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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

The Red Dot children's choice book awards are an initiative of the International School Libraries (ISLN) in Singapore.  All school libraries in Singapore -- and the region -- are welcome to participate

Nebraska Children's Choice Awards. Nebraska students vote for their favorite books in three age categories.

This is a wiki set up as a student-directed learning portal for Year 8s learning about space. It includes compulsory and free-choice activities. Students must accumulate 100 points. Analysis showed that student results improved significantly.

"The purpose of this survey is to find out about how students can help if someone is being hurtful to a student either at school or online. It is your choice whether you want to do this survey. No one will be able tell which responses are yours. Try to answer all of the questions. But you can skip any that you do not understand, feel like answering, or are told to skip. This survey should take about 20 to 30 minutes. In all of the following questions the words "be hurtful" or "being hurtful" include when someone: - Says hurtful things or sends hurtful messages to another person. - Says hurtful things about a person to others or posts hurtful things about someone online. - Hurtfully excludes someone from participating in school activities. - Physically hurts someone or their property, or threatens to do so. Sometimes this is referred to as bullying or cyberbullying."

"This survey asks questions about how students make decisions when using digital technologies, including the Internet, cell phones, and other personal digital devices. This survey is anonymous, so no one will know how you responded. You may skip questions if you want. Please answer honestly with what you think and are doing, not what you have been told to do. On this survey, if the answers have a circle, you can only provide one response. If the answers have a square, you can and should check all that apply. You should be aware that this is a long survey -- 57 questions. The results will be used for discussions with students about how you are making choices when using digital technologies. You should think of this survey as you would think of a homework assignment, because completing the survey will help you to think about your own actions when using digital technologies."

This is an interesting site for getting students to create and write in response to a visual stimulus picture.

creative writing based on choice of inspirational photos

Public libraries have long lived by the "Blockbuster model": require people to drive to a physical location, pick up a physical book, then drive home, only to repeat the driving a few weeks later when the book is due. And how well did that approach work out for Blockbuster as iTunes and Netflix made digital delivery a reality? But books haven't gone digital as quickly as music and then movies did. Early attempts at e-book lending were execeptionally clunky affairs involving special OverDrive software, few choices, and a poor browsing interface. Getting books onto devices involved downloads and USB cables. Enter the Kindle. Amazon's hugely popular e-reader hardware and apps recently opened access to public libraries in the US, which can use the Amazon account and distribution infrastructure to control and distribute time-limited e-books to library patrons. Will we ever drive to physical libraries again? After testing the new system, it's safe to say: yes. Yes we will. But Kindle library lending provides a glimpse of the future rushing so quickly at us.

Macbeth - The Interactive Graphic Novel breathes new life into Classical Comics' award-winning Shakespeare play. Unlike no motion comic before, this animated graphic novel boasts a choice of three text versions and a full audio soundtrack. Featuring professional voice actors, including the talents of the eminent Sir Derek Jacobi and the fabulous Juliet Stevenson in the title roles. Other actors are: Sean Barratt, Glen McCready, Allison Petitt, John Foley and Ian Masters. Sit back and watch Shakespeare's most dramatic tragedy unfold, or take control and switch between Original, Plain and Quick Text versions at the click of a button. See it, hear it and fully experience the tragedy that is so feared, no actor will ever say its name ... Macbeth.

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"Fifty ed-tech products and services that are making a difference in schools."

ideas for students to share books they like, or to select new titles to read (especially when a teacher/librarian has to do a booktalk and doesn't have enough time to familiarize him/herself with cart of choices.

This is a terrific mini lesson from Barry Lane. He shows (not tells) how to explode a moment into a full page of rich writing. The visuals in this video will catch any student's attention. I've called this technique the Magnified Moment. It's also tied to the idea of using imaginary binoculars to really see the details of an event. Fun to watch, this video is part of "Barry in a Box", a book and dvd Barry is selling on his website: www.discoverwriting.com