Well, it's already February and I haven't posted in ages....but here is a new link to share. My 3rd-4th-5th graders did a little Voicethread to share their New Year Resolutions to make themselves, family, school, and the world better in 2010. There are lots of good ideas here, from very wise and wonderful students.

Here's the link until I get away from the school filter and i can embed it.
http://ed.voicethread.com/share/864346/

A whole new ‘neighborhood’
Another generation visits with iconic PBS host via the Web

Look who's on the web in his very own neighborhood! Peter and Paul Reynolds of our favorite Fablevision have been working on updating Mr. Rogers' website and it's launched! Read all about it, and check it out!

Children's Book Press and Multicultural titles

As I was searching for a multicultural folktale still in print for my discussion blog in my children's lit class, I came across this interview with a Children's Book Press Director. I remember so many wonderful books that I was able to order through them, and I was encouraged to hear that technology support in audio and visual form is being developed by the company to answer the needs of today's students. I also agree with her about the level of sophistication of today's young readers, along with a love of reading still alive and well.

Meeting my professor at PBS Online

So I'm working on my weekly readings for my Masters' class and this week it's all about multicultural collections. Major elements include developing collections that represent the many cultures of my school community, celebrating holidays and events that are part of the cultures of the children, remembering to read aloud stories where my students see their faces embedded in the everyday stories I read to establish and reinforce their value at our school, and actively seeking information about the countries their families come from to have knowledge of where they are from. One of the assignments is to view a video, "Shirley's story" and lo and behold, it's my professor that I've been working with during these summer weeks. My face to face with her is through the PBS Teacherline website where she is a facilitator. I will also be checking out this website for more PD this year... you can bet on it.
Here's the link to the video.

Back at School...Finding the right Book from Reading Rockets.

Did You Know?

Here's the latest version of "Did You Know?"

Tonight at class I'm presenting "The Composer is Dead" by Lemony Snicket. The book includes a CD with the San Francisco symphony playing the accompanying music for the story. This is a murder mystery with all the suspects from within the orchestra. As we try to determine who the murderer is we learn all about the sections and instruments of the symphony and hear some terrific music. Mr. Snicket actually performed this murder "symphony" in April at the San Francisco Symphony. I wish I could have gone, but the book and CD are great! The slide show was created in iMovie, with scanned pictures and edited audio clips from the full length CD.