The Best Children's and YA Authors for Teachers to Follow on Twitter, Facebook and Beyond

Melanie Holtsman on Flickr http://bit.ly/1hxukOr

I was on The We Are Teachers Blog, and found a link worth sharing to help others find authors to connect with online.

 "The Best Children's and YA Authors for Teachers to Follow on Twitter, Facebook and Beyond"

Among the authors featured in the list are the following:

• Patricia Polacco
• R.l. Stine
• Eric Carle
• Mo Willems' Pigeon
• Lemony Snicket

Author Kate Messener has on her site a list of authors who Skype for free. Her list breaks down the authors by intended school-age audience. Check her post: "Authors Who Skype with Classes and Book Clubs for Free."

Have you tried connecting with authors virtually to bring them into your classroom? Did you realize many authors like to tweet, and a good number will reply? A class twitter account is one way to explore working with an author through the Twitterverse.

Moving Along with Our Favorite Children's Books

So we started a VoiceThread in class tonight. This was the first time we used the program.

Here is what we have so far, and we will add more comments next week.

VoiceThread.




We then experimented using two apps on the iPad to make quick videos. Our goal was to compare the three tools for creating a photo story about children's books.

We won't edit the versions completed on the iPad. That was not the intent. We just wanted to compare different tools to deliver comparable content.

On the iPad, we first used the free version of Shadow Puppet, which allowed us to upload 10 images. We then audio recorded our comments about each of the books. Next, the final version was transferred to the iPad's camera roll, so it could be accessed there to upload to YouTube.

We next experimented with iMovie on the iPad. We did not have the limitation of 10 images, but we also kept each of the clips to 15 seconds to keep the final video short. We used one of the music tracks in iMovie, but did not use other features, except to audio record ourselves for our allotted 15 seconds. The final version was uploaded to YouTube.


Here are the two versions.

Shadow Puppet Version

iMovie on iPad Version

So what do you think so far? Would you consider doing a collaborative photo story like this one with students?

We also used Padlet to create a bulletin board of our favorite children's books. It was easy for us to collaborate online using the tool. Here is what we have so far, shown in a screen shot.

Who Could Ask for Anything More: A Kid Reviewing Kid Books

This Kid Reviews Books is a site maintained by a kid who as the title implies reviews books.

If you're looking for books to recommend to kids, which I hope you are, what better way than to find another kid who recommends them. Plus, this is a site worth having your students, especially if you teach elementary or middle school, check out.

I first found out about the site from some tweets. Here they are.

So naturally, I headed over to the site to start exploring, and encourage you to do the same. Please visit. Just click on the image below, and once you're at the site, scroll through the blog, but also check the pages, "About 'This Kid' -- Erik!" and "Books I Read This Year." This kid is a prolific reader, but also a prolific writer. Think of all the time he spends not only reading the books, but also taking the time to write these reviews.

So now that you've visited Erik's site, let me know what you think. Would you recommend the site to students and to librarians, or use the site yourself? How could  you get your own students blogging about books?

This kid has also written a book and has a Twitter account.

You can find him here on Twitter:

Here is some info about his book:

http://thiskidreviewsbooks.com/check-out-my-book/

Would love to find out more about Erik, for instance, how he got motivated to start the blog and what recommendations he has for other kids to get them also interested in reading and discussing books. 

Do You Know About BiblioNasium?

I heard about this site, but when one of my former students, a middle school special education teacher, ready to go off to Argentina, to teach there, recommended it, I decided to look into it. After I did, I was convinced it was an excellent site to engage students in reading and sharing what they are reading.

I even set up a site myself to explore how the tool works. Here is a glimpse into what I have so far, but I invite you to check out BiblioNasium for yourself, and set up a site for your class regardless of the age of the students you teach.

If you work with young students who are not yet reading, you can post on your site picture books you recommend for parents to read aloud at home or share with parents the ones you are already reading aloud in the classroom. If you work with older students, set up a class account, where students can post what they are reading, write reviews, make recommendations, and add books to a wish list. This truly is an interactive site that engages students in the reading, writing, and information literacy processes.

I love this site, and it makes me wish I were teaching students grades PreK through 8th grade, although I did start to set up a site for EDUC 584 just to experiment with the tools. I found the site user-friendly and liked its search box feature and links to "Resources," which includes a full list of Newberry Award winners.

I have also seen rave reviews about the site from teachers. Here are just a few Twitter tweets to give you an idea of teacher reactions.

Add caption

And here is a video I found in the School Library Journal's review of the site, which you can also read: "BibliorNassium, Social Reading for Kids."




Have you heard of the site? Would you consider checking it out and using it with students?

Using the Vine App to Promote Literacy

These Vines are from Mr. Schu, a phenomenal elementary school librarian. Click to watch the Vines in action. Vine is a tool for making very short videos that loop, and replay. Although used for many purposes, Mr. Schu found a way to integrate the app into the school setting.




First graders learning to resize and cite images.



To learn about Mr. Schu, and all the fabulous things he does, follow his blog and follow him on Twitter. Click on images below to access each.

Blog:

Twitter (and there's a reason he has over 13,000 followers--he shares great resources daily)

If you have a chance to explore some of his resources, let us know what you think. Would you consider using the Vine app in your teaching?

Reading on an iPod Found to Help Those with Dyslexia and More on Struggling Readers

As educators, we're always looking for ways to help our students. Some of us work with students who have trouble reading due to dyslexia, and some of us know friends and family members with this reading condition. I came across this study that I thought was worth sharing. Although the subjects in the study were high school students in Massachusetts, it would be interesting to find out if iPods help both younger students and even adults who suffer from reading issues related to their dyslexia. You can read the study at this site. You can also download the article or print it, if you prefer. Click on the article's title to access the article online.

What is some research you know of or observations you have made as an educator to help those who are struggling readers? Did you find the article helpful?

If you work with students with Down Syndrome, you might want to check the blog of Kathleen Whitbread, a special education professor at the Univeristy of Saint Joseph, CT. You can access her blog here, and let us know what you think of the information she provides.

On a more informal scale, I found this article that challenges the way many teachers conduct read-alouds in their classroom. The article offers two alternatives: Echo Reading and Choral Reading. You can find the article by clicking on the headline below.

As a teacher, do you agree with the methods suggested? Do you agree that the more conventional methods of read-alouds are not effective? As a student and former high school teachers who worked with struggling readers, I recall the method outlined as the conventional read-aloud method. I envisioned students figuring out ahead what they would be called upon to read and watching them skim to their sections and not paying attention to other readers. What about you?

Author Blogs: Visit Kate Messner's Blog to Learn More

Kate Messner, children's book author, has an excellent blog, and included on it as a Page to find other authors' blogs. 

Here's a quick screen capture of the authors' blogs she offers, with links to them, but you need to visit her page to use the links virtually to get to the blogs.

While, you're on her site, look around. She offers a variety of information for young readers and encourages children to read and write. Here's a screen capture of the pages on her blog showing she has pages for Books, Blog, Kids, Writers, Speaking, Appearances, and About Me. If you set up a classroom blog, you might want to create a page to help your own students find authors' blogs online.

Perhaps seeing that authors have blogs will encourage your students to want to have a full class blog or to create their own individual blog, or join a class blog organized with a platform like KidBlog.

In addition to Kate's blog, she also can be found in these places:

Twitter

Facebook

Read Across America

Image: https://plus.google.com/u/0/106386034294040594598/posts 

Looking for ideas for Reading Across America, not just this week, but all weeks, check some of these resources.

Five Ideas for Perfectly Booking Read Across America (from Scholastic): offers lots of creative as well as practical ideas to engage students in activities related to reading enjoyment. Here the blurb from the introduction to this page:

• What Is Read Across America?

In 1998 the National Association of Education (NEA) held their first Read Across America on Dr. Suess’s birthday to raise awareness about the importance of children’s literacy. After all, if we have parades for winning sports teams and weeks to celebrate kindness, doesn’t reading deserve a day? Read Across America is now celebrated at schools, libraries, and community centers across the country every year. In this video from last year’s national Read Across America event, Michelle Obama and other honorees read Green Eggs and Ham to a group of 300 students.

Read Across America with Dr. Suess (from Thinkfinity): provides activities on Dr. Suess's book and  activities to do with families. 

Read Across America and Suess Day: Teachers' Best Lessons and Activities (short list from Teachers Net Gazette)

NEA Read Across America (classroom lesson ideas and activities, activities to do at home, interview with Mrs. Suess)

Song Created by 4th Graders to Celebrate 

Read Across America (Suzanne's Blog, lots of resources included in the links to the two Pinterest boards: Read Across America and Dr. Suess)

Cute Dr. Suess Videos (from Kelly's Blog)

Dr. Suess's Ideas (from Kelly's Blog)

Dr. Suess Cam (from Busy as a Bee in 1st Grade, Abbey's Blog)

Read Across America (from National Council of Teachers of English, ideas for grade levels, K-college)

Read Across America Day Celebrates Dr. Suess (from NCTE and International Reading Association, Read/Write/Think, lesson ideas and resources K-12)

Suessville.com website

Differentiated Instruction: Reluctant and Striving Readers (from Scholastic): focuses on Scholastic's Storia program and how to use it to engage readers.

Check how one Connecticut school is celebrating Read Across America. Check the Used Books blog for this post about what Wamapogo Middle/High School is up to: "A Door is a Window." 

Also coming up, is World Read Aloud Day: find out more about this event at LitWorld

The Cat in the Hat Read by Justin Bieber (on YouTube)

Tim Tebow Reads Green Eggs and Ham (YouTube)

And now for one of my favorite Dr. Suess lines

ImageL https://plus.google.com/u/0/106386034294040594598/posts

What additional ideas or sites do you suggest for Read Across America, not just this week, but every week?

Doodlecast App for Promoting Literacy

Today, I came across a tweet from a kindergarten teacher, Matt Gomez, whom I follow on Twitter that caught my attention, particularly the words "reading," "writing," and "documenting." Knowing, Mr. Gomez maintains a resourceful blog (My Hullabaloo), I clicked on the link in the tweet, which brought me to his post.

The post explains how he uses the Doodlecast Pro app with his kindergarteners to document their skills as readers and writers.  Mr. Gomez granted permission to use videos of his students using the app, but I encourage you to go directly to his blog post, Documenting Reading and Writing with Doodlecast App for detailed information. While you're at his site, look around. You'll find a host of ideas related to digital literacies, information literacies, and reading and writing. The first video below documents a student reading, and the second, a student writing.

Reading

Writing and Journaling

Here is a screenshot from the Doodlecast page at the Apple Store to help you visualize some of the organizational options. One option allows for uploading to YouTube, a feature that facilitates the sharing of students' accomplishments. 

Image: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doodlecast-pro/id469486202?mt=8

 Note that although Mr. Gomez uses the pro version, there is a free version with more limited options, but a good choice if you want to try the app for yourself.

What are some apps or websites you use to promote students' literacies skills?  What are your thoughts on how Mr. Gomez uses Doodlecast with his students?

Do You Want to Encourage Your Students to Read More?

Pernille Ripp, a 5th grade teacher from Wisconsin and an avid blogger, shares strategies she uses with her students to engage them in the reading process. I invite you to check her blog post and to share here which ideas she offers that you would implement as well. Click on the picture to link to her post.

This image is from her blog post and attributed there and in the screen capture.

And if you want to see what her students are writing, check their KidBlog posts, to which we will be responding as an upcoming class project.

If you teach 4th through 6th grade, you also might want to connect with Mrs. Pernille to see if she would like your students to write replies on her students' posts.

Using Glogster with Middle School Students

In his blog, principal Eric Sheninger from New Milford High School, NJ, has a guest post from a middle school special education who describes how she has uses Glogster to engage students in reading, writing, and critical thinking.

When asked to create a Glog of their "bucket list," after reading a book, students came up with a variety of examples. Here are a few of their examples.