Website Review: Web Smarts

WEB SMARTS is an interactive learning experience focusing on digital literacy.

This online tutorial helps youth learn when to trust a website and when it avoid it. Students work their way through a series of screens exploring video-based examples and answering engaging questions. The experience ends with a quiz. A teacher page discusses how the website might be used with students.

Librarians will find this short, online tutorial to be an effective way to help students become more web literate.

To visit the website, go to http://websmarts.thinkport.org.

Website Review: Mouse Circus

MOUSE CIRCUS is author Neil Gaiman’s website for younger readers.

Gaiman’s website is organized into the categories of books, author information, artists, extras, and videos. Of particular note is his biography and question/answers page. Children will enjoy playing online games connected with two of his books. Downloadable activities are also available.

Librarians will find useful information for introducing children to the works of Neil Gaiman. For teens, be sure to explore Gaiman’s main author website including his blog.

To visit his children’s site, go to http://www.mousecircus.com/
To visit his adult site, go to http://www.neilgaiman.com

Website Review: Teaching with Primary Sources

TEACHING WITH PRIMARY SOURCES from Thinkport Education contains a collection of inquiry kits.

This project contains almost a dozen social studies and history units using materials from the Library of Congress. The topics range from early American colonies to modern times. Each theme focuses on a question and includes a series of lessons and primary source documents.

Librarians will find this resource to be useful in teaching both inquiry and the use of primary source materials. In addition to the kits, be sure to check out the research learning modules and the additional resources.

To visit the website, go to http://www.thinkport.org/tps/.

Book Review: A Place to Start a Family

A PLACE TO START A FAMILY by David Harrison is a picture book focusing on animal shelters.

This informational poetry book begins with an introduction to animal shelters. Each two-page spread features a different creature including birds, sea creatures, and land animals. From nests and webs to tunnel systems, mixed media illustrations feature a wide range of animal homes. The book concludes with a review of underground, land, water, and air builders.

Librarians will find this picture book to be a useful addition to the nonfiction collection. The poems are perfect for a read-aloud activity combining science and poetry. Create a display featuring books that feature animal homes and habitats.

Published by Charlesbridge on January 16, 2018. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Website Review: Roald Dahl

THE OFFICIAL ROALD DAHL website contains endless resources for teachers, adults, and children.

This attractive website contains sections about the author, activities, book and character information, and a link to a blog with up-to-date information. The author section includes stories, characters, a timeline, and archive. The “create and learn” section provides lesson plans connected with reading, writing, creating, and playing.

Librarians will be particularly interested in the author timeline and information about how and why each book was written. Use this section to inspire young authors. Explore the blog categories and tags for activity ideas based on books. Also, consider their many “Dahl Day” activities.

To visit the website, go to http://www.roalddahl.com/.

Website Review: Fred Rogers Center

THE FRED ROGERS CENTER is a website dedicated to enriching the lives of children.

The website includes the Fred Rogers archives, initiatives, and more. The website contains a few examples from the archives. The initiatives section explores projects of the organization. The blog contains resources and ideas that connect with the project mission.

Librarians will find resources connected to the role of digital media and technology in the lives of children and families. Use the resources at the site to celebrate 50 years of Mister Rogers Neighborhood.

To visit the website, go to http://www.fredrogerscenter.org/.

Website Review: Joan Aiken

JOAN AIKEN’s author website provides children’s with information about this popular writer.

The Wonderful World of Joan Aiken is a website celebrating the author’s fifty years as a child’s book author. The resource contains information about the the author, her books, engaging activities, resources, and a bibliography. A link to the author’s blog provides up-to-date news and information.

Librarians will find the “What Do You Like?” page to be useful in helping children select interesting books to read. Students will enjoy reading the many letters the author has received from her fans. Use it to jumpstart a “letter to authors” activity.

To visit the website, go to http://www.joanaiken.com.

Book Review: Write to Me

WRITE TO ME by Cynthia Grady tells the true story of letters written by Japanese American Children during World War II.

As children leave San Diego for internment camps, librarian Miss Breed gives the children books and postcards. She asks her young patrons to write her about their experiences. The short picture book concludes with an author’s note, timelines, historical information, and further reading. The front and end-pages include historical photos.

Librarians will find this new addition to the well-known story of Miss Breed to fill an important niche in their collection. This picture book would be useful as a read-aloud as well as part of a display including other informational books connected with Japanese American Internment Camps.

Published by Charlesbridge on January 9, 2018. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Digital Spotlight: Children's Historical Lit Collection

CHILDREN’S HISTORICAL LITERATURE COLLECTION from the University of Washington contains thousands of digital objects related to the history of children’s books.

Contents: This comprehensive collection includes books from the 18th through the 20th century. A wide range of book types include alphabet books, chapbooks, dictionaries, hornbooks, and spelling books. From manners and etiquette to natural sciences and health, the collection explores all subject areas.

Classroom Connections: Students will enjoy exploring the books that children their age read in the 18th through the 20th century. Looks for ways to connect these historical primary sources with topics throughout the curriculum including science, math, and health. Ask students to compare and contrast life and learning in two different time periods.

Featured Digital Objects:
Health and Hygiene - https://goo.gl/iHZZT9
Manners and Social Etiquette - https://goo.gl/W7L3Dt
Natural Sciences - https://goo.gl/rbvgj2

To visit the collection, go tohttp://content.lib.washington.edu/childrensweb/index.html.

Website Review: Scholastic: Librarians

LIBRARIANS from Scholastic is a website specifically designed for school and public librarians.

The librarians section of Scholastic’s website features specific resources of interest to those working with children. In addition to featuring new books, the website provides direct links to major services such as Go!, TrueFlix, ScienceFlix, FreedomFlix, and BookFlix. Dozens of videos feature author interviews. Of particular note is the Idea Share section featuring resources and discussions related to holding book fairs. Be sure to download the “Scholastic Supports Librarians” PDF containing research about the importance of libraries and librarians.

Librarians will find this website to be useful in collection development, lesson planning, and book fair planning. Although it’s focused on works by Scholastic, it contains useful ideas connected all types of materials. Their research on libraries is also useful in preparing to meet with school boards.

To visit the website, go to http://www.scholastic.com/librarians/.

Website Review: MapStory

MAPSTORY is an online tool for creating local, regional, and global scale maps.

The MapStories website contains hundreds of maps to explore. Conduct a search or explore categories such as geopolitics and human settlement. Users can become part of the online community and contribute data and stories to existing projects. Students can also combine narrative elements that include images, text, and video to explain how and why changes happen in specific locations in their own projects. The maps can be connected with social media including Twitter and Facebook.

Librarians will find that students enjoy exploring existing maps along with creating their own. Use this tool in geography lessons along with map-related activities in science and social studies.

To visit the website, go to https://mapstory.org/.

Book Review: Black Panther The Young Prince

BLACK PANTHER THE YOUNG PRINCE by Ronald L. Smith tells the origin story of this popular superhero.

Twelve-year old T’Challa is a young prince living in the hidden African nation of Wakanda. When he and his friend M’Baku are sent to a private academy in Chicago, T’Challa soon learns that his experiences have not prepared him for life in America. To protect his friends, he must face evil and become a hero.

Of particular interest is how the author deals with T’Challa’s conflicting emotions related to America’s history of racial inequality and African heritage.

Librarians will find this book to be a popular extension of the Black Panther universe. Feature this engaging fantasy adventure along with other recently released Marvel superhero origin stories.

Published by Disney-Hyperion on January 2, 2018. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Website Review: TimelinesJS

TIMELINEJS is an easy-to-use tool for building timelines.

TimelineJS is an open-source resource for creating professional-quality, interactive timelines. Users create a Google spreadsheet including short narratives and visuals. The images and videos from social media sites can be incorporated into the timelines. Users then provide the URL of the spreadsheet at the Timeline website. It’s then transformed into a timeline.

Librarians will find this an excellent way to teach both Google spreadsheets and the basics of building timelines. This tool can be applied to content across the curriculum.

To visit the website, go to https://timeline.knightlab.com.

Website Review: Library of Congress: Free Sets

FREE TO USE AND REUSE SETS from the Library of Congress provide dozens of useful teaching and learning resources.

The Library of Congress contains millions of digital objects. Their free sets of materials makes it easy to locate useful content based on themes. Because the materials have no known copyright or are copyright cleared, they can be used by students in products such as web-based reports and presentations.

This section of the Library of Congress website currently contains over a dozen collections on themes such as dogs, classic children’s books, travel posters, and holidays.

Librarians will find this theme-based resource to be useful in introducing primary source documents. Of particularly note is the set called “Your Favorites” from Flickr.

To visit the website, go to https://www.loc.gov/free-to-use/.

Website Review: TED-Ed Series

TED-ED Series are connected videos exploring educational topic across the curriculum.

The TED-Ed Series provides a quick way to locate nearly 50 educational video collections. For instance, Periodic Videos contains 118 videos focusing on topics relating to science and the periodic table. Users click on an element for a lesson and video. The series titled The Way We Think explores nearly 100 topics related to psychology, sociology, thinking, and learning. The Mysteries of Vernacular explores dozens of odd and interesting words.

Librarians will find this website to be an excellent way to seek out useful videos for the K-12 curriculum. Browse through the sets of videos and connect them with the communications, STEM, and social science curriculum.

To visit the website, go to https://ed.ted.com/series.

Book Review: Silent Days, Silent Dreams

SILENT DAYS, SILENT DREAMS by Allen Say tells the compelling true story of a talented and unusual artist.

James Castle was born deaf and never learned to read, write, or speak. Despite his challenges, Castle found peace in drawing. Say tells the extraordinary story of this artist’s life through vivid drawings and concise text.

Librarians will find this amazing story to be an excellent addition to the biography collection. Weave the title into discussions about the challenges people overcome to follow their passion.

Published by Scholastic. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Digital Spotlight: National Baseball Hall of Fame

The NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME website contains a growing digital collection of photos, audio, video, and text.

Contents: Users can browse thousands of items related to the history of baseball. In addition to using the search tool, users can also browse collections including 3-D artifacts, cartoons, oral histories, scrapbooks, photo archives, World Series materials, and more.

Classroom Connections: Librarians will find this website to be a fun way to introduce digital collections. Share the website as part of a display that includes both fiction and nonfiction books about baseball.

Featured Digital Objects:
Jackie Robinson https://goo.gl/Q8RAxy
Scrapbooks https://goo.gl/S1LtG3
Oral Histories https://goo.gl/oiSb1g

To visit the collection, go to https://collection.baseballhall.org/

Technology Review: Yiddish Book Center

The YIDDISH BOOK CENTER is a comprehensive website providing information about language, literature, and culture.

The website contains access to collections, information sources, educational programs, and more.

The Digital Library and Collections area provides over 11,000 titles including oral histories, lectures, audiobooks, and other materials in Yiddish. Of particular interest are 800 children’s literature titles.

The Language, Literature, and Culture section provides articles, podcast interviews, and short films.

Librarians will find this to be a useful resource for students interested in exploring Yiddish and modern Jewish literature and culture.

To visit the website, go to https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/.

Technology Review: Endangered Archives Programme

The ENDANGERED ARCHIVES PROGRAMME from the British Library is a global project focusing on preservation of archival material.

Dozens of countries have participated in this project that helps preserve endangered historical materials. Grants are used to provide financial assistance. Users can access ten years of projects by year or by country. The collections include a wide variety of primary source documents including wills, contracts, correspondence, diaries, maps, and other materials.

Librarians will find this website to be a unique way to talk with students about the importance of preserving cultural heritage. Connect this website with a social studies project focusing on the culture of a particular country. Ask students to explore the digitized items from one of the dozens of countries represented in the project. Then, connect the primary source materials with the country’s history.

To visit the website, go to https://eap.bl.uk/.

Book Review: From Here to There

FROM HERE TO THERE: A BOOK OF MAZES TO WANDER AND EXPLORE by Sean C. Jackson is a stunning book that combines beautiful art with engaging puzzles.

This engaging book provides an excellent introduction to art, architecture, and 3-D puzzles along with dozens of engaging mazes to complete. The author's introduction includes background information about mazes in general and also the 3-dimensional approach taken by the author/illustrator. The variety of mazes and the illustrator's use of color add to the book's appeal.

Each maze contains a starting point, ending point, and name. While most of the mazes are single pages, a few are two-page spreads. The combination of rural and urban settings along with natural and human-made landscapes make the book particularly appealing.

Librarians will find this book to be a popular addition to the nonfiction collection. Young people will enjoy how the mazes seem to define gravity. When sharing the book with children show images of M.C. Escher and discuss this technique.

ARC courtesy of the publisher.