Black Mass was born in 1963, the brain-child of Jack Nessel, who was the Drama & Literature Director at KPFA in Berkeley, the first voluntarily listener-sponsored non-commercial FM station in the world. (The BBC was compulsorily supported by a government-imposed license system.) Jack suggested the idea to Erik Bauersfeld, who taught aesthetics and philosophy at the California School of Fine Art, and had recently begun to do readings of classic and modern literature for the station. Erik was not wildly enthusiastic, but thought that it might be interesting to search out some of the best stories of the supernatural by first-rate authors who did not normally write within that genre. Obligation soon became obsession.
Speakaboos brings classic children's entertainment into a digital world. Beloved characters and treasured stories are given new life through amazing celebrity performances, beautiful illustrations, and original music. At Speakaboos, children develop literacy skills while learning about technology in a safe and fun environment.
As part of a language arts or reading program, students read novels throughout the school year. Some of the novels are assigned, read, and discussed "all class." Others are chosen by the students individually, and they keep individual reading lists. Students may be required to read a certain number per marking period, per school year, and over the summer. Some may be classics; other trade novels, but all contribute to the overall reading and comprehension abilities of the students.
This unit can be done as a culminating activity for the school year. Students are asked to choose their two favorite novels from the ones they have read. They write reviews and post them online for students in their own school, in other schools, across the United States, and in other countries to read. The student reviews not only help student readers clarify their own understanding of literature, they also provide a "student-to-student" resource. Other students can choose novels based on opinions of their peers. The students review the novels, write descriptions that will appeal to other readers, and indicate the level of reading difficulty. They do this to help others choose novels suitable for their reading levels.
,Virtual Macbeth was designed to demonstrate how we might best use the affordances of virtual environments for Education. Shakespeare’s Macbeth reimagined in Second Life provides an adaptive bridge between classic texts and new media technology.