SLAVConnects

Blog post discussing this literature "For the most part, the authors fully realized that these books should be classified as fiction, and they liked the term "informational fiction" because it acknowledged all the research they'd done and that the books were mostly faithful to the facts. But the Library of Congress labelled these books "juvenile literature" (the term they use for nonfiction). And in most cases, publishers and reviewers called the books narrative nonfiction."

Options for teachers to make virtual learning or distance learning work for all your students. CommonSenseEd has put together a list to assist teachers (The best tools for virtual and distance learning tools to build great learning). Tools to build great learning experiences for remote students. They have grouped the tools according to some key needs teachers may have when setting up virtual classrooms.

This is the 2020 Womens Prize for Fiction shortlist. Information on the six shortlisted authors and their books is available here.

An list of Australian bookshops has been compiled here so you can see which Australian bookshops offering home delivery, book drops and drive through pickups.

Some great opportunities to see some of the great artworks of the world without the expense of travelling there.

Useful presentation."Understanding the difference between a fact and an opinion isn't difficult. What matters is being able to apply that knowledge responsibly. When someone presents information in the form of a fact, like "the blue whale is the largest animal on earth." They are stating something that can be proven with evidence. That's different from an opinion, like "blue whales are the most beautiful whales." Here, they are sharing a personal belief that can't be proven"

"ytCropper lets you share just a portion of a YouTube video by specifying the start time and end time of the video that you want others to see. To do this simply go to the ytCropper site then paste in the URL of the YouTube video that you want to share. Once you have done that you can specify the start and end time of the portion of the video that you want people to watch. ytCropper will generate a link to the cropped version of the video. Share that link to have people watch your specified portion of the video."

"This guide will give you insights into how educators around the world are approaching school closures. Thousands of teachers worldwide are currently sharing snippets of their experiences via social media or their blogs. We've compiled, curated, and built on some common themes and ideas to create this extensive guide."

An expalanation about - how to add voice typing to Google Slides and made it FREE!!! John is a former math teacher and he knows how important this feature is to teachers, especially teachers of younger children. Slides Translator allows students to take text from the slide and translate it to their native language. A new hidden feature of Slides Translator is VOICE TYPING! Install Slides Translator After installing Slides Translator, go to the Add-on menu and choose "Slides translator" and then it gives you the option to use voice typing in the sidebar or as a floating toolbar. Click on the textbox you want to voice type in, click on the mic icon in Slides Translator. When you pause… it turns your voice into text. LIKE MAGIC!!!

Wheel of Names is a free random name picker website. There are many random name pickers available on the web but this one offer a bit more then most because it not only lets you enter names, it lets you upload images to be chosen at random. Wheel of Names also lets you create a free account that you can use to save a series of wheels. That option could be helpful if you have multiple classes and don't want to enter names whenever you need to pick a name at random.

"n response to the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more colleges and universities are shuttering their physical campuses and ordering instructional faculty to migrate courses online. NCA's Teaching & Learning Council has developed this list of online teaching & learning resources; please return for updates and new resources in the days/weeks to come."

Interesting article discussing if the Coronavirus Crisis will bring creativity into Education?

A very good post that describes many resources available for teaching and learning remotely

A Wakelet list of free learning resources and tools to enjoy with kids and as a family, while were are at home. Note that this list points to resources made freely available by a growing number of publishers to support learning during this crisis

" DET site page assist learning from home. They will continue to update this page in the coming weeks. On this page: Learning continuity contingency planning: early childhood and Learning continuity contingency planning: schools Online options Offline options Tips for remote curriculum delivery  Learning continuity contingency planning: early childhood When planning for children's learning continuity in the event of closure, early childhood education and care services may consider: identifying ways early childhood teachers and educators can initiate group or individual contact with children to maintain learning opportunities implementing activities with children by using available technologies maintaining contact with families to discuss and track the wellbeing of children and discuss the progress of children's development identifying ways educators can improve the implementation and documentation of the service's program and maintain educator practice. There are resources services can provide to support parents and carers to engage in learning activities with their children at home: Play-based learning for pre-schoolers - provides suggestions for good structured and unstructured play experiences for 3 - 5 year olds How to build literacy skills from birth to year 2 - includes tips on how to help build children's skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing How to build numeracy skills from birth to year 2 - includes tips on how to build children's skills in maths, measurement and patterns Building STEM skills for children - includes ways to engage children with STEM related experiences. Raising Children Network also has a range of learning activities for pre-schoolers. It includes tips and ideas as well as videos of drawing, writing, storytelling, counting and other activities that can be done at home. Services may also want to give parents information about talking to their children about COVID-19. For example: UNICEF's How to talk to

"Creating storyboards are a good way for students to plan video projects. They can provide a frame-by-frame outline of the plot of a video and so it is very helpful to have students plan their videos before jumping into any tool. Making simple, printable storyboard templates is easy to do in Google Slides and in PowerPoint." There are 2 videosin the post to learn how to use some common presentation tools to make storyboard templates."

Some ideas about where to find age-appropriate reading materials for gifted children.

The American Association of School Librarians supports the position that an effective school library program has a certified school librarian at the helm, provides personalized learning environments, and offers equitable access to resources to ensure a well-rounded education for every student

An interactive fluency model. It is a useful reminder for students about plagiarism, author bias and search strategies.