Literacy Now

The International Reading Association celebrates the winning books selected for the 2012 Children’s Choices, Teachers’ Choices, and Young Adults’ Choices recommended reading lists. 

Each year, thousands of children, young adults, teachers, and librarians around the United States select their favorite recently published books for the “Choices” reading lists. These lists are used in classrooms, libraries, and homes to help young readers find books they will enjoy. 

The annotated reading lists of titles and authors of Choices selections for the current year are made available in April, just before the Association’s annual convention and are available for free download.

Children’s Choices

Each year 12,500 school children from different regions of the United States read newly published children’s trade books and vote for the 100 or so books that they like best. These Children’s Choices, selected from more than 500 titles donated by publishers, can be counted on as books children really enjoy reading. This list, a project of a joint committee supported by IRA and The Children’s Book Council (CBC) since 1974, is designed for use not only by teachers, librarians, administrators, and booksellers but also by parents, grandparents, caregivers, and everyone who wishes to encourage young people to read for pleasure. 

The 2012 IRA-CBC Joint Committee and review team members were Stan F. Steiner (cochair), Sherilyn J. Bennett (cochair), Pamela Farris, Michele Svihovec, Philip Tucker, and David Ward. Area team leaders were David Ward, Oregon—Area 1; Philip Tucker, Pennsylvania—Area 2; Sherilyn J. Bennett, Arkansas—Area 3; Michele Svihovec, North Dakota—Area 4; and Pamela Farris, Illinois—Area 5. 

The committee is now accepting new book submissions for the 2013 Children’s Choices program through June 21, 2012.

The 2012 Children's Choices list of book titles, authors, and publishers plus summaries, book cover images, and a printable bookmark can be downloaded from our website.

For more information on the CBC and IRA, or on how to become involved in the Children’s Choices project, visit /resources/booklists/childrenschoices.aspx.

Teachers’ Choices

Since 1989, teachers, reading specialists, and librarians from different regions of the United States Books have selected about 30 books for readers ages 5 to 14 for the annual Teachers’ Choices reading list. Books are selected from new publications donated by North American publishers. At least six teachers or librarians in each region read each book; some books are read by as many as 200 people in a single region.

The 2012 Teachers’ Choices Committee and review teams included Joyce Gulley (cochair), Marjie Podzielinski (cochair), Cathy Denman, Jessica Hollon McGuire, Denise Johnson, and Cathy Voelker. Team Leaders in the field test were East—Janet Shaw and Susan Thompson-White; Great Lakes—April Wulber; Plains—Pam Ryan; Rocky Mountains—Lynne Nevrivy and Rebecca Stone (trainee); Southeast—Linda Armstrong and Joan Kindig (trainee); Southwest—Jane Dewailly; and West—Belinda Louie. 

The committee is collecting new book submissions through July 20, 2012. 

Visit our website to download the full 2012 Teachers' Choices list with book titles, authors, publishers, summaries, book cover images, and a printable bookmark. 

For more information about Teachers' Choices or to volunteer on the committee, visit /Resources/Booklists/TeachersChoices.aspx.

Young Adults’ Choices

Young Adults’ Choices began in 1987 as an annual project of the International Reading Association. Each year approximately 4,500 students in grades 7 to 12 from different regions of the United States select 30 titles from new books donated by North American publishers. 

The 2012 IRA Young Adults’ Choices Committee and review teams were Stephanie Burdic (cochair), Lisa Morris-Wilkey (cochair), Rosemarie Brock, and Aimee Rogers. Team Leaders in the field test were Area 1—Patrick Allender and Bob Helm, Oregon; Stan Steiner, Idaho (trainee); Area 2—Christine Payne, Delaware; Patricia Martin Evans, Maine (trainee); Area 3—Amy Fouse, Georgia; Area 4—Sue Debe Inhelder, Iowa; Sherryl Shannon, Nebraska (trainee); and Area 5—Kimberly Powers, Wisconsin. 

The committee is accepting new book submissions for Young Adults’ Choices through July 20, 2012. 

Download the full 2012 Young Adults' Choices list and the printable bookmark on our website. 

For more information about Young Adults’s Choices or to volunteer on the committee, visit /Resources/Booklists/YoungAdultsChoices.aspx. 

by Marjie Podzielinski 

Google Lit Trips are free downloadable files that mark the journeys of characters from famous literature on the surface of Google Earth. At each location along the journey there are place marks with pop-up windows that contain a variety of resources including relevant media, thought provoking discussion starter, and links to supplementary information about “real world” references made in that story. Google Lit Trips have been developed by teachers and students. They allow the reader to utilize the technology of Google Earth and put them in the exact location and travel of the characters in historical fiction.

First, start by downloading Google Earth to your computer. Then log in to Google Lit Trips. With my fifth graders we looked at the extensive resources provided on the Orphan Train with A Family Apart by Joan Lowery Nixon. My students read the novel and then were amazed to follow the path of the Orphan Train from New York to stops in the Midwest where children were chosen to live with families. Quotations from the story and historical photographs bring this novel to life. Students can actually see the trains and the orphanage, and have a much clearer look at what life was like at the turn of the century. 

My sixth graders utilized the Google Lit Trip for Laurie Halse Anderson’s Fever 1793. This Lit trip details the marketplace, the coffeehouses, and farm life during the Yellow Fever epidemic in Philadelphia. Students can see the obstacles facing these characters by incorporating Google Lit Trips with their studies. 

The site now also offers walking tours for Cannery Row. 

Jerome Burg is the founder of Google Lit Trips. This resource is expanding all the time. Templates are available for download. Students and teachers from all over the world can create their own Google Lit trips. This challenges the student to use higher level thinking skills and evaluate what is truly important in the story. Google Lit Trips range from K-5 and go all the way through college. This resource is an exciting way to connect kids and reading. 

Marjie Podzielinski is the librarian at Coulson Tough School in The Woodlands, Texas.

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

Some things just go together. Peanut butter and chocolate. Summer and reading. Johnny Depp and eyeliner.

And of course, when you encounter one of these pairings, you think, Well, duh! That’s a no-brainer. It seems so obvious that Fred Astaire should be matched with Ginger Rogers, that Katherine Hepburn belongs with Spencer Tracy, that Oreos were made for vanilla ice cream.

But somebody had to come up with that first brave combination before it solidified into something so obvious and right.

And while I wish I could lay claim to the brilliant idea to pair my book THE LEMONADE WAR with the mission of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation—nope, I can’t. I wasn’t the smart one who made that connection. It was Tracy Weniger, the School Programs Manager at ALSF, who contacted me and suggested a partnership.

Well, at least I was smart enough to say, “Absolutely! Let’s do it.”

A little background. THE LEMONADE WAR tells the story of a brother and sister who make a bet about who can sell the most lemonade in the five days before summer vacation ends. In the end, the sister donates her money to a charity. So it’s a book with strong elements of competition and charitable giving.

The book was published in 2007, and pretty soon after that I began hearing about Alex’s Lemonade Stand—a non-profit organization dedicated to ending childhood cancer. Kids would write to me and say, “I read your book, and it inspired me to have my own lemonade stand. I donated the profits to Alex’s Lemonade Stand.” Cool, I thought.

What I didn’t know is that Alex’s Lemonade Stand has been raising money for over ten years. The founder and creator of the organization was Alex Scott, who was diagnosed with cancer just before her first birthday. When she was four, she decided to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer. Her first lemonade stand raised over $2,000 in just one day.

The idea grew, and soon children all over the world were holding lemonade stands to raise money for childhood cancer research.

When Alex passed away at the age of eight, she had helped to raise more than $1 million toward finding a cure for cancer. Alex’s parents, Liz and Jay Scott, continue her inspirational work through the Foundation. Since Alex’s first lemonade stand in 2000, the Foundation has raised over $50 million. Double cool.

When Tracy emailed me in the spring and suggested we start an initiative to promote reading and charitable giving among kids, I was pretty excited. The idea they presented mirrored the plot of THE LEMONADE WAR: Schools all over the country would participate in a contest to see who could raise the most money. Then the money would be donated to Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Every school that signed up would receive a free copy of THE LEMONADE WAR, along with lesson plans and a study guide; a program guide and lemonade stand materials to get started selling lemonade; a personal fundraising webpage; and a certificate of appreciation from the Foundation.

The idea was to link reading and charitable giving—two important lessons, both with lifelong benefits. Everyone in the school would read THE LEMONADE WAR to get revved up, and then the school would have one month to raise money. The grand prize? A visit from me and Alex’s dad, Jay Scott, to the winning school, along with a hundred autographed copies of each of the next two books in The Lemonade War series: THE LEMONADE CRIME and THE BELL BANDIT.

I love it when whole schools come together to read a single book. It creates an energy and excitement around reading that can’t be matched. And I really wanted this initiative to be a success. What else could we offer? “How about I do Skype visits with the three runner-up schools?” I suggested. “And let’s give audio books of THE LEMONADE WAR and THE LEMONADE CRIME to three honorable mention schools, as well.”

And so The Great Lemonade War was launched.

You don’t need me to tell you how amazing kids are. Or what they can accomplish when they put their minds to a task.

In just one month, kids across the country raised over $40,000. The winning school—Poinciana Elementary School in Naples, Florida—raised more than $10,000 on its own. The kids at Poinciana—a public school with 60% of its student population receiving reduced-fee lunches—set up lemonade stands at a local supermarket; they brought in their birthday money and tooth fairy money; they asked friends and relatives to make on-line donations through the specially dedicated web page.

Alison Bringardner and Leslie Marshall, the two teachers who spearheaded the effort, were flat-out floored by the effort and determination of the kids. Their school had been raising money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand for the past five years, but they’d never seen an all-out, take-no-prisoners fundraising drive like this. “It just sort of snowballed. All the kids were trying to outdo each other,” said Alison. Leslie added, “One girl insisted on bringing in all her birthday money and giving it to kids with cancer.”

It just goes to show what a little healthy competition can do.

Can I tell you how much fun my visit to Poinciana was? There was homemade lemonade, yellow t-shirts, a garden dedication that included the planting of a lemon tree, a chorus of first-graders singing “Born to Be Somebody” (complete with choreographed moves!), inspirational quotes read by the kids as they released yellow balloons into the blue sky, a carnival and book fair, local news crews covering the event, and two raucous assemblies in which the kids and I celebrated their contribution to making the world a healthier place.

Does it get any better than that?

Congratulations to Poinciana and to the three runner-up schools: Earl Slaughter Elementary School in McKinney, Texas; Fox Elementary in Kersey, Pennsylvania; and Plymouth Elementary in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Congratulations also to the three honorable mention schools: St. Michael the Archangel in Overland Park, Kansas; Harmony School in Middletown, New Jersey; and Westminster Christian School in Miami, Florida.

And if you’re thinking that you’d like to engage the kids at your school in a win-win-win school-wide effort that promotes reading, builds community, and joins in the effort to wipe out cancer in kids, then it’s not too early to sign up to receive information about next year’s contest. I’d love to come to your school and applaud your students as they discover what it means to be a good citizen of the world.

After all, some things just go together. Like learning and giving. Like open hearts and open minds. Like lemonade and curing childhood cancer.

Yep. That’s a no-brainer.

Jacqueline Davies is the talented author of both novels and picture books. She lives in Needham, Massachusetts, with her three children. THE BELL BANDIT was released by Houghton Mifflin earlier this month.



A Book is a Friend for Life

Secrets of the School Lunch Superheroes

Teachers, librarians, readers, educators, parents, authors and illustrators, and book lovers in general not only like to read books but they like to talk about books and share opinions and reactions. The world of blogging has allowed these like-minded lovers of books to do that and in an immediate fashion. As blogging has become more and more popular and accepted as a method for sharing book and publishing information, educators are now following recommended or favorite blogs. Each day seems to bring an awareness of another new blog. The KidLitosphere (www.kidlitosphere.org/bloggers) website offers a gateway website where the community of children’s/YA bloggers can come together and share the excitement of wonderful books—sometimes new books, some gathered thematically, some for special needs or areas. Bloggers have even created and organized their own awards for books, the Cybils (www.cybils.com) for one and also The Independent Book Blogger Award (www.goodreads.com/book_blogger_award/entry/573).

This week the International Reading Association's Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group presents just a few of the many wonderful blogs available to readers today.

 

BLOGS FOR PRIMARY TEACHERS AND/OR PICTURE BOOK LOVERS

Jen Robinson’s Book Page

http://jkrbooks.typepad.com

This popular blog is for librarians, teachers, and parents. Jen promotes a love of reading and literacy by posting every couple of days a lengthy book review and literacy news. She shares programs and studies in the field of literacy, children’s literature, and young adult literature. In the sidebars she includes the book title she is currently reading and the audio book she is listening to. In addition, old posts are available such as raising a reader, getting kids to read, and family reading partnerships. All of her book reviews are archived and available from 2006 to present. Furthermore, Jen sends out a weekly newsletter via e-mail. This blog is a must read for everyone. 

~ Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver

 

The Picture Book Junkies 

by Deb Melmon, Roz Fulcher, Gina Perry Kathy Weller, and Alicia Padron

http://pbjunkies.blogspot.com

A group of five professional illustrators, all addicted to picture books, write this PBJ blog. They share picture books they are reading for inspiration, interviews with other illustrators, and just released book titles and reviews. In addition, they share photographs of their studios, open up their portfolios, and share some of the illustrations they are creating and the different tools they are using such as Adobe Illustrator. Each blog post is brief and to the point. Each Friday is illustration Friday where one completed picture is revealed and explained. In one post, Alicia Padron discussed two new releases—Teatime Baby and Bathtime Baby—and what she learned as she was working on the illustrations.

~Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver

 

A Year of Reading

by Mary Lee Hahn and Franki Sibberson

http://readingyear.blogspot.com

These two teachers review children’s books, share stories from their teaching, and review professional books. Every Friday they participate in Poetry Friday and share a poem. One recent story by Franki titled “Teachers as readers (and runners)” compares learning to read to learning to run. She emphasizes that she had many friends who were cheerleaders, encouraging her to keep running, yet hiring a coach, a teacher, was critical. She reminds us that children deserve a teacher who is a reader just like she needed a coach who was a runner. She noted that many friends gave her tips on running. This is the same with children who learn so much from other readers about reading. Ultimately students need teachers who they can trust to teach them about reading because they are readers. 

~ Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver

BLOGS FOR K-8

 

Blue Rose Girls; Children’s Book Professionals Talk about Books (and Other Things)

by Anna Alter, Libby Koponen, Grace Lin, Alvina Ling, Elaine Magliaro, Meghan McCarthy, and Linda S. Wingerter

http://bluerosegirls.blogspot.com

One of the unique elements of this children’s literature blog is the fact that it is written by several individuals. The blog describes the contributors as authors, illustrators, an editor, and a former librarian. A photograph at the top of the blog shows the writers, and the blog itself is enhanced because it derives from so many different perspectives which give it richness. The blogs written by these women typically have little to do with previous blog entries, but instead represent the writers’ ruminations about children’s books or whatever crosses their minds. Thus, for instance, Anna may share sketches for a new book on which she is working, Elaine may share original poems, Libby may ponder the promises and perils of writers’ conferences, Alvina may describe some of her book-related travels, and Grace may describe some of her school visits. As might be expected, the writing is lively and conversational, and readers of the blog often come away feeling as though they’ve eavesdropped on an interesting private conversation. There are always interesting clips to view or pictures from school visits to view. The blog was established in 2006 with 208 entries, 289 in 2011, and 75 so far this year. Information about the Red Rose Girls, three groundbreaking women’s illustrators whose paths inspired the bloggers and gave rise to the blog’s name, is provided on the blog. 

~ Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

 

educating alice

by Monica Edinger

http://medinger.wordpress.com

Since September 2006, Dalton School teacher Monica Edinger has maintained a lively blog whose name was inspired by the fourth grade teacher’s love for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. In her blog, she includes YouTube clips, interviews with authors and illustrators, children’s and young adult book reviews, ideas for incorporating children’s literature in the classroom, information on award-winning children’s books, and ruminations on happenings in the New York City scene. Her blog is easy to read with snappy language and a distinct voice. For teachers looking for books to share with their students but especially ways to use those books in creative ways, this is a great blog to read. 

~ Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

 

100 Scope Notes: Children’s Literature News and Reviews

by Travis Jonker

http://100scopenotes.com

As the title indicates, this blog by Michigan elementary school librarian Travis Jonker, includes reviews as well as up to date information in the field of children’s literature. Divided into Best New Books; Articles; Covers; News; and Reviews, this blog covers a great deal of information. A favorite spot is the Poem Spine Gallery of photographs of book spines that build to create a poem. Author interviews, videos, news articles, cover talk and of course, new book reviews are available on this informational blog. 

~ Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

 

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast (nick-named 7-Imp)

by Julie “Jules” Danielson

http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings

Founded in 2006, one of the early blogs on the scene, blogger Julie “Jules” Danielson of Smyrna, Tennesee, first wrote about children’s books of all sorts with her friend Eisha. Now blogging solo, her emphasis has shifted somewhat to focus on illustration including picture books and illustrated novels. Julie is a sign language interpreter, a children’s librarian, a columnist for Kirkus Reviews, and a mom. The title of the blog comes from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass. Julie especially likes to do author and illustrator interviews and this is strength of this blog. Archived blogs are easily accessed back to August 2006. Lists of other good blogs and children’s book websites are included in sidebars.

~ Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

 

BLOGS FOR YOUNG ADULT (YA) EDUCATION

 

Cynsations; a source for conversations, publishing information, writer resources & inspiration, bookseller-librarian-teacher appreciation, children’s-YA book news & author outreach

by Cynthia Leitech Smith

http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com

The subtitle of this blog says it all! Cynthia Leitech Smith of Austin, Texas, created this blog in 2004 and it has become one of the most visited blogs on the internet for children’s and YA literature. Cynthia, an author in her own right, offers a wide variety of information including book giveaways, articles, quick tidbits and “shorts,” book trailers, new releases, reviews, publishing industry news, conference announcements and notes, author events and up-to-the minute book happenings across the country. Cynthia says of Cynsations: “The blog has on ongoing commitment to new voices, books/creators from underrepresented cultures, creative risk takes, quality mid-listers, rising and well-established stars.” Viewers are invited to comment about posts.

~ Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

 

The Goddess of YA Literature: Pearls from the Goddess

by Teri Lesesne

http://professornana.livejournal.com

One blog that I never miss reading is this one by bibliophile Teri Lesesne who is a professor of children’s and young adult literature at Sam Houston State University. In addition to book covers accompanying brief reviews of current children’s literature, including picture books, and YA titles, Teri comments on controversial issues such as censorship, testing, and the common core standards. She often shares pictures of her cat, Scout, and ruminations on whatever strikes her fancy, provided that it relates to books in some way. She also posts hilarious YouTube clips that express the love of reading while generously sharing her presentations—the complete book lists and the entire presentations—with blog readers. Anyone who plans to teach reading in elementary, middle, or high school needs to check out her blog as a starting place for making a list of essential books to read. The blog itself is well organized with alphabetical tags along the right hand side of the page that allow readers to click on a tag or topic and identify all the books Lesesne has read that fit the topic. Including the tags below a handy calendar makes navigating this blog quite smooth. Lesesne was one of the early bloggers, beginning this one in October 2004 with six entries for that month. Over the next few years, she has blogged just about every day, an impressive feat given the number of conferences she attends, presentations she makes, and books she reads. This one is not to be missed.

~ Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

 

MULTICULTURAL BLOGS

 

American Indians in Children’s Literature

by Debbie Reese

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com

Teachers and critical readers of literature for children and teens have come to rely on this blog written by Debbie Reese, a Nambe Pueblo Indian woman, since 2006. The blog’s purpose is to provide a place where children’s and young adult literature featuring indigenous peoples may be examined critically. The blog also explores issues concerning school curriculum, popular culture, and society. Thus, Reese and the contributors to her blog have taken careful looks at many books often used in today’s classrooms, such as Arrow to the Sun, the Little House on the Prairie series, Touching Spirit Bear, and the Twilight saga, among others. By examining these materials through indigenous eyes, readers often come to regard them differently or at least have their own perspectives on the books expanded. In addition, the blog explores relevant issues such as the removal of Mexican-American Studies classes in the Tucson Unified School District in Arizona or the inclusion of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House in the Big Woods as an exemplary read aloud according to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. The blog site is easy to navigate and even includes links to relevant full text articles as well as archived discussions. Reese posts frequently, writing 111 entries during the blog’s first year in 2006, and posting 77 times so far this year. Although Reese does not pretend to be the voice for all First Nation peoples, this is clearly the go-to blog for anyone interested in starting to explore literature that depicts indigenous peoples. The writing is thoughtful and engaging and always adds to my own knowledge of literature. 

~ Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

 

Book Dragon; Produced by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program

by Terry Hong

http://bookdragon.si.edu

The blogger is Terry Hong, the former Media Arts Consultant for the APAP and project director for the Smithsonian Korean American Centennial Commemoration. Though the emphasis is on books by and about Asian and Asian Pacific Americans, books from every ethnicity and culture are included. The blog started in 2009, but many posts were loaded from previous articles. An extensive list of categories is found on the right sidebar to search and explore this blog. Links to international and multicultural activities and organizations are also found in sidebar information. Reviews give a well developed sense of the book and offer links to authors and other topics.

~ Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Children Kissed by the Sun; a blog dedicated to African American Children’s Literature

by Candid Taylor-Brandon

www.childrenkissedbythesun.blogspot.com

This is a relatively new blog on the scene begun in 2011 by Candid Taylor-Brandon from Flint, Michigan. With a deep interest in her own African American culture she has brought author interviews, book reviews and multicultural articles to readers. Blog archive information is found at the bottom of each blog page rather than in sidebars on the right. Lengthy booklists and suggestions for companion books are given with each new book reviewed.

-  Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

 

Mitali’s Fire Escape; a safe place between cultures to chat about books

by Mitali Perkins

www.mitaliblog.com

Author Mitali Perkins has created a multicultural blog to have a place where teachers, parents and young readers can find new books especially as they pertain to intercultural understanding. Mitali offers a writing contest each year that she sponsors personally. Tips for writing, numerous book award announcements, links to other blogs and bloggers, and an easily searched archive are part of Mitali’s Fire Escape. 

~ Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

 

Paper Tigers: Speaking of multicultural books for young readers, world literacy, and more...

www.papertigers.org/wordpress

The Paper Tigers blog is the companion to the Paper Tigers website. The blog features “news and views about multicultural children’s and YA books, and literacy issues from around the world. Regular features include book reviews, including Books at Bedtime, participation in the Kidlitosphere’s Poetry Friday, and our monthly Eventful World calendar of children’s literature events around the world.” Archives date back to May of 2007. Nine eclectic international women are the bloggers responsible for this blog. For another multicultural blog and companion website, check out WOW and WOW Currents at http://wowlit.org/blog. 

~ Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

 

POETRY BLOG

 

Poetry for Children

by Sylvia Vardell

http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com

Sylvia Vardell, a professor at Texas Woman’s College and former chair of the NCTE Excellence in Poetry for Children Award Committee, maintains a blog that is sure to dispel many of the fears beginning teachers have about using poetry in the classroom. Vardell, who has written this blog since 2006 when she posted 42 entries, includes coming attractions in children’s poetry and lists of recently published poetry books as well as short videos of the poets reading their own poetry at various conferences. She also includes snippets from her travels to international conferences, interviews with poets, and book trailers created by her students. In addition to archives of previous blog entries, readers will be able to click on her list of poet links, ranging from Arnold Adoff to Tracie Vaughn Zimmer (91 in total), given them even more poetic resources by allowing them to follow the link to each poet’s website. Her passion for poetry knows no bounds, and is clear to anyone who spends more than five minutes on this blog that this woman eats, drinks, and sleeps poetry. So far in 2012 she’s blogged 50 different times.

~ Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

 

NONFICTION BLOGS

I.N.K.; Interesting nonfiction for kids

http://inkrethink.blogspot.com

This nonfiction group blog is a little different. The blogger group represents a host of nonfiction authors for children. The companion website is Ink Think Tank (http://www.inkthinktank.com). With the emphasis on nonfiction in the Common Core State Standards we wanted to conclude with information to access current nonfiction. The archives go back to the first blog post of January 2008 and literally hundreds of pages and posts bring this blog through to today. An extensive index of topics can be found on the right sidebar in addition to numerous monthly articles where the authors talk about their writing craft, storytelling and narrative, research techniques, finding ideas and some unusual “tidbits” that the authors share. They also discuss how illustrations are part of the “artist’s vision of the world” and how these pictures integrate into the text. RSS feeds are available as well as daily email posts sent directly to viewers. 

Other nonfiction blogs readers will find interesting: 

• Nonfiction Matters (http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/nonfictionmatters) by Marc Aronson
• Kidlitosphere Central blog features “Nonfiction Monday Round-Ups” (www.kidlitosphere.org/nonfiction-monday)
• The Nonfiction Detectives (www.nonfictiondetectives.com)

- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

This piece is part of weekly children's and young adult literature reviews from the International Reading Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG).

by Kimberly Kimbell-Lopez

In this era of cloud-based applications, Glogster (http://edu.glogster.com/) is one must-have resource for classroom teachers to use with students. Students can create a Glog, short for graphical blog, which can be a poster or web page. The drag and drop interface makes it easy for students to add multimedia features to the “poster”, including text, links, photos, graphics, audio, video, data attachments, and drawings.

The Glogster web site describes this online interface as “the leading global education platform for the creative expression of knowledge and skills in the classroom and beyond.” Without a doubt, Glogster makes it easy for teachers to invite students to share what they have learned in one content or across multiple content areas (i.e., English/Language Arts, social studies, science, math, music, etc.). Most importantly, the Glog can be used by students across all grade levels—PK-12 up through postsecondary.

In the example shown in Figure One, Rhea-Claire Richard created a Glog that documents multimedia elements she developed as part of a graduate course. Multimedia components she included in her Glog were an All About Me movie, an author vodcast , a storybook vodcast created by her students, a podcast, a vodcast, and links to other projects she created as part of her weekly assignments. As is evident in Rhea-Claire’s Glog, the user can select background features and other graphical elements that make it easy to carry through a theme for the Glog. 

Figure One: Example of Glog found via http://rheaclairerichard.edu.glogster.com/rhea-claire-richard-ect-510/.  

Creating your Own Glog

To create your own Glog, go to http://edu.glogster.com. Teachers can actually register for a free individual account to create private Glogs only, but these free accounts do not offer any student management features. If you would like more options in terms of student accounts, then more information can be found at http://edu.glogster.com/product-information/. 

After you have created your account, then you are ready to create a Glog. One of the first steps is to change the background color. Click on “Wall” to display the numerous options that are available (refer to Figure Two). You can scroll through pages of options that can then be selected to serve as the background for the Glog. The same is true for graphics. 

Figure Two.  Example of Background Options.

The next screenshot (Figure Three) illustrates the number of options that are available for graphical elements that can be added to the Glog. The options that are shown are the graphics listed for EduRandom, and there are seven pages of graphics that can are listed as options. 

Figure Three.  Example of Graphic Options.

The tool bar that is displayed also illustrates how easy it is add different multimedia component to the Glog. If you want to add a movie or vodcast, then select “video”. If you want to add a podcast, then click on “sound.” Once you have created a Glog, then it is easy to share with others. You can send the Glog link by email, the Glog can be embedded externally in Wikis or Blogs, or the Glog can be shared through social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. 

Don’t waste another minute—get started on your own Glog today!  

Kimberly Kimbell-Lopez, Ed.D., is the Hubberd H. & Velma Horton Boucher Endowed Professor in the department of curriculum, instruction, and leadership at Louisiana Tech University. 

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).