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2014 NERDY AWARDS FOR FICTION PICTURE BOOKS ANNOUNCED BY TERI LESESNE. I have read a ton of picture books this year. That ton might even be a literal ton given the number of them packed into boxes (see photo) so that they can “float on” to new owners after the holidays plus the ones forming the base for my book tree (see photo). I have read many titles as part of my Cybils judging. And, I have a little secret about keeping up with my #bookaday obligations: I will read a stack of picture books when I feel I am falling behind in my reading goal.

It has been a great year for picture books, too. I have noticed a few trends and those are borne out by the 25 picture books honored by the Nerdy Book Club for 2014. One trend that continues from last year is textless books. Another trend, one that is certainly not new but is always welcome, are picture books with great good humor. Speaking of animals, many of them take center stage in some of the Nerdy picture book winners. Some of the Nerdy picture books focus on the arts. Finally, some books defy categorization. Here they are: Notable Children’s Books of 2014 Which are your faves? I love them all madly! Best Books 2014. November 21, 2014 School Library Journal The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens You are here: Home / Best Books 2014 Best Books 2014 Recent Posts SLJ Blog Network Good Comics for Kids This Week’s Comics: Winter Horse By Lori Henderson on November 21, 2014 Adult Books 4 Teens A Debut Novel for Lovers of (or Newbies to) the Greek Classics By Mark Flowers on November 21, 2014 Someday My Printz Will Come A Volcano Beneath the Snow By Sarah Couri on November 21, 2014 A Fuse #8 Production Review of the Day: Neighborhood Sharks by Katherine Roy By Elizabeth Bird on November 21, 2014 100 Scope Notes One Star Review Guess Who?

By Travis Jonker on November 21, 2014 NeverEndingSearch White House Student Film Festival: On Giving Back By Joyce Valenza on November 20, 2014 Heavy Medal Top Five By Jonathan Hunt on November 20, 2014 Teen Librarian Toolbox YA A to Z: Jenny Torres Sanchez By Karen Jensen, TLT on November 20, 2014 By Heather Booth on November 20, 2014 SLJ on iPad.

The best children’s books of the year – my annual roundup of intelligent and imaginative gems http:… By Maria Popova “I don’t write for children,” Maurice Sendak scoffed in his final interview. “I write — and somebody says, ‘That’s for children!’” “It is an error,” wrote J.R.R. Tolkien seven decades earlier in his superb meditation on fantasy and why there’s no such thing as writing for children, “to think of children as a special kind of creature, almost a different race, rather than as normal, if immature, members of a particular family, and of the human family at large.” Indeed, books that bewitch young hearts and tickle young minds aren’t “children’s books” but simply great books — hearts that beat in the chest of another, even if that chest is slightly smaller.

This is certainly the case with the most intelligent and imaginative “children’s” and picture-books published this year. Once in a long while, a children’s book comes by that is so gorgeous in sight and spirit, so timelessly and agelessly enchanting, that it takes my breath away. “Yes,” says Lion. …he hears a familiar sound. Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12: 2015. Science teachers and mentors continue to be challenged to meet the high expectations of the Framework for K–12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Indeed The Framework urges us to help learners “[build] progressively more sophisticated explanations of natural phenomena…” while NGSS provides a model for “gathering, describing, and using information about the natural and designed world(s).”

In the development of curricula that meet these challenges, literature is an essential partner. “The NGSS are aligned with the CCSS [Common Core State Standards] to ensure a symbiotic pace of learning in all content areas.” The International Reading Association supports our goal of increasing literacy for all learners. We invite you to explore this year’s list of Outstanding Science Trade Books, which greatly adds to our 43-year history. In the award-winning books below, you’ll find not only traditional science content but engineering and design. About Habitats: Forests. Best Books of 2014 | Publishers Weekly : Publishers Weekly. Top Ten Children’s and Young Adult Books About Trees, Woods, or Forests by Holly Mueller. I participated this year for the first time in the March Slice of Life Story Challenge, started by Two Writing Teachers.

It was an amazing experience. I personalized the challenge by writing about childhood memories because my fifth graders were writing memoirs. In one memory, I wrote about my love of trees and playing in the woods when I was young. I connected the memory to several books that featured trees, woods, or forests. An idea for a Nerdy Book Club post was born! Ida B…and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan Home-schooled Ida B. talks to trees and the brook, and is full of spunk and goodness.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson This is one of my favorite children’s books of all time. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu Hazel and Jack were best friends until something mysterious lands in Jack’s eye, and he becomes cruel. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Like this: TIME For Kids: LIVE with Lois Lowry. So You Want to Read Wordless Picture Books? | the dirigible plum. Banned Books by the Numbers (with infographics) Banned Books Week, an annual event organized by the American Library Association (ALA), grants readers, parents, teachers and librarians an opportunity to discuss the value of unhindered expression. Throughout the week, The Huffington Post will highlight voices from various communities impacted by censorship, including LGBT readers, religious writers and Latino bibliophiles. We will share an excerpt from a frequently challenged graphic novel, and examine the effect book banning has had on literature historically.

We've also invited our readers -- especially those in the education field -- to share photos of the banned books they teach or admire. We've also taken a look at data provided by the ALA* about which books and authors have been challenged recently, where those challenges occur, and what the cited reasons are for said challenges. What's the difference between a challenge and a ban? Banned Books Week and Intellectual Freedom for ALL! | Creative Libraries Utah and Colorado. Please Stop "Celebrating" Banned Books Week. Go Forth and Re-Read Your Favorite Books From Childhood: A Dare. "CS Lewis explains why you should be proud to read children's books" Books for Young Builders and Architects. Via @nprbooks: Harry Potter And The Forbidden Books. 15 Adorable Children's Books For Your Little Architect. The Not So Horrible Consequences of Reading Banned Books. 10 Distinctive American Libraries That Give Books A Good Home. Wanted to like this more than I actually did. And has NSFW language. | 16 Classic Children’s Books Retold For Adults.

2013 Granite Book Awards: Picture Books | Granite Media. Digital Citizenship: Developing a Culture of Trust and Transparency. 2014 National Book Awards. 2014 National Book Awards 2014 National Book Award Winners fiction: Winner: Phil Klay, Redeployment (The Penguin Press/ Penguin Group (USA)) - Interview > Finalists: Rabih Alameddine, An Unnecessary Woman (Grove Press/ Grove/Atlantic) - Interview > Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See (Scribner/ Simon & Schuster) - Interview > Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven (Alfred A. Longlist: - Molly Antopol, The UnAmericans (W. Geraldine Brooks, Sheryl Cotleur, Michael Gorra, Adam Johnson, Lily Tuck Nonfiction: Evan Osnos, Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) - Interview > Roz Chast, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? - John Demos, The Heathen School: A Story of Hope and Betrayal in the Age of the Early Republic (Alfred A.

Robert Atwan, Gretel Ehrlich, Tom Reiss, Ruth J. Poetry: Louise Glück, Faithful and Virtuous Night (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) - Interview > Longlist: - Linda Bierds, Roget's Illusion (G. Finalists: - YouTube. I want to read this. Love everything about this series. What's Inside: The Science of Sriracha's Fiery Deliciousness. Red jalapeños give rooster sauce its heat; they clock in at about 5,000 Scoville units, or around 300 parts per million of mouth-burning capsaicinoids. These molecules bind to a receptor, TRPV1, that shows up on the ends of nerves that lead to the trigeminal nerve, which conveys touch, temperature, and pain. The sulfurbased molecules that give garlic its stink activate another trigeminal receptor, TRPA1, the same protein behind wasabi's tingle. Garlic seems to be intertwined with capsaicin: People born without heatsensing TRPV1 can't feel capsaicin's burn, but they're also hypersensitive to garlic.

Chili and garlic operate through the trigeminal nerve, but the five main tastes—sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami—use a whole other mechanism. For sweet, a receptor grabs an L-shaped structure common to sugar and artificial sweeteners. Unlike the lock-and-key receptors that signal sweet, salt is likely detected by ion channels on cells in your taste buds. Joshua | Springville Museum of Art. Joshua | Natural History Museum of Utah. The Similarities Between Montessori And Digital Learning. The Similarities Between The Montessori And Digital Learning by Carri Schneider first appeared on gettingsmart.com “Before elaborating any system of education, we must therefore create a favorable environment that will encourage the flowering of a child’s natural gifts.

All that is needed is to remove the obstacles. And this should be the basis of, and point of departure for, all future education.” Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood, 1936 At first glance, the intersections between Montessori education and high-quality digital learning are not immediately apparent. To those of us with some knowledge about Montessori methods—based on formal training, general awareness or, as in my case, the observations of a parent whose children attend a Montessori school—its natural materials and deep traditions seem to stand in opposition to the vision of a futuristic, technology-rich digital or blended learning environment. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Opens today: Vacant Granite High transformed into art exhibit. Starting Monday, the school will become a massive art exhibit as part of the first ever Dreamathon. More than 150 local artists came together to create murals, photography, music, writing and stories for the exhibit. The event will run from Monday through Saturday with speakers, performances, activities and food; find the details here. Program director Johnny Patterson said he worked with The Dream Press, a publishing organization, and the Wheeler Foundation to produce the event.

The cost to attend is $3 per person or $10 for the whole week, with proceeds going to the charity Pathway India, he said. The event will be open to the public from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday. Students from the Granite District will also visit the exhibit on field trips during the week. "We knew we wanted to do something that would be able to inspire kids," Patterson said. How Young Is Too Young for a Digital Presence? “They don’t even have a say in it, and I think that’s an interesting ethical question,” said Kaveri Subrahmanyam, associate director of the Children’s Digital Media Center at the University of California, Los Angeles. There is very little research into how children will react to discovering a rich digital history about themselves once they’re old enough to get online, she said, but parents should be aware of what and how much they post.

“Parents have to be really self-aware and mindful of what they’re doing with technology, and I don’t think we’re at that point yet,” Dr. Subrahmanyam said. Of course, some parents aren’t ready to buy into this digital world for their children. Take Lauren, a Berkeley mother of two who asked that her last name not be used. Lauren, paradoxically, is a social-media marketing consultant.

But, she said, “the whole crux of it to me is about online privacy and feeling like, as their mom, it’s my job to protect them in general. It is a reasonable concern. The Myths of Technology Series. There are many different arguments that you hear when dealing with technology in schools and sometimes it is crucial to have the counter-argument ready.

From my own experience of using technology and working with schools and classrooms, I have started to see technology with a different lens. Although in every statement I share below, there is some truth, it is important that we try to focus on what opportunities technology presents to us as educators to do something that we could not do before. Below are some of the “myths” that I have focused on this series. I hope that it can generate some discussion so we can all be thoughtful on using technology to make a difference with our students. Myth 1: Technology Equals Engagement Myth 2: Don’t Talk To Strangers Myth 3: Technology Makes Us Narcissistic Myth 4: Technology Will Replace Face-To-Face Interaction Myth 5: Technology Dehumanizes Myth 6: Technology Makes Us Dumb.

Google Search: 10 Questions & Answers to Help You Search Smarter! At the Google Teacher Academy Lisa Thumann awed me with her lively presentation on Google Search. I must do an average of 15 searches a day on a wide range of topics. I search for articles, images, power points presentations, key words, etc. but I had no idea what Google search could do for me and my students. What I know now will radically change how I teach my students to research in the future, so I wanted to share some cool tips with other educators.

First, let’s get the lingo down (since I didn’t know the terminology before I started digging into the resources Lisa provided). Your search is called a “query” and you type it in the “query box.” I know that query means question or inquiry, but I had no idea that is what you called the little box on the Google homepage. So, now when I say query box, we’ll all be on the same page. Note: When I type an example query, I will use brackets [ ] to indicate that it is a query. 1. 2.

Do you want to find PDFs, PPTs, or XLS? 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Great discussion on the need and value for ALL students to have opportunity to learn coding - Science Friday. More Than Baby Talk: 10 Ways to Promote the Language and Communication Skills of Infants and Toddlers.