[OPLINLIST] NoveList Notes-August 04: Getting Ready for the New School Year

[Lynne Rohweder]

NoveList Notes							August, 2004

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Getting Ready for the New School Year 

Whether you are a new teacher preparing for your first group of students, a
librarian working with parents who are sending their children off to school,
or a veteran teacher looking for ways to refresh your lesson plans and
activities, NoveList offers materials to help get the school year off to a
bright start. 

"OFF TO SCHOOL" BY SUSIE WILDE

"Even adults vividly remember the fear and excitement of school's start.
Now, as parents and teachers, many want to prepare their children for the
transition from home to school. Books can help with this shift whether a
child is starting elementary school, or facing the change from a lazy
summer's relaxation to the schedule demands that come with school!"

This is an excerpt from Susie Wilde's article and bibliography. The article
will get you thinking about how to help your patrons choose the right books
to ease into the new school year.  Suggestions include the choicest books
for a cheerful kindergarten kick-off and ways to face those "first fears"
such as separation struggles, first jitters, finding a friend, or facing the
unknown.

To access this article in NoveList:
1. Access NoveList and click on the Features for Teachers button.
2. Under Articles with Curricular Connections, click the Preschool and
Elementary Articles link.
3. The articles are listed in alphabetical order.  Scroll down to "O" for
"Off to School" and click the link. 
4. Note that you can click the Print Page link in the left hand margin of
the article to get a printer-friendly version.

To access this article in NoveList K-8:
1. Access NoveList K-8 and click on the Teacher Resources button.
2. Click the Teaching with Fiction link.
3. Scroll down to the General Literature section in the Children's level and
locate the article in the "O" part of the list.  Click the title to link to
the article itself.
4. Note that you can click the Print Page link in the left hand margin of
the article to get a printer-friendly version.


PICTURE BOOK EXTENDERS

If you haven't had a chance to look at Picture Book Extenders, now is a
great time to see what they are all about.  Picture Book Extenders have been
developed especially for NoveList and offer a look at the many ways in which
picture books can be used by teachers and parents: as a comprehension tool,
as enrichment to curricular content areas, and as a springboard to exciting
and interesting activities that are suggested by a picture book's content.

Currently there are nearly 80 Picture Book Extenders available with more
added each month. New in August is a Picture Book Extender on "The Spider
Weaver: A Legend of Kente Cloth," retold by Margaret Musgrove and
illustrated by Julia Cairns. It provides cross-curricular activities for
language arts, science, geography as well as multiculturalism.  In addition,
for those of you who use Anansi stories in your classroom, this picture book
extender provides a nice tie-in. For a Picture Book Extender that helps
address the theme of returning to school, try "Jam & Jelly by Holly & Nelly"
by Gloria Whelan and illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankhuyzen.  As with all
the Picture Book Extenders, it offers curricular connections, terms and
vocabulary, language enrichment, comprehension questions, discussion
questions, cross-curricular activities and a list of books "you might enjoy,
if you enjoyed this book."

To access Picture Book Extenders in NoveList or NoveList K-8
1. Access NoveList and click on the Features for Teachers button. (If you
have NoveList K-8, click on the Teacher Resources button instead.)
2. Select the Picture Book Extenders link.
3. The page begins with a description of Picture Book Extenders. To get to
the list of titles, scroll down. The Picture Book Extenders are listed
alphabetically by title of the book.   
4. Note that you can click the Print Page link in the left hand margin of
any Picture Book Extender to get a printer-friendly version.

Note: This fall, with the new version of the NoveList search engine, you
will be able to search for Picture Book Extenders through the new search
function for articles and lists.

WHAT ABOUT THE OLDER KIDS?

NoveList has lots of supporting materials for older students, too.  If you
haven't already picked up on the trend, the best place to go in NoveList is
the Features for Teachers page, and in NoveList K-8, the Teacher Resources
page.  The NoveList fiction database offers great support for teaching with
fiction, too, but these pages help you find the most specific and latest
articles and guides.  We invite you to check Features for Teachers or
Teacher Resources regularly. 

A couple of bibliographic articles recently added to NoveList are:

"Getting the Best of Bullies" by Andrea Bittle, which offers titles that
address this difficult problem in schools.  She provides a bibliography that
covers a range of reading from picture books up to reading for 10-14 year
olds.

"The Works of Chris Crutcher" by Lisa Musial-Springle starts off with,
"Chris Crutcher is a brave, funny, entertaining, and sophisticated writer
who is not afraid to look at the harsh realities of teenage life and tell it
like it is. For this reason, young adults find his work accessible and
believable." This article offers an overview of his works focusing on the
stories and the true-to-life characters facing hard choices with realistic
outcomes.

NCTE NATIONWIDE READING AND DISCUSSION OF "NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR" BY GEORGE
ORWELL

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is sponsoring a
nationwide reading and discussion of George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four"
for this fall, 2004.  They are asking for educators and students as well as
the general public to read the book and discuss it and what it might teach
us about life in the contemporary United States.
(http://www.ncte.org/about/press/rel/116297.htm) 

NoveList has just added a Book Discussion Guide for "Nineteen Eighty-Four."
If you have not had a chance to look at or use a NoveList Book Discussion
Guide before, now is a great chance to get familiar with them.  These robust
guides provide an author biography, a plot summary, several questions with
thorough answers, and suggested further readings.  These guides are not only
perfect to use with book discussion groups, but they are also excellent aids
for teachers in the classroom or for readers looking for a way further to
enhance their own reading experience.  

To access Book Discussion Guides (available only in NoveList):
1. Access NoveList and click on the START button. 
2. Scroll down to the "Read about Popular Titles and Topics" section and
click on the Book Discussion Guides link.
3. You will have the choice to click on the Adult Book Discussion Guide link
or the Young Adult Book Discussion Guide link. The Book Discussion Guide for
"Nineteen Eighty-Four" can be found at both locations.  Book Discussion
Guides are listed alphabetically by author. 
4. If you select YA Book Discussion Guides, scroll down to Orwell and click
on the link for "Nineteen Eighty-Four." If you select Adult Book Discussion
Guides, either scroll down or select index listing "N-O" to go the alpha
listing for Orwell and click on Nineteen Eighty-Four. 
5. Note that you can click the Print Page link in the left hand margin of
any Book Discussion Guide to get a printer-friendly version.

SUMMARY

This is a very exciting fall for NoveList!  In addition to a new version of
the search engine, which will include some customer-driven new features, we
have several new content series that will be of special interest to
educators.  

* Letters of the Alphabet: This pre-school series will not be the typical
didactic treatment of the alphabet.  Rather, these articles will list titles
that emphasize repetitive use of a given letter, and offer the thrill of
finding the letter on the page and learning about different sounds
represented by the same letter.  Look for the first in this series to appear
in September in both NoveList and NoveList K-8.
* Colors:  Similarly, NoveList will present a treatment of color for
pre-schoolers that will explore color recognition in books that emphasize a
single color throughout.  The choice of colors will be seasonally
appropriate, and this series will alternate with the Letter series described
above.  
* Cultural Explorations: Designed for upper elementary, several
bibliographies on ethnic groups such as Chinese-American or African-American
will start appearing this fall and provide excellent support for diversity
and cultural studies.  

In addition, our series on states, book talks, book discussion guides,
author biographies for young adults, and picture book extenders will
continue monthly.  New items are featured on the homepage of NoveList and
NoveList K-8 as well as on the Features for Teachers page.  As always, if
you have any questions or issues, don't hesitate to let us know.  You can
always use the feedback form in NoveList or email us at novelist@epnet.com.