Curriculum Assistance, Anyone?

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I’m always a little grumpy that I’m not teaching anymore when I see the great book resources available now for those who work with young adults. I want to say, “No fair! They didn’t have that when I was teaching back in the dark ages!” Okay, so it was really only about ten years ago, and my last job was teaching fifth graders so some of it wouldn’t have mattered/applied to the age group anyway. But the point is: it’s awesome, and you need to know now. So, listen up, and pass it on:

I’ve previously mentioned the energetic and amazing Kay Cassidy, whose tireless efforts to pay forward the booklove she learned at her library as a kid has encouraged her to give back to librarians. By contacting over 150 authors and getting us involved in her Great Scavenger Hunt, Kay has created a free resources for librarians, enabling them to give away books and allow their readers to have more fun at her own personal time and monetary expense. Wow. And let’s all please repeat that little word together… F-R-E-E. This is a GOOD word for librarians, whose budgets are being eviscerated and bled dry. If you’re a librarian who hasn’t yet taken advantage of Kay’s Great Scavenger Hunt, find out how it works, and get involved!

Another great group of people working with classroom teachers are at Teachingbooks.net, an ALA affiliated website. They provide curriculum support in the form of book guides, links to author’s websites, little videos of authors, filmed in their homes, and probably the most fun thing, that great little feature about author’s name pronunciations — so now we all know how to say RYE-OR-DAN when we say Rick Riordan’s name, instead of the completely wrong REE-OR-DAN way I used to say it. (My all-time favorite is still Mr. Rhymes-with-Fresca, our former Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, but you can listen to mine here.)

The Teachingbooks Web 2.0 guru, Danika Brubaker, is corralling award honorees to become involved in the Coretta Scott King Book Award curriculum resource site. Have you ever explored this site? If you’re a teacher or librarian who works with older readers, it’s well worth your time. This site allows teachers to teach this year’s Coretta Scott King Book Award-winning books with extra help – a free online collection of primary source materials and lesson plans, including videos and audio clips from the authors themselves. Teachingbooks loves teachers, people. What a way to give back, and make their jobs easier!

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(I sound like someone else, but here’s my little three minute reading from MARE’S WAR — and those in my grad school classes are now laughing at me, since I have successfully thus far avoided reading in public. I’m sure you can now hear why. I sound like I have a stuffy nose and I’m reading down a hole.)

(P.S. – Kay Cassidy’s book, The Cinderella Society is all about paying it forward… and comes out April 13, 2010.)

3 Replies to “Curriculum Assistance, Anyone?”

  1. I'm at the Ref Desk just now, so I can't listen to your reading, but later I will.

    And, wow, that scavenger hunt thing is cool. You know, the way you feel about these teaching resources is the way I feel about all those few-fangled fun toys they have for the kids these days.

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