Web 2.0 Collage logos January 31, 2008
Web 2.0 Collage logos, originally uploaded by premiardiego.
Waimea Public Library front door sign, originally uploaded by Librarian In Black.
Kids Play! January 31, 2008
Kids Play! is a new PBS space designed for children of ages 3 to 6 to learn proper use of the computer. Kids will learn by playing games with familar characters such as Arthur, Bob the Builder, and Curious George. All of the activities revolve around standards in math, science, literacy, language development, creativity, and social studies. Each child receives a personal progress chart. The program is currently in BETA and offers a free trial. Visit www.pbskidsplay.org for more information or to sign your child up. 
Record number of teachers retiring January 31, 2008
Will schools look to replace a record number of retiring teachers with ones who will cost less money? I teach in a small district that has not seen a lot of change over the past four years, albeit four teachers near the top of the seniority list will retire at the end of this school year. . NPR provides the following information…
Teachers are leaving their profession in record numbers, especially at the high-school level, according to study released Thursday.
Some 40 percent of the nation’s classroom teachers are now 50 years or older and an unprecedented number of them will likely retire in the next five years, a study by the National Center for Education Information said Thursday.
The number of teachers expected to leave the field is double what it was 12 years ago. Losing so many classroom veterans spells trouble for schools trying to meet federal guidelines to hire only the most qualified teachers - especially in math, science and special education.
The researchers said the current pool of teachers is graying because so many of them switched from other careers in their 30s and 40s. That trend is likely to continue.
The study also said 80 percent of teachers surveyed said they were satisfied with their jobs.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules January 31, 2008
A few of my third graders were reeled into Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I started to read it a few weeks ago and keep getting distracted by other books. The following is an interesting USA Today article about Jeff Kinney and one wimpy kid.
Long before his online comic strip became a series of best-selling books, Jeff Kinney wondered about his quirky title.
He knew that Diary of a Wimpy Kid would grab attention, but worried “if kids who aren’t wimpy would even want to touch it.”
He’s not worried anymore.
Nine months after the first Diary was released, there are more than 1 million copies in print. The Diary sequel, subtitled Rodrick Rules, made its debut at No. 7 last week on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list.
Kinney, a would-be cartoonist who became an author almost by accident, says he’s shocked to see his book so high on the list.
“It’s like a school quiz: ‘Which name doesn’t belong here?’ Mine.”
His readers (Kinney says he’s most popular among fifth-grade boys) would disagree. They’ve embraced his creation, a bullied but wisecracking middle-school student named Greg Heffley. (Rodrick is his slacker older brother.)
Kinney, 36, the father of two sons, ages 5 and 2, lives in Plainville, Mass., and says he “was a regular kid who had my wimpy moments.”
He dreamed of being a syndicated cartoonist like Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes). But after drawing a popular strip for the student newspaper at the University of Maryland, he collected nothing but rejections. He became a Web designer.
He also persisted and thought about getting his cartoons published as a book, “sort of through the back door.” Coincidentally, his company was seeking content for one of its educational websites. He offered his would-be book as a daily online strip, or webcomic. It was posted in 2004 and soon had 70,000 daily readers (funbrain.com/journal).
In 2006, Kinney attended Comic Con and happened to meet Charlie Kochman, an editor at Abrams, and showed him a printout of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Kochman remembers thinking, “The art is simple but not at all simplistic, and instantly relatable to kids of all ages. Jeff is easygoing, funny and charmingly awkward — just like his main character. I instantly knew he and I could work together.”
A five-book series is planned.
That about 80% of the material is already available online for free didn’t trouble the publisher. Abrams CEO Michael Jacobs says, “Books still have immense power for kids.”
And “for kids who don’t normally read or finish books, and for their often frustrated parents and teachers, Wimpy Kid helps make them feel like readers; for those who already do, they’re simply too good and too funny to resist.”
Part of the appeal, says Elizabeth Bird, a New York school librarian, is that Heffley “is not a good kid. He’s not a bad kid, either. He’s just a kid.”
Great Websites for Kids January 30, 2008
The Association for Library Service to Children reviewed over 400 websites and selected 35 to add to its list of Great websites for Kids (www.ala.org/greatsites) The sites are put through a “rigorous evaluation” before added to the list. I’m glad to see that I’ve used nearly 80% of the websites for instructional purposes.
Adoption Clubhouse - www.adoptionclubhouse.org
Afro-America Kids’ Zone - www.afro.com/children/children.html
Bookwink - www.bookwink.com
Bradshaw Foundation - www.bradshawfoundation.com
The Bubblesphere - www.bubbles.org
Sharon Creech’s Web site - www.sharoncreech.com/index.html
Diane deGroat’s Official Site - www.dianedegroat.com
Get Set 4 Kindergarten - www.getset4k.org
International Digital Children’s Library - www.childrenslibrary.org/
Just One More Book - www.justonemorebook.com
Kids Boogaloo - www.alligatorboogaloo.com/kids
Little Critter - www.littlecritter.com
Marc’s Observatory - www.marcsobservatory.com
Math Playground - www.MathPlayground.com
Math Slice - www.mathslice.com
The Mint - www.themint.org
Mr. Young’s Bouncy “A” - www.covenantworks.com/Bouncy-A/index.htm
My First Garden - www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/firstgarden/
My Kids Corner - www.my-kids-corner.com
National Geographic My Wonderful World: Maps - Tools for Adventure - www.nationalgeographic.com/toolsforadventure
Noggin - www.noggin.com
Pagina Junior - www.paginajunior.com
Planet Esme - www.planetesme.com
Play Sports TV - www.playsportstv.com
Professor Garfield - www.professorgarfield.org
Readergirlz - www.readergirlz.com
Savings Quest - www.mysavingsquest.com/
Science Bob - www.sciencebob.com
Science Buddies - www.sciencebuddies.org
Sur La Lune Storytime - www.surlalunefairytales.com/storytime/index.html
Tox Town - www.toxtown.nlm.hih.gov
TVO Kids http://tvokids.com
Chris Van Allsburg’s Web site - www.chrisvanallsburg.com
World Almanac for Kids - www.worldalmanacforkids.com/explore/index.html
Her life in Pictures: Helen Keller January 30, 2008
Books about Helen Keller, Annie Sullivan, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Harriet Tubman are floating around my classroom. My favorite out of the Keller set is Her Life in Pictures: Helen Keller. Here is the publisher’s description…
The fascinating life of one of the most popular historical figures is told through images — most rarely, if ever, seen — from the American Foundation for the Blind and The Perkins School for the Blind. The images trace Keller’s life from birth, to childhood with Annie Sullivan in the cottage, to college, and on to her many years as a dedicated social activist and spokesperson. We get a glimpse of her sense of humor, her experiences as a lecturer on the vaudeville circuit, her many pets, and her last quiet years in Connecticut.
Iggy Peck , Architect January 29, 2008
I would welcome an entire class of Iggy Peck’s. He’s been building his entire life. As a baby he assembled an entire tower out of dirty diapers. His mother simply responds with, “Good Gracious, Ignacious!” Iggy is faced with a problem when his second grade teacher dislikes architecture. The teacher’s prejudice stems from a bad childhood experience with sky-scrappers. (I would use the teacher’s experiences to teach about how actions make more sense when we delve beneath one’s iceburg). Iggy does not let his teacher stand in his way! He continues to build bigger and better things. In the end, Iggy’s artistic prowess might just save the day!
Recommended for ages 4-8.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village trailer January 28, 2008
I’ll be getting this for Nintendo DS on February 10th.
We are the ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball January 28, 2008
A friend of mine who teaches 5th grade bought this from Anderson’s Bookshop last week. I became quite excited while looking through her copy because it is a great suplement to my unit on Negro League Baseball. Kadir Nelson will sign copies at Anderson’s Bookshop tonight.
The folllowing is a Booklist review.
Award-winning illustrator and first-time author Nelson’s history of the Negro Leagues, told from the vantage point of an unnamed narrator, reads like an old-timer regaling his grandchildren with tales of baseball greats Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and others who forged the path toward breaking the race barrier before Jackie Robinson made his historic debut. The narrative showcases the pride and comradery of the Negro Leagues, celebrates triumphing on one’s own terms and embracing adversity, even as it clearly shows the “us” and “them” mentality bred by segregation. If the story is the pitch, though, it’s the artwork that blasts the book into the stands. Nelson often works from a straight-on vantage point, as if the players took time out of the action to peer at the viewer from history, eyes leveled and challenging, before turning back to the field of play. With enormous blue skies and jam-packed grandstands backing them, these players look like the giants they are. The stories and artwork are a tribute to the spirit of the Negro Leaguers, who were much more than also-rans and deserve a more prominent place on baseball’s history shelves. For students and fans (and those even older than the suggested grade level), this is the book to accomplish just that.
— Ian Chipman
What Presidents are Made Of January 28, 2008
What Presidents are Made Of goes beyond a list of facts. Instead, it focuses on the unusual details and moments that do not usually make it into the history books. Such as… George Washington helped save a family from a burning house. Thomas Jefferson hated stuffy, formal manners. Jimmy Carter taught Sunday School while president. This is a must to accompany an election or a U.S President unit. (Thank you, MA, for suggesting this text.)
The Library Restaurant January 27, 2008
I must pass through Pittsburgh, PA this summer to dine at The Library. It is a book-themed restaurant that serves such dishes as A Light in the Attic (salad), Of Mice and Men (assorted cheeses), The Scarlet Letter (asiago tortellini), and, my favorite, Where the Wild Things Are (chicken tenders). The full menu and more information about its location are avaliable at http://www.thelibrary-pgh.com/tp/.
The Library found via this post: The Library Restaurant « @ the Library
