Teens: Too Old for Booktalks?

Booktalking for teens seems to be generating a bit of discussion these days. Should we bother? Of course. Should we use booktalks in our lessons? Absolutely.

Teens deserve an opportunity to hear about books, and booktalking is still a great way to get the word out. Below are a few titles to help newcomers give it a go or to add to an already-developed repertoire.

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Boys learning

... If a boy prefers to sit on the floor, he can lower his desk to accommodate that preference as well. Stahler told me that the performance of her boys improved “200 percent” when she eliminated the requirement that students sit quietly in the classroom. I can share similar success stories from public schools in Foley, AL; Deland, FL; and Seattle, WA. These schools offer all-boys’ classes where students are welcome to stand, twirl, buzz, or hunker down on the floor; and in each instance, boys have become more engaged with academics and storytime.

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A collection of resources and videos related to the history of Australian Indigenous people and their culture.

Film Australia
http://www.filmaust.com.au/learning

Aboriginal people in the Gibson Desert
http://dl.filmaust.com.au/module/721/

Indigenous health workers
http://dl.filmaust.com.au/module/729/

Aboriginal people make a canoe and hunt a turtle
http://dl.filmaust.com.au/module/724/

Dreamings, through Indigenous art
http://dl.filmaust.com.au/module/726/

The Microscope Imaging Station

The Microscope Imaging Station at the Exploratorium provides a unique opportunity to explore the microscopic world. In Summer 2004, the Exploratorium launched the most ambitious microscope facility ever created for use by the general public, the Microscope Imaging Station. The initial phase of the project gives visitors the ability to image living specimens, as well as control the microscopes themselves. At the museum, you can select among various specimens, move over them, change the magnification and focus, and, where appropriate, change the lighting to illuminate the specimen or use reflected light and fluorescence to dramatically change how the specimens look.
Visit the Imaging Station

Once Upon a Time: Storytelling, Drama, and Readers Theatre for Grades K-6.

Judy Freeman's new workshop is October 5, 2007 in Edison, NJ at the Pines Manor:

This day promises to be a fun, action packed day with draw-and-tell tales, stories with music and chantable refrains, script-writing techniques for children and adults and much more.

Registration fee is $179.00 Hours: 8:30-3:00 (doors open at 8:00 with a continental breakfast), lunch included and 5 professional development contact hours (certificate given after the workshop).

Come join Judy Freeman at her hands-on, show-and tell day that is packed with easy-to-learn stories, poems, and songs.

Go to www.lu.com/onceupon to download a registration form.

The History of Light

Via Family first an interesting look at the history of light.

It veers all over the map in telling the story of light, and I think you'll find it fascinating. It begins with the origin of the universe, as espoused by Immanuel Kant in 1755. We progress through the ages as man begins illuminating the night with crude torches, mastering the dark. Eventually, we find our way to the nineteenth century, when electricity first began to be used for lighting.

Obscure devices are recounted, including Alexander Graham Bell's sunlight-transmitted telephone. Stage lighting is given a special emphasis, and I found the saltwater dimmers used for adjusting the volume of light to be amazing to read about. These devices consisted of an electrode at the bottom of a tank of brine, and another electrode that was raised or lowered in the liquid to adjust the voltage going to the bulbs. The brine would boil, heating the backstage area.

Cool stuff, see for yourself.

CSIRO to develop total wellbeing diet for kids

A children's version of the popular 'The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet' will be developed with federal funding. The Australian Government is putting $3 million into the ABC guide to dieting for juniors, modelled on the bestselling CSIRO health regime. The fat-fighting diet and exercise book may be distributed to the nation's four million children through schools by 2009.

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