The Big Red Dog: The 50th birthday celebration of Norman Bridwell’s iconic Clifford the Big Red Dog will kick off on September 24th at 10 am with a party at Scholastic’s New York City headquarters. Everybody can join in on the “Biggest Birthday Party Ever!” The live event will be streamed to classes across the country. Teachers can register now so their students can watch the festivities and Bridwell’s 30-minute webcast. There’s also a free kit that includes lesson plans, art project ideas, and coloring pages. In addition, Norman Bridwell’s Clifford Collection, a compilation of six stories originally published between 1963 and 1977, will be released on the same day.

And that’s not all. There will be other events throughout the school year. Clifford’s BIG Birthday app for iOs and Android featuring three birthday-themed games will be launched in September. And kids can create their own birthday cards for Clifford online and send them to the pooch via Scholastic’s website. And there’s more! Teachers can enter Clifford’s Big Birthday Classroom Sweepstakes. Just have your class create a birthday card for Clifford by December 14th. Five winners will each receive an all-expense-paid classroom birthday party, including a visit from the Big Red Dog—and every student will receive a Clifford book. In December, PBS Kids will air the broadcast Clifford’s Really Big Movie, the animated film originally released in 2004 by Warner Brothers.

Industry News

Enhanced ebook: Inheritance Deluxe Edition, a new version of the final book in Christopher Paolini’s popular “Inheritance” cycle, will be released by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers as an enhanced ebook with videos on October 23. The 17 videos take readers behind the scenes with the author as he offers commentary and shares stories about Inheritance. Paolini’s commentaries on scenes are embedded throughout the text. There’s also new artwork by the author, a letter to fans, and a new scene. You can get a sneak peak at the videos now. The print version of the Inheritance Deluxe Edition will publish simultaneously.

Curriculum Connections

Common Core: Educators looking for help in implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in both mathematics and literacy can now use a free digital tool introduced by Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). According to the organization, EduCore features “a variety of formative assessment lessons and videos ready for classroom use, including more than 20 formative assessment mathematics lessons. Developed by the Shell Centre, the Classroom Challenges for middle and high school include problem-solving and content-development formative assessments on subjects such as solving linear equations in two variables. There are also student materials, PowerPoint slides, and three templates that have been created by the Literacy Design Collaborative for “argumentation, informational, and narrative teaching” to help implement the literacy standards in all subjects. ASCD also has additional resources to help educators implement the Common Core.

Student writing: Turnitin is launching a series of free 30-minute weekly webcasts that provide educators with information to help students in high school and above improve their writing skills. Among these professional development webcasts that run from September 6th to October 11th^. are: “Partners in Education: Creating Common Core Rubrics,” presented by Dawn Lewis, English instructor and co-chair of the English Professional Learning Council; “Bridging the Gap: Common Core Rubrics for Secondary and Higher,” offered by Dr. Shelly Valdez, director of educational collaboration for IEBC; and “The Plagiarism Spectrum: Tagging 10 Types of Unoriginal Work,” presented by Ray Huang, customer programs manager at Turnitin. Register quickly since the webcasts will begin very shortly.