Ideas

Should babies be exposed to apps? Rachel Payne responds to a comment on her "Are Learning Apps Good for Babies?" piece. Is removing a book from a required reading list a form of censorship? One reader questions the inclusion of Sherman Alexie'sThe Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian on a sixth-grade reading list.

If you’re planning to attend AASL in Hartford, please add our first-ever Unconference on your agenda. Our kinda edgy, late-night event will take place in the Capitol Ballroom at the Marriott beginning at 9 PM on Friday night. The focus is on informal, peer-to-peer learning, PLN building, and sharing–ensuring that voices get heard and that [...]

Animals with transparent guts! Fish that make their own light! An underwater bird? Booktalk audiences hungry for adventure and monsters can find both in remarkable books on marine mysteries. While the following titles are aimed at fourth grade and above, even younger readers will find the pictures irresistible.

The Book App Alliance aims to help locate quality book apps amid the tides of Disney, Dora, and Dr. Seuss products. Alliance founders also want to foster best practices.

Make It @ Your Library, in collaboration with Instructables.com and the American Library Association, has finally launched its searchable website, makeitatyourlibrary.org, for librarians seeking maker space ideas and projects. Make It @ Your Library—an initiative developed through the ILEAD USA program over the past year—aims to help librarians realize maker projects in their own communities at low cost.

Back in May I was excited to discover Voice Comments–a great tool for personally adding voice feedback to student writing or collaborative work. Recently, the app relaunched with a new interface and a bunch of impressive new features, as Kaizena.  (In Japan, Kaizen refers to a philosophy of continuous improvement.) If Google Docs is a way of life at [...]

Librarian Misti Jenkins, formerly an English teacher at the Nashville, TN, high school she now serves, shares her experiences in adapting from a predominately Spanish-speaking population of English Language Learners (ELL) to one that is comprised largely of Nepali and Burmese refugees. Here are her recommendations for ways to reach out to all students, regardless of their backgrounds.

TeachWithMovies offers access to more than 350 lesson plans and learning guides for movies and films. I’ve long been a big fan of reading and studying movies. I’ve been a fan of this site’s rich curricular materials for many years. I just discovered that I do not need to re-subscribe. The site is now available for free (though it will [...]

In SLJ's recent “Common Core and the Public Librarian” one-hour live webcast, Olga Nesi, regional coordinator for the New York City Department of Education, Division of Library Services, and Nina Lindsay, the children’s services coordinator for Oakland (CA) Public Library, discussed the national initiative and, in particular, what it means for public librarians.