Book Review: Scrapkins: Re-Thunk

SCRAPKINS: RE-THUNK by Brian Yanish provides engaging activities and easy to follow directions for creating fun projects from common household materials.

This visually appealing book contains dozens of activities that involve using materials that people often throw away such as empty milk cartons, cereal boxes, and bottle caps. In addition to providing detailed instructions for creating instruments, puppets, and toys, the book also contains lots of other activities to maintain interest and spark creativity.

Librarians will find this nonfiction book to be popular with children who enjoy arts and crafts. Place the book in a maker space containing the raw materials necessary to create some of the projects. Display the results in the library to highlight the arts and crafts section of the library.

Go to the Scrapkins website at http://www.thescrapkins.com/ for lots more ideas.

Published by Henry Holt, an imprint of Macmillan on March 29, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Website Review: Annenberg Learner

The ANNENBERG LEARNER website contains hundreds of high-quality interactives for teachers and students of all ages.

Educators looking for interactives can narrow their search by grade level, discipline, audience, or software. Disciplines include arts, education, foreign language, language arts, literature, mathematics, science, and social studies/history.

Librarians can align the interactives with specific curriculum needs. The interactives can be integrated into the classroom or used in learning centers in the library.

To explore the interactives, go to https://www.learner.org/interactives/.

Website Review: Zooniverse

ZOONIVERSE is a website that provides users the chance to participate in real discoveries through citizen science projects.

This collaborative volunteer project lets users contribute to real-world, cutting edge research across content areas including the sciences and humanities.

Participants can jump into dozens of current projects including transcribing historical documents, recording the life of chimpanzees, and characterizing bat calls.

Daily Zooniverse provides engaging, quick resources and activities that would make great lesson starters.

The Talk area provides a place where users can ask questions. The Blog shares the latest project news.

The companion website, ZOOTEACH contains high-quality lessons and resources that connect with the citizen science projects in the areas of sciences, mathematics, humanities, and arts. Resources are available for K-12 and higher education.

Librarians will find the many authentic projects a great catalyst for inquiry and learning. Use one of the projects to jumpstart an investigation in your library.

Visit the website at https://www.zooniverse.org/.

Visit the lessons at http://www.zooteach.org/.