Home » Page 483

Free Educator Resource: “On Halloween”

On Halloween is a very short Choose-Your-Own-Path ebook created by writer Michele Lee and her seven year old daughter Mini Lee for 7-12 year olds.  It deals with issues related to bullying (very timely, since October is National Bullying Prevention Month), encourages the exercise of decision-making skills, uses great descriptive language, and has both cliffhangers and humor going for it. Full disclosure, Michele is a co-conspirator here at MonsterLibrarian.com, and I was a beta reader for On Halloween.

It’s because I was a beta reader that I have gotten to see the positive impact this has on kids’ imaginations (or at least on one kid’s imagination). My precocious five year old, reading over my shoulder, wanted me to read the whole thing aloud to him. Then he wanted me to type up his own story about a haunted house. Then he wanted me to read it again. Then he tried to type up his own story (that was pretty funny as he doesn’t really have a handle on spelling yet). Then he sneaked onto my laptop, figured out how to open the file the story was in, and started reading it again. Then he wanted me to write another story.

Now, he is an unusual kid, but this is impressive. Teachers, parents, and librarians, take note: this is a story able to engage readers with even very rudimentary reading skills. Even if kids can’t read all the words, they can get the gist, enough to get caught up in the story. I can’t even begin to tell you how impressed I am to see that this story had such an impact on my own kid. On Halloween is currently offered for free to educators through Michele’s blog in ePub, mobi, and PDF formats. I encourage you to check it out.

And please do let Michele know if you use this with your kids.

Posted on October 24, 2011 by , Reply

New Educator Resources Page

One of the top drivers of traffic to MonsterLibrarian.com is a lesson plan on writing scary stories by Kellie Hayden. So I know many teachers visit our site, even if it’s just for a minute. In an effort to better serve the educators who visit us, I’ve started an Educator Resources page, with links to lesson plans, webquests, booklists, and activities related to Halloween, scary stories, and whatever else I think might be of interest to teachers and librarians looking for ideas or ways to integrate cool scary (or not so scary) stuff into what you’re doing. If you have additional resources to suggest you can send us suggestions at monsterlibrarian@monsterlibrarian.com. Just title your email “Educator Resources” , so it won’t get lost in the shuffle.

Posted on October 22, 2011 by , Reply

GL Magazine rocks Teen Read Week!

I’m normally not a reader of magazines for teen and tween girls, seeing as my daughter is four, but this week I had to examine several of them. I was surprised and impressed that GL Magazine (also known as Girls’ Life) devoted a section to Teen Read Week! Granted, it was labeled “Promotion”, but considering that many of the “articles” focus on clothes and beauty products, how much they cost, and where you can buy them, I’m not sure how much difference it makes. What’s cool is that it’s there at all, especially considering some of the other magazines I looked at this week.

And it doesn’t appear to be just a bunch of advertisements from publishers, although the section doesn’t hide the fact that publishers paid for the advertisements. GL called the section “Teen Read Week Book Club” and YALSA’s Teen Read Week logo is on almost every page.

I visited the website for GL to see if they had extended their promotion there, and there’s a poll right on the front page for the October-November issue. It’s not splashed across the page (and I wouldn’t expect that) but it’s there. GL also gave their Teen Read Week Book Club its own page, but I sure as heck never would have found it if I didn’t have the actual magazine in hand to search for the direct URL to get there (maybe that’s the point). If you can get there, you can win a giveaway not just some very nice YA titles, but an iPad 2 for your ebook reading pleasure. GL also has a regular Book Club feature, with some substance to it, and I think it’s really cool. Unfortunately, with a front cover story like “15 weird boob questions you’re too embarrassed to ask” on the print edition, a lot of girls might never find something like the Teen Read Week center section, or the book club feature, which seems to be only online.

Major kudos to GL Magazine for recognizing that girls’ substance matters, instead of just their surface, and for promoting not just Teen Read Week, but reading for all the teen girls in their audience, every month.

Posted on October 18, 2011 by , Reply
First « 481482483484485 » Last