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Video and Audio Interviews With 130 Renowned Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators

— Reading Rockets/ WETA

1-7 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:48 share

How It Works

Get to know favorite children’s and young adults’ authors and illustrators by seeing and hearing from them directly. The videos/audios can be accessed directly on the site or downloaded to an iPod for listening on the go, if you or your students have one. The videos are split into shorter segments, so you can see Jack Prelutsky talk about his writing process, for example, or hear Patricia MacLachlan (author of Sarah, Plain and Tall) talk about reading with her father as a child. Bring your classroom of readers to life as writers or just fill in some background knowledge as you approach a new book or selection in your reading series. You are certain to have students lining up for works by these folks at the library. Note: Each author page tells which plug-in is required to view or listen to the interview. The needed plug-ins vary. They do provide a link to download the needed plug-in , if you do not have it. You can also get them from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

In the Classroom

Grab a projector and bring the author right into your classroom, or turn down the lights and listen to what she has to say before you start reading. You can also create a shortcut to this page right on the computer desktop and allow students to "visit with" them as a center in your classroom. One great student writing prompt: Which author is most like you? Maybe even ask students to write about their own writing process on your class blog after sharing some of the interviews. They will LOVE this site!rnrnLibarians may want to set up a kiosk with this web site opened for children when they come in.

Technology Heads-up!
  • Find interactive ABC's, colors, etc.
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  • Donec rutrum congue leo eget malesuada. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a.
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Tag(s): authors, interviews, rockets,

Google Maps

— Google

K-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://maps.google.com Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:48 share

How It Works

Google Maps gives you live visuals of any location, ideal for planning a trip, picturing the relationship between places, and viewing physical characteristics of almost anywhere in the world. Type or paste in an address and click "search maps." If you click Satellite or hybrid versions of the map, you will see actual satellite images of the terrain. Zoom in and out, use the street view "orange man" to walk among the buildings and trees, or plan and share a route easily with Google Maps. Using your (free) Google membership allows you to save favorite places and more. Find businesses and other features near a specific map location: hotels, restaurants, schools, parks, and more. Google Maps has become more and more sophisticated, now offering many features previously only available in Google Earth, such as opening and/or saving placemarker files. Unlike Google Earth, Google Maps does not require software installation and does not use as much bandwidth for constant reloading. You can even play a tour of places you mark in Google Maps. They just keep adding more features! Google Maps is available as a free app for Android and iOS, too. The handy embed codes let you put any Google Map in a web page, blog, or wiki. Of course you do not need a membership or any special skills to simply SEE, share, or navigate a map. Membership gives you more ways to save.

In the Classroom

If you teach geography, this one’s a must. It is also helpful for showing students WHERE a story or news event takes place. In lower grades, use it to show students basics of their community. Teach map skills by showing students their own community. Zoom in on their street or on the school. This site and its more sophisticated cousin, Google Earth, are great on an interactive whiteboard. Set up a class Google account (or use student accounts if permitted). Have students create their own custom route plans to tour historic sites. Challenge math students to plan the most economical route to visit several vacation destinations, including gas mileage and gas prices. Have students create placemarker files of the important places in the life of a famous person or the route traveled by a particular unit during the Civil War. Have student groups create placemarker files to show environmental sites, habitats, landforms, or anything you can place on a map. Embed projects in a class wiki using the handy embed code offered as a sharing option. Not comfortable with wikis? Check out TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through.

Technology Heads-up!
  • Find interactive ABC's, colors, etc.
  • Donec rutrum congue leo eget malesuada. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a.
  • Donec rutrum congue leo eget malesuada. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a.
  • Donec rutrum congue leo eget malesuada. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a.
Tag(s): directions, maps, DAT device agnostic tool,

Video: Social Media

— Common Craft

-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices https://www.commoncraft.com/video/social-media Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:47 share

How It Works

What is social media? This video takes you on a journey to "Scoopville," a fictitious town used to demonstrate the many "flavors" of social media. The video is short (3:25-minutes) and very easy to follow. Highlighted are blogs, podcasts, and videos. This site requires you to be a paying member to embed or download the video. However, you can still see the transcript for the video. Despite a paid membership model, Common Craft still offers this video for free, but it does have a watermark saying, "For evaluation only." If you wish to share this with a group, they will need to view it on individual/partner computers (or IOS devices) or on a projector that has a zoom function to enlarge a selected area of the screen.

In the Classroom

If you are looking to learn more about various social media, check out this short video. Learn more about the "flavors" you could use in your own classroom. For research projects have students create a blog, wiki, or even a podcast and compare the pros/cons of each regarding communication and safety. Create podcasts using a tool such as podOmatic, explained here. To put the video on a "center" computer, do a "right click" on the video, select "save as" and save to the "center" computer.

Technology Heads-up!
  • Find interactive ABC's, colors, etc.
  • Donec rutrum congue leo eget malesuada. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a.
  • Donec rutrum congue leo eget malesuada. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a.
  • Donec rutrum congue leo eget malesuada. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a.
Tag(s): social media, video, blogs, podcasts,
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