Picture books for...well, everthing!

Looking to use a picture book to teach courtesy? Maybe alliteration?  These librarian approved resources are just the place to look to use pictures books to teach...everything!



Port Washington Public Library graphic

Betty Buenning's Picture This
Jana Starnes' Picture This!
Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site
Nancy Keane's Picture Books To Teach Elements of Fiction
Shutta Crum's Using Picture Books to Teach Literary Techniques
Keith Schoch's Teach with Picture Books
and lastly
LibraryThing which you need to join to get the best perks.

Have fun, and remember, students are never too old to enjoy the amusements and benefits of a great Picture Book!

These resources are thanks to the many contributors of the much used LM_NET, the School Library Media & Network Connections.  If you are a librarian and/or teacher, this resource is invaluable. Here is the information, if you would like to join the listserv:
* To contact an LM_NET Moderator: LM_NET-request@listserv.syr.edu
* LM_NET Help & Information: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/
* LM_NET Archive: http://listserv.syr.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A0=LM_NET
* EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/join.html
* LM_NET Supporters: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/category/links/el-announce/
* LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/
 

QR Codes are Cool!

I just created a couple QR codes for my students/parents so they can download my contact information, even this Blog web address was included! 
I created one with an image embedded in it (a stack of books, of course!) and one in my favorite shade of green (Granny Smith) without an image.

So super cool!  All students need to do is use their smartphone to scan the code and voila!, the contact info shows up and can be saved into their Contacts.  They can download a FREE "QR Code Reader" App from their smartphone applications market in order to scan QR codes from their phones.

What a great way to use 21st Century technology and get info out to students and parents! 
These are the websites I used:  http://azonmobile.com/qrcode-generator  for creating one with an image, and http://www.qrstuff.com/ for ones without an image in them
Start creating your own QR codes today!

 

Check out this QR code with my Twitter account on it.  You can even scan it right from the computer screen.

The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien
ISBN: 978-0618706419
Paperback: $8.97

They carried physical items with measurable mass, they carried figurative items with immeasureable weight.  They were kids who killed other kids, and that weighed the most. It was Vietnam and it was what is was, they did what they did, and they carried it all. 

 

O'Brien speaks in a voice that is real and at times difficult in that reality.  I had a hard time with some of the war stories, their weight being too much at times.  There is death, despair, humor, love, trust, and friendship woven throughout the tales spun by O'Brien.  It's a heavy book, but one both adults and teens should read, bringing forth both the horror and awe of Vietnam.  Read it and it may change your life.

  

I Just Listened to...

I love audiobooks…

Thanks to http://www.audiobooksync.com/ SYNC Summer 2012, I have a whole library of great “listens”.  I am addicted to audio books, especially when I walk with my dog early each morning.  This summer SYNC Summer 2012 gave away 2 audio books every week, for FREE!  They linked together a modern Young Adult book to a Classic.  For example Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen was linked with Irises by Francisco X. Stork.  I just finished listening to Irises and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Mary and Kate, sisters in El Paso, must learn to live on their own after tragedy strikes their family, again.   Brought up by their strict father, these girls are no strangers to responsibility and discipline, what they need to learn is how to LIVE.  Boys, clothes, hobbies, dreams, life all need to be rediscovered as they fight through the tough rules set by their father; rules they no longer need to obey, but that they are finding difficult to let go. 

Chaos Walking Book One

The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness

Hardcover, $12.97 
ISBN: 978-0763639310

When Earth becomes overcrowed, a group of forward thinking adults head to a new planet to reestablish a more simple way of life.  However, when the native inhabitants of the planet become involved, the adults make a decision that will change everything.
Main character, Todd Hewitt, is the youngest member of his town at 13 years old.  There are no women and with his upcoming 14th birthday, new changes are ahead for Todd.  At 14 everyone changes, but is it for good or bad?  Todd's guardians will do anything to keep Todd from being initiated on his 14th birthday, including making him run away.  As events unfold, Todd stumbles upon a crashed spacecraft and soon realizes that more Earthlings are on the way and the first one is a girl his own age.
A page-turning, fast-paced saga about the coming of age, self-discovery, perseverance, and survival; readers of all ages will learn respect for Todd and cheer him on more than any other protagonist!
 Other books in the Chaos Walking series include The Ask and the Answer and Monsters of Men.