Teacher Librarian, June 1, 2007, Friday

Copyright 2007 Gale Group, Inc.

All Rights Reserved

ASAP

Copyright 2007 Scarecrow Press, Inc.

Teacher Librarian

June 1, 2007

SECTION: Pg. 48(2) Vol. 34 No. 5 ISSN: 1481-1782

HEADLINE: Best sites for summer adventures;

web wonders;

Website list

BYLINE: Troutner, Joanne

BODY:

With thoughts of ending a school year, catching up on reading during the summer, and preparing for a new school year, this column offers a selection of sites that will help with all three activities. Peruse at your leisure, read, ponder, decide which to share with your colleagues, and think about new ways to share the information, such as through a blog, a teacher-librarian wiki, or a set of favorites/bookmarks on a social bookmarking site such as Backflip (www.backflip.com) or del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us/). Have a prosperous summer of learning and sharing!

Start by reading A Portrait of "Generation Next" developed by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press (2007) at http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/300.pdf. This 45-page report provides insight into the thinking and views of young people between the ages of 18and 25. Information was collected via phone interviews on the topicsof worldview, technology, lifestyle, politics, and social issues. Once you read the report, consider investigating the data sets available at http://people-press.org/dataarchive/ for use as teaching activities.

Next, visit Wired Science, www .pbs.org/kcet/wiredscience/, for a wealth of fascinating science information explained in the same styleas that of Wired magazine. Learners can easily watch episodes via the web site or iTunes. The site includes information on the science behind plasma screens, rocket belts, and many other engaging topics. The design of each learning experience is a great model for student projects as links to further information, and an activity is included for each. Be sure to investigate the blog link as well.

Check out the wonderful digital library of Samuel Clemens's, or Mark Twain's, writing about the Mississippi River, housed at http:// dig.lib.niu.edu/twain/. Here are indexed primary source materials, ranging from the text of Twain's works to audio and video dips of scholars discussing the works, along with various images. Concise information written in a scholarly fashion is included on the history surrounding this time, on Twain's life, and on cultural tourism. Students willfind the site useful for selecting primary source materials and quick validated references on Mark Twain's view of the Mississippi River.

Poetry Daily, www.poems.com/, is another useful literature site. This site offers two poems for each day, biographical information on the day's author, and information about the featured book of poems. The archives can be accessed by poet, date, and title. Links for news and special features reveal a number of fascinating learning options for literature students. Also offered is the option to subscribe to a weekly e-mail newsletter, which highlights new publications and various authors. This site will work well in a literature classroom as a discussion spark or as a bell-ringer activity.

Educate your students about the Triangle Factory Fire that happened on March 25, 1911. By visiting the web site developed by the Kheel Center at Cornell University, www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/, learners will hear from fire survivors, read letters and trial transcripts, and explore the actual newspaper accounts of the event. Developing a mock trial or investigating the reforms that resulted from the event are engaging activities for middle school and high school students. Superb primary source options are featured on this site.

The U.S. government provides a treasure trove of resources at the National Atlas site, http://nationalatlas.gov/index.html. This site offers tools for easily creating customized maps and accessing a number of already designed printable options. In addition, the site has information and a number of premade maps indexed by topic, such as agriculture, biology, climate, history, water, and transportation. Be certain to check out the interactive options, and consider using them inyour school library to spark student interest.

Think about using the "photos of the year" feature from a variety of news sources, including Time magazine, Reuters, Toronto Star, and World Press as visual literacy activities for the upcoming school year. You can find links to a number of resources, including some excellent teaching ideas and tips, at www.frank wbaker.com/photos_of_the_year_2006 .htm. Take the time to explore the "Reading Photographs" link, which explains how to decode a photograph. This is a wonderful educational site that you can use to grab students' attention and slip inthe information literacy skills that you want to reinforce.

Explore the world of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at a masterful website crafted by the Maine Historical Society, www.hwlongfellow.org/index.shtml. Learners can find concise information about Longfellow's life, as well as primary source documents from various periods. Information on his various homes, family members, and aspects of the celebration of the poet's 200th birthday are included. A database of poemsis well indexed and provides quick access to the full text of works.The teacher's section contains 20 lesson plans crafted by teachers from Maine and Massachusetts that cover a variety of content areas andgrade levels.

Venture into the world of collaboration with over 100 universitiesat the Open Courseware Consortium web site, http://ocwconsortium.org/about/index .shtml. Here, you will find a collection of high-qualitydigital learning materials. Explore a brain science course from MIT with audio files and lecture notes, or examine the world of human-animal interactions via the vet school at Tufts University. Learners will find materials from a number of U.S. universities as well as from colleges in China, Japan, and numerous other countries. You, your colleagues, and your high school students will find many options to continue lifelong learning experiences. Consider starting a group learningexperience in the school library during lunch by using the resourcesfrom this site.

Finally, take time this summer to either reacquaint yourself or visit for the first time the Reading Rockets site, www.readingrockets .org/. This national multimedia project comprises PBS videos and the web site. Information and helpful tips for teaching reading, helping struggling readers, and reading research reports are easily accessible, and Podcasts and video downloads are available via the site. The "For Teachers" section includes useful ideas for first-year teachers aswell as suggestions for veteran educators. Check the "Families" linkfor ideas to share through your building literacy program.