researcher Nell K. Duke found that first-grade classrooms spent only 3.6 minutes a day reading/listening to expository text material, and this had a deleterious effect on reading in later years. Yet as children go from elementary school to high school, the percentage of nonfiction reading comprehension on assessment tests increases from 50 to 70 percent, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Read more

Should JK Rowling write another Harry Potter?

And another one from Beattie's Book Blog : The Observer, Sunday 31 October 2010

Novelist Naomi Alderman and children's writer Frank Cottrell Boyce debate whether another Harry Potter would be too much of a good thing

The Observer, Sunday 31 October 2010

NO – Naomi Alderman, novelist

Listen, JK. (You don't mind my calling you JK, do you?) Although we've never met, and you probably made more galleons and knuts last week than I expect to see in the next 10 years, you've always seemed approachable and honest, not the kind to stand on ceremony. Don't do it.

The thing is, Harry Potter's story is finished. He's defeated Voldemort. Friends have died, lessons have been learned, Draco Malfoy is all grown up with a child of his own, and Mrs Weasley said the word "bitch". It was beautiful. And now it's over.

I understand the temptation to revisit old triumphs. It feels dangerous to step away from ground where you know you've been successful. Imagine if you wrote something that wasn't quite as good! Or something that didn't capture the imagination in quite the same way. Well, what then? Creators all know that the most dangerous thing isn't to try and fail, it's to stagnate. Maybe not every new world or new set of stories you make will enjoy the huge success of Harry Potter – but a worse fate would be to keep on ploughing the same old furrow, not able to try anything new.

YES – Frank Cottrell Boyce, children's writer

It's not as if eight volumes is overkill is it? There are probably eight volumes of Victoria Beckham autobiography by now and when did she last face down a basilisk or foil an ogre?

It may seem a strange thing to say, given the unprecedented sales and the generation-defining excitement her books generated, but I think JK Rowling is vastly underrated. The scale of her success means that it's unfair trying to compare Harry Potter to any other book series. Even the most popular writer can usually find somewhere quiet to think about what happens next. Rowling wrote the last five Harry Potter books right in the middle of the Potter phenomenon, with fans and the media second guessing her next move everywhere she looked. It's hard enough to come up with something. To come with something that no one else has come up with – that's formidable. The only people who have been in that situation are the big, highly paid teams of writers and directors who work on franchises like Batman, Shrek, or Pirates of the Caribbean. Almost always they screw up. Ten minutes into the second Pirates of the Caribbean film, for instance, you knew it was dead. The people making it hadn't the slightest understanding of what made the first one so exciting.

Rowling on the other hand went off on her own, kept her nerve, refused to be distracted and somehow kept surprising and challenging us. The list of people who have managed to keep a character alive that long is very, very short. Anne of Green Gables for instance is, I think, a truly great novel. But does anyone read the other eight Anne books? Sherlock Holmes is probably the only real comparison but it's a telling one. What we want of Sherlock is more of the same. Sherlock himself never changes. Harry on the other hand is a rich, complex character who has – like his first audience – grown up.

Read the full debate at The Guardian.

British Library to chart how English language evolves

From Beattie's Book Blog : BBC - 28 October 2010

Linguists at the British Library say pronunciation is a matter of fashion The British Library is asking the public to help it track how pronunciation is shifting in Britain.

Volunteers are being asked to record a chapter from a Mr Man book to see how certain words and accents are changing.

The library wants as many people as possible to record the opening paragraphs of children's book Mr Tickle to track differences in vowel sounds.

It says youngsters are now more likely to say "haitch" than "aitch" when pronouncing the letter H.
When saying the word "mischievous", they prefer to pronounce it "mischeevy-us" rather than "mischivus", curators add. Young people are also more likely to have different way of saying words such as garage, schedule, migraine and harass.
The library is preparing to launch an exhibition called Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices.


BBC arts correspondent David Sillito says its linguists have drawn no conclusions on which pronunciations are right or wrong.
They say it is simply a matter of fashion, adding that in Victorian Britain the common pronunciations for hospital and herb, were 'ospital and 'erb.

The library says the exhibition will be the first to explore the English language "in all its national and international diversity".
It says iconic books and manuscripts set alongside everyday texts will show "the social, cultural and historical strands from which the language has been woven".
BBC.

50 book challenge - King's High School Library

Bridget Schaumann, the lively and innovative librarian at King's High School Dunedin, shared on the listserv her school's "50 Book Challenge", as follows :

So here is the deal with the 50 Book Challenge.

• It runs for 6 months from March till October
• You must fill in my very basic forms to have your books counted – What was the story about? What did you like about it? What didn’t you like?
  
• What other readers might like the book?
  
• All books must be about 200 pages (I’m more lenient with the guys who struggle with reading than I am with the avid guys)
  
• The winner gets a nice big $50 book voucher with $25 to the two other runners up
  
• Last year we had it running inter-house but it meant too much benefit to the non readers in the group so now it is just about the guys who really achieve – the group got a pizza lunch paid for – which turns out to be very expensive!
  
• All participants will get a small prize at the end for participating.
  

The main idea for beginning it was:

• I wanted a competitive reading competition which had decent prizes to raise the profile of reading in the school.
  
• The reviews that the students do go on the blog if they are good enough.
  
• Boys love competition – I love competition
  
• I wanted something easy to organise which could be an inter-house comp but not involve any more work for the deans
  
• It is a great promotional tool
  

The results:

• It has completely raised my issue stats and also made the really keen ones read more from my shelves than the public library shelves because they needed more books more quickly.
  
• The boys are doing far more recommending of books to each other than before because they like the ‘quick and dirty’ aspect “He liked it so I probably will too” and I have to say it has made some boys new friends.
  
• It is always the Year 9s and 10s who really buy into it. More senior students start but get bored and don’t continue. But there are a couple of year 13 who read avidly but who don’t want to take part in the comp (beneath them!) but they do check the blog to make sure I have posted their book reviews! (I think that is kinda cool!)
  
• It is a great promotional tool!
  

So there you go. I’m considering running a 100 book challenge next year but that might be a bit much, I’m doing one of those myself this year and am only up to 60 and the year is rapidly ending!
Cheerfully, Bridget
Bridget Schaumann RLIANZA Librarian/Careers Advisor King's High School

Poetry in Hell - poetry from the Warsaw Ghetto

Shared by Catherine Lee on the school library list serv:

From: Sarah Traister Moskovitz info@poetryinhell.org

Dear friends and colleages
I have just completed a new website, Poetry in Hell – http://www.poetryinhell.org, which contains the complete collection of poems from the Warsaw Ghetto's Ringelblum Archives. The poems are freely available for the first time in the original Yiddish along with my own original English translations.

The poems offer insight into the daily actions, emotions, and wisdom of people living in the ghetto. They capture a wide range of topics, presented with sensitivity, beauty, longing and raw angst. While the Yiddish language is particularly beautiful, the English translations are easy to read and will make the poems accessible to a far wider group of readers and to future generations.

The poems were rescued from the Ringelblum Archives, which were buried in three milk cans in the Warsaw Ghetto before its liquidation. Two of the milk cans were recovered in 1946 and 1950, and the third has never been found.

The project has been completed with help from my University, CSU Northridge where I am a Professor Emeritus, and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum where I worked on the project as a visiting scholar. The work is a labor of love for me, and has taken nearly ten years to complete.

I would appreciate it if you could help spread the word about this important resource. I believe that preserving and publicizing these poems is the best way to honor the poets and partisans, and protest the genocide of millions of Yiddish speakers.

Promoting EPIC

Here is a useful post on the school library listserv from Senga White, SLANZA President and Schools Rep on the EPIC Governance Group about how she promotes EPIC at her school :

Here at James Hargest College I promote EPIC extensively:

• All Y8 students are introduced to Encyclopaedia Britannica at our junior campus
  
• At Y9 I teach all classes how to use Biography Resource Centre through Science when they study famous scientists
  
• At Y10 I teach all classes how to use ANZ Ref Centre, Masterfile Premier, General Onefile and Discovering Collection in relation to a study of Pacific Island nations
  
• Y11-13 I do more in-depth classes specifically related to their assignments which are as varied as History, PE, Biology, Chemistry, Art History, English and Music.
  
• For the first time this year I worked with Scholarship PE students
  
• I also offer to Y13 students sessions in advanced use of EPIC databases that they can come to during their study periods
  
• I also offer PD sessions to staff with a view to them using the databases with their classes and for their own study
  

If anyone wants to know more details please send me an email and I’d be happy to answer any specific questions.
Senga White RLIANZA
Library Manager James Hargest College
Schools’ Rep-EPIC Governance Group
LIBOFFICE@jameshargest.school.nz

Scholastic launches social networking site : Youarewhatyouread.com

At the tenth anniversary celebrations of SLANZA in Auckland last Friday at the wonderful new National Library building in Parnell, guest speaker "Bookman Beattie" - Graham Beattie, gave a wonderful talk about the books that made him - who he was, is and will become in a lifetime of books...

Here is the post from his blog about a new site which gave him the inspiration for his talk's title - “Books leave an indelible mark on who we are and who we will become”.

This new site, including a separate community for kids, asks users "Which 5 books shaped your life?"

New York, NY (October 28, 2010)

To celebrate the importance of books and reading, Scholastic is launching You Are What You Read, a social networking site for readers around the world.
Users log on to http://www.youarewhatyouread.com/, list the five books that had the biggest impact on their lives, and connect with readers all over the world through these shared “Bookprints.”

The site also contains the Bookprints of more than 125 “Names You Know” – notable people from entertainment, academia, business, media, publishing, and more – including Scarlett Johansson, Al Roker, Sir James Dyson, Venus Williams, Jodi Picoult, Malcolm Gladwell, Judy Blume, President George H.W. Bush and President William Jefferson Clinton.

After logging into You Are What You Read via Facebook or Scholastic.com users can:

• Discover new books through an interactive web that shows how users’ Bookprints are connected
• Find and connect with users across generations and from around the world to see the books in their Bookprints
• Compare their Bookprints to those of the participating “Names You Know,” and find out if they share a book in their Bookprint with famous athletes, award-winning entertainers, world-renowned scientists, or iconic business leaders
• “Favorite” other books they like and check out what similar users enjoy reading
• See which books have been chosen as Favorites from around the world
• Share a book in the real word through Pass It On, which encourages users to give a favorite book to a family member, a friend, or even a complete stranger.
• Coming Soon: Users can join ongoing conversations about books and Bookprints in “Book Buzz,” a live feed of comments, news, and reviews.

You Are What You Read also features a separate community for young readers that provides kid friendly information about books and other activities.

“Books leave an indelible mark on who we are and who we will become,” said Maggie McGuire, Vice President, eScholastic, Kids and Parents Channels. “You Are What You Read is a celebration of the books that bind us together, and the personal connection we feel when we read a great book. In addition, the new site adds a tool in our arsenal to help kids and parents find the books that will keep kids reading every day. We know that parents struggle with this challenge and yet they are the number one source kids’ rely on for recommendations. We plan to help them.”

The site is part of Scholastic’s Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life. global literacy campaign, in celebration of Scholastic’s 90th anniversary. For more information on the Read Every Day campaign, visit scholastic.com/readeveryday.]


Thanks Graham !
Beattie's Book Blog is at http://beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com/

Kiwi kids' writing

Two books of kiwi kids' writing have been published recently...

Leprechaun ice-cream - Magical Tales by Kiwi Kids is the publication resulting from a competition for aspiring young authors (years 1–8), which was run by New Zealand Post in conjunction with the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards 2010.
It includes the work of fifty Kiwi kids from all over the country. An expert judging panel, including well-known New Zealand writer Kate De Goldi, selected the winning works from more than 7000 entries. The challenge for the competition was to “share your writing magic”, giving young writers the opportunity to interpret and explore the theme in their individual ways.Order from Learning Media ph 800 800 565 or local bookshops $



http://www.learningmedia.co.nz/our-work/portfolio/leprechaun-ice-cream

and

20 winning stories written by New Zealand children!

When Scholastic ran a Short Story Competition through its Book Clubs, over 1300 entries were received. With the help of educator Jill Eggleton, children’s author Kyle Mewburn and What Now! TV presenter Charlie Panapa, 20 stories across three age groups were selected as the best in the country. Imaginations are thriving! Read these great stories written by NZ children between the ages of 5 and 13 and see for yourself.
ISBN : 9781869439958 Scholastic New Zealand Limited, September 2010 $20

Eva Ibbotson

Bookseller's Press Release :

Eva Ibbotson, the much-loved and celebrated children’s author, died peacefully yesterday at her home in Newcastle. She was 85.

‘Eva Ibbotson weaves a magic like no other. Once enchanted, always enchanted.’ – Michael Morpurgo

Born in Vienna, Austria, which she noted was ‘a very beautiful city ringed by green hills, and a wonderful place for music and the theatre’, Eva Ibbotson came to Britain in 1934 at the age of eight with her family, refugees from Hitler. They were ‘a bedraggled party consisting of my fey, poetic mother, my irascible grandmother and confused aunt (my father – as was customary in my family – was somewhere else)’. Eva was the author of many magical, rich and evocative adventures – over 20 novels for children and adults. She was especially well-known for her books’ fantastic creatures, outrageous characters, and brilliant storytelling – all the product of her famously lively imagination and astute observation of human foibles. In a career stretching over 35 years, Eva’s novels touched the hearts and souls of generations of children (and their parents). She wrote with immense wit, economy and elegance – and her deceptively funny, engaging books always pack an emotional punch, whether she was writing for eight-year-olds or young teens. Eva’s own fierce intelligence, self-deprecating humour, and wonderful quick wittedness are reflected in and will live on through her books.

See also the posts in this blog about Eva Ibbotson's reflections on libraries, and about her latest book, The Ogre of Oglefort - recently shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize 2010.
http://libraryzest.blogspot.com/search/label/Eva%20Ibbotson

Two writing teachers blog

From the Stenhouse publisher's newsletter, here is a snippet about a teaching writing blog and new book which is available to preview online...

The blog post I saw used a picture book to illustrate ways for children to write the noises a cat and dog make beyond miaow and woof...
http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/beyond-meow-and-woof/

and here is a post about helping student writers to "show, don't tell"...
http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/show-dont-tell/


Ruth Ayers and Stacey Shubitz, creators of the popular blog Two Writing Teachers, have translated years of wisdom on writing instruction into a cornucopia of practical advice in their new book, Day by Day. Ruth and Stacey provide encouragement and manageable, bite-sized "discussions" that teachers can review daily to continuously improve their practice.



This blog includes various quotes "words that are speaking to me" - here are a couple...

You have to be brave to take out that white sheet of paper and put on it words that could be evidence of your stupidity. — Sol Saks

I wanted to write literature that pushed people into their lives rather than helping people escape from them. — Harvey Pekar