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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jon Safran Foer

To celebrate International School Libraries Day on Monday 25 October, the School Library Association of Victoria invites you to join in an Elluminate session at 11.00am (AEDST) where we will launch the 2012 National Year of Reading.

Look at the Curricular Units: 11 well developed lessons and grade level suggestions for their use.

"New SIGMS Article in Mar/April 11 "Learning & Leading" Magazine "Not Your Grandmother's Library" featuring Joyce Valenza, Keisa Williams, Wendy Stephens, and Chad Lehman"

I'm going to apply this next term with one of my Year 11 classes.  I've generated videos using iShowU app (only for Mac, I think it was around $10) from app store.

Contribute to crowd sourced ebook on the future of school libraries! _______________________________________________________________________ Timeline July 11, 2011 - Submissions open! September 15, 2011 - submissions due October 26 - November 16, 2011 - ebook available for free download after November 16, 2011 - price may increase to $.99; possible print-on-demand release

In July, 2011, the AASL Board approved the Position Statement on Labeling Books with Reading Levels. The AASL position statement defines standard directional spine labels and compares them to reading level labels (associated with computerized reading programs) as they are often applied in school libraries. The statement also offers suggestions for concerned librarians to be aware not only of the possible negative effects of these  labels on children as they browse, but also offers suggestions for voicing those concerns. There are proponents and opponents to how computerized reading programs are implemented in schools and their effects on school library collections and students' free access to books of their choice.  A school librarian (name withheld) shares this story of how labels affect students' choices in her school. "Recently I helped a student who came to me while his class was in the library browsing. As the librarian of a middle school library, I often see situations such as this one. The boy had been most recently reading about George Washington and Ben Franklin. His class assignment that day was to checkout two computerized reading program books within his tested reading level and thus was "allowed" only one free choice book. "But I'd rather not have to check out labeled books and there are some books I'd like today that don't have the dots or reading level labels on the backs of the books. Does that mean Ican't check them out?" he asks me. The boy went on to say that he'd rather be allowed to check out three books on his favorite non-fiction topics, regardless of reading level. As he expresses his frustration, he lowers his voice and moves toward a corner of the library where there are no other students. "I'm a pretty good reader," he said quietly, "and I really like reading about the American Revolution. But I have to stay within a certain range. I can't find many books in my reading level that are really interest

Great blog post outlining the difference between simply "doing projects" and "project based learning".