Speechless and QR Codes

Library Lessons for the Year 7s have started and will be running for the next few weeks.  This week was all about where to find things in our Library - and a QR code Hunt using the ipads.  The class really seemed to get into the idea of a 'treasure' hunt using iPads and scaning the bright yellow and black little squares that had been stuck up all around the area. 
This idea is one that would work for most subjects, I think and is very easy to put together with all the free on-line sites for generating QR codes - and can be anything from text to URLs.


New title in the Library this week:

‘Speechless’    -    Genre:  Issues

"Saying she’s sorry isn’t enough.  Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can’t keep a secret – until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast – and nearly got someone killed.
Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence – to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting everyone else.  And if she thinks that keeping secrets is hard, she has no idea how hard not speaking up when she is ignored, ridiculed or even attacked is going to be.
However, there is strength in silence and new friends coming her way. A boy she may even fall for.  If only her new friends can forgive what she has done........if only she can forgive herself."

 Well worth a read - after all communication is a huge part of our lives and talking involves at least a good half of it.

 

The School Swimming Carnival is on tomorrow, so good luck to all. 
GO STUART!!

Have a wonderful weekend - week 6 next week so almost halfway through the term.

 

 

Free Resources

ABC 'Splash' is a new education website, packed with hundreds of audio and video clips as well as games.  All of which are linked to the Australian Curriculum.

There are sections for parents as well as teachers and it is all free.

See volcanos erupt and microbats fly. Investigate fossils, megafires and worm farms. Meet fairytale monsters. Unwrap an Ancient Egyptian mummy and explore the Great Barrier Reef without getting wet!

Check out the link below:

http://splash.abc.net.au/home

 

Happy Library Lovers Day

Happy Library Lovers Day.  I hope you make some time today to gain some of that work-life balance we need and spend some time READING.

Mrs Spina's StepUp class spent some time making posters and bookmarks for our 'Love Your Library' display, and have done a wonderful job.  Come and take a look.

We have a new book in the library that I couldn't resist when I read the blurb.  Check out the details below.

'Breathe'          Genre: Science Fiction

'Oxygen is essential for most living beings.  For 2.5 million years, it was the most abundant chemical element on earth.  Until the Switch.
When oxygen levels plunge in a treeless world, a state lottery decides who will live inside the Pod.  Everyone else will slowly suffocate. 
In a world with NO TREES, NO AIR and NO TRUTH - there is NO CHOICE but to FIGHT BACK'

Well worth a read if you like dystopian stories and there will be more to come as this is the first in a series.

It is on the shelf and ready to borrow.

Digital Resources and Information

Below are a couple of links to some more Web 2.0 tools that may come in handy. 

The first is a link from the Resource Hound blog.  This time it is for Interactive History Maps.   They start with Pre-History, such as the Continental Drift Theory and end with the  Roman Empire.  They have a good audio and easy to follow instructions
http://theresourcehound.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/interactive-history-maps/

Dropbox is a free service that enables you to bring your photos, documents and videos anywhere and share them easily.  You will never have to email yourself a file again.  I use this one myself quite a bit if I have to work on things at home.  It also has the capabilities to allow you to collaborate on things with colleagues. 
This is cloud computing - so remember to BACK IT ALL UP on your computer.  Don't just rely on the cloud to take care of it or you may be in for a nasty suprise. Of course, this is also sheer common sense.
https://www.dropbox.com/

Content Curation is something has always occurred in schools - resources were gathered around the topic being taught to help explain and to expand student's understanding.  The difference is that previously it was always 'hard' content - books, posters, kits etc while nowadays there is a huge wealth of digital resources.  Many of these are often found while searching for something else and often cannot be located when needed.  This blog article offers 6 different methods or tools to help you to collect, collate and share what you have found.  Curation is about collecting, but it is also about explaining, illustrating, bringing in different points of view and updating the view as it changes.
http://resourcelinkbce.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/6-ways-to-keep-track-of-digital-information-a-resolution-for-2013/

Enjoy.

 

New Fiction Titles

We have had a few new fiction books arrive and they are processed, on display and ready for loaning.  Below is a small blurb about a few of them. Come in, take a look, maybe borrow some for reading.

If there is something that you particularly want and we don’t have it, just ask.  I may be able to get it from somewhere else on loan for you.

 Life in Outer Space:  Genre: Love

 Sam is a geek and he is totally cool with that.  He has his horror movies, his nerdy friends, World of War craft and unless Princess Leia turns up in his bedroom, he doesn’t have to worry about girls.

Then Sam meets Camilla.  She is beautiful, friendly and completely irrelevant to his life.  Sam is determined to ignore her – except that Camilla has a life of her own and she has decided that he is going to be part of it.

Sam believes that everything he needs to know, he can learn from the movies – but maybe he has been watching the wrong ones.

 When We Wake:  Genre: Science Fiction

16 year old Tegan was loving life – she was joining friends to protest the wrongs of the world, she was playing the guitar and she thought that maybe she was falling in love for the first time. She didn’t plan on the best day of her life being her last.

When she wakes, 100 years in the future, she is locked in a government facility with no memory of what happened. As the first person to be cryogenically frozen and successfully revived, she is an instant celebrity. And all she wants is a ‘normal’ life back again.

When terrible secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: should she keep her head down and survive – or fight for a better future?

What the Raven Saw:   Genre: Family?

I dare anyone to read this and give me a definitive genre for this book.  I have made it Family, but it could be Mystery, Love, Issues, even Animals. 

Even the blurb leaves you wondering......

“The Raven doesn’t want you to read this story. What if you find the location of his hidden treasure? Or worse – learn his secret? But you should read it, even though the Raven wants to be left alone. A pesky pigeon, a beady-eyed weatherhen, a ghost boy and a lovestruck scarecrow will make sure that this book isn’t just about one grumpy raven.”

Web 2 Resources

Below are a couple of links to Web 2 Tools that may be handy. These were mentioned on the teacher librarian listserv today and got good recommendations from others as well.

http://kidblog.org/home/

Kidblog is designed for teachers who want to provide each student with an individual blog.  Students publish posts and participate in discussions within a secure classroon blogging community.  Teachers are able to maintain control over student blogs and user accounts.   

You can use Kidblog to:

• Create classroom discussions
• Learn digital citizenship
• Reflect on learning
• Practice writing skills
• Assess writing

 http://www.voki.com/

Voki is a free service that allows you create avatars, give them a voice by recording speech and then publish them to a blog, website or a profile.  Voki itself is free, however if you decide to upgrade to Voki Classroom, there is a small charge.  I guess it depends on what services you want from it.

http://www.wibbitz.com/

Wibbitz is a text-to-video platform that can apparently change any text based article, post or feed into a short video. This seems to be in beta mode at the moment, but turned the titles of my blog posts into a headline type announcment and made choices of pictures to add to it.  Quite fun to play with. Again, a free service.

Have a great weekend all.