Jan 25 to Feb1: Post Your Link Review Here
Between Wednesday January 25 and Wednesday February 1, post your review #4, the review of a weblink listed on the syllabus for which you signed up. Please make sure it is at least one page in Word and then copy it over into your reply to this post. It should look like this:
Review #4:
Review of http://www.myreviewaddress.org
submitted by My Name
The first sentence of the first paragraph should go here. This paragraph will introduce the weblink and tell a little about it in general terms. Subsequent paragraphs will talk more specifically about the site's utility and finally you will offer your critique of the website, making sure to tell your fellow teachers how it is a worthy resource (if so) for them to use once they're in the classroom. Try to focus on the positive.
If for some reason your blog identity and your name do not match, send me an e-mail at jbc9f@virginia.edu to let me know who you are.
posted by Bucky C. at 7:10 PM
13 Comments:
Everyone please make sure to give the full web address such that it forms a hyperlink for everyone. So, Harrison's link should read http://www.guysread.com
See how it hyperlinked automatically? Now you can just click the link, go directly to the site, and bookmark it for your own records.
OK, so it didn't hyperlink http://www.guysread.com. Not sure why. Still, be sure to include the full address for the site. It just means you'll have to copy and paste the address in your toolbar. A little more work, but still less than it could be.
Review #4:
Miami University's Children's Picture Book Database
Submitted by Aaron Schmidt [schmittyUVA]
The Miami University Children's Picture Book Database organizes over 5000 picture books. The CPBD@MU (as it's called) allows searches by keywords to find books by their subjects, themes, and characters. Additionally, you can use a more specific search with author and publication information. The CPBD@MU aims to make it possible "to locate books with storylines adaptable to your curriculum or program."
The CPBD@MU organizes its keywords into three categories. The Topics keywords "offer specific content" that is "often unique to a discipline" [examples: Beach, Opera, Volcano]. The Concepts keywords are searches regarding information that is "shared by two or more disciplines" and "connect knowledge in more sophisticated ways that "require higher-order thinking" [examples: Aging, Change, Moods]. The Skill keywords focus on skills to be learned, "often action words or activities" [examples: Coping, Listening, Storytelling].
A quick search of a keyword will provide several pieces of information. For example, if you want to find some alphabet picture books for your students/children, you'll get 110 returns. You'll get author and publication information as well as an abstract of each title in the database. The abstracts are concise and simple, allowing you to get a sense of the book and comparing it to the others in the database.
You can also see the keywords that a particular book matches with, so you can re-search books by clicking on the keywords. If you want to refine your search, you can use the boolean search to look for books that match multiple keyword criteria. The organization and depth of the site is therefore incredibly impressive. When you consider that a keyword like Animals has 2038 items, the CPBD@MU has undertaken a daunting task. The result is a simple way to access thousands of titles and figure out if they meet your needs.
If you happen to have access to the Miami University Library, the available titles are linked with information about its status in the library (location, call number, availability status/due date).
Another great feature of the CPBD@MU is the Content Links function. For select keywords, there is a link to other websites regarding the content of your search. Some are slightly trivial (The "Aborigine" link directs you to a link about the didjeridoo that isn't that in-depth, but has a neat sound clip) and some are interesting. The database is interactive though, so people can provide more content links and projects to keywords.
Dr. Ubbes is the Project Director of CPBD@MU. She has designed the resource to contribute to teaching, scholarship, and service for Miami University. There are links to projects that display some uses as such.
The CPBD@MU is a great resource for picture books. It's a great way to find picture books because of the number of keywords and entries that the database is sorted by. The searches are simple and the information is simply presented. A useful addition would be some indication of the target audience for the books. While Children's Picture Books is a focused field already, there is probably a difference between a simple alphabet book and one like "Cleversticks" about a young Asian boy who learns about his special talent. Having some kind of idea where a book may lie on that spectrum would be useful. There are some dead links and the website is very simple in its presentation, but the sheer numbers involved in the project make it an excellent resource to find a picture book.
I used some simple HTML to link the website, because I think only the actual posts automatically hyperlink text.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Review #4
Review of: www.webenglishteacher.com
Submitted by: Kate E. Putnam
Well, I guess I hit the jackpot of English Teaching websites when I chose to review www.webenglishteacher.com. This website is mind boggling in terms of its overall ability to provide anyone with more than enough knowledge to research any topic that relates to the English Teaching profession. The home page is just bursting with cool links and tons of navigation. This website is clearly one that has been around enough to mature into a Mecca for knowledge and information. From a general perspective, it seems that this site provides the concrete ideas people are looking for when planning for and teaching English. The home page is featuring “vocabulary” at this time and has links to many vocabulary intensive pages that are not only informative but realistic and something I could definitely benefit from using, as a teacher and even now as a graduate student. As I said, there is an extensive navigation bar that runs down both the left side and the right side of the page. The left navigation bar provides the user access to all of the inner pages of the website. The right navigation bar stays static no matter what page you are on and provides a plethora of contests, words of the day, and other links users may like to surf.
As we take a closer look at what is behind the doors of this English Teaching machine we find the following buttons ready to be clicked on the navigation bar: AP & IB, Book Reports, Children’s Literature, Critical Thinking, Drama, ESL, Grammar, etc, etc, etc. This website goes on and on, some others are Literature, Poetry, Shakespeare, Professional Resources, etc. Because of the breadth of information on this website I have decided to choose a few of the areas to look at more closely. The first selection I have made is to click on Poetry, ahhh my favorite thing! I am sent to the Poetry landing page which immediately gives me a list, alphabetically, of poets from which we can choose to read their poetry, gain background knowledge, or read other suggestions/lesson plans on how to incorporate their work into the classroom. On this landing page, there is also a link directly to lesson plans and creative ideas for teachers to use in accordance with Poetry in all forms. All of the poetry links on this page are extensive and informational. The next selection is Shakespeare, FUN! On this landing page, we are presented with all of Shakespeare’s works linked to pages where these works are discussed, lesson plans are provided, background is explained, and much more. Below these works by Shakespeare are links to the “Shakespearian History”, the Globe Theater, and to Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Again, this page is flowing with ideas and information on how to successfully teach Shakespeare in the classroom.
Each of these areas of concentration contains a multitude of information which I will definitely spend significant time reading and absorbing. As a final note, I do have one suggestion for the web master of this page… Make it More Creative. There are a lot of words but not a lot of “English Fun”. Color/Music/Video would do wonders for this site and for its “techno” look. Overall it’s a must see!!
Review #4:
Review of http://ublib.buffalo.edu/lml/comics/pages/index.html
submitted by Cara Sinclair
Taken directly from the website, “"Comic Books for Young Adults" was created in support of a graduate course taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo's Department of Library and Information Studies....The Web site is designed to introduce librarians (as well as teachers and parents) to the rich, diverse offerings from today's comics book publishers, and to encourage the acquisition of comic books and graphic novels in libraries serving young adults.” The home page of the site is very simple and easy to navigate. These links are found on the home page in this order.
Do Comic Books Belong in Libraries?
Comic Book Formats
Collection Development Issues
Comic Book Publishers
Comic Book Genres
Recommended Comics
Trade Paper Backs and Graphic Novels
Internet Resources
About This Web Site
The first link does a great job in defending the usefulness and appropriateness of comics for children. The site claims that most advanced students read them and that reading comics can improve vocabulary. The second link just simply states the different kinds of comics that are published and when. It seemed to be a very simple reference page for those who are learning more about comics in general. Collection Development Issues deals with concerns such as purchasing comics and graphic novels, selection guidelines, choosing age-appropriate material and the depiction of women in comics. The next three links are simply listings of the publishers, genres within comics, and recommendations. The last is a listing as well. The internet resources are very extensive and I think helpful.
I think this website is great for teachers who are looking for a good jumping off point and are just starting to explore the idea of comics and manga in their classrooms. It keeps the information in very simple and straightforward terms. It approaches it from the standpoint of convincing librarians to include comics in their reserves so as teachers it is easy to digest and understand. The website provides enough suggestions as well to get teachers' feet wet and explore some of the options out there. With a little effort on the teachers' parts, they can sift through this extensive genre and pick something that could potentially work for their class. I would recommend this sight for teachers who have no background in comics and are looking for a good beginners site to help them look for options.
Review #4:
Review of http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/YoungAdult/
submitted by Clare Noone
Kay E. Vandergrift, a professor at Rutgers University, opens her website with an introduction about the nature of Young Adult literature. The introduction on this home page mentions and briefly describes all the page links included in her website: pathfinders, young adult readings, her top 100 list, reader response criticism, feminist readings, feminist background readings, female coming of age stories, male coming of age stories, fairy tales, literary biographies, informational resources, websites for YA resources, and a cyber library. As stated within the first couple of paragraphs, Vandergrift believes that changes in society and the increasing significance of mass media in the lives of today’s adolescents have led to an “earlier maturity.” This new rate of maturity, in turn, has changed what is considered “appropriate” literature for young adults. “What might once have been thought appropriate for a fourteen-year-old is now appropriate for a considerably younger reader,” Vandergrift states. Thus, as societal trends change, the literature curriculum for adolescents should undergo change as well. Vandergrift goes on to outline ten important steps in understanding and appreciating adolescent literature. While I won’t mention all of these steps, the suggestion to devise and publicize “pathfinders,” materials collections, and book lists for students sounds helpful. Vandergrift advises educators to read extensively to acquire the best and most current thinking about adolescents and the literature which they most enjoy/benefit from. She includes a page of links to a wide variety of journal articles that deal with literature for children and adolescents. The site also has a page that lists Young Adult authors and titles, Vandergrift’s top 100. Her list changes each year to include new books and is presented as a form of “guidance for those unfamiliar with literature for young adults.” Vandergrift encourages teachers to find and read additional titles that are popular with their own students.
As mentioned, the website features a page devoted to reader response criticism. Here, Vandergrift defines the role of the adult intermediary (the educator) as one who should: direct the discussion, motivate students to share their own meanings/responses, motivate students to listen to their peers’ responses, and refer students back to the text and to their own lives. Relating the text to the students’ similar experiences and to texts they have previously read is a significant aspect of the educators’ role. Vandergrift includes another substantial list of references; this one acknowledges journal articles that deal with reader response issues.
Vandergrift’s site also touches on gender topics in adolescent literature. Her page about feminist readings mentions the women’s liberation movement of the 1970’s as a milestone for female literary criticism. She describes the role of the feminist critic as one who demonstrates “that the male experience as a reader, writer, and critic is different from, and sometimes alien to, the female experience.” As mentioned in Vandergrift’s description, feminist literary criticism should be of concern to us as teachers of English because these cultural concerns will be relevant in the lives of our future students, female and male alike. Again, the author includes a vast listing of articles that correspond to this topic. In addition, she includes separate pages on the female and male coming of age story. These pages feature lists of classic literature as well as contemporary Young Adult literature that fall under these categories.
The site offers numerous other lists, including adult versions of Fairy Tales (be forewarned, some of these are extremely adult and therefore may be inappropriate for students), biographies, autobiographies, and informational resources. Vandergrift also includes a list of other website links and a cyber library that English teachers may find useful and that supports claims made in her descriptions.
Vandergrift’s site is relatively easy to navigate, as the links to the different pages are built right into the home page under their specific category. Actually, when I was first clicking on them as I read the introduction, I didn’t realize that they were the same links listed under the site contents on the left side of each page. When I went back to click on those listed, I realized that I had already read them. The site contains a lot of useful information pertaining to the teaching of Young Adult literature. It would benefit, however, from being presented in a more interesting and aesthetically pleasing manner. Some of the descriptions at the top of each link are lengthy and rather dry. I wish there would have been more information about the books she mentioned rather than the topics/genres that the books fell under. The reference lists are great resources though, especially for the female and male coming of age stories and Vandergrift’s top 100, which, as previously mentioned, is updated every year to account for new authors and titles. Browsing the top 100 list, I was surprised to find that I have read only a few of the many books included. In fact, I haven’t even heard of the majority of them. I consulted Vandergrift’s many lists in preparing my tentative reading list for this class. Although her lists unfortunately offer no description of the texts mentioned, they seem like very helpful resources for English teachers seeking new literature to appeal to the youth of today.
Review # 4
Review of www.alan-ya.org
Submitted by Dave Inman
According to its homepage, the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN), established by the NCTE, is the “leading society dedicated to the study of young adult literature.” Their page, however, is not very well designed, which makes it tough to really get excited about what this organization is doing. The top section of the page doesn’t change when you click links on the main menu, so it takes scrolling down a bit to know you’re really in a different section of the website.
Once you get a hang of where you’re going on this website, though, you find a number of good resources, such as “Bill’s Best Books,” which gives five reviews every month for outstanding YA novels. The book reviews are based purely on what is sent to ALAN by publishers, and their FAQ page explains vaguely the criteria they use for including books in their review: “We review the books that we enjoy reading or feel are important for our readers to know about.” The approach is not exactly scientific, but there is something to be said for simplicity. They also have a number of other free resources, like information on grants and awards in YA lit, including the ALAN Award (lists all the winners from 1974-2005), the Ted Hipple Award (given yearly to the individual who has most contributed to the ALAN organization), and ALAN Grant Programs (funding research in YA literature).
Like almost any “leading society dedicated to the study of” some realm of academia, ALAN requires membership—complete with membership fee!—to access the really good resources, like the 2006 Workshop Proposal and the ALAN Review. Membership is $20 for individuals, $10 for students, and $30 for institutions. According to their Membership document, individual ALAN members have voting rights and get a year’s subscription to the ALAN Review. However, if you have an entry-level amount of tech savvy, you can save your dollars and find the ALAN review online at http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/ (so long, that is, as you don’t mind using Tech’s resources).
The ALAN Review truly is a good resource. In fact, I found my article for last week’s review on this website. Once you’re in the classroom, an actual ALAN membership may be of use for you (you could probably even get your school to pay for it), so that you can have print copies of the ALAN Review available for your students to peruse if they’d like. That said, in this rapidly-digitizing world, we are likely to find less and less in print, and more and more on screens, as we get into the classroom. In any case—whether you pay for membership or not, whether you make it available to your students or not—the ALAN Review is certainly worth checking out. It is full of articles about YA lit, implementing it in your classroom, and even just lists of good reads. And for those who don’t wish even for that much immersion in ALAN and their Review, maybe just check out Bill’s Best Books every month on the ALAN website.
Review #4
www.readwritethink.org
review by: Heather Kotwas
ReadWriteThink.org was created in 2002 and is a joint effort put on by the International Reading Association, the National Council for Teachers of English, and the MarcoPolo Education Foundation. It is primarily directed at a target audience of teachers of English and language arts.
The website clearly states its goals and includes and entire list of "standards" that teachers and students should strive to achieve in the language arts. The goals range from basic reading and writing skills, to much more complex analysis and critical thinking skills. The major benefit of this website is that it doesn't just give you some goals and leave you to figure out on your own how to reach those goals. Instead, it guides you through various ways that you, as a teacher, might go about achieving those goals with your students, depending on what your particular focus is (language learning, learning about language, or learning through language).
The site also contains its very own lesson plan section. The lessons are easy to navigate and search since they are categorized by date, title, content (or literacy strand, as the site refers to it) and grade level. You can do a search with specific parameters if you'd like, or you can browse through the hundreds of lessons available without feeling overwhelmed because of the easy to use table format and abstracts for each lesson. Each individual lesson plan is in-depth and covers everything from introductions to objectives to review questions to time required for completion of the lesson. There are also often numerous links within the individual lessons to relevant sites and recommendations of texts for the lesson.
In a separate section, the site contains a thorough list of other teaching and literary art websites that have been reviewed and approved by a panel. Each website is listed with a short abstract beside the title and link so that you know what to expect before actually going to the other site.
The fourth major section of the site is a list of resources and links for students. These are either online tools that could be used directly off the computer in the classroom by a student, or formatting for various print-outs and worksheet type activities that the teacher might choose to download or copy and then use in the classroom.
A few other nifty features include a calendar filled with relevant dates and celebrations for the language arts classroom, authors birthdays, etc. There is a section that tells about ReadWriteThink as an organization, a special page for contacting the organization, and a great search engine so that it is easy to find exactly what you are looking for in the site.
I highly recommend this page to anyone going into the field of language arts or English teaching. It is easy to navigate, the site is supported by reliable organizations, it is easy to contact the organization for suggestions or questions, it has a plethora of lesson plans in all areas of study as well as a plethora of links to other valuable and reliable educational sites, and best of all…. It's free!
Review #4:
Review of http://www.teenreads.com
Submitted by Randi Kessler
Teenreads.com is a web site geared toward teenagers, and it focuses solely on young adult literature. The web site is broken up into a few different sections: authors, reviews, search, and a newsletter. The main page is rather long and features an author chat, new arrivals, manga and general book reviews, award-winning books, and even a small section devoted to Oprah's Book Club. There are few ads on the page and a couple of poll questions where teens can voice their opinions.
The most informative part of the site that I found was actually the feature section called Word of Mouth. Here, teens can say what they're reading and how much they love or hate the book. I believe this gives teenagers a chance to really see how a book is being received by their peers.
The Authors and Reviews sections are some of the most comprehensive listings of young adult literature (or even just literature in general!) I have ever seen. Searches can be done by the first letter of the author's last name or the first letter of the book's title. Despite the incredibly long list of authors and books, the web site states that it doesn't include all authors or books – just those they have featured or interviewed. Some reviews even have the option to read an excerpt, which could be very beneficial to teens sitting on the fence about a particular book.
Teens can also read a newsletter featured on the web site that covers everything from author interviews, to reviews, to the latest books on the shelves. There is a new newsletter each month, and old editions can be easily found in an archive.
All in all, the web site is a wealth of information, especially if you know the authors and/or titles. My few complaints focus on the site's aesthetics. The home page has a lot of information on it, so you're constantly scrolling. Also, the home page is basically the only page with book covers and/or author photos. The site became boring rather quickly because there was so much text. But, this site is an excellent resource for teachers who want to know what teens are reading and why. Perhaps by using this site, teachers can incorporate some more recent novels into the classroom.
Review to www.ala.org
Contributed by Natalie
Although mainly geared towards the adult user, the ALA website has links that students and adults alike would find useful. It is easy to navigate with its many hyperlinks and colorful markings, the bookmarks at the top of the site are especially helpful because they indicate the main points to which the site will make reference.
The “Libraries and You” section is particularly of note because it includes indications as to the scholarships and awards which the association gives out and also provides provocative blurbs and hyperlinks for someone who is looking to explore their local library and further understand how libraries in America work. The vocabulary is simple and the use of superlatives suggests that the association expects that many of the users who surf this part of the page especially will be children or young adults who perhaps have had little introduction to the nation’s library system. From the “Libraries and You” page, adults can navigate into more research oriented sites such as questions regarding legislation or other current library issues.
There is a link for “Education and Careers” in which the site provides links to information about continuing education programs and employment within the national library and educational systems. Other links including “Events and Conferences,” “Products and Publications” as well those which explain the ALA’s mission and the issues for which they advocate are also available.
The main purpose of this site is to serve as an advocate for the use of our nation’s libraries and to urge people, especially children, to READ! READ! READ! Membership is encouraged however, the services of the ALA including its reviews and booklists are provided free of charge to surfers of the page and are also included in such publications as the NEA’s newletter. Teachers would find the site useful when searching for books to fit curriculum guidelines as their search engine is particularly adequated to such searches. Librarians would also find the site to be of use, although undoubtedly much of the information they would find on the site they will already know, they may find, however, that the site would be a great tool to use if a student asks the question that every librarian longs to hear, “Do you have anything good to read?”
Review #4
Folklore and Mythology Texts: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/foktexts.html
Submitted by Monica Breeden
I reviewed the website for folklore and mythology texts. This website was full of information. This website gives a link to information about the editor, as well as the translator for many of the texts, of this particular website. The editor is a professor at the University of Pittsburg. There is also information regarding his educational background available. Within this link for the editor are other links. There was a link to the University of Pittsburg as well as links to other sites about folklore and mythology.
The first link Folk and Fairy-Tale sites offers links to search engines, encyclopedias and site of various languages regarding the tales. The link for Germanic Myths, Legends and Sages leads you to various sites for Germanic tales, history and culture. Each of these links leads to information regarding folk and mythology stories as well as the history behind the cultures that they came out of.
The website itself contains two pages of subheadings regarding various folk and myth stories from around the world. The first page contains links to other folktale links and the subheadings A-M. The second page contains subheadings N-Z and links to various texts in two languages, German and Scandinavian. Each subheading contains a list of stories that can be accessed. These lead to an electronic text of the chosen folklore or mythological stories.
There are two links under the A category for Aesop’s Tales. Both are the text but Harvard supports one, the first link listed. There is also a link to Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. There are three links for Hans Christian Anderson. The first of these links leads to another link with many of Anderson’s texts. The other two are informational sites on Anderson. There are tons of links in this website for various folk tales but my personal favorite in listed under the F category. There is a subheading for Fairy tales which leads you to the website called University Libraries. This has a list of even more fairy stories including Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
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