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"The Film The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute film that takes viewers on a provocative and eye-opening tour of the real costs of our consumer driven culture-from resource extraction to iPod incineration. Annie Leonard, an activist who has spent the past 10 years traveling the globe fighting environmental threats, narrates the Story of Stuff, delivering a rapid-fire, often humorous and always engaging story about "all our stuff-where it comes from and where it goes when we throw it away." Leonard examines the real costs of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal, and she isolates the moment in history where she says the trend of consumption mania began. The Story of Stuff examines how economic policies of the post-World War II era ushered in notions of "planned obsolescence" and "perceived obsolescence" -and how these notions are still driving much of the U.S. and global economies today. Leonard's inspiration for the film began as a personal musing over the question, "Where does all the stuff we buy come from, and where does it go when we throw it out?" She traveled the world in pursuit of the answer to this seemingly innocent question, and what she found along the way were some very guilty participants and their unfortunate victims. "

"The Story Map interactive includes a set of graphic organizers designed to assist teachers and students in prewriting and postreading activities. The organizers are intended to focus on the key elements of character, setting, conflict, and resolution development. Students can develop multiple characters, for example, in preparation for writing their own fiction, or they may reflect on and further develop characters from stories they have read. After completing individual sections or the entire organizer, students have the ability to print out their final versions for feedback and assessment. The versatility of this tool allows it to be used in multiple contexts."

Photo essays rely on a simple truth: Telling stories with pictures can be more evocative and moving than using words. A photo essay engages the viewer at a very personal level. While people can respond to written stories intellectually, photography essays often create an instant emotion within the viewer.

From Free Tech 4 Teachers: "The Nagasaki Archive places the images of survivors and their stories on a Google Earth map. Some of the stories are only available in Japanese while others are available in English. The map also contains images of the destruction caused by the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. The Nagasaki Archive uses the Google Earth plug-in."

"Figment is a community where you can share your writing, connect with other readers, and discover new stories and authors. Whatever you're into, from sonnets to mysteries, from sci-fi stories to cell phone novels, you can find it all here."

from Free Tech 4 Teachers blog: "Loop Scoops is a series of eight videos about consumerism from PBS Kids. Each short (1-2 minutes) animated video features a short story with little lesson at the end. If students miss the lesson in the video they can click the "what's the deal?" button to read the lesson. The overall intent of Loop Scoops is to get kids thinking about the products they use everyday. The videos present lessons about what common products are made of, how those products are made, and what happens when a product is trashed." Annie Leonard (The Story of Stuff) helped direct the project

"Upon reading recent news stories about how Facebook tracks almost everywhere he goes on the Internet, Jim Kress grew outraged. Consumers are increasingly taking online privacy into their own hands. The consultant from Northville, Mich., subsequently learned Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Adobe and many other companies also exhaustively track his online activities. "I was very unnerved to discover the extent of all the other tracking that was done by nearly every site on the Web," he says."

" Stories, this research is showing, stimulate the brain and even change how we act in life. "

"The National Archives holds many records that tell the story of the attack on Pearl Harbor. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of that day, we've gathered links from across our blogs and on Tumblr to show you some of these moving documents that we hold in safekeeping."

"The Trumbull writer earned lots of praise and won the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for his 2009 novel, "The Postcard" -- a warm and nostalgic mystery powered by old postcards -- but his latest book, "Lunch-Box Dream" (Frances Foster Books/Farrar Straus Giroux, $16.99), is a semi-autobiographical story about race relations in 1959."

We've heard this story before. The first thing to go in budget cuts is the visual art program or another related art. Proponents of arts education counter with the usual rhetoric on the importance of self-expression and creativity. I, myself, am a product of arts education.

"What is a techno-tale? A techno-tale is a digitally told story"

Storybirds are short, visual stories that you make with family and friends to share and (soon) print.

PicLits.com is a creative writing site that matches beautiful images with carefully selected keywords in order to inspire you. The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture.

How it Works: 1. Make your timeline about anything 2. Collaborate with family and friends 3. Share it with whomever you want 4. Add your timeline to MySpace or your blog

"The story of the Freedom Riders offers students a window into the Civil Rights Movement that allows them to identify more closely with the sacrifice and courage that was needed to secure civil rights for all Americans."

Science mystery in which you assume the role of a medical investigator on vacation in Idaho. Figure out who was responsible for transmitting a foodborne pathogen and how it was transmitted. The story contains characters that you can interview in order to solve the case.