...benefits of using trade books is increasing student engagement. High quality trade books are written as to spark interest and create a desire to read. Many contain colorful, interesting illustrations, photographs, and diagrams, all of which draw students into the text and improve comprehension.

ast week I blogged about my Bloomin' Peacock, a new Bloom's Taxonomy visual I made to share with teachers in a training.  Over the years, I have created a number of Bloom's Taxonomy pictures to hang in my classroom for students to refer to.  My Bloomin' Peacock was such a hit with you all, I thought I would start sharing the others I've made.   Today I revived one that I created for my classroom and added the digital version (again the digital tools displayed relate directly to the Treasures reading curriculum).  This is my Um-bloom-ra Bloom's Taxonomy:

Reading is a Problem-Solving Process. Why Not Try the Thumb Method? New blog post by Denise Finley about supporting students while they learn to read scientifically!

An adoption model/framework for integrating new learning into instruction/practice. Similar to CBAM. 

Are you new to using an interactive whiteboard (IWB)? Have you used one for ages but want some other ideas? Are you using an IWB regularly but know you could use it better? Then you are invited to join The 2010 Interactive Whiteboard Challenge! The aim of the IWB Challenge: To improve the use of interactive whiteboards in classrooms everywhere by having students and teachers set challenges for each other by creating videos and screencasts of ways they use their IWB. The aim is also to connect educators and students to others who are working at improving their IWB practice.

Magma provides video aggregation capabilities from any source on the net.

Multimedia online note taking tool. Students can capture screen images, make audio recordings for notes, or write text notes to accompany drawings. These different media can then be organized into videos!  I envision it being similar to Evernote with more interaction capabilities and with the great addition of being able to create videos of the information gathered. I like this tool!

Troy Hick's blog. Great source of information about digital literacy!

5 Trends in Education Technology Leadership SETDA's "National Educational Technology Trends Report" spotlights state efforts to boost learning through the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology program. By David Nagel04/23/10

Terry Freedman discusses different tools for creating word clouds including wordle, tagxedo, and many eyes. 

Great site for videos of topical scientific information. 

he Smithsonian Library's 'Digital Library' contains digital publications, collections and objects including online exhibitions, webcasts, digital editions, bibliographies and fact sheets, and finding aids/inventories for collections such as our trade literature collection and artist files.

How do I know if my use is a fair use? This tool has been developed to help teachers and students reason through the fair use process. You can see an example of how this tool is being used HERE Use the form online. The data from this form feeds into a google spreadsheet so you can compare how individuals or groups reason the fair use of copyrighted material in a work. If you would like to use this form in your work you can click here. If you have a google account, you can sign in and copy into your google account.

interesting photo search tool.

Some prmising findings, worth sharing with others.