‘History In An Hour‘ is a series of e-books, apps and audiobooks to help the reader learn the basic facts of a given subject area. Take World War Two as an example, exactly what was Dunkirk about, or the Normandy Landings? During the Cold War, what happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis, why was there a wall in Berlin? Take 1066 – what exactly did William the Conqueror conquer?
Seems very interesting….
I stumbled across What Kids Are Reading: The Book-Reading Habits of Students from my NCTE inbox email. It’s actually pretty interesting!
Authors who have commentary in the document include Barry Gilmore, Jeff Kinney, David Coleman, Dan Gutman, Ellen Hopkins, Terri Kirk, Dav Pilkey, and Sandra Stotsky.
This document begins of lists of what kids are reading, separated by grade level.
Starting on page 42 are some exemplars for Common Core texts.
There is a section for librarians’ picks separated by grades and interest level.
There is also a list of frequently challenged books in 2008, 2009, and 2010.
I’d say if you’re looking for summer reading to stay on par with what your kids are reading, this pdf is a wonderful place to begin!
historicity-was-already-taken:
If you’ve been interested by the stuff I’ve been posting about, you might like these books:
The Punic Wars 264-146 BC (Essential Histories) by Nigel Bagnall
Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World’s Richest Museum by Ralph Frammolino and Jason Felch
Between Rome and Carthage: Southern Italy during the Second Punic War by Michael P. Fronda
Archives Power: Memory, Accountability, and Social Justice by Randall C. Jimerson
Archives: Principles and Practices by Laura Agnes Millar
The Battle for Christmas by Stephen Nissenbaum (the first two or three chapters of this were my source for the Christmas posts; it is awesome and you should all read it)
Between Rome and Jerusalem: 300 Years of Roman-Judaean Relations by Martin Sicker
Surviving Sacrilege: Cultural Persistence in Jewish Antiquity by Steven Weitzman
And here is a journal article I used for the Hannibal post: Hannibal’s Mules: The Logistical Limitations of Hannibal’s Army and the Battle of Cannae, 216 BC by John F. Shean
Past recommendations may be found on the Further Reading page.
Great PDF chapter to read for those teaching students who struggle with comprehension / ELL students.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his sister Doro Bush Koch are now leading the foundation started by their mother more than 20 years ago.
Former first lady Barbara Bush announced Thursday in Houston, Texas that her son and daughter were the new co-chairs of the foundation dedicated to improving literacy across the country.
The 86-year-old Barbara Bush will remain involved with the foundation as the honorary chair.
“My sister and I want to continue the national work my mom has done for many years,” Jeb Bush said in an email to The Associated Press.
Barbara Bush started her foundation in 1989, when her husband George H.W. Bush was president. Since then it has awarded more than $40 million to 902 family literacy programs nationwide.
“I am very proud of what the foundation has accomplished in the last 20 years, but there still is so much more to do,” Barbara Bush said in a statement. “Far too many Americans still lack the basic skills of reading, writing, and comprehension. With Doro and Jeb’s leadership and experience, the foundation will grow to the next level and expand our efforts to instill a love of reading in homes in every state.’”
(Free account may be required to read).
While I am not a fan of the Bushes as presidents, I am a fan of literacy.
LiveBinder Update: Daily 5 (Google doc.)
#elemchat #spedchat #daily5
Lots of helpful suggestions on how to set up the Daily 5 in your classroom. Shares what you need as well as suggestions for acquiring them. Many creative ideas.
Added to
Readers/Writers Workshops, Centers, and Resources This also includes more resources for the Daily 5.
I… um… I’m just going to post this here.
This is, no words. So amazing, and so strange.
This is my favorite thing of the whole weekend!
How do you all do it?! I am learning in my methods class but I cannot keep up with student who is reading and making the correct marks. Ahhh! Whoever can do this effortlessly is skilled and has my admiration.
Well here’s some pro-tips.
Younger grades, they usually do read slow enough to do the majority of the marks. Older grades if they read a whole line correctly you can just do a check mark next to the line.
It is ok to ask the student to pause at the end of a page so you can go back and add a mark real quick. Focus on the most important marks before trying to do all of the others.
I usually mark at the beginning of the year rereads, omits, substitutions, and self-corrects. As we go on, I mark when they sound the word out, when I prompted them, etc.
I do have to say I am pretty impressed by myself on this task.
(Source: kay021)
Guys. It’s free.
The International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL) brings a worldwide collection of free children’s books to the iPad. The largest collection of its kind, the ICDL spans the globe with thousands of children’s books from over 60 countries, in a wide assortment of beautiful languages with captivating illustrations. Meet the six Mongolian brothers in search of knowledge, the gray Palestinian peacemaker cat that does something most unusual to the other cat’s ears, or a version of the Three Little Pigs that you surely have never heard before.
Hipster PPT smirks at you.
(via garnetsandaquarians)
The study: Over the span of five summer weeks, 18 second-graders were divided into two groups; one group read aloud to another person for 30 minutes once a week, and the other group read aloud to a dog.
Guess which group saw a decrease in their words-per-minute reading rate…
I know this without looking. Reading to the dog is better because they feel less worried about mistakes.
First, hello to all of my recent followers! So glad you decided to jump on board. :) Hopefully, at least some of you will be participating in teacher dare day today!
Dare: As the beginning of the school year approaches I’m curious: What is your favorite part about the first week of school (as a teacher, student, or parent)?
As a student, my favorite part of the first week of school was always getting all of my supplies and being organized. Every year the first week of school was by far the most organized and least chaotic for me. Now, as a teacher, I can’t say that I will feel the same way, because I haven’t started my first week yet. Also, I’m not a parent, but I’m curious to hear what you guys have to say!
So reply, reblog, and be merry! :)
My favorite part of the new school year is when my students start reading the books I have collected into my classroom library (until this year I had bought them all, now a bunch of people have gotten books for the room off of my classroom wishlist on Amazon). Seeing which books get them excited, what pictures they like, what books makes me laugh is a wonderful insight into what my year will be like. Also, I have carefully chosen the books I’ve purchased and put on my Amazon wish list — and seeing that work (and money) pay off is a really good feeling.
by ANNIE ROPEIK:
The Harry Potter franchise has its last hurrah on Friday, and fans like me are facing a forcible graduation from the protection of a fictional universe we’ve always known. I was 7 when Harry began, but I’m 21 now, and it’s time to broaden my horizons beyond Hogwarts.
But what to pick up first? To me, the perfect post-Potter book isn’t an imitator, but rather something entirely different (darker, perhaps, or less padded with childhood optimism) that’s laced with threads of familiar territory. Through striking and unexpected lenses, these three books give new life to my favorite foundations of Harry’s literary magic.
