Cyberbully?

Are you a cyberbully?  Have you been the victim of a cyberbully?  What is a cyberbully, you ask?

Bullying is not new but thanks to the Internet kids are now being bullied at home. Online harassment- or cyberbullying  has become a serious problem. When bullying comes home through the internet or a cell phone, it can leave victims feeling helpless and overwhelmed.

What is Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is any harassment that occurs through the internet, cell phones or online gaming. Vicious forum posts, name calling in chat rooms, posting fake profiles on web sites, and mean or cruel email and text messages are all ways of cyberbullying. 

This week, fifth and sixth graders will watch this video from Brain Pop about cyberbullying. You should watch these videos with your children and then take the quizzes that accompany the video.  This video will open the lines of communication between parents and children.  Ask your children if they have been cyberbullied and share your experiences with them. 

The most important thing I imparted with students is that you should never do anything online or on your cell phone that you wouldn't do in person.  I told students that people sitting at home in front of the computer get brave... and stupid.  We need to remember that there is a person on the other side of that screen. 

Other resources:
Stop Cyberbullying
National Crime Stoppers: Cyberbullying
Cyberbully Help

Valentine 2.0

When I was a kid, I loved to do Mad Libs!  You know, fill in the blank with a noun, verb or adjective?   Here are a few Valentine's Day Mad Libs for you to try!  If you don't know what the parts of speech are, there is a help button.

A Special Valentine

A Valentine Poem

Modern Cinderella

What Are Friends For?

Make a Valentine on Starfall.com and practice your connecting words like because & and.  You can print your Valentine too!

Top Ten for Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Since I have started my blog, I have discovered so many great librarian/book-lover blogs.  These blogs make me think, inspire me and motivate me.  Today, I share my 10 most visited blogs.  Enjoy! (And thank you!)

Welcome to My Tweendom is written by Stacy Dillon who is a school librarian.  She blogs reviews for young adult and children's books.   Her "On The Clipboard" posts are a great look in to what kids are really checking out and I like to see how my kids compare to hers.

Curious George's Notes from the Hut: I love local, independent bookstores (ie, Prairie Lights) and that is what Curious George is.  Located on Harvard Square across from Harvard Yard, this blog offers up great reviews and news from the world of children's literature.  

The Coralville Central Library is written by a local Iowa City teacher-librarian, who also happens to work in my school district!  Devin and I started exploring the world of librarian-blogging at the same time.  I check her blog weekly to see what she is up to across town.  We both agree that writing a blog is theraputic- and it is as much for our students and parents as it is for us. Devin also maintains a wonderful site for the Iowa Children's Choice Award nominees, where people can read about the books and then write about their reactions to the book.  This is something that I hope Devin will do next year- as I value it greatly!

The Jacket Knack:  This blog explores the world of cover art in children's and young adult books.  I too, judge books by their covers and encourage children to do the same.

Madigan Reads:  Madigan McGillicuddy is a  blogging librarian who posts reviews of books for kids of all ages from birth through teenage years.  I like the voice in her reviews and the books she shares are relevant to what I am currently doing with my kids. 

Miss Yingling Reads: Miss Yinling posts reviews for middle school age students, "especially boys", fiction and YA fiction.  I love her "Not what I wanted Wednesday" posts, where she discusses her disappointment in certain titles she has received.  Her posts have allowed me to be a little more critical in my reviews and to post a review even if it isn't all positive.  There are books for all readers and readers for all books, and just because I don't like a certain book, doesn't mean that someone else won't. 

Tales From an Open Book

This is the blog from The Carelton Place Public Library in Ontario, Canada.  The website describes them as a small library, but man, their blog packs a big punch!  I have discovered many new links by visiting their blog.

100 Scope Notes

Written by librarian, Travis Jonker, this blog hits the spot!  He offers up book reviews, great links and wonderful author videos.  His sense of humor is right in line with mine- he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously, and I appreciate that!

Green Bean Tween Queen

Sarah is a tween-teen librarian and posts great reviews of books that will appeal to my older students.

Kidsmomo

In their own words: "Here’s something else we both love: children’s books. And we want to share our favorites with you. But not because reading is good for you, as surely your teacher has told you. No offense to your teacher, but a good book goes way beyond that; it consumes and entertains you in a way that nothing else can — not even Joe Jonas performing “Single Ladies” in a leotard (although we must admit, that comes a close second)."

And, here is a video of Joe in the leotard:

My Most Visited Links

I just realized that Forefox lets you sort your bookmarks by the number of times you have visited them.  I am ashamed to say that my most visited site isn't NPR or the Iowa City Public Library, but... Facebook with 856 visits(I am attributing this high number to the fact that I run the Lemme Facebook page.).  Gulp.  Here are the runner-ups, I hope you will find something that you like in this list!  Leave a comment and tell me what your most visited website is... besides this blog, of course!

The Crafty Crow is a children's craft collective created by teacher, girl scout leader and home school mom, Casi.  She scours the web for amazing crafts to do with children.  I have used this site to find crafts to use with my own children, with my Daisy Scouts and during library lessons.  I love this site and visit it several times a week!

The Picky Palate is a website that combines 3 of my favorite things: family, photography and food.  Jenny is a stay at home mom who appears to be a fabulous cook and photographer!  Her recipes are amazing and she cooks with her kids in mind, so the recipes are family friendly.  What I love most about this site is that she photographs each stage of the recipe, so you know what everything "should" look like!  The photographs are amazing- not just taken in a dirty kitchen, but staged beautifully.  Check it out, and let me know if you try a recipe!

Kind Over Matter is a blog I visit when I need a little pick me up.  The blog is written by Amanda, with the hopes that visitors will spread a little kindness and make the world a better place.  You can find inspirational videos, photos and quotes.  Now and then, you will get some great printables that you can use to spread cheer to friends and coworkers.  

Compfight.com is a site that I use to look for pictures that have Creative Commons rights on Flickr.  That means that the photographer is allowing me to use the picture for educational and nonprofit use, as long as I give credit.  When you use this site, it is important to know how to activate the Creative Commons option so you really are using the right photos.  Also know that these photos are not censored in any way, so there needs to be parental involvement while looking for pictures.  Parents should activate the safe search option.

Wow!  Don't go to this site on an empty stomach.  Bakerella.com is an AMAZING site for the baker in all of us.  Bakerella started when the blogger took a beginner's cake decorating class and got the baking bug.  She used the blog to keep track of her baking projects.  Not only are the recipes great, but the photography is amazing... amazing!  I have made the red velvet cake balls- very easy and very delicious! 

I discovered Goodreads.com when I wanted a quick and easy way to keep track of the books I want to read and the books I have read.  When you create an account, you can start a virtual bookshelf.  You can rate your books on a 5 star scale and write your own reviews.  You can add friends and see what they are reading, you can search for books by category and take fun quizes.  I like comparing my booklists to the booklists my friends keep to see how much we have in common.  If you have a Goodreads account, add me as a friend!  I'd love to see what you are reading.  New this year is the book challenge- you can enter how many books you want to read this year, and Goodreads will keep track for you!

I Feel Old

In this video, a group of kids in France (about 3rd grade is my guess) are shown different "old" technologies and asked what they are and how they were used. All of these technologies were used during MY lifetime- over the last 30 years, but to kids, they seem ancient!  I remember jamming out to Barry Manilow on the eight track in my dad's car!  Who didn't have a Fisher Price record player?   I wonder what Lemme Kids would have to say about these things... That may be a future post for me!

 

Who is Barry Manilow, you ask?  

Bookulating Suggest-O-Mometer

Don't know what book to get the kids for Christmas this year?  Need something new to read?  Then step right up and try the Bookulating Suggest-O-Mometer!  Answer a few simple questions about you or the person the book is for, and the Suggest-O-Mometer will spit out some books suggestions! 
You can then watch book reviews to see if the Suggest-O-Mometer got it right!  

Cool Story Starter Tool!

Mrs. Gordon shared this link with me last week! This is a new twist on an old writing strategy... the story starter! When I was a kid, my teacher would write a sentence on the chalkboard, like this:

"One day I woke up. It was snowing. I looked out the window and..." Then the entire class had to finish the story. Boring! Try this!

Scholastic Story Starters

This site is totally geared for today's elementary student- fun graphics, fun sounds and creative topics.  The site offers starters for grades K-6.  Spin the wheel and see what story you will write today!  Once you have your story starter, you can start typing right on the website- you can write a letter, a postcard, a newsletter or a story.  There is even a space for drawing pictures!  When you are done, you can print it! The only problem I see is no spell check, but the kids can edit the writing themselves.  

If you do one- send it to me!  I'd love to post your story!

Sharing my Displays With a Cool Blogger in NZ!

I have fallen in love with this blog, Library Displays written by a librarian in New Zealand.  I have found this site to be a great source of inspiration for my library displays.... so I thought it was time for me to send in some of my displays.  They actually got published!  Check it out!

WWW (World Wide Wednesday)

Sticking with my Boy Book theme... this week I bring you some great web sites to help you find the perfect book!  These sites are great for kids and parents.  If you find something you like, see if we have it in the Lemme Library!

Can't Miss Books for Boys: This site is part of James Patterson's site "Read Kiddo Read".  He believes that boys are mortified by reading "girl books" and gives his list of best books for boys.  Looking at his site, I may have to reevaluate my top 10!

Guys Read: This website is awesome!  It is written by some of the best author/illustrator around, Jon Scieszka.  His mission is to bring boys great books and turn them into motivated, life-long readers.

Kids Read: This is a nice site for reading reviews of new books.  I often turn to this site to see if a book would be a good fit in our library.  Don't miss their section called "Great Books for Boys".

Guys Lit Wire: This site is dripping with teenage masculinity!  It is very eye catching and provides reviews and photos of great new books.  This site is geared toward boys 6th grade and up.

Wimp Yourself!

Did you know you can turn yourself into a Wimpy Kid character?  Just click here, and get to work!  Here is a picture of April that we made in class today!  Can't you see the resemblance?

I love word art!

So I took the lyrics from "Baby" by Justin Beiber and pasted them into these cool sites to show you what they can do.  You can do this with your own songs, poetry, list of names... you can paste in words from a speech or an entire website.  These would be great printed and framed as art, put on a tshirt, or used as a cover of a story.  Thank you Justin Beiber for inspiring this librarian.

Wordle.net: This is the original site... the mother of all word art sites. 

ABCYa! Word Cloud: Wordle for Kids!  Very safe, very easy! 

Word it out: Like Wordle, but it takes some time to make your art look cool... so many options!  So if you have time and mad skills, give it a try!

And here is a Wordle design for the more serious crowd : ) 

WWW (World Wide Wednesday)

 Hey there, Lemme Teachers!  Need some new ideas for your Daily 5: Listen to Reading?  Try these links!  All you need is a computer with Internet access and a set of headphones, and you are set!  Did you know you can log out of your account on your computer and log in as student, and the kids can use the computer without accessing or damaging your files? 

Storyline Online: Brought to you by the Screen Actors Guild.  This is a great collection of well known picture books, all read aloud by actors. 

Koljr: Part of Aol Kids, Koljr offers a selection of picture books.  Their books are categorized by: animals, fairy tales, rhyming stories, family & Arthur. 
 

Meegenius:  Free audiobooks for kids K-3. Great for Daily 5!  All books come with audio playback and word highlighting, and can be personalized just the way you like them.

TumbleBooks: Brought to you free by the Iowa City Public Library.  An online collection of animated, talking picture books, audiobooks and ebooks for children. Includes picture books in Spanish and other languages. TumbleBooks can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection. No password is necessary.  You must go through the library website to access TumbleBooks.

And of course, the granddaddy of all literacy sites: Starfall.com.

Do you have any great sites to add to this list?  Leave a comment and I will add your link to my list!  Happy surfing!

WWW (World Wide Wednesday)

Did you know that we have great online resources at our fingertips that are provided by GWAEA?  All of these sites are for student and teacher use and can be accessed at school with or without a password. Sites will be password protected when you aren't at school.  If you would like a password, ask Mrs. Butcher! 

iClipart For Schools is a searchable database of nearly 8 million royalty-free images, including clip art, photos, web graphics, illustrations, fonts, sounds, animations, and videos selected for students and educators.

Atomic Learning is an electronic help desk with thousands of short tutorial movies covering many common software applications such as Word, Excel, FrontPage, MovieMaker, Photo Story, Powerpoint (from Microsoft); Acrobat, Dreamweaver, InDesign, Photoshop (from Adobe); netTrekker, Picasa, Geometer's Sketchpad, Inspiration/Kidspiration, and KidPix. 

DE streaming is a digital video database with over 5000 full-length educational videos and 50,000 video segments.  Students and teachers may integrate this digital media into projects and presentations.

Learn360 is a video database with other online resources and tools for students and educators.  You can stream 153 Reading Rainbow episodes!

netTrekker is an educational search engine that connects students and educators to over 300,000 educator-selected web resources.   This is one of my all time favorite search engines for teachers!  You can narrow your search by subject and grade level.  All content is appropriate for school use!

Soundzabound is a database of royalty-free music.  Download and use copyright-safe music files in MP3 format from this website.  
Teachingbooks.net includes original movies and multimedia interviews of authors, book guides, book readings, thematic booklists, book awards, and valuable links.

World Book Web is a suite of online research tools including the well-known encyclopedia, primary source collections, student activities, teacher tools, pictures, audio, and video, as well as current periodicals and related websites.  Resources include: World Book Kids (K-4), World Book Student (4-12), World Book Advanced (7-college).  It also includes special resources: World Book Discover, two Spanish-language encyclopedias, a French-language encyclopedia and several digital libraries: Living Green, Early Peoples, and Inventions and Discoveries