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Title: Ellis Island (A True Book)
Author: Elaine Landau
Published: 2008
Schu’s Rating: 4 J out of 4
Ellis Island consumes my thoughts. This may very well be one of the best informational text for children. It is part of the Scholastic “True Book” series. It opens by informing the reader that everything he/she is about to read is true except for…1. Millions of people had their names changed on Ellis Island because inspectors could not understand them. 2. An immigrant could get sent back across the ocean for having an eye infection. Both questions hook the reader and develop a reading purpose. (Which question is false?)
There is a simple explanation of the steerage section, the area at the ship’s bottom. As many as 2,000 people crowded together. There is a comprehensive chart on page 19 that shares the following information:
*A passenger and his belongings had to fit in a narrow bunk.
*Mattresses were filled with straw or seaweed?
*Floors were often covered in dirt and vomit.
*As many as 300 passengers shared two bathrooms.
*Passengers ate small portions of meat, bread, and potatoes, scooped from large kettles.
*Passengers played cards, sang, danced, told stories, and practiced English.
My students will enjoy the “Getting Around the Island” graphic on pages 24-25. It explains each section of the island. (The island is broken into Island 1, Island 2, and Island 3.) The following sections are discussed:
1. Baggage and Dormitory Building: Immigrants left their heavy baggage in this building. They proceeded to dormitory bunk beds. The beds held immigrants who didn’t have permission to leave the island yet.
2. Cafeteria: Here immigrants had their best meal since leaving home. Some tasted ice cream for the first time.
3. Ellis Island Hospital: Sick immigrants were cared for at the hospital. Three hundred and fifty-three babies were born here. (Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom takes you inside the abandonded hospital buildings.http://mrschu81.wordpress.com/2007/11/05/ellis-island/)
4. Stairs of Separation: Doctors watched immigrants as they climbed the staircase. They looked of signs of illness, such as sweating or shortness of breath. People with these signs had to have a more detailed checkup. Approximately 2% of immigrants were not admitted because of sickness.
5. Registry Room: Inspectors interviewed millions of immigrants in this room. Immigrants waited, often for hours, for their turn.
6. The Kissing Post: J This was the last stop for new Americans. Here, they had reunions with relatives already living in America. There were tons of tears and kisses!
A librarian posted this on LM_Net. It reminds us of the importance of understanding homonyms and why students need spelling skills.
‘Spell Checker Blues’
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rarely ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect in it’s weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
Anon
Dolly Parton performed her heart out last night at the Chicago Theatre. She told the story behind many of her classic songs and reflected on her childhood in the Smoky Mountains. In 1996, Dolly launched her Imagination Library to show the children of Tennesse the power and beauty of books. Dolly mailed a copy of The Little Engine who Could to every child under age five in Sevier County, Tennessee. The program was such a success that Dolly expanded it across the country and now provides books to hundreds of thousands of children. For more information about the program and to learn how to get involved, visit http://www.dollysimaginationlibrary.com/home.php.
I am teaching a summer course on Podcasting. I just found my introduction! Thank you, Common Crafts!
Title: Ellis Island: A History of Many Voices
Author: Louise Peacock
Reading Level: 5.0
Schu’s Rating: 4 
out of 4
Notes: The perfect book for an Ellis Island unit and for teaching students about quality journal writing.
In this historical fiction picture book, Sura, 10, writes letters to her dead mother about her journey from Armenia to Ellis Island. It brings to life a girl’s struggle to join her father in America. Also, a modern day girl shares her grandfather’s journey through Ellis Island and brings to life the voices that dropped off their baggage in a chaotic room filled with a variety of languages. Immigrants proceeded to the great stairway where many were pulled from the line and tested for physical staminia. If you were lucky enough to make it to the Great Hall, you went through a medical exam, a mental exam, and, at times, further questioning. Of the nearly 12,000,000 people who passed through Ellis Island, an estimated 2% were sent back to their homeland. Too many found out the roads were not paved with gold. :( My students are becoming Ellis Island experts and preparing for an Ellis Island simulation. The most poignant story I read was of a young girl who was asked, “Do you wash the stairs from top to bottom or bottom to top?” She replied, “I did not come to America to wash stairs.” The girl was sent back to her home country.
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Book Links announced a new column called “Everyday Poetry.”
“Keep a Pocket in Your Poem” by J. Patrick Lewis could be part of a “pocket poetry” display, with miniature copies of covers of favorite poetry books tucked into blue jean pocket shapes. Enjoy sharing this and future poems with your students!
Online publishers—and that includes educators and librarians who regularly write or blog for the Web—may now receive a free subscription to the online Encyclopedia Britannica.
“This program is intended for people who publish with some regularity on the Internet, be they bloggers, webmasters, or writers,” advises the April 29 announcement by Britannicanet.com.
Considering that regular subscriptions to the online reference cost $70 for individuals and 65 cents per student for schools, is the mighty Britannica taking a financial risk? “We don’t think so,” says Corporate Communications Director Tom Panelas. “It’s going to create more exposure for us and ultimately bring more people and give us more subscriptions.
“People who publish on the Web are the people shaping and driving the main issues of the day,” Panelas explains. “We think Britannica belongs in the middle of those conversations, so we want to make our material available to the people shaping those discussions.”
Though the complimentary subscriptions last only one year, they are renewable—so long as the subscriber continues publishing, Panelas says. The offer is not intended to “hook” future paying customers, he adds.
Once subscribers gain free access, they can then set up “widgets” which, Panelas explains, will enable readers of subscribers’ work to access clusters of Britannica articles on the topics they cover.
The company will review all applicants, who are asked to fill out an online form. They need to be able to state that they publish regularly and to supply a URL and description of their work. Writers offering e-commerce sites with no content are not eligible, nor those who maintain a simple Facebook page. Nor is anyone who creates a new blog with a single post in order to snag a subscription, says Panelas, tongue-in-cheek.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6556229.html?rssid=190
KizClub.com provides educational resources to educators and parents of pre-school and elementary school age children. Korean and English resources are avaliable for downloading. The website includes:
This website provides…
1. ABC’S
2. PHONICS
3. TOPICS
4. CRAFTS
5. STORY PATTERNS
6. NURSERY RHYMES
7. FLASHCARDS
8. TEACHING EXTRAS
A group of third graders voted and the winner is…KNUFFLE BUNNY! Refer to Wanted: Travel Buddy for more details!
I stumbled upon Kevin Jarret’s blog while looking for something totally unrelated to technology and Web 2.0. He is a K-4 Technology Facilitator in New Jersey. In the past three days, he’s posted the following sites that my students and teachers will love. Thank you, Kevin!
Storyline Online is funded by a Superpages.com grant. Members of the Screen Actors Guild read children’s books aloud. Students can watch the streaming books for free. Each book comes with a guide that includes activities. http://www.storylineonline.net/
Move over Webkinz, Minyanland has landed! According to the Minyanland website, MinyanLand is a virtual community designed to engage kids and families in games and interaction that is entertaining and educational.” The focus is financial education and economics so it’s very real-world. There are jobs, banks, investments, businesses, organizations - all waiting for kids to interact with and explore.
I am a huge fan of Time for Kids. Most students look forward to reading it and the articles serve as wonderful discussion starters. This week’s issue focuses on Comics in the Classroom. Graphic novels and comics are becoming increasingly popular in elementary classrooms and it made me smile when I read the following article! Yay for comics and graphic novels!
Picture this: You are sitting in class and pow! your teacher turns into Superman. Thwak! Garfield is chasing Mickey Mouse around your desk. What are comic book characters doing in class?
In some places, they are part of the lesson. Schools around the country are using comic books as a way to teach reading, writing and other subjects.
Critics say comics are too simple for school. But many teachers give comics a good grade for getting their students to read.
A Colorful New Way to Learn
Third-grade teachers in Maryland are using classic Disney comics. The department of education created lesson plans for the comics.
Maryland tested the program in eight classrooms. “The teachers love it. It captures students’ interest,” says Nancy Grasmick, superintendent of Maryland schools. She adds that they believe the comics have helped improve reading skills.
Another program, the Comic Book Project, is being used in 850 schools in the U.S. Students write and draw their own comics. The project was started by Michael Bitz, of Teachers College at Columbia University, in New York City. Bitz wanted to give kids the chance to “write their own stories and create their own characters,” he told TFK, “while improving their reading and writing skills.”
Katie Van Els, 11, from Hawaii, says the project has made her a better writer. “You need to use the right words and punctuation.”
Teachers also give the program high marks. Bitz has heard stories of children who didn’t like to read. “Suddenly, they’re the star writers in their class,” he says.
Retrieved from http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/teachers/ns/article/0,27972,1732354,00.html
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