Due 2/12/07: Post Your Weblink Review
Please post your weblink reviews here. Make sure they are of proper length by first typing them into your word procesessor program, then copy and paste them into your comments box. Follow the format below:
Review of EN/SANE World
available at http://www.ensaneworld.blogspot.com
EN/SANE World is James Bucky Carter's blog full of resources for the English language arts teacher who might also be interested in comic boks or graphic novels. With links to general English Education resources (the "EN" in "EN/SANE"), adolescent literature resources, and what Carter calls "Sequential Art Narratives in Education" resources ("SANE," basically these links are about teaching comics and graphic novels) it is an ecclectic mix of interest to any English teacher.
Your subsequent paragraphs will go here. Be sure to see your syllabus for the criteria of this assignment. Also, if you can't get your link to hyperlink when you type it, don't worry. Just make sure you type it correctly, and your peers can still just copy and paste it in the toolbar of their web browsers.
posted by Bucky C. @ 5:29 PM
16 comments
16 Comments:
Review of GUYS READ..
Available at http://www.guysread.com/
“Guys Read”: Let’s Help Them!
This website focuses on the many troubles boys have with reading. According to reading tests given by the state department of education each year, guys perform significantly worse than girls. “Eight grade boys are fifty percent more likely to be held back than girls are and two thirds of special education students in high schools are boys.” Most books that students are asked to read do not fit into the lives of boys. The books assigned by teachers usually are not enjoyable for boys as opposed to girls and cause a decrease in motivation.
Society usually does not think of boys as people with openness to feelings and emotions. Boys are taught to suppress their feelings. This causes conflict in most fiction reading, because fiction deals with much emotion and boys do not know how to react to what they read. Or maybe, they do no want to react for fear of being made fun of or being called a nerd? The mission of “Guys Read” is to bring attention to the growing needs of boys’ literacy. Teachers need to give boys reading choices that they can relate to on personal levels and that will eventually increase their motivation. “Guys Read” also encourages male role models. There are too many females that promote reading. This is not a bad thing, but it seems that males could entice males to read by example. “Guys Read” wants people to use this website to help boys and also get people concerned with the decreasing literacy of males.
Jon Scieszka, the creator of “Guys Read,” has a family life that encourages him to create this website. For fifteen years, he has written books for kids.
Teaching in schools also enticed him to create this website. The site also contains a link to authors that boys might find interesting to read. Adults and boys can search favorite books, authors, or subjects of interest. Jon encourages anyone to start “Guys Read” in their area. If one has question or comments, email is available.
Review of Read Write Think
Available at: http://readwritethink.org/
The Read Write Think website, I think, can be useful for both teachers and students. On the homepage there are four primary links: Lessons, Standards, Web Resources, and Student Materials. Lessons, of course, links to suggested lesson plans and lesson plan ideas. These lessons are indexed and listed by the lesson title, abstract, target grade level, and date posted. There is a scroll-menu search bar at the top of the page that allows for easier lesson plan searching. I can foresee this feature being a great time saver in planning my future curriculum…
The Web Resources section of the site also has a scroll-menu search bar that enables users to search by grade level and what type of resources are desired. The listed source types are Instructional Resources, Professional Development, Reference Library, and Student Resources. I like this feature and think this section of the site could be efficient for helping find resources.
The Student Materials portion of the site is my favorite part. There are interactive features that the students themselves could use. The one feature that I will more-than-likely use is a link to a tool that creates character trading cards (I mentioned this one in class). The students fill in information about the character (appearance, personality, thoughts and feelings, etc.) and they can then print out the card. I think this is a very creative way to help students analyze and remember characters. Students could compare cards during class, maybe even trade, as part of a review or in preparation for a character discussion, or in LCs!
Card Generator: http://readwritethink.org/materials/trading_cards/
Review of Multicultural Review
http://www.mcreview.com
My anticipation of this website was high as I enjoy learning different aspects of the “American” culture and subcultures we live among. Although the website was easily navigable, I was a bit disappointed with the entirety of the site. The home page was attractive and offered information on how to become a book reviewer and to submit articles to the review, but it did not lead much to the imagination. The most eye-catching icon on the site was the invitation to “Subscribe Today.” Maybe I am not a very informed person, but I did not realize this was a hard copy journal that is mailed out. There were links to advertise, subscribe, and submit articles, but I was let down with the actual articles that were posted online. The articles themselves were uplifting and knowledgeable, but I feel as though I am missing out on the rest of the journal but not being a subscriber. Also, the website had not been updated since 2005 and it makes me wonder if they are still in production.
Review of: "Reading Rants"
Available at: http://tln.lib.mi.us/~amutch/jen/index.html
This website was created by Jennifer Hubert. She provides "Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists" for many young readers. The book featured on the main page is called "Devilish," by Maureen Johnson. Hubert also provides updated reading lists as well as her top ten annual book lists. There is also a link that is for teachers and librarians looking for a grown-up version of "Reading Rants." This site is a group of booklists for teens who need a good book to read. This website gets updated every two months. There is also a link to search a book and get a review on this website.
I personally thought that this website would have a little more information, but it did not. But this website is good for looking up reviews on books as well as looking at what other people think are good young adult books to read.
Review of Web English Teacher
Available at http://www.webenglishteacher.com/
“At Web English Teacher educators can take advantage of online technology to share ideas and to benefit from the work of others. Beginning teachers can find guidance; experienced teachers can find inspiration. Think of it as the faculty library and faculty workroom on a global scale.” This is how Carla Beard explains the purpose of her website “Web English Teacher.”
“Web English Teacher” is filled with information, helpful web links, and great book titles for every classroom. This website is useful for kindergarten teachers and AP English teachers alike. The side tabs display passageways to focuses such as: Journalism, Media, Mythology, and Vocabulary. There is so much information available that it may appear overwhelming at first, but it becomes less so when you realize the wealth of information is on your side.
This site is not only great for teachers, but might also be a good resource to share with kids in the classroom as well. For example, there is a section completely dedicated to book report ideas. These links have been teacher/student tested and proven helpful to kids nationwide. Your kids don’t have to be guinea pigs to test what works and what doesn’t. How much better does it get?
Another section that I found on Beard’s site was her ESL link. This link is great for teachers that need more material for their English as second language students. This link would be especially useful to new teachers without much in-class experience with kids. And even if the teacher has been around for a while, it’s always great to have new stuff!
This website is a great resource for teachers to connect to nationwide. It may have been started by Ms. Beard, but it can grow exponentially with the input of other teachers. “Web English Teacher” is a great tool for teachers to use and eventually give back to. I know I will be saving the link for my teaching material in the future. In summary: “Web English Teacher” rocks.
Review of: The Comic Book Project
http://www.comicbookproject.org
I think I've made it pretty clear in class that I LOVE comics! If you are not a believer in the effectiveness of comics in the classroom, take a look at this site, please!
The Comic Book project was founded by Dr. Michael Bitz, of Teacher's College, at Columbia University. It allows students to "forge an alternative pathway to literacy by writing, designing, and publishing original comic books."
The students write about what they want to, but they are encouraged to include personal experience in their work.
My favorite part of the site was the gallery. It actually shows work done by the kids. You may say, "But kids who can't draw wouldn't like this!" I hope I can say this without sounding mean, but none of the art I saw was phenomenal. I can't draw worth a flip myself, but I know that, even if I didn't do the artwork, I'd love to see a character that I created in a comic. We need to show our students that the art doesn't have to be Tim Sale or Chris Bachalo caliber. (Again, my inner comic book nerd is showing, those are two of my favorite artists.) Trust me, once my kids see my stick figures, they'll know I won't care WHAT theirs looks like. The work is also put into print from by Dark Horse comics. This really excited me, because two of my favorite comics, Hellboy and The Goon, are published by Dark Horse. Although I'm mostly a Marvel man myself. (Go Spidey!) But I digress.
The students featured on this site were mostly middle-schoolers. I think the youngest category I saw was 6th grade. Anyway, the issues addresed in the comics are usually real world issues, but this can be addressed however the kids want. I like super hero comics, but there were more non-superhero comics on the site. The comics are distributed around the community so the adults and kids can see the work. This is an awesome site! Definitely check out the gallery!
YA Author’s Café:
http://www.yaauthorscafe.blogspot.com/
Come on in, fill up your cup and let's talk teen books!
This website took a bit of a google search to find since the original website moved from verizon personal pages to blogspot. The YA Author’s Café is much like a hub to other valuable sources. I was disappointed to find that there was not a thorough description of the site and its goals. Links to web critiques are the first series of resources available. Then a list of about forty-five blogs of authors of young adult books is the centerpiece of site.
The helpful links listed to the left such as “Jen Robinson’s Book Page” and “Ed Spicer’s Teen Book Review” which allow critiques on hot new books for young adults. Ed Spicer’s Review is produced by a first grade teacher and he goes through critiques of books such as Harmless by Dana Reinhardt. “Secondary English” is a much larger book review page. After searching I easily pulled up a review for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time analyzing plot, character, etc. The other sixteen links are also helpful.
The blogs from the Authors are interesting to read. The authors are not only on blogs, and they also post on livejournal. Some of the authors give details of their life, vacations, and the publishing process. Promotions for writing contests and workshops are not uncommon on these unique journals. The only criticism I have on this site is the nature of some of the posts. Some of the bloggers use inappropriate language and monotonous, uneventful posts.
I was supposed to do teenread.com, but the site was down, so I went to teenlit.com.
Teenlit.com is a wonderful site for both students and teachers. There are a lot of different links and resources posted on the site, and it is organized very well so that anybody can navigate it. One of the pages on the website is just for teenager’s writings. Any teenage writer can publish their poetry, stories, essays, and even book reviews. It’s really wonderful because the site does not only encourage students to read more, but it also encourages them to write about whatever they want, and they can get their work published. Some other cool links on the website are poetry sites, literature sites, discussion forum sites, blogs, sites for research papers, and also sites for young writers.
Besides all the great resources for students, teachers can benefit from this site as well. It has a page just for teachers with links to educator resources on the web, web guides to different authors, and also some different research guides and databases. For teachers who want ideas for their class, there is a page on different books about certain topics or themes. There are also some short story collections, a guide to teaching reading and writing, and even a discussion forum where teachers can talk about their ideas.
Teenlit.com also has book review for all different genres of books that cover just about any topic that students are interested in; from romance to horror to science fiction to mysteries…it’s all there. The book reviews are posted by mostly students and some teachers, and they are books that teenagers are interested in and want to read.
The discussion forum for students is open for any topic. If somebody needs help with poetry, stories, essays, there is a blog for it. There are also book discussion blogs, and places where student’s writings can be reviewed. There are also links to research guides for students and a writer’s workshop that will help with any sort of writing, not just school-related.
Overall, teenlit.com is a great resource for students. If I ever do teach older students, I will definitely recommend this site to them.
By the way...the full address to my site was:
http://www.teenlit.com
Review of Children’s Literature in Education
Available at: https://www.editorialmanager.com/clid/
Children’s Literature in Education is a web site that provides countless opportunities for editors, authors, reviewers, and publishers. The main page lists many links at the top titled: home, login, help, register, update my information, journal overview and so forth. The first few minutes upon trying to access this site, I clicked the help button desperately. It opens a portal of information that can lead one through the registration process and many other areas that will most likely give one trouble.
The home page lists important instructions about the site and how to surf through it. The log-in link allows access to the site and turns into a log-out button to leave the site. If one does not like the user name, simply click on “update my information” to make any needed or desired changes. One may also submit one’s own article to the site and look at the reviewer’s response by choosing the “Submit a Manuscript” button. This is also a very lengthy but perhaps well-worth it process.
Journal Overview leads into a description of the Children’s Literature in Education journal and lists names of those who serve on the editorial board. There is also a tab to look at the most viewed articles. There are limitless works written about various children’s books as well as children authors. However, to view an article, it will most likely cost. Most of the articles that were popular cost approximately $32.00. There were many times I attempted to read an article but no site was available for it. Perhaps the best way I found to actually read articles is by selecting the link to online journal available. From there, one may open full text articles from this journal. I would suggest printing them out as the words are very small viewed from the computer screen. The online articles give keywords and references which is a nice thing to have. .
Mostly, I found this website very hard to get through and un-interesting. I feel like the title for the website (Children’s Literature in Education) gave me a false pretense of what the site was really like. I expected to see colorful pages with examples of good children’s books floating around on the pages. Instead, I was greeted by a boring brown and orange page. Someone else might have a better feel of what the page is supposed to accomplish but I do not think I will ever use it as a source for children’s literature.
Folklore and mythology texts…Website Review
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folkloretexts.html
When reviewing a website many aspects become important: whether the website catches your attention, is it detailed and to the point, is it easy to maneuver. All of these details are vital to a website’s worth.
When I first went to the website I was shocked at how fast it loaded, until I realized that there just wasn’t much to it. It is little more than an alphabetized list of literary links. When you follow the links you are taken to another page that is only slightly more impressive. Each link takes you to a page that gives a detailed description of each literary title, or group of titles.
When I followed this link “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves from the 1001 Nights. The classic "Open Sesame" tale (type 676).” I was taken to a page that actually had a version of the story. It was interesting to see that there are actually places where you can find entire literary works on the web, I did not know this.
After reading about Ali Baba I returned to the main page and followed this link “Air Castles. Tales of type 1430 about daydreams of wealth and fame.” This link had a list of 10 titles that could be found by following the link. Each title from the list is present on the following page along with a source of where the original work was found.
It seems that many of the titles found on this page and other pages are the translated works of one or a group of people. Many of these texts in their original format are in foreign languages. This is a very useful website however even with it’s usefulness its cover appeal is lacking and in order to get students to use a site it is sometimes necessary to indulge in a little frivolity.
http://readwritethink.org/
Read Write Think was established in April of 2002. This website is a partnership between the International Reading Association, National Council of Teachers of English, and also the Verizon Foundation. The companies are working togerther to provide students with practice in reading and language arts through this free internet-based content.
Ther are several different site features that it includes. One site offers a standard based lesson plan that intgrates the Internet into a teaching and learning experience. Each lesson includes detailed instructions. The lesson is written for the teachers, but students are allowed to have access to ready material.
The sites are organized around IRA/NCTE standards. The standards help describe, the literacy skills and abilities that students need for future education. This web link is a great way to provide students with access to practice and resources in reading and language instructions.
LaMegan Thompson
2/12/07
Web link
Young Adult Library Services Association
I found this web site to be very interesting and helpful for me as a future reading
and language teacher. A couple of the things that really caught my attention was the
booklist and the professional development center. The site is well organized and easy
to access and explore. The booklist and book awards page is very helpful when looking
for a certain type of book or award. I never knnew there was so many awards for books.
Each section includes information on the award and some links to current and previous
award winners in the same topic. I find that to be very useful when looking for certain
kinds of award winners and also helpful to find substitute books in similar or different
topic areas. On the professional development center I found tools to help teachers work
with young adults. The tools help the teacher encourage the students to want to explore
books and get more involved in classroom discussions about literature, also they might
be willing to read more on their own. I would recommend that all want ot be teachers
interested in teaching young adults explore this site and use the different tool to
help their students learn.
Review of Favorite Teenage Angstbooks
available at http://www.grouchy.com/angst/index.html
Are you a teenager who is bored with your life at the moment? Do you gave a few moments to look at some information that just may inspire you to read a great book? Well, let me tell you about this wonderful website I searched recently! The website is http://www.grouchy.com/angst/index.html. Here you will find interesting reviews on young adult literature. These reviews are submitted by teenagers like yourself, not by adults who are just trying to get you to read!
The website is designed by Kathy Young, who has had many different jobs in the literature field. She has been a bookseller, a professional publisher, a consultant to authors, a reviewer, and an author. She created this website in 1994, and it was a hit! teenagers as well as adults have written into this site. you will also find author's interviews and essays here.
If you are looking for literature on a certain subject, you will certainly find it on this site. Cathy Young has listed several categories to choose from. They are listed below:
* sex and love
* fitting in
* mixed up families
* journeys
* awakenings
* diary-ish
* creativity
* pressure
* trouble
* healing
* challenge
* out of bounds
I clicked on "mixed-up families" and seven books are listed, along with the authors and reviews. Let's say you do not know where to find a book you really think you would enjoy reading. this website can help you with this problem also! It has partnered with "Powell's Bookstore", where you can purchase new or used copies of the featured books. If you do not want to purchase a book, you can always visit your public library for a free copy! Come on. What do you have to lose? Put some adventure in your life! Read a book!
Review of Comic Books for Young Adults
This site is really great!!!
The adolescent literature link that I chose was Comic Books for Young Adults. This is a subject that I know very little information about, therefore, I want to learn more about it so that I may be able to choose literature that students will enjoy. Since many students are visual learners perhaps comic books may be more appealing and encourage them to read more often.
I found an abundance of useful information on the website from how it helps students to selecting the proper age appropriate comic for students. The website even gives a list of comic books in multiple genres. I was impressed with the amount of novels that are written as comic books in every genre imaginable. Throughout my exploration of the website I learned that comics encourage students to read, help poor readers, help students to broaden their vocabulary, appeals to visual learners, and even attracts adult readers. I never thought that comic books were so useful until I visited the website.
This website demonstrates that comic books are a great tool for the classroom. After visiting this website, I have decided that I will use comic books in my classroom to help my students improve their reading and vocabulary as well as find a type of genre that may appeal to them for the rest of their lives. I believe that exposure to comic books in the classroom demonstrates to students that all genres are acceptable and worthwhile, not just the classics. Overall, this website is worth visiting periodically for guidance into the genre of graphic novels.
This website is designed for students who are studying to be teachers and who are already teachers. On the homepage there is several links to go to, but I would suggest just certain ones. The writing link helps you learn the basic literary skills, understanding poetry, format and documentation and it also shows you link for general grammar and punctuation.
The website also gives you a site for educators. When you go to the website it gives you a list of links you can go to help you further your education. It has a lesson plan outline that provides a bare-bones outline to be filled out. There is a site that offers collaborative lesson plan in separate categories by grade levels.
The site for educators is one of my favorite sites. I would recommend it to students that are going into the education field. The site is a great design for students and educators interested in studying literature.
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