Roundup of Resources for Literacy and Reading – September 2010

Yup! Fall is here! School bells are ringing all over the northern hemisphere! [*dancing*] I admit it; I have been ready for school to begin for a while now … I missed the routine of checking in and surfing and learning new stuff.

As you can tell from the (seeming) avalanche of posts here, we’re getting back into the groove.

21st Century Literacies

Read Write Zone – In July 2010, Australian author Sandy Fussell started a new blog that engages young readers and authors through blog-based interaction. Sandy is currently blogging with three schools in New South Wales. We learned about Sandy and this really nifty project via Megan’s Kids’ Book Review blog (a cool source unto itself!).

There is an interesting article about eBooks at ReadWriteWeb. The question is whether (or not) there is a future for animated eBooks. This point caught my attention: Reading [The Pedlar Lady of Gushing Cross] iPad book took some of that internal magic away from me, but arguably added enough magic of its own to compensate.

Creative Literacy for Kids

BookJam Digital Book Report Contest – Recorded Books K-12 is sponsoring a contest that offers educators/students a chance to win a portion of $20,000 in prizes by creating a digital book report. The Report, which blends core curriculum standards and 21st century skills, can be a song, performance, debate … whatever the kids can think up!

Literacy and Reading Tools for Parents

One of the resources I look forward to every quarter is Susan Stephenson’s Literacy Lava. This is a F-R-E-E online magazine created by parents for parents, and offers real-world, practical advice for filling your child’s world with literacy … and enriching yours, too. Literacy Lava 6 just hit the virtual newstand. You can also read some of the back issues here.

Book Lamp.org – On this website, readers are connected to books through an analysis of writing styles, similar to the way that Pandora.com matches music lovers to new music. From the website: “Do you like Stephen King’s It, but thought it was too long? BookLamp allows you to find books with a similar level of tone, tense, perspective, action, description, and dialog – while at the same time allowing you to specify details like… half the length. It’s impervious to outside influences – like advertising – that impact socially driven recommendation systems, and isn’t reliant on a large user base to work. Take a look at the above video to see how we do it in detail.” (Thanks Book Chook!)

At Children’s Books and Reviews, Aaron Mead has a series about How to Choose Good Children’s Book. I just discovered the series at part 9 (Story Complexity and Character), but have since gone back to read it from the beginning.

Literacy and Reading Tools for Educators

teAchology – Found this via SLJ’s Extra Helping (17 August 2010). You’ll find 9,000 (!) printables on the site. Gail Junion-Metz offers a guided tour: “One of the first things you’ll want to check out are the “Classroom Labels.” Here you’ll find coordinating labels for common objects and all sorts of AV equipment, student supplies, and teacher label sets (which include labels for dictionaries, encyclopedias, magazines). Next, take a look at the “Teacher Signs,” where you’ll find bunches of coordinated signs to label your library stacks, as well as signs for different holidays, celebrations, and classroom themes (like Civil War and space). You’ll also find signs for different places around your building, including the library, and monthly and seasonal signs. Finally, don’t miss the “Back to School” worksheets, some of which are subject-related and include coordinated nameplates and nametags you’ll use during the first couple of weeks of school.”