Reading, writing and digital literacies – how we learn, strategies, challenges, assessment, resources
In 2006, I created an after school multimedia publishing program to fend off my growing sense that schools have become overly and obsessively focused on standards - getting all the kids to do the same things in the same ways at the same rate. Ugh! In my program, kids learn to take responsibility for their talents and strengths by exploring, stretching and sharing what they're passionate about or...
This is what I've been looking for (and still am, since it's PC only, and I'm a Mac, as they say...). The Oregon Digital Library Consortium Library2Go lets you check out audio library materials by digital download, from home (or anywhere), just as you would check out a book from the library - for FREE, with the same usage rights you'd have with any checked out material. Very...
Just in from the MadATer... Make your own comic at makebeliefcomix.com. What a great way for kids (or adults) to dip into creating comic strips - for fun, for social stories, and more. I especially like the tips that pop up on the bottom.
I keep coming across one of my favorite children's authors & illustrators Peter Reynolds again and again. I first found him at the TRLD conference in San Francisco, in 2000. He was there to promote his software, but I convinced him (it wasn't hard) to sign a copy of The North Star for my newborn nephew Joe. Not only did he sign it to Joe, he added a...
ArtThink is the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's curriculum site, which provides theme-based activities in visual arts, language arts, history and social studies. ArtThink includes a glossary, online lessons, special features, tools and games. http://sfmoma.org/artthink/default.asp
Thinkfinity.org, formerly Marco Polo, is home to an amazing consortium of web resources for education: ArtsEdge - for arts integration, from the Kennedy Center EconEdLink - economics EdSiteMent - humanities, from the National Endowment for Humanities Illuminations - math, from NCTM Read-Write-Think - literacy from NCTE Science NetLinks - science XPeditions - geography, from National Geographic Smithsonian Museum of American History These sites offer excellent reference information, as...
SchwabLearning.org and Don Johnston Inc. have launched a summer read-a-long with a Start-to-Finish rewrite of Tom Sawyer, including both pdf's of the book and MP3 audio files. In addition, they are offering a 20% discount on select Start-to-Finish books, and a sweepstakes for a collection of adventure titles from Start-to-Finish (ends June 30, 2007). Start-to-Finish books are a unique combination of carefully constructed "considerate" text, especially for struggling...
Crazy beginnings can give birth to wonderful results. A humble door front at 826 Valencia Street in San Francisco takes you into a wild pirate-themed store. Step beyond the store and you find where the real magic begins in this free afterschool drop-in writing and tutoring center. 826 Valencia also offers workshops and field trips for students and educators. This successful program has spawned other efforts in other...
Technology, Reading and Learning Diversity is an excellent, focused conference hosted in San Francisco, CA, Jan. 24-26, 2008. If you would like to attend and be a presenter, the call for speakers has been extended to June 15, 2006. I've presented at TRLD since 1995. Contact me if you'd like to learn more about the conference. http://www.trld.com/callpapersprop.htm
WikiBooks, whose motto is "Think free. Learn free." has a special section called Wikijunior, a project aimed at producing full-color booklets for kids 8-11. The books are being developed and offered online (and some in pdf format). Some books may also go into print. One of the current complete titles is The Solar System. Other Wikijunior books will reportedly follow a similar format. In that these books are...
