"StarWalk Kids Media"....Amazing Nonfiction and Fiction eBook Collection, "Teaching Links" For Each eBook That Connects To The Common Core, and More!

 

Last summer at the ALA Annual Conference in California I had the honor of meeting Seymour Simon and Liz Nealon, founders of StarWalk Kids Media.  I have to admit....I was a little star struck.  I have been a fan of Seymour's work for a long time.  According to the Seymour Simon blog, "Seymour Simon, whom the NY Times called 'the dean of children's science writers' is the author of more than 250 highly acclaimed science books."  

I fondly remember putting the same wonderful nonfiction books back on the shelves when I was in high school and college that I put back on our shelves at Van Meter.

Now through StarWalk Kids Media my students are experiencing Seymour's books in an exciting new way.  Fifty three of Seymour's books and almost 100 other titles by various authors are available as eBooks in this beautiful new platform called StarWalk Kids Media. 

Within StarWalk Kids Media, a digital streaming service available by subscription, our students, teachers, and school community have access to 149 amazing eBooks which are available through the browser-based reader StarWalk Reader.  The reader works on most devices....desktop, laptop, iPad, tablets, interactive white boards, and smartphones.  My son Hagan, who is 7, and I  have read the eBooks on a iPhone, iPad, Nook, laptop, and desktop.  The eBooks work and look the same on each device. 

Two weeks ago, I introduced StarWalk Kids Media to all of the students in the elementary and middle school grades.  I started by introducing a few more of Seymour's books to the students and showed them where they were located within our library.  I then explained that over 50 of his books were turned into eBooks and that we were lucky enough to have them in our eBook collection.  

The StarWalk Kids Media eBooks are uploaded into our MackinVIA.  Mackin and StarWalk Kids Media have a partnership and they are available from Mackin Education Resources.  You can learn more at this link.  

Once the eBooks were in our MackinVIA, I created a new Group called "StarWalk Kids Media eBooks", which is circled in this screenshot.   I love being able to create Groups within MackinVIA because it gives the students focus on certain subjects or sets of eBooks.  I can also use it to highlight new eBooks and bring together ones that are important for the students to read for a particular celebration or event.  

When I showed the students the "StarWalk Kids Media eBooks" Group, I told them all about the nonfiction and fiction eBooks within StarWalk.  A lot of the eBooks are revisions of books that are out-of-print by well-known authors such as Johanna Hurwitz, Kathleen Krull, Doreen Rappaport, David Adler, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, and many more.  I just love how Seymour, Liz, and the others at StarWalk have given these beautiful books a new life as an eBook.  

                      

The variety of eBooks is fantastic....There is definitely something for everyone.  

Each of the eBooks within StarWalk has unlimited, simultaneous access.  They can be read anywhere there is internet access.  The eBooks can be read by a single user, multiple users, or an entire class at one time.  

                             
When a student finds an eBooks they would like to read, they click on the book cover of that eBook.  This takes them into the screen shown above.  The reader is given a choice to "Add To Backpack" or "Read Now."  My students love adding to their own personal Backpacks any chance they get so on the day I introduced StarWalk Kids Media there were tons of eBooks added to these.

If they choose "Read Now" it first takes them to the StarWalk Kids Media page of that particular title.  The reader then clicks on the blue "Read Now" button found on the page.

This takes them into the StarWalk Reader where the eBook is waiting for them.  

The reader is given a choice to have the eBook "Read To Me", "Let Me Read", or "Auto Play".   I find that most of my students in grades K-5 prefer to have the eBook read to them.  They take their laptop to a favorite place around the library, get comfortable, and read the eBook at their own pace.  

There are a lot of nice features found within StarWalk Reader.  The reader can take notes as they read and listen to the eBook.   I really like how online resource links can be put into the notes too.  

Readers can also highlight within the text and go back to these highlights at any time.

My students especially like how they can bring up thumbnail images of each page at the bottom of the reader.  This makes it easy for them to navigate their way through the eBook.  

        

Meridan, who is a 3rd grade at Van Meter, explains how to use StarWalk Reader with this video.  As you can see, it is very user friendly and fun to use. 

As a teacher and librarian, there are many things I also find so beneficial and important within StarWalk Kids Media.

We can search for eBooks by title, author, keyword, subject, age, grade, genre, Lexile or Alphabetical Level, and one that I find extremely valuable.....the Common Core State Standards.

StarWalk Kids Media has also developed "Teaching Links" that connect to the Common Core State Standards.  

Within each eBook, there is a button that says "Download Teaching Links for this Book."  

This link downloads a "Teaching Link....Common Core State Standards Correlations and Activities" handout for every single title within StarWalk Kids Media.  What an awesome resource for all teachers, librarians, curriculum directors, and even parents who are using the eBooks with their children at home.

StarWalk Kids Media is a BIG hit at Van Meter.  From the day that I started teaching the young people about it, they have been hooked.  And from the photographs I took within our library.....you can how it is truly making a difference to our students, within their learning, and how it is impacting their reading.  

 

 

As the students left the library after the first time using StarWalk Kids Media, I handed each of them a flyer to take home with New Books To Read eBooks....StarWalk Kids Media! on the top.  I didn't want their excitement and reading to stop when they left the library.....I wanted it to continue on within the classroom, at home, anywhere they might have access to eBooks and other electronic resources.  

I also wanted them to go home and teach their families about StarWalk Kids Media and the other eBooks within MackinVIA.  

StarWalk Kids Media is available through Mackin Educational Resources as a subscription.  They start at $595.00 for a single site and this gives the school unlimited, simultaneous access to StarWalk's entire collection.  Multi-site and district accounts would further reduce costs.  

You can learn more about it on Mackin Education Resources at the StarWalk Kids Media page.  

StarWalk Kids Media is an eBook collection that everyone will love.....I hope you give it a try today too.  

Wheat Grass, Poetry Gallery Walk, Makerspace, Passion Projects....And A Whole Lot More For "Digital Learning Day" On February 6th!

In less than a month, on February 6th, 2013, we will be celebrating Digital Learning Day!  

The Digital Learning Site states, 

                               

As you can see...Digital Learning in schools has a lot of different characteristics.  These need to be lifted up and celebrated.....What better day than Digital Learning Day!  

On February 6th, we all have the opportunity to do this through getting involved, getting our school community involved, and thinking of a whole lot of amazing activities and events for this special day.   

                               

I have started brainstorming and planning Digital Learning Day (Week) at Van Meter. I have scheduled an author visit or two and for us to Skype with other young people around the world.  Our friends at Mackin Educational Resources, Rosen Publishing, BiblioNasium, StarWalk Kids Media, Symbaloo, and others are going to stop in and share with us too.  

I have spoke to teachers, students, and parents about this day.  Everyone is very excited and having a wonderful time collaborating.  It is fun to think of so many new ideas.  

In 4th grade we are planning a "Poetry Gallery Walk", integrating writing, speaking, listening, art, music, and technology.  You can see more of our plans in the photos above.  

The 5th graders are going to create a clay whistle in art.  They will then create Caribbean type music to play with their whistles using electronic keyboards, Garage Band, and other online tools.  We will take the music they produce and use it in a digital product of their choice.  

Students throughout the elementary will be using Camtasia Relay to create book and technology talks using our eBooks within MackinVIA, online resources, and highlighting projects they are creating with Web 2.0 tools.  QR codes connected to these projects will be created by the students and placed around the school and on the "Digital Learning Day Symbaloo" that we have created.  

The 6th and 8th grade Technology classes are working with their teachers, classmates and myself to create their "Technology Passion Project."  We are going to start these next week.  

In the elementary gym classes,  Bart Jones integrates technology and innovative ideas into the curriculum.  Today he came to me with the idea of creating ComicLife's with the kindergarten, first and second graders demonstrating a skill they were working on in PE.  He saw this idea on Twitter. We would simplify it for the little ones.  What a great way to integrate technology into physical education and also show and teach others what they have learned.  

And of course don't forget the reading that will be taking place within the library and throughout the school on Digital Learning Day.  Our students have access to over 700 eBooks and several databases within MackinVIA.  They will be able to read these eBooks on a variety of devices during the day and even create digital projects such as Diamante Poems and Digital Postcards from the interactive eBooks from Rosen.

These projects and others will be highlighted on Edmodo, KidBlog, and by students, teachers, and myself on Twitter using #DLDay and @DLDay2013. 

Yesterday after school I met with my friend Michele Beschen, who is a parent and member of our community.  She also has a wonderful show called b-organic and is filled with so many ideas.....I knew she would be the perfect person for me to collaborate and plan a really great day with.  I don't want to say too much yet but lets just say get ready for designing, tearing apart, researching, creating, repurposing books and technology from our library....

and what......Wheat Grass Shots?!?!?!  

What does that have to do with Digital Learning Day?  :) 

You will just have to join us in our "Digital Learning Day Makerspace" in the secondary and elementary libraries to find out.  

I am also going to offer workshops for parents before and after school on using social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, iPad apps, gaming, and other technology.  I will be using the CyberSmarts eBook series from Rosen Publishing and other eBooks within MackinVIA during these workshops and throughout the day.  

By the way, don't forget to check out the Digital Learning Day Facebook page and

Digital Learning Day Twitter @DLDay2013 to connect with others celebrating, to share, and to get involved.

I almost forgot....speaking about GAMING....We are going to start our Minecraft Club and also have a little xBox challenge going on too.

In Washington, D.C., they are going to be celebrating with special activities throughout the day.  One activity we can all be a part of is the Digital Town Hall which is showcasing excellence in digital learning within schools.  My friend Tom Murray, Director of Technology at Quakerstown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, will be at the Town Hall Meeting and is one of the schools being honored and highlighted during this wonderful event.  You can register for the event here.  It is from 1:00-2:30 EST.

To end the day, our #SWVBC (Somewhat Virtual Book Club) will be meeting and discussing Unwind by Neal Shusterman.   We are a virtual book club for the young adults and librarians within eight different schools across the United States.  The #SWVBC meets once a month online and through Facebook and Twitter the rest of the month.  I am so excited we are going to connect on Digital Learning Day too.

You can sign up to take a part in Digital Learning Day on the "Participate" page.  Once you are at that page, just pick what category you fall under to see how we all can get involved.

So just as this says......Lets Spread The World About Digital Learning Day!  

Together we can all make a difference.....and have a whole lot of fun showing how digital learning can too.

Just Love The Book Talks Our Students Are Creating Using Camtasia Relay

             
Yesterday after school I asked two of our 3rd graders, Casey and Shae, and my son Hagan, to help me create a few new book talks.  We used Camtasia Relay from TechSmith to record the book talks.

The students can capture their screens and have a little video box which also records them talking about the book as well.

Casey, Shae, and Hagan did book talks using the eBooks within our MackinVIA.  Shae and Casey reviewed eBooks from StarWalk Kids Media.  Hagan reviewed one of the new interactive eBooks from Rosen Publishing called Speed Machines and ABDO's Inside The NFL database.  It was fun to see what they would pick out to do their book talks about.   

We are going to be creating more book talks this afternoon in the library.....We will share more later.  :)