Google Sites

Remember when you brought that project or assignment home from school and shared it with your parents? Chances are that project or paper, with an "A+" affixed to it~ of course, was displayed prominently on the refrigerator door for the entire family to see and enjoy.

Times have changed. Using Google Sites, students can now share their work with the world.

But this is a different type of project for many other reasons as well. Students apply 21st century digital citizenship skills with this one. Digital citizenship? Looking at blogs, memes and social media these days, it seems as though people have forgotten, or never learned for that matter, proper netiquette. Teaching a project like website design affords the perfect opportunity to share with students, and other adults, how they can conduct themselves online and still have respect for themselves. After all, the Internet never forgets.

In addition to netiquette, students can also benefit from a refresher of copyright guidelines and know that fair use may not apply in a case like website design. Linking videos from YouTube is a plus, but finding copyright-free pictures with the help Google images or Creative Commons may be time consuming yet absolutely necessary. Furthermore, students are not to include pictures of themselves or anyone else~especially if the site is open to the public and not just the school.

The process of assembling the Website is fairly easy but the students need guidance the first time they make one. In fact, I tend to forget and rely on my notes before instructing a class. In a recent class, the students made websites for Dante's Inferno. Each group of students was assigned a circle and they had to analyze it and make connections to mythology and our modern world. What a great project! They found videos, wrote their ideas, hyperlinked their text to their sources, used our online eBook and print collection, and shared relevant pictures. The students were encouraged to make their own (i.e. student-created) videos, and use their own pictures (remembering the rule mentioned above). Now this is Common Core.

What are some creative ideas for using Google Sites?
1. A business class can create a fictitious business and design a website promoting it.
2. A world history class could make a museum site for a specific moment in history.
3. In an American literature class students can have a website that they add to throughout the year where they can evaluate the novels, plays and poems they read.
4. Students in a geometry class can apply how geometry relates to the world outside the classroom.

The CIA World Factbook

From time to time I want to share some awesome online resources that students and teachers may find useful....

A few years ago I bought a book of country reports in print from a well-known publisher (I won't name names) for approximately $118. However, I only bought it because I was offered a free online version of the book.

Fast-forward to three weeks ago when I began working with a class that had to write a research paper about a developing country. I suggested that the teacher use the aforementioned reference book as a great way for her students to write a research question. When I tried to visit the online version of the book, I noticed the link was dead. So I called the publisher and was told that I only had access to the online version of the book for two years. No such stipulation was ever made when I made the purchase. Needless to say, I'm still arguing my point with this publisher.

In the meantime I had to find an online reference source to do the job. SIRS and Global Issues in Context, two databases we have and I promote, had background information but do not have quick ready-reference sources. This brought me to the CIA's World Factbook. This a is a free resource that gives students vital, and current, statistics about every country in the world. The students can see a map of each particular country, its flag and some photos. More importantly, students can browse each country's statistics by its geography, people, economy, transportation, communication, etc... Wow! Awesome and free.

So how can we use this site?

For the class writing the research papers, students had to find how the developing country of their choice differed from the US. The information they collected was to be used as introductory material for their research paper and it was used to give them an idea of how far behind, economically speaking, developing countries are in comparison to the US. From that point, the students went to Global Issues in Context and read more background information about the current economic situation in the countries of their choosing. They had to develop a question for research based on what they found in their reading. There sources included video, magazine and newspaper sources.

Of course, social studies classes can use this site when discussing current events; math classes may use this to create Excel worksheets (scratch that, we don't have Excel because we are a Google school) Google Sheets along with charts and graphs comparing various economic or statistical information between/among countries; and World Language students can use it for quick reference information when making PowerPoint Google Slides presentations. With the CIA World Factbook he possibilities are endless.

2016 Summer Reading List

It's finally finished!

This year, the Student Reading Committee (SRC) chose forty-two books for the summer reading list. We reviewed almost 100 books between November and April. Talk about being particular.  But all joking aside, I think it is awesome that our student members recommended each book on this list. The list has quite an eclectic group of titles. They include memoirs, realistic fiction, science fiction, thrillers, history, biography, and cosmology...just to name a few.

To see the books on this year's summer reading list, click here. When students are finished reading their book or books, they must complete a questionnaire for each book they read so they can get credit from their 2016-17 ELA teacher. The questionnaire can be found here.

While the SRC can vouch for the quality of all the books on this list, there are some I really liked. Even though it was published in 2003 and might seem dated, Ghost ship: the mysterious true story of the Mary Celeste and her missing crew by Brian Hicks is still an enthralling mystery that offers a new, heart-wrenching theory about how the crew and passengers disappeared. Was this ship haunted? After all every captain who manned the Mary Celeste died under dubious circumstances. This is an edge-of your seat thriller.




How it Went Down by Kekla Magoon is told from multiple points of view as each character gives their interpretation of how Tariq Johnson was killed. This is a timely novel and will help to open up a much need discussion about race relations in the United States today.




We have four classics on this year's list. The rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells is a story about how to "make it in America," but Silas Lapham learns that ethics are more important than business. It was recommended to our 11th graders. Years ago I read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn and recommended it to one of our student members. She loved it; it's a story about survival while living in totalitarian, Soviet society. Finally, our 12th graders will read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte; this is a truly Gothic romance about unrequited love.

The other books that received much admiration from our students included Nazi Hunters by Neal Bascomb; The Storm and the Tide by Lars Anderson; Jackaby by William Ritter; and The Circle by Dave Eggers.

Needless to say, there is something for everyone in this year's summer reading list!

Please enjoy the following production I put together to promote summer reading.

Podcasting

So what is a podcast?

Some students know, others may not. Basically it is a radio show and it's a great way to get the word out about a topic, concern or interest. If you're a teacher who wants his/her students to research but does not want to assign the typical paper, this is perfect. Plus, if your students are camera shy but have something awesome to share, it's exactly for them.

Over the past couple of weeks I introduced software to the students to help them create podcasts. The software used to make the podcasts was generally easy to use but the process of creating the podcasts took a lot of preparation time. The most time-consuming aspect, undoubtedly, was the research component of the assignment. Students had to gather sources, read them and form conclusions. When they had their stories, they had to write a script. Therefore, this early process resembled the writing of a research paper, i.e. the need for a thesis, evidence to support the thesis and a conclusion. But instead of handing in their final product on paper with MLA citations, etc..., the students delivered their findings as a podcast.

Because they are using Chromebooks, the students needed an audio editor that would be compatible with their devices. My education tech specialist suggested Beautiful Audio Editor. The software is free and can be found in the Chrome Web Store. Students had to visit the site once and were able to access the editor again by going into their Google Drive. Due to the fact that Beautiful Audio Editor is free, I had to warn the students about saving their work properly. I showed them two ways: 1.) saving the project as an .audioproject file and 2.) as a WAV or MP3 file.

I also used this as an opportunity to discuss copyright and how to find audio files that were not in violation of copyright. Students looked at the site Free Music Archive which provides music with Creative Commons licenses that allowed them to reuse music as long as they gave attribution to the musicians. It was also a great way to discover a new sound or use music that is not cliche. Students can also find royalty-free music searching by searching the Creative Commons website.

In addition to music, the students were encouraged to add portions of audio clips of speeches, interviews, dialogue, etc... from videos. The students used a YouTube video converter to make MP3 files and imported them into the audio editor to extract the audio they wanted. Then they had to save those audio files and add them to their podcasts. As I stated earlier, this is quite a lengthy process yet the students learned how to work with new technologies within their ELA curriculum.

Project ideas:
1. An ELA class had to analyze a famous speech in US history. After reading the speech and gathering information about it, the students had to create a podcast about it. They had to have excerpts of the actual speech, interviews with experts, etc...

2. Another ELA class heard a presentation by Regina Calcaterra, author of Etched in Sand, a moving memoir about Calcaterra's experiences growing up on Long Island. After reading Etched in Sand and researching the topic of foster care, the students created podcasts analyzing the pros and cons of foster care.

So give it a try. I will guarantee that it will be a rewarding experience for you and your students.

New eBooks

Download and Read an eBook Today!

The Lacey Township High School Library/Media Center has over 250 fiction and nonfiction eBooks.

  

You can access our collection by downloading Follett's

 BryteWave K-12 Edition App . 

After downloading the app to your iPad or Android device:

1. Type your student ID# for username and password

2. Type http://wbb11400 

Your books are on loan for fifteen days. 

No late fines!!!

Here are some of our newest fiction and nonfiction eBook titles.

Fiction

Above

By Leah Bobet

When insane exile Corner and his army of mindless, whispering shadows invade Safe, a secret, underground community of freaks and disabled outcasts, Matthew, traumatized shapeshifter Ariel, and other misfits go to the dangerous place known as Above, where Matthew makes a shocking discovery about the histories entrusted to him.

The Aftermath

By Sarah Michelle

Teenagers Cecelia and Ryan struggle to survive after a natural disaster ends the world as they know it.

Before the Snap

By Katherine Hengel

Derrick, rattled by Amber Linn's news, must somehow pull himself together to keep from giving the edge to his competition on the football field.

Bike Thief 

By Rita Feutl

Nick finds himself in deeper and deeper trouble when he starts stealing bikes to pay for replacing his foster parents' broken television.

Black Helicopters

By Blythe Woolston

Fifteen-year-old Valkyrie White has spent her life hiding from the government that wants to kill her family, and now with her father missing and her home gone, Valkyrie and her older brother must bring their message to the outside world.

Black Spring

By Alison Croggon

Lina is enchanting, vibrant but willful. And her eyes betray her for what she truly is - a witch. With her childhood companion, Damek, she has grown up privileged and spoiled and the pair are devoted to each other to the point of obsession.

Blind Spot

By Laura Ellen

"Tricia Farni was last seen alive the night she fought with Roswell Hart--a night Roz can't remember. Can Roz piece together the events of that night, despite the eye disease that robs her of most of her vision, in order to clear her name and find a murderer?"--Provided by publisher.

Breathing Fire 

By Sara Yi-Mei Tsiang
Running away from her foster home, Ally finds herself on the busking circuit, performing as juggler and fire breather. 

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

By Holly Black

When seventeen-year-old Tana wakes up following a party, she finds herself in the aftermath of a violent vampire attack, and along with her ex-boyfriend and a mysterious vampire boy, the only other survivors, she travels to Coldtown, a quarantined Massachusetts city full of vampires.

Fighter's Alley

By Heather Duffy-Stone

After a legendary but over-the-hill fighter reluctantly agrees to train fifteen-year-old Will, the son of a rich local politician in nineteenth-century New York City, Will finds himself pleading with the stubborn older fighter to retire before he dies in the ring.

Nonfiction

Agent Garbo

By Stephan Talty

The story of Juan Pujol, a German double agent known as Agent Garbo, who fooled the Nazis to protect the invasion of Normandy on D-Day.

The Arab Uprising

 By Marc Lynch
Follows the political struggles from Tunisia and Egypt to Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, and Libya, and examines the meaning of the rise of Islamist movements as well as how these changes will affect the future of American policy in the Middle East.

McGraw-Hill's ASVAB Review

A study guide to the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, providing an introduction to the test, strategies for answering different question types, reviews of test subject areas, over one thousand practice questions, and four full-length practice tests with explained answers.

Black Mass

By Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill

Tells the true story of an FBI agent's attempts to infiltrate the Irish Mob.

Bombs over Bikini

By Connie Goldsmith

Discusses the history of the Marshal islands that focuses on the consequences of the nuclear bomb testing over the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls. Clash of Crowns                           By Mary McAuliffeConflict between England and France was a fact of life for centuries, but few realize that its origins date from the time of the Vikings, when a Norse chieftain named Rollo established himself and his progeny in Normandy. In this compelling and entertaining history, Mary McAuliffe takes the reader back to those dark and turbulent times when Rollo's descendants, the dukes of Normandy, asserted their dominance over the weak French monarchy--a dominance that became especially threatening after Duke William conquered England in 1066, giving him a royal crown. Cracking the SAT A guide to preparing for the SAT Math 1 and Math 2 subject tests, including test-taking strategies, topic reviews, drills and exercises, two practice exams for each test, and explained answers. Driving Mr. Yogi             By Harvey AratonExplores the relationship shared by Yogi Berra and Ron Guidry, and recounts stories of their time together at Spring training, Mr. Yogi's knowledge of the game, insights given to players, and more.