The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens
I’m chatting today with Edith Donnell, the Youth/Teen Librarian for the Ann Arbor District Library. For the last five years she has been one of the driving forces behind the all-ages Kids Read Comics event, which is held at her library at 343 S 5th Avenue in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This year the event will [...]
I guess there was some cosplay going on, but most participating attendees chose to dress up as publishing executives for some reason.
I hadn’t thought about it till today, but our summer reading list is a snooze. A dinosaur. A relic of a time when reading lists looked like, well, reading lists. Today, two things woke me up. 1. Finished with her AP exam, Sierra asked me for a book recommendation. I excitedly booktalked Libba Bray’s The [...]
My friend Hornberger and I are having a conversation about nonfiction ebooks. In a recent post I chatted about my students’ eager acceptance of the EBSCO e-Book Academic Collection. Karen, the librarian at Palisades High School, as well as our PSLA Tech Committee co-chair and blogger, decided to test drive the database herself. She also [...]
The task for educators is not to drain this sense of open-ended exploration from student-fans but rather to make sure that it is accompanied by the Jiminy Cricket-like voice of critical literacy…
Together we looked for ‘cheese holes’, or spaces in the story that allow the audience to participate in, contribute further to, and augment the original story using their own intelligence and imagination.
If you are a teacher, getting ready for next weekend might involve more than picking up a bucket of wings. While the kids cheer their teams on with their friends and family, they could be thinking a little more critically, by reading the text of commercials. Really. Annually, Frank Baker’s Media Literacy Clearinghouse offers an [...]
I’ve said it before, but last night was further proof of the power of our growing TL network. The live Monday night twitter chat (#tlchat) we began back in September, ran on both Twitter and Google+ Hangouts last night. And our intrepid team managed and archived both platforms. The topic was: Get Those Books Moving: [...]
Because these are the details we obsess over. The authors who write them and the readers who read them. They connect us with our stories and connect our stories with each other. And with these connections comes a whole new world of discovery. Valla Vakili’s talk at the Tools of Change Conference. 2/14/12 In his [...]
In many ways, this post is more the what than the why.
Because it’s time to tackle the really complex, almost undefinable heart of the award: the definition of literary excellence.
Sarah and I took a run at this last year, and it took two really long posts. I still stand by everything we said there (click [...]
Thursday, October 4, 2012, 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET Ever help a guy find food in the refrigerator? In this fun and informative webinar, you’ll discover how some everyday observations – like that time you maybe helped a guy find the mayo that was right in the front of the fridge – are really vital clues for thinking about getting boys to read in your library. In addition to the fun, the serious side of the topic will be addressed, including why the gap between boys’ and girls’ reading levels is a major concern among health experts and educators, and why the vast majority of reluctant readers are boys. Attendees will learn some tips to promote and support genres that boys like, including comic books, graphic novels, sports, and nonfiction, as well as some ideas for creating reading role models and communities for boys grades K-12. If you want ways to get books in the hands of your guys – and take a different look at how we think about getting boys to read – this session will inspire you. This archive is no longer available.
Link to youtube video All the way to america After reading All The Way to America by Dan Yaccarino, we asked the 2nd graders to draw a picture of objects or ideas that are passed down in families. Some of the objects that came up in the discussion, a hand-cranked coffee grinder, a ceremonial wine cup, [...]
