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/

"Discussion starters" for thinking and talking about books

Here is a link to a powerpoint by Tanya Molina at Centerra Mirage School in Texas, with 30 or 40 suggestions for discussion starters to help students think about their reading / talk about books... Would be great for literature circles. Upper primary / intermediate level.

Go to this link and find on the page the powerpoint called Discussion cards
http://www.avondale.k12.az.us/webpages/tmolina/links1.cfm?subpage=5836

Talking about books - SLJ article by Olga Nesi

Here is an interesting article about using "reader advisory" strategies, such as "appeal terms" to help children speak more thoughtfully about the books they read - going beyond "This book is great. I really like it. It is about... "

It’s All About Text Appeal: Want readers’ advisory to make a difference? Teach your kids how to speak intelligently about books.
By Olga Nesi August 1, 2010

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/885803-312/its_all_about_text_appeal.html.csp

Teach with picture books

I've just come across another really useful blog called Teach with Picture Books by Keith Schoch http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/

"The main purpose of this site is to help teachers and homeschooling parents in grades 3-8 use picture books to enhance their instruction. If you'd like to know the reasons why you should be using picture books in your classroom, visit the sister site called Teaching with Picture Books Across the Middle Grades."

The Tuesday 2 March 2010 post describes Ten Not-to-Be-Missed Picture Book Reference Sites Check it out - it will lead you from one wonderful resource to another.

I also liked this post with suggestions for ways to share picture books (with upper primary / intermediate age students) http://teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/ways-to-share-picture-books.html

This is his related wiki which includes "focused reading skills" which is being developed collaboratively... http://atn-reading-lists.wikispaces.com/Focused+Reading+Skills

Voicethread

An article from Book Links magazine, July 2009.
Thinking Outside the Book: Responding to Literature with VoiceThread
By Jessica Mangelson and Jill Castek
VoiceThread is a free interactive online tool that allows students to create products and share them widely. These collaborative multimedia slide shows integrate images, documents, and sound files. Commenting on VoiceThreads is an essential part of the process. Through the interplay of multimedia and commentary, VoiceThread becomes an interactive environment that encourages literary response. Participants can post from anywhere, at any time, making it easy to involve groups in different time zones, or even different countries, in a single conversation. Viewers simply click on “Record” or “Type” to add a comment that appears in the border outside the VoiceThread, and the response becomes a part of the overall project.