Newsletter April 11, 2014

Contributors: Sheila Kelican and Melissa Hinerman

April 2014 Volume 2, Issue 15

TIS and That SCHOOL LIBRARY MONTH GOES DIGITAL Since 1985, the American Association of School Librarians has chosen the month of April to highlight the importance and power of the school library in the lives of schools and communities. When the first celebration erupted 29 years ago, no one dreamed of carrying an entire library on a device that fits in the palm of your hand or accessing millions of information resources from your home or on the beach. Both of those scenarios are common realities for our students and the library is transforming to keep up with times. In this month’s issue of TIS and That, find out how school libraries are accessing the Digital Age and changing the way students read, research, and create with technology tools. You can also find out how to get your library involved in the celebration by clicking on the link for School Library Month. You can download posters and proclamations to use during your celebration and visit the National Library Month website for a video from author Judy Blume discussing the value of libraries. Flip to the next page to discover some digital resources to update your library and research skills.

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH National Poetry Month is a month long celebration of all things poetry...free verse, sonnets, haiku, you name it! It is also a way to honor those writers who have left a legacy of words with us and celebrate those who carry on the tradition today. This newsletter inspires you to dust the proverbial dust off of those books and open an app, website, or presentation tool and enjoy the beauty of words. Find ideas for celebrating at Poets.org and flip the pages to discover technology tools to bring poetry to life.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Destiny Quest ................................. 2

5 YEAR PLANS AND PROGRAMS OF STUDY April is the month for career clusters, 5 year plans, and programs of study for our middle school and high school students. Choosing a career and plotting a course that will get them on the pathway to personal and career success is made easier with the help of technology tools. In this edition of TIS and That, explore websites designed for career exploration, applying and paying for educational training beyond high school, and developing career readiness skills needed for the workplace.

CYBERSAFETY/INTERDISCIPLINARY LESSONS We will top off this issue with some high quality, top educational sites for cybersafety resources to use with students as well as some great places to find multi-disciplinary, cross curricular units of study for the classroom. Enjoy!

WV InfoDepot ............................... 2 The Poetry App .............................. 2 iPoe ................................................ 2 WVDELI ......................................... 3 Career Readiness ........................... 3 Cybersafety..................................... 4 Lesson Plans……………………………..4 For the Young at Heart……………….5

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST 

Celebrate School Library Month with Digital Ideas

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Bring poetry to the next level for students

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Career Planning and College Readiness

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Cybersafety

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Interdisciplinary Unit Plans

DESTINY QUEST AND ONE SEARCH Many teachers can relate to assigning a research topic to students only to find them trudging through a sea of Google sources, some credible and some not, to find the one webpage that will provide the information they need for their project.

We also have to worry about inappropriate content, even with safe search. For those teachers who dread the research process because of all those issues and more, Destiny Quest and One Search are the answers to your students’ Google search woes. Most school libraries in WV rely on Follett's Destiny online management system for their collection. Destiny Quest puts a User Friendly face on the antiquated card catalog that came with drawers and index cards decades ago. Students

can access Destiny Quest through their school website and search a colorful, inviting interface for favorite authors, titles, series, or subjects. With the One Search option, students can research all the databases that the library subscribes to with one click and find resources that are credible, safe, and educator evaluated. By having their own account in Destiny Quest, students can keep track of all books, websites, and databases visited for ease of citation. They can set up a virtual bookshelf to keep track of books read and what they want to read next. For more information, check out the Mighty Little Librarian’s Blog and the One Search Tutorial on YouTube.

“Unbeing dead isn't being alive.” ― E.E. Cummings WVINFODEPOT INHOUSE LIBRARY FOR FAMILIES Discovering the wealth of resources housed in WVInfoDepot is like finding an education treasure! This high quality, academic web source is available to all West Virginians absolutely free through the funding of the WV Library Commission. It is the perfect way to bring libraries into the homes of families and communities. Click on the link for WVINFODEPOT and gain access to thousands of magazines , newspaper archives, and online encyclopedias. Students can access databases for health/medical and career research. The depot also provides an academically safe and credible search engine for younger students called “Searchasaurus.” It is a perfect alternative to the Google Search engine. All of these resources can be accessed with the username “West” and the password “Virginia.”

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BRING POETRY TO LIFE WITH TECHNOLOGY April is National Poetry Month and what better way to bring a new twist to art of words than using technology! Students are fascinated with Edgar Alan Poes’ poem, “The Raven,” and for good reason. It has poetic devices such as alliteration, repetition, allusion, and rhyming with a dose of the surreal and ultra-spooky. The iPoe v.2 app literally brings this poem to life with visual imagery, sound effects, and interactive content that gets the reader involved in the storyline. The app also includes other Poe stories which will intrigue students and spark their interest in reading. The app can be purchased on the iTunes Store for $3.99. It is not currently available as an Android app. Click on the image below to see a review of this technology tool.

The Josephine Hart Poetry App is available for iOS and Android devices and draws readers into a world of 16 of the most renowned and recognized poets with 100 outstanding examples of poetry. The poems are narrated by 30 world famous actors and provide an interactive interface for students to explore poetry and create their own with the option to narrate included on the app. Another benefit for this tool is the price. It is absolutely free!

WVDELI AND OVERDRIVE: VISITING THE LIBRARY FROM THE COMFORT OF HOME

Don’t become overwhelmed by the enormity of career planning. You just need the right tools.

ONE STOP SHOP No one likes to spend valuable time driving from place to place to pick up needed items for their family. Planning and preparing for college should not be any different. The College Foundation of West Virginia is your “One Stop Shop” for post-secondary needs. This website helps students plan, apply and pay for education beyond high school. The time to start exploring this site is before you actually begin your life beyond high school. CFWV has tools for middle school students, high schoolers, college students, parents, and adult learners. There really is a little something for everyone. Access the site today and create a personal account to keep track of your ideas and progress. Visit CFWV.com today to begin your journey to success after school.

All you need is an e-reader like a Kindle or Nook, an iPad or tablet with an e-reader app, a smartphone, a computer, and a library card and the digital collection of your public library is literally at your fingertips. Libraries all over the state from Bridgeport, Kanawha Public, Fayette County, and Morgantown, to name a few, allow access to their digital collection with a library card and the WVDELI site. To discover how to open the books you love without leaving your home, click on the link for WVDELI for step by step instructions on how to check out books with your device. You will need to download either OverDrive or Adobe Digital but all the information you need to make this an easy experience is found by clicking on this link.

Most libraries allow you to check out 10 digital titles from 7 to 21 days. You may place books on hold and be notified when they are available for checkout. Another plus is never having to worry about returning books or overdue fees. The digital book automatically returns to the library when the loan period expires!

MYSTRATEGIC COMPASS Another valuable tool for career planning is myStrategic Compass. The site is an online system to explore occupations and career pathways that best fit your interests, skills, and work preferences. Each occupation describes the employment outlook, earning potential, education and skill requirements, and job availability. You can create a portfolio that saves self-assessment results, occupations explored, resumes, and exploration activities.

Visit myStrategic Compass at this link and check out all this tool has to offer.

WIN CAREER READINESS COURSEWORK Improve your students ACT WorkKeys® Assessments skill levels by using this site to assess and improve in the core areas that employers need most. The West Virginia Career Readiness Certificate ensures that an individual has certain foundational skills that are important across a range of occupations. Check out this site at http://wvde.wincshost.com/.

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DEALING WITH COPYRIGHT AND PLAGIARISM IN SCHOOL With the influx of information available to students at the touch of a key or a screen, teaching the ethics of intellectual property is essential. In order to do this well, teachers need to understand the foundations of copyright laws and the prevalence of plagiarism. The following resources will provide you with the information you need to develop an understanding of academic integrity and intellectual property: Ethics in Computing from NC State University includes links for copyright, trademark and intellectual property issues.

The US Copyright Office provides the basics of United States copyright law.

Resources for Detecting and Preventing Plagiarism gives teachers ideas for 7 resources for confronting plagiarism.

CYBERSAFETY RESOURCES GetNetWise is an online resource providing links for how to protect one’s privacy while browsing, shopping, emailing, and file sharing. Video tutorials address protection options such as disabling cookies, deleting temporary Internet files, using a firewall, spam filtering/reporting. Check out all the options available for keeping your family safe at getnetwise.org. Source: Internet Education Foundation StaySafeOnline includes security tips, a self-test, beginner’s guides, tech talks, and links to CyberSmart Curriculum, a free K-8 resource provided by McGraw Hill. Source: National Cyber Security Alliance Netiquette Online Presence Checklist is created by Auburn University and gives pointers for social networking and other e-communication from a professional perspective.

Teaching Information Technology Ethics website provides scenarios and other resources for teaching Internet and other computer related ethics.

TEACHING ACROSS DISCIPLINES In education, collaboration is a key word. We collaborate with our colleagues, students collaborate with one another in the classroom, and it is one of those 21st Century skills receiving discussion time in educational forums. One aspect of collaboration that we should not overlook is the idea and resource sharing that should happen among educators. No one should have to re-invent the wheel. Feel free to share ideas with one another and tweak them to fit your classroom, curriculum and situation. We have compiled some incredible lesson planning resources that will allow you to reach out to other people in your building and collaborate/co-teach or bring relevance into your lessons by showing students how education and information is interconnected. Don’t reinvent the wheel: take a ride on the collaborative bandwagon and find some innovative ideas for your classroom.

Interdisciplinary Lesson Plans from the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) include multi-subject lesson plans for middle school and high school classrooms.

Education World Interdisciplinary Lesson Plans includes a variety of interdisciplinary lessons ranging from K-12.

HotChalk Lesson Plans Page is a collection of interdisciplinary lesson plans for middle school and high school.

Awesome Library includes lots of links that are accessible by subject or grade level.

Many are cross curricular.

Teacher’s First Lesson Plans are submitted by “experienced teachers who know classroom realities.” The lesson plans include grade level ranges, but teachers may want to adapt them to lower or higher grades by substituting content.

Lesson Plans from Microsoft are technology related lesson plans accessible by grade level, theme, learning area, or product.

Teachnology Lesson Plans are a collection of interdisciplinary lesson plans for all grade levels through college.

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FOR OUR YOUNGER POETS, WRITERS, READERS, AND SEEKERS It’s never to early to start children on the road to literacy and language. Check out some parent and teacher approved learning apps designed to bring out the poet and reader in your students.

See Touch Learn: This app is a must have for teachers, parents and therapists who work with children who have special needs such as Autism. It contains lessons with online picture cards sets to help children learn new concepts and communicate more effectively. The app comes with 32 cards and 6 free lessons but additional lessons can be purchased in-app. A Pro version is also available. It is designed for preschool through early elementary.

Reading Rainbow is an icon in educational programming. Now that high quality reading program comes to the iTunes store. Children can select up to 5 ebooks from the Reading Rainbow library to keep in their virtual backpack. They can choose to read them independently or have them read by a narrator. There is a subscription fee of $30 for six months but in comparison to the vast library of choices, it is reasonable.

“A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.”

NOODLE WORDS, BOOK CREATOR, AND GUYS READ The beginning poet must begin with a love of words. The app Noodle Words enables students to begin the journey by exploring action words in unique and fun ways. This app is perfect for children who have difficulty comprehending words. It includes interactive content, and lots of visual imagery to make words come alive for them. It will also help students who have trouble remembering word meanings to explore in a non-threatening, visual environment. It is reasonably priced at only $2.99 in the app store. A web version is also available by following the above link. It isn’t available as an Android app at this time.

Book Creator for iPad is an app that is as much fun for adults as it is for children.

Who hasn’t dreamed of writing the great American novel or publishing a children’s book? This easy to use app allows students to pick images, upload their own creations, take pictures, choose background colors, and change the text attributes.

When the creation is complete, the book can be opened in iBooks, Dropbox, Evernote, or saved as a PDF file. Book

Creator allows students to express their ideas with words and images while using a tool that is extremely familiar to them...the iPad. What is so powerful about this app is the fact that writers can self-publish and share writing with a “real audience.” Book Creator sells for $4.99 in the App store.

Guysread: As a librarian, I know that finding books for boys to read and enjoy can be challenging. Enter the amazing site, Guys Read, by the amazing Jon Scieszka. The goal of this site is to provide boys with options that will excite and interest them. Most of the authors are part of the “all-boys club” and cover topics such as “At Least One Explosion, Outer Space Without Aliens, Funny, and How To Build Stuff” to name a few. Guys Read is a great place to start building your classroom library collection to entice the most reluctant male reader.

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BE CYBERSAFE FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS Kidzworld A safe, social networking site for tweens which allows them to communicate with people they don’t know within a closely monitored environment.. Includes articles, blogs, forums, and advice columns. A viable alternative to Facebook and other social media.

MORE TIS AND THAT ODDS AND ENDS POETRY DOESN’T HAVE TO END IN APRIL If you are still not too old for Falling Up or traveling to where The Sidewalk Ends, visit shelsilverstein.com for some poetry activities for teachers, ecards, and more Shel info.

Ask Kids An educational site for kids that delivers age-appropriate information while allowing students to get familiar with search engines.

KidsClick! This search engine is created and maintained by librarians, so you know your sources will be reliable and credible.

Keep up to date on all the latest movie, book, videogame, website, and app reviews with a Common Sense approach to evaluation by checking out Common Sense Media..org. They also have an app available on the iTunes app store that brings all the information at your fingertips. This is an amazing resource for parents and teachers.

Just a few more websites to check out for your poetry needs: Scholastic Writing With Writers Favorite Poem Project The Poetry Foundation

Flocabulary presents academic content in a highly-engaging, contemporary format.

Let the topic speak for itself, providing students with both visual and aural exposure. And videos aren’t only for introducing new topics; use them to review and provide ongoing enrichment as well.

This is an excellent resource for students who learn through music. Although you can purchase a single, school, or district license, many videos are available to supplement your curriculum for free.

Did you ever wonder why bread dough puffs up when you bake it? Or if you can actually see the equator? If want to instill a curiosity and learn of loving in your students, use Wonderopolis to expose readers to mind tickling questions of the day. Support Common Core standards of inquiry and research with this creative and innovative website.