The Power of Words

Back in the beginning of November, Kelly Tenkely educator and blogger at iLearn Technology posted about Word Dynamo.  This free site hosted by Dictionary.com, LLC is designed to shoot your vocabulary skyward.  It not only accomplishes this but does so in a manner that guarantees users will return; having fun while learning is the perfect combination for success.

At the Home page users can begin immediately by playing the Word Dynamo Challenge.  Initially users are asked to select the game level:  Elementary School (grades 1-5), Middle School (grades 6-8), High School (grades 9-12) and College & Beyond (grade 12+) by clicking on the play button beneath the heading.  That step can be skipped. 

With one word at a time ten words are shown to the player with four possible definitions.  For each correct answer a green star flashes on the screen as the definition is highlighted in green.  When an incorrect answer is given it is highlighted in red with the correct answer shown as well.  When a game is completed an estimate of how many words you know (Word Score) is shown along with your ranking at your game level.

Each time a game is concluded a user can proceed to the next level to increase their score or chose to save that score.  To save a score or unlock the next level you need to register by entering in your first name, email address, a password and the type of player you are (student, teacher, parent, etc.).  The benefits of registration in addition to saving your score are turning word lists into games and studying better with recommendations slanted to your personal needs.  Once a user has a Word Score, they can move on to the Word Challenge.  A Word Challenge is based upon the user's ability.

Users can browse through word lists (Word Dynamo Library) based upon standardized tests (ACT, GMAT, GRE, LSAT, PSAT, SAT and TOEFL), subjects (arts, business and money, math, sports and recreation, religion and philosophy, science and technology and social science and history) and by language (French, Latin and Spanish).  The most popular word lists currently being used are listed under Zap! These word lists are running hot.

If a user wishes to alter the type of challenge, games such as matching terms with definitions (like the first challenge), listening to pronunciations, spelling out words or crossword puzzles are an option.  After selecting a word list not only can a user choose the type of quiz but a list of the words used in that quiz is given as is a quick study option.  Any quiz can be shared on a social network (a rather large list is available) or printed.  At the bottom of the screen related kits and lists are shown.

What gives Word Dynamo an edge is the ability of users to generate their own word lists.  It is a five step process:  enter in a descriptive title of the list, create a list of words and their definitions, tag your word list by using Word Dynamo Library headings, standardized test, grade level, languages or subject area, select a privacy setting (just me or everyone) and choose an image representative of the word list.

Once your list is saved it can be edited, printed, shared and played.  Additional quizzes are created for your list as is a quick study.  If a user has any questions a FAQ is provided as is a Quick Tour.

The temptation was too great; find a created list of my favorite sporting event of each year.

The answer, my friend...

The answer, my friend,

is blowin' in the wind

The answer is

blowin' in the wind

I was still in elementary school when singer, songwriter, poet, Bob Dylan wrote the lyrics in 1962 for his song, Blowin' In The Wind.  It was a year later when it appeared in his album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.  It seems as though that song has always been humming in the back of my mind; in the mind of American culture ready to spring forth when needed.

Using watercolor paints like a magician Jon J Muth breaths life into Dylan's lyrics for a younger audience in the title of the same name, Blowin' in the Wind (Sterling, November 1, 2011).  All the elements on the book's cover appear throughout the eloquent lavish illustrations spread across two pages.  Muted gray/white washed lines on front endpapers become trees in an autumn forest a single paper airplane floating through as our eyes move to the right.

A young boy in a striped shirt holding a large red ball gazes out a window at a paper airplane across from the title page.  We see him again on a road among many roads stretching to the horizon from a sparsely wooded slope watching that paper airplane as the first two lines of Dyan's song are read.

A wide expanse of sea and sky with a small red boat upon the water surround the small plane as it flies to the next pages.  Passengers in the boat are the boy in the striped shirt and an older girl. The next two pages show a hilltop with an old war cannon next to a small boy holding a red balloon and a young pig-tailed girl picking flowers as the small red boat drifts in the distance with the airplane tucked into a cloud-filled sky.  When the refrain appears on the fourth pictorial expanse all the children are in the boat, one pointing toward the airplane.

As each verse is read readers journey with the children following the flight of the paper airplane through mountainous Arctic waters, along a wall peopled with figures hands upraised as one drops down a guitar into the water, as the guitar is found, then as the guitar is broken and solace is offered by the boy with the ball and back up to the hillside where the cannon is now covered with flags from different nations.  With the final rendering of many paper airplanes seen against blue sky powder-puffed with clouds, the text of the last two lines is seen.  The closing endpapers show the children running along a shoreline at sunset following a white dove whose reflection in the water is the paper airplane.

Artist Jon J Muth has written a note at the book's end explaining his introduction to the song and why he chose to use the paper airplane throughout his interpretation.  His thoughts on the song's value are voiced in this note but readers have already seen those thoughts revealed in his illustrations.

Music historian and author of Mystery Train:  Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll Music, Greil Marcus also leaves readers with a note.  Embedded in the front cover is a CD recording of the original lyrics sung by Bob Dylan.

Each title illustrated by the hand of Jon J Muth is to be savored to fully appreciate the stunning, visual representations held in our hands.

A Little Bird Told Me

Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers, Larry Ferlazzo at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day and Kelly Tenkely of iLearn Technology posted reviews and ideas relative to Little Bird Tales in February 2011.  When three educators, whose knowledge and opinions are highly valued by colleagues in the profession, post to their blogs a web 2.0 application that they believe enhances childrens' learning, I had best add it to my list of sites to try.  When it comes to digital storytelling, Little Bird Tales receives an A+.

On the site the creators state:

Little Bird Tales was created to help nurture children's creativity and imagination while simultaneously creating one of a kind childhood treasures that can easily be shared. We are dedicated to providing a safe web environment for children, free of advertising, merchandising and links to other sites.

In their Terms they make it very clear as to who this site was designed to benefit.

The Little Bird Tales Platform is an Internet site primarily for children 3-14 years old and their parents.  To create an account users must be 18 years of age.

By clicking on the green Create An Account button users are taken to the page shown on the right.  The first and last name of a child or parent must be entered as well as an email address and password.  For purposes of this review I checked the This is a Teacher account box.  Additional boxes appeared asking me to select a school from a previously generated list or add Your school.  Adding a school requires the school's name, zip code and creating a school login code of only four characters which I did as Charlevoix Elementary School was not on the list.

Once I selected the red Sign Up button, I was taken to the working dashboard.  Off to the left are several options:  My Tales, Shared Tales and My Galleries.  My Tales is where all your creations are stored with the ability to view, edit, send or manage.  Shared Tales are those from other Little Bird designers.  The My Galleries folder is where all images can be placed and maintained.

Across the top of the dashboard are an Address Book, My Profile and Public Tales buttons which makes for easy access for those who wish to view their creations, update your name, email address, password or delete your account and see what others have made at Little Bird Tales.

As my account is a teacher account in the center of the page are buttons labeled:  Create a Tale, Manage Classes, Manage School and Import Students.  There are also a Green Tip of the Week! and Craft of the Month paragraphs.  The designers of this site believe and support good stewardship of our environment.

When I clicked on the Create a Tale button, the workspace for my tale appeared.  Images can be uploaded from your computer, taken from your gallery or drawn using the Little Bird Tales Art Pad.  Images can be uploaded to the Little Bird Tales Art Pad and drawn over. 

Select a tale title and author's name.  To add narration to your title page allow the site to access your microphone.  Select an image for the cover.

After you save and continue as long as storage space (25 MB) allows, pages can be added.  In the upper right hand corner available space is shown.  Each additional page can be deleted, undone, previewed or saved.  Either text or narration or both can be included.

 As pages are added thumbnails appear in a separate box to the right of the workspace.  By clicking on any page it can be dragged to a new position or edited.  Small icons indicate whether sound and text are part of a particular page.

Every time the save button is selected not only are the additions preserved but the tale is housed in the My Tales folder.  By clicking on that button your tale is listed along with several options:  play, edit, purchase, share or delete the tale.  A particular tale can be private or public.  A URL link and an HTML code can be accessed at this point.

Our middle school students study the genre of adventure.  In the past groups of four have worked collectively on an introduction, paired up to write two different paths possible from that introduction and individually posed four different endings based upon those paths.  Using Little Bird Tales would be a more visual and creative manner to accomplish this assignment.

 I can also see using this as a writing response to a variety of exercises with students at the elementary level.  The combination of uploading or creating images, adding text and/or voice is very appealing.  The ease of use, design of the site, no advertisements, free of charge and an extensive FAQ section are all major pluses.

For some reason the embed HTML code is not working; it links back to my blog.  I will get with Little Bird Tales to see if we can figure that out.
Here is the link to my tale.

A Mother's Dilemma

I can't wait to hold up the book, Not Inside This House!, open with front and back covers prominently displayed to a group of children listening to their peals of laughter.  Author (and children's book editor) Kevin Lewis has taken childhood curiosity, that urge to explore and discover, to exaggerated heights.   Complementing and extending his text is the artwork of David Ercolini.

Livingstone Columbus Magellan Crouse most certainly lives up to the considerable histories attached to his given names preferring to search the natural world rather than enjoy any items purchased for children from a store.  Not only does he venture where most boys are known to go (and then beyond) but he feels compelled to bring his living discoveries home.

"Livingstone Columbus Magellan Crouse,
I'll have no bugs inside this house!
I'll say it once.  Won't say it twice.
To speak again will not suffice!"

Using jaunty rhyming lines Lewis allows each reader to traipse along with Livingstone on his travels as he unsuccessfully attempts to sneak first one than another of his finds into his house.  Each meets with his Mom's rhythmic refrain altered by the specimens and the number of his efforts.  Hilarity hits as each time the size of the critter increases; mouse, pig, moose, elephant and then, well let your imagination run wild as did Lewis.

Needless to say, Mom realizes, much as the man in Margo Zemach's It Could Always Be Worse:  A Yiddish Folk Tale, that perhaps she might need to rethink her original request.  Having experienced escalating destruction, perhaps bugs are not so bad compared to the alternative. 

Let us hope that this first picture book for David Ercolini is the beginning of a long career.  It comes as no surprise that he won the Grand Prize at the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators 2009 Winter Conference. 

Endpapers done in bold red and cream stripes reminiscent of a circus tent dotted with bugs, beetles, butterflies and a singular worm set the stage perfectly. Next readers see a double page spread done in tiny dotted swirls showing a large Livingstone net in hand raised for capture in shadow with the title in huge red letters.  Ercolini's skillful use of ink drawing, black-and-white painting and Photoshop continues throughout the story as each verse is visualized across two pages.

Ercolini proceeds with the original color scheme of his endpapers as every illustration has a spot of red or a combination of red/white or red/cream creating a continuity throughout the tale. It is his attention to detail, his interpretation of the text that amplifies the humor.  One of several of my favorite visuals is of Livingstone's darkened bedroom, the moose casually munching on a page from his space book, another book scattered on the floor, polka-dotted underwear hanging out from a nearly closed dresser drawer, a picture on the wall at an angle, his Mom peering through one of two antler-shaped holes in the wall on either side of his bedroom door now held in place by tape as Livingstone calmly sets up a tent made with a sheet and rope, Coleman-like lantern lit, sleeping bag, canteen and marshmallows at the ready.

Truthfully, my mouth has been been constantly grinning throughout the writing of this review as I repeat Mom's refrain in my mind knowing children will out loud.  Kevin Lewis strikes a chord that will resonant with any parent that has faced living nature brought unaware into their home as children will laugh knowing they are the cause of this quandary.  David Ercolini puts on paper what our imaginations have conjured at the reading adding his special touches that clearly demonstrate his understanding of children, of boyhood in particular.

Let us hope this is the first of many successful collaborations by the team of Kevin Lewis and David Ercolini.

Twitterville Talk #25

There is never a dull moment on the wire.  My picks for tweets of the week are "chirpalicious."

"hugo" author brian selznick shares 20 favorite children's books with gwarlingo makes for informative and lively reading; getting the inside scoop on authors' likes gives insight into what makes them tick.

Elizabeth Bird, blogger at School Library Journal, A Fuse #8 Production, goes above and beyond in giving us so much to look forward to in Librarian Preview:  Harper Collins (Spring 2012).

It would seem that The Pigeon (Mo Willems) makes an appearance in Brian Selznick's "Hugo" or does he?

School Library Journal lists their Best Books 2011; what a lineup of outstanding titles!

Joyce Valenza, blogger at School Library Journal, Neverending Search, poses some thoughts that bear thinking about concerning research and the teaching of same, Google's Evolution of Search, my lament, and will a giant listen.?

Many thanks to School Library Journal for these tweets.

Catch Neil Gaiman's appearance on the Simpsons. 

NPR picks their top read, December Kids' Book Club Pick:  "Breadcrumbs".

Muchas gracias to Children's Bookshelf of Publishers Weekly.

The Horn Book reveals January/February starred reviews.

Guess The Wordle has the holiday spirit.  Thanks to Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers for this link.

12 Things You Didn't Know Facebook Could Do posted in The New York Times this week is a real eye-opener.  Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo of Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day.

Time posted an article, Galley Girl:  Poet Nikky Finney Dazzles The National Book Awards .  Many in attendance of the awards including the emcee, actor John Lithgow, said it was the best acceptance speech they had ever heard.  Thank you to The National Book Foundation for this link.

How I Wonder What You Are

Every time I hold a book written and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney in my hands, it is with joyful anticipation.  Pinkney is the recipient of the Caldecott Honor Award five times; 1988-Mirandy and Brother Wind, 1989-The Talking Eggs, 1995-John Henry, 2000-The Ugly Duckling, and 2003-Noah's Ark.  In 2010 he was awarded the Caldecott Medal for The Lion & The Mouse.  He was inducted into The Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame for Distinguished Achievement in the Art of Illustration by The Society of Illustrators in 2011.

In 1806 English author, Jane Taylor at the age of 23 penned a poem called The Star.  This poem provides the lyrics for the well known nursery rhyme song, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.  Jerry Pinkney's interpretation of those lyrics in his words and illustrations is portrayed in his most recent title, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (Little, Brown and Company).

A visual feast worthy of framing jackets the front and back covers in lush shades of blue as a small vessel  is gently lifted skyward from frothy flowers by the breath of a kind wind.  The front and back covers picture the same vessel smaller now still blown by the wind among the huge starry sky a benevolent moon smiling.  Front endpapers are awash in the changing colors of dusk moon gazing at the first star rising.

A stone wall cloaked in morning glories two robins flying across, threads in beaks, a ladybug, ants, and butterfly create a lively scene as a small chipmunk peers from a hole in the wall across a ground carpeted in dandelions young and old; a vivid landscape for a title page.  It is this chipmunk who will guide readers through the song as his adventures unfold; as his dreams are realized.  Stars are seen in dandelion fluff, centers of flowers, in a cluster of petals, among a spider's web and as fireflies glimmer.

As this furry pipsqueak popping with personality invades the robin's nest his escape fashioned from those sticks transforms him to sailor extraordinaire skimming through the night breezing past nocturnal friends.  As fate would have it he tumbles from his craft to a water lily overturned by a fish seeking his evening meal.  Surprised water critters ogle our adventurer as a swan's head dips to his rescue. 

Lifting from her nest chipmunk nestled in her feathery fold, flying she is silhouetted against the moon; they are one.  Home again our sailor, still in his coat small boat next to his side, sleepily dreams.  The closing endpapers are his darkened home; he snuggled in a nest of leaves as a single bright star looks down upon him through his hole in the wall.

Jerry Pickney's illustrations done in pencil, watercolor, and colored pencils on paper are breathtaking in their attention to detail, color spectrum and artistic technique. Variation in layouts, full page, full framed page bleeding to the previous page, small vignettes whose graphics extend beyond the frame two or four to a page, a blue circle and several insets are delicacies for a pictorial gourmet.  At times several wordless pages connect the chipmunk's journey to the next lyrical lines.  Where Pickney chose to place the text and type is sheer perfection.

The display type was hand-lettered by Leah Palmer Preiss.  At times this type, either rendered in white or a shade of blue, graces white space with a small bit of complimentary visuals or is spread across sky or water.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by Jerry Pickney is a stellar contribution to children's literature evoking a sense of wonderment among our natural world by an explorer who dares to dream. I love Mr. Pickney's explanations in the Artist's Note on character selection, his creative process and what he hopes reader's will discover.  At his web site linked above he includes several other illustrations from this title; each one a treasure.  It does not get any better than this.

Putting It Altogether--Video Mix

Two of my favorite educators in the know, Larry Ferlazzo of Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day and Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers,  have mentioned a new web 2.0 application that makes video compilation a snap, Veengle.  Veengle is still in beta format; only videos searchable on YouTube are being used.  Created collections can be shared on a website, blog or other social networks.  In the terms of service no age limit is mentioned but in compliance with Federal online laws users should be 13 or older or have signed parental permission.

Begin by searching for specific videos on YouTube.  To save time in making my Veengle video I found the exact titles on YouTube prior to using this service.  I then entered those exact titles into the search box at the Veengle site.

After typing in the title one or more video options will appear on the screen.  Above a video are a series of icons.  Each represents the following from left to right:  add to my compilation, play, zoom, zoom +, open video editor and share this video.  As per the instructions at Veengle I clicked on open video editor.

An editing screen appears which allows the user to see the time lapse during the playing of the video, the volume can be adjusted, the video can be played, paused and stopped.  Start and end times can be set for the video which will be added to the collected works. Transition options are:  fade in, zoom in, iris, photo, rotate, squeeze, pixels, blinds, fly and wipe.  None, black and white, red, blue, green and negative are the color choices available.

When each portion of the video is selected, a transition or color chosen, click the add to compilation button.  On the left side of the screen is a list of the videos added.  Their position in the arrangement can be moved up or down as well as deleted.  As each video is added a total time can be seen at the bottom of the list.  The list can be previewed, saved or cleared.

When it is saved the user is asked to assign a title to the grouping.  Then click the save button again. The URL for the saved list is shown in the web site address line at the top of the page.

If you are planning on using this site on a frequent basis joining Veengle is a good idea. To join simply supply a username, password, email address and location (United States for example).  A saved compilation can be previewed, edited or deleted.  In addition to a URL link an embed code is provided.

Social networks that can be directly linked to the compilation are:  Facebook, Twitter, Buzz, MySpace, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit, Delicious, StumbleUpon or by email.

Here is my initial compilation, Caldecott Contenders.