Turning the Pages

Turning the Pages is a wonderful website which is part of the British Library's online presence. You can look at primary source documents in a virtual way, using technology to "turn" the pages of books like Leonardo da Vinci's personal notebook and see his original sketches, or Mercator's First Atlas of Europe, compiled in the 1570s.


I must admit I drooled over Elizabeth Blackwell's Curious Herbal, even though I had to use the handy digital magnifying glass to read the print. There's Sultan Baybars' Qur'an, sumptuously illuminated in gold, and the Lindisfarne Gospels from the 7th century. It truly is almost as good as touching and seeing the real thing - and no white gloves!


Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

LEGO and Literacy (2)

In Lego and Literacy (1), I discussed skills kids develop when building with LEGO bricks, and said many of those skills also contribute to literacy. I gave you some ideas to build on  young LEGO fans' interest, and maybe inspire them to further creative activity.


Today I want to look at one particular website, and use it as a focus for encouraging kids to write. I've mentioned Minimizer before, in Using Toys as a Springboard to Writing. If you haven't done so already, do check it out with your kids. I think they'll enjoy decorating their own digital LEGO characters.


Once your kids have made a couple of characters at Minimizer, they can take screen grabs of them, and use them to:


Write a story - it will have to be a simple one, because the poses are static. Suggest to your kids that they create a dialogue between two LEGO people, or perhaps present a snippet of a longer conversation.


Write a list where they describe each character's likes, dislikes, habits, hobbies, strengths and weaknesses.


Create a wanted poster - this is another way to get kids to think about character, something that will benefit their writing as they get older.


Create a comic - make some text boxes for panels with a word processor, then add the Lego character pictures and write captions underneath. Speech bubbles are optional. Or use software like Comic Life (available for Mac or PC) the way I did in the picture above. I simply had to choose a template, drag my Minimizer pics to it, and add speech bubbles. Another idea would be to use ToonDoo, and use their ImagineR feature to import your own LEGO pics to a ToonDoo book. If low-tech suits you better, your child can build and pose the scenes he wants for his story with bricks and minifigs, then you can photograph them, scan and print, and he can add speech bubbles and captions with a marker.


Older kids might also like to create a book trailer, using LEGO pieces. They can use The Odyssey or Lego Money Pit Mystery Animation as inspiration. Encourage them to storyboard their ideas, and write a script for their trailer. Or they could try a movie like the one that Chase March and his class made.

Language Guide

Here is a great site for language learning. It's LanguageGuide.org, which I found via one of Russell Stannard's great video tutorials. It's like an online pictorial dictionary, with audio support.


There are several languages supported. My screen grab here is of the French page. Lots of vocabulary topics are covered : the body, clothing, animals, the house etc. After you choose a topic, as you roll your cursor over an element, you hear it pronounced in the language you've chosen.


In French, there is also a grammar section and some readings. It really helps me as a student to listen and follow with my eyes, so I loved the readings. In my browser, there was no download or pause, a tiny mp3 player popped up and the voice started. I looked in the Spanish pages, but it only had a grammar section added to the pictorial vocabulary guide, so I suspect the site is a work in progress.


If you're a student of another language, or you teach ESL/EFL, I think you'll enjoy LanguageGuide.org.

Make a Video at WinkBall

WinkBall is a new website I discovered that allows you to record your own audio and video using your computer's webcam, as well as import video from your computer. A wink is a video message, or video, audio or text that you save to WinkBall and that you can send to friends' emails, or embed in blogs etc. You can also use the site for live video chat.


It was quick to join, and there are short clear video tutorials to get you up to speed on what the site can do. I made a video message and sent it to a friend in the USA, then received a video reply inside about ten minutes. You can choose to make your vids private or public, and the FAQ is really helpful on nitty gritty details that might arise as problems.


WinkBall is certainly a service to explore with your kids. They could create and send greetings to friends and relatives. They might enjoy reading aloud, reciting a poem or singing a song for someone who is far away. I think it might prove a useful tool for teachers too, especially those in ESL/EFL.


There is a WinkBall video wall feature you might like to explore. It lets you add text, and videos from YouTube, as well as your own winks. You can choose whether to make the wall public or private. Here is a link to a test one I made, which is illustrated in the picture above. You can comment on my wall, but I have enabled comment moderation. 


You can see the site's own video description of wink walls on their about page. This might be a really useful way for a class to collaboratively publish videos they've made or found. There's also a WinkBall video blog you can create. The ability to moderate comments makes it useful to parents and teachers too.

LEGO and Literacy (1)

LEGO LURKING

A liberal sprinkling of LEGO

Lazy son left it lying like a knobbly carpet trap

At 3am he calls out with a nightmare

Going to comfort him, I yowch at every step.

~Rebecca Newman

One of the things I loved when my son was young was LEGO. Well, not treading on the bricks with bare feet in the middle of the night. Yowch is right! No, what I loved was watching my son's imagination soar while he built with LEGO. My very favorite set was Fabuland, which you can see in the picture above (public domain).


But LEGO is just a toy, right? What does LEGO have to do with Literacy?


I think some toys contribute a great deal to children's literacy skills. I riffed on this theme in Use Puppets to Encourage Literacy and Using Toys as a Springboard to Literacy. Let's look at what LEGO might contribute to your child's literacy and learning.


Do a search on Amazon and you will see a range of books inspired by LEGO. Your local library will likely have titles in the nonfiction section. Keeping LEGO instructions inside plastic loose-leaf folders is a great way to preserve them AND encourage their use as reading for enjoyment.


As well as the actual functional reading and following directions if your kids use instructions booklets before they build, they are organizing, planning, concentrating, and persevering. Sometimes they will be communicating with a friend or parent about their structures. Often they will critically or creatively solve problems. Creative and critical thinking are important not just in literacy, but numeracy, science and also other areas.


Some LEGO/DUPLO bricks had the letters of the alphabet on them, so kids could use them to make words and play word games. I thoroughly recommend these as an addition to your literacy tool bag. They will "stick" to a base board, but you can use them without. If you can't find them, make your own by sticking card letters or writing on plain DUPLO bricks.


Older kids might be ready to move on to some of the fantastic robotic and science materials LEGO puts out. Whatever they build, at whatever age, there is an amazing amount of thinking going on.


If you want a closer tie to literacy, consider relating LEGO bricks to a book you've shared: what sort of house would Witchy Woe live in? what kind of vehicle would Fred Sked drive? If your child loves LEGO but isn't so enthused about reading yet, consider building on his interest. Look for those LEGO library books and instruction booklets, and delve into the wealth of material online, so he can read about LEGO and maybe communicate with other enthusiasts. There's lots of reading available at the LEGO website, too.


If your child is a LEGO fan like me, here are some ideas to extend his/her interest.


Be inspired on Youtube. Mine these videos for ideas that might generate more building, or encourage kids to create their own stories or movies with LEGO.


The Highwayman (classic song sung by Willie Nelson and friends, re-enacted in LEGO)


Finally a Lego Pirate Movie
(vid made from LEGO game clips)


Star Wars Final Fight in Lego
(This is actually quite amateurish, but we are all amateurs when we start. I think it's good for kids to see what other kids can accomplish. Watch for interesting spelling in opening titles!)


Click, A LEGO Short Film


THE SIMPSONS intro lego style (made by a 13-year-old)


Kung Fu Fighting Music Video in Lego


Grease - Summer Nights Lego Stop Motion Animation
(The creativity and patience involved in making these stop-motion movies from LEGO characters is amazing!)


LEGO Universe - a sneak peek from Mashable.


A massively-multiplayer rendition of the world of LEGO comes to the PC, in which you can adventure through multiple worlds and build your own environments with friends and family.


Be inspired on Flickr. There are great pictures of LEGO models.


Check out the LEGO steam punk pool


Crawler Town


Steam Strider


Be inspired on other sites.


Build with digital LEGO bricks on your own computer. This is a download.


Family Building Activities - free pdf with lots of fun games to do with LEGO


Here's LEGO at the Zoo


Here is a computer built of LEGO. If terms like "polynomials" and "31 digits of accuracy" terrify you the way they do me, skip this page.


Check out Nathan Sawaya's The Art of the Brick. What a way to combine LEGO and art!


If your kids are really into LEGO, be sure to check out the LEGO website with them. There are games to play and constructions to view. These might give them some ideas for their own creations.


LEGO Make and Create World Builder Game


LEGO Make and Create Junkbot Game


One favourite LEGO activity of mine for stimulating mental activity is Creative Builder. Some might say this takes all the fun out of manipulating actual physical bricks, but I think it's a useful extra activity and a great way to help your kids move to a more abstract way of thinking. Sometimes we just don't have access to our bricks anyway. After you pick a player, you choose to free build, plan build or speed build. Plan build presents kids with a design to copy, which they do by drag and dropping digital bricks onto an outline. Speed build times them building the same models. Free build they can create their own.


There are professional quality movies and cartoon movies at the LEGO Star Wars website.


You'll also find ideas for using LEGO to teach Maths and Science.


Here are educational activities from LEGO's own website You can search for free activities according to age and other categories using their search engine.


Phew! If you're not LEGOed out, watch for LEGO and Literacy (2) where I'll describe some specific ideas for kids' own writing based around LEGO. Coming soon!

© Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com

Read Comics Online

You may have noticed that I love comics. Maybe because they were banned by my parents when I was young, I still have an almost guilty pleasure in reading them. I particularly love the websites and software that encourage kids and chooks to create comics of our own. (I made the one in the picture here with Comic Life, and some great art from Grammarman. Tip: why not encourage your young student to teach others about a thorny point in grammar via a cartoon or comic?)


Another reason I love comics is that they are so motivating for kids, especially the children who find chapter books intimidating. As teacher, Tracy Edmunds, says, 


"The biggest reason that kids should read comics and graphic novels is because they want to. Many young readers, when confronted with solid pages of text, become intimidated and overwhelmed and just give up. Give the same reluctant reader a thick, juicy graphic novel like 'Bone' or 'Castle Waiting' and they dive in eagerly, devouring every page. With many struggling readers motivation is the key, and comics are motivating." 


You can buy comics at your local newsagent,and borrow graphic novels from the library, but did you know there are online places where you and your kids can read comics for free?


GrammarMan
Recently I discovered the wonderful Grammarman website. Here you'll find comics with a grammar focus, as well as other comics to read and enjoy. If you have time, do check out the Free Stuff, especially this article about kids creating their own comics inspired by Grammarman himself.


Sometimes it's motivating for children to see what other kids have created. At Grammarman, you can download a pdf of ten great children's own comics so you can keep, read and use them as inspiration. Kids can also post their work online at this wonderful website. Check out Grammarman vids on You Tube too. 


Benny and Penny
At Benny and Penny and their Friends, kids can read cute comics, perfect for emergent readers. Each Wednesday, Geoffrey Hayes posts a one frame cartoon that encourages children to suggest what's inside the speech bubble. (Thanks Terry Doherty!)


Archie and other classics
There is an Archie website, but it's more for watching than reading. Luckily, Grammarman has some Archie comics kids can read.


Calvin and Hobbes
Book Chook feather of approval. I LOVE Calvin and Hobbes!


Wizard of Id


Broom Hilda


Peanuts


Marvel
At Marvel Comics, there are some free sample comics to read.


Other comics
The Professor Garfield Toon Book Reader
Here you'll find lots of cute Toon Book comics to read, and in different languages - French, Chinese, Spanish, English and Russian. If you choose the Read to me option, you can hear the words - a fun way to practise your French!


Toonpool
Toonpool is an online community of comic creators. Parental supervision is a MUST, but you and your older kids might find some fun reading or inspiration for creating your own comics here.


The Secret in the Cellar
A Written in Bone forensic mystery from colonial America at the Smithsonian.


The Secret in the Cellar is a Webcomic based on an authentic forensic case of a recently discovered 17th Century body. Using graphics, photos, and online activities, the Webcomic unravels a mystery of historical, and scientific importance. Online sleuths can analyze artifacts and examine the skeleton for the tell-tale forensic clues that bring the deceased to life and establish the cause of death.


Webcomics
If you or your children like comics, there's been an explosion in comics written for the web (rather than syndicated in newspapers.) One I love is Daisy Owl which has both an updated and archived collection page. I think it's suitable for under 12s but check it out yourself first. Another I enjoy is Order of the Stick. It's not for kids, but do show them the art work. It's almost achievable by people like me who are artistically challenged. One day, when I have time, I plan to follow the Inkscape tutorials for creating the stick figures.



At Funbrain, you can read web books and comics, like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Amelia Writes Again, Brewster Rockit, Silent Kimbly and On the Rocks. 


There are so many skills being practised when kids read comics. Just as with graphic novels, kids are involved in visual and print literacy, critical thinking, inference, decoding and comprehension. They are great as a focus for discussion about implicit meaning, and the way we deduce what has happened between frames. Above all, they will be some children's pathway to a love of reading. Wonderful!

Book Review, Not Me!

Have you ever wondered where all the cake has gone, or who's responsible for the mess at your place? This children's picture book won't give you a definitive answer, but after reading it, I predict your kids will be ready to make a guess.


Not Me! was written and illustrated by Nicola Killen, and published by Egmont UK (2010). It's a simple, rhyming text, consisting mostly of questions and answers which children will love to ask and respond to. But it's a very clever book, providing lots of opportunities for children not only to participate, but to predict and to think about consequences.


Who's been playing in the rain?
NOT me! said Jane.


The illustrations are large, simple and clear. They are also quite textured, with splotches of mud, painted handprints and dirty bike tracks all contributing to the mess the children make. Each double page spread has clues for us to predict who is responsible, both visual and rhyming.


This truly is a delightful book, ideal for pre-school and young school children. It would make a great focus for a discussion about responsibility, and be a perfect choice to adapt as a Reader's Theatre. Kids could also innovate on the text in their own writing, by using the question and answer format. Follow up by reading other classic question and answer tales like Who Killed Cock Robin? and The Little Red Hen.


(According to Nicola Killen's blog, Not Me! will be available in the USA in September 2010.)

Create Your Own Stories from Old Japan

I know some of your children are learning Japanese or have an interest in Japanese culture. I found a great website I want to tell you about. And I found it (almost) in my own backyard!


At the National Gallery of Victoria website, there is an interactive feature that encourages kids to create stories using some beautiful Japanese art.


Stories From Old Japan is a simple animation system that allows students to create stories using the characters and backgrounds of the Pictures of the Floating World. It works particularly well as a small group exercise on an electronic whiteboard.


On the Create Your Story page, you'll find a video that explains how to use the application, ideas on incorporating it into teaching and learning, and examples created by kids. There's also a pdf available of cards students can use to help them map out ideas before creating a story. The pdf is slow to download but is packed with that same lovely art.


(If you're interested in finding other online places where children can create their own stories, you might like to read my article, Sharing Stories Using Online Editors.)

Aimee Needs Your Help!

Here's a recent letter to The Book Chook from a reader who is going crazy trying to remember a book from her Kindergarten days. Is there anyone who can help Aimee find the title of this book? Let us know in comments, or email Aimee directly: talandtabby2 (at) yahoo (dot) com


Good Afternoon,


My name is Aimee. I'm 33 and from Tennessee. Some grade school friends and I have been trying to remember a book from kindergarten. It might have been a yellow hardback book. The main character was a very short man in a black suit or trench coat. He carried an umbrella. He might have been an inspector or private eye looking for jewels. At some point there is a wall he can't see over or climb over so he used blocks of ice to climb but they melt before he gets over. There might have been an elephant in the story. I don't know if this sounds familiar to you. I thought maybe since you do children's book reviews you might be familiar with it. I was in kindergarten in 1982 and it was an old book when I read it so this maybe fruitless but it can't hurt to ask. Thank You for your time.


Can you help?

DRAMA (2)

In DRAMA (1), I had a Book Chook rant on what I think drama lessons can do for kids. Today, I want to suggest some drama activities you can incorporate into class or family life to help kids develop creativity, communication and thinking skills.


In the early years, drama is almost an extension of natural creative play. To encourage it, you could make sure your kids have access to a dress up box. The ones I like best are those that have things kids can use their imaginations to adapt. To me, that means lengths of material that can be draped as a toga, twirled as a cloak, or worn as a cape for a super hero. I believe kids get so much more from inventing their own costumes than having a range of bought ones. A good dress up box also has props like card boxes and sheets, textas/markers, etc. Yes, it gets messy, but that's the nature of play!


When you've shared a read aloud, or you're talking about a favourite story, suggest you and the kids, or just the kids act it out. It doesn't need to be a dress up activity either. Drama gives kids a chance to move, and some active kids need that. There is no right way to do this. It doesn't matter if you stray from the text. You're not producing something fit for an audience to view, so much as improvising and having fun. Later, and in more formal situations, kids learn about speaking and acting in a way that the audience can understand.


Once kids are comfortable with acting a story out, you can introduce another element. Say they have performed Goldilocks. This time, they must enact the story of Goldilocks in sixty seconds, or in the style of another story. They might try Goldilocks as an opera, a cowboy movie, or an advertisement for porridge. AND still do it in sixty seconds!


Machines are great for getting kids to work as a team to produce something that communicates a message. Start with one person repeating a sound and movement. Noni raises and lowers her left arm and says "chock, chock, chock" in time with her movement. Add others slowly. Tran watches Noni, then kneels at an angle to her, waving both arms and saying "swish, swish, swish". Sam links arms with Noni and nods his head, "bibbidy-bob, bibbidy-bob". More and more kids join in, thinking about how what they will add will affect the machine. Once kids are used to making simple machines, introduce another element. Ask them to split into groups and make a vacuum cleaner, or a car wash. Add another element. Become more abstract and ask for a punishment machine, or a politician machine, or a day at the beach machine. Link to literature and ask the kids to communicate the essence of a book as a machine. Parts of the machine may by this stage contribute sentences, song snatches, interactive movements - whatever is needed to get their message across to an audience.


Another one I like that you can use with literature or history even, is still pictures. A different name for it is tableaux. This is a bit like machines but without movement. To start with, it's fun as a guessing game. Have kids use their bodies and expressions to make a frozen image of something. With young kids, it might be as simple as someone pretending to eat curds and whey, and you need to guess Miss Muffett. Add another element. In groups this time, kids have two minutes to create a scene from a book you have read. Freeze. Audience tries to work it out. Research and imagination might result in a still picture of Captain Cook arriving in Australia, or one of what democracy really means. Add another element. Start a scene with a still picture but then have characters come to life and improvise dialogue and movement the way they think it might have happened.


With all the drama activities I use, I encourage participation and reflection. It's about being part of a team, contributing something to a whole. Ego often needs to take a back seat. I constantly remind my students to watch, listen and evaluate what's happening, whether they are performing or part of the audience. Remind kids to observe, and discuss what works afterwards. Instead of criticizing, which we humans are wont to do, we talk about what works, and what we would change. This isn't so necessary in a family situation, but kids often benefit from discussion. What did you like? What worked? Which shape and colour looked good against the black backdrop?


I can't speak for all drama teachers, but I know that many, like me, rely on improvisation as a core skill for kids to develop. If you've ever seen Theatre Sports or a TV show called Whose Line Is It Anyway, you've witnessed skilled performers practising the art of accepting offers from another player, and improvising. There are several improv sites on the internet that list and describe games, but not all are suitable for kids. You will find a nice list of more drama games at dramagames.info


To some people, drama means finding a scripted play. I tended not to go there with my students, but only because it wasn't my style. We preferred to create our own plays, and scripted them rarely. Often though, there is no time for such a creative luxury. If you want scripts and skits, this Cool Homeschooling site has links to some beauties. Remember Rinse the Blood Off my Toga? You'll find more scripts and skits at:


Archive of Children's Scripts from Dramatix - most have religious themes or at the very least family values.


MacScouter's Big Book of Skits- 400 skits, corny but fun. 


Scroll down to Skits on this campfire page.


Short n' Simple Skits for actors or puppets


If your kids love acting, reading through other people's scripts is a great way to involve them in reading within their interest area. That leads naturally to writing their own plays, performing and recording. FUN!


I think drama activities are useful to parents, teachers, and anyone who wants to encourage creativity in kids. If you're interested in learning more, or involving your children, try your local community theatre or library, or look for a teacher whose students seem full of energy, happy, yet capable of disciplining themselves. If you want more activities, or have a question, let me know in comments or via email (Contact Me tab). You might also be interested in a series of articles I've written about Reader's Theatre (Reader's Theatre 5 is coming soon, I promise!)