Toolkit

= A Teaching Toolkit for Teacher Librarians (Part 1) - Workshop Resources & Links = = =

Micro Blogging
[|Twitter] is a microblogging tool. Access the main site using the web or use [|Twitbin], [|Twitteroo], [|Twitteriffic] (for mac), [|Snitter], [|Twirl] or others as local application interfaces to send Tweets. [|Twittervision] shows tweets in real time on a map of the world. Search for interesting people to follow with [|Twellow]. Search topics with [|Twitter Search].

[|Plurk] Microblogging service where 'plurks' or updates are arranged on a relative timeline. [|Edmodo] Student friendly microblogging service. Allows you to send short messages, alerts, calendar events, files, links and embedded objects such as YouTube videos in a way that easily protects the privacy of your students. Check out this [|very useful introductory tutorial]

Wordle
[|Wordle] Make a demo wordle and discuss eg” Kevin Rudd vs Brendan Nelson “Sorry Day speech”

1. Do a bias test (__tip__: strip out key topic words using find > replace in word for different examination of text)

Martin Luther King [] vs []

Death Penalty [] vs []

2. Consider implications for debating, analysis of writing themes, flavour of several book reviews - what is the emphasis? etc
 * analyse a student written debate for emphasis
 * Explore key themes in poetry
 * analyse speeches for key themes and issues
 * find nouns or verbs in a passage
 * analyse soliquay for key words
 * examine authorship or bias on websites
 * suggest key word for internet search
 * Famous Australian - build a wordle that describes them.
 * Most popular authors, genres or books eg:Year 7's top reads
 * For Book Week make a wordle from a passage then uess the book it was taken from.
 * key words for topic research
 * brainstorming
 * create an about me wordle describing someone in the class
 * create signs changing layout and having fun with colours and random fonts
 * Yeats vs Dorothea Mackellar look at differences in mood and word choices
 * study identity using Dorothea Mackellar's poem, pick out words which denote Australian identity
 * Paste pre-prepared text into Wordle and use the resultin words as a story starter

RSS
[|RSS: A Quick Start Guide for Educators] written by Will Richardson.

Aggregators/Feed Readers
[|Bloglines] [|Google Reader] (you must have a [|free gmail email account] to set this up) [|Newsgator]

Personal Customisable Start Pages
[|igoogle] (you must have a [|free gmail email account] to set this up), [|Netvibes] and [|Pageflakes] are customisable Web 2.0 home page or start pages with a very simple interface. Personalise a page with a wide range of content such as RSS/Atom feeds, and Web 2.0 services. Access your page anywhere, anytime.

RSS Feed Creators
[|Feedburner] Do you have a page you'd like to set up an RSS feed for? The next step is to visit this site and create one.

Other Useful RSS Sites
[|RSS Locator] RSS Directory [|Search4RSS] RSS Directory [|RSS Compedium] Rss feeds from governments around the world [|The Age RSS Channel Page] [|The Sydney Morning Herald RSS Channel Page]

Pageflakes Example Pagecasts
[|Adrian Bruce] [|Will Richardson]

Research Tools
These tools allow you to record and annote your web searches, store them for later and share them with others. [|iBreadCrumbs.com] is a recording toolbar for your FireFox web browser. It records all the web pages you visit while you research. Save, review, and share your research with friends or colleagues. [|Zotero] also works with Firefox and allows storing and sharing of web searches including storage of web content.

Blogs
[|http://www.teacher-librariantango.blogspot.com] Lyndy's Blog

= A Teaching Toolkit for Teacher Librarians (Part 2) - Workshop Resources & Links = =Creative Commons=

[|Creative Commons] is a movement that allows authors of works of all kind to license them so others may use them legally. [|Slideshare] allows authors to upload slide presentations and documents for others to view and use. Some content is licensed under [|Creative Commons]. See this page for even more tips on creative commons and copyright friendly resources. Something for nothing slideshare

Flickr
Flickr is best known as an online photo sharing website. However there are a host of wonderful educational implications for using this site. You can either browase images or sign up and get your own free account and get a whole lot more funtionality. You can add contacts, create and share images with groups via photopools and add notes to annotate images. See also these excellent Flickr sites: Flickr Map showing images loaded with geotags.

Voicethread
[|Voicethread] Create a video that can be collaboratively voice annotated if you wish. Also works for documents and images. [|Click here]for lots of examples. [|Click here for an explanation of Ed Voicethread] (the educator version) Best Practices for Using VoiceThread [|Hamlet's Ophelia] K-2 Examples [|K-2 example] [|Weather Poetry] [|Kim's Train] Voicethreads in Education [|Art Appreciation] Tutorial: [|Sharing Voicethreads] Tutorial: [|Comment Moderation]

Google Earth 5 - Lit Trips, Place Marks, Layers and Tours
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In Google Earth 5 you will find some great new layers and an interactive tour feature.

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[|Google Lit Trips] incorporate literature and [|Google Earth] to create interactive experiences around fiction and non-fiction novels although much more is possible with a little lateral thinking. These two videos give a good explanation of what a Lit Trip is Google Lit Trips Part 1 (You Tube Video) and Google Lit Trips Part 2 (You Tube Video) Building a Google Lit Trip shows the basics of how to build your own lit trip. See also Lit Trip Tips for more helpful hints. Which includes formatting a placemark. For help with basic html code for creating fancy placemarks in Google Earth - [|see here].

1. Challenge yourself to make a Lit Trip using Around the World in 80 days by Jules Verne as your inspiration. 2. Create a biography in the style of a lit trip.
 * Activity Ideas**

Wordsift
Wordsift is a word cloud generator and visual thesauraus similar to Wordle but with much more functionality.

Fun Stuff
[] creates fake names for students to use as pseudonyms. [|www.fodey.com/generators] generates mock newspapers or wanted posters

Google Books
Google Books is a specialised book search from Google. If the book is out of copyright, or the publisher has given Google permission, you'll be able to see a preview of the book, and in some cases the entire text. If it's in the public domain, you're free to download a PDF copy.