All posts by Kate

Things 63 and 64 are here!

Check out the most recent Things on a Stick Newsletter at http://thingsonasticknews.blogspot.com/. Thing 64, written by Dayle Zelenka from Traverse des Souix Regional Library System/SMILE and Gina Zelenka from Blue Earth County Public Library, is titled Face-to-Face Social Networking for Libraries: Let’s Get Back to Basics. Thing 63, written by Dayle Zelenka as well, focuses on the new Droid X. Check it out now, and be sure to review some of the older posts in the archive – the multitypes were busy this summer bringing you the latest and greatest in technology via the Things on a Stick News Archive!

Information Literacy Programming with SCRATCH and SMILE: A CMLE Scholarship

The following report was submitted by a recipient of our new CMLE scholarship program.

Submitted By: Betsy Miller

For generations our family has loved visiting the North Shore.  When I received an email announcing that MINITEX was sponsoring a free workshop in Grand Marais this past August, I decided to attend.  The combination of Lake Superior, learning something new and FREE was definitely a winner.

 The workshop was Information Literacy Programming with SCRATCH and SMILE presented by Jennifer Nelson of the Hennepin County Library and Keith Braafladt of the Science Museum of Minnesota at the Cook County High School Media Center.  They gave us a great deal of information as we experienced a hands-on workshop of practical Web sites I will continue to use.

SCRATCH is new to me but has been around for awhile both in time and geographically as it is used all over the world. It is a programming language used to create interactive stories, games and animations. The home page is found at http://scratch.mit.edu/ giving over a million projects that others have created.  This is also the page where the free download is available for you to begin your own Scratch projects. There are several online tutorials giving you step by step directions to get started or to challenge you once you get going.  As a teacher I find Scratch Ed to be very helpful, http://scratched.media.mit.edu/,  giving resources and ideas for using Scratch in the classroom.

SMILE (Science and Math Informal Learning Educators) was also part of the workshop. This is a great online clearinghouse for math and science activities. The site, http://howtosmile.org/,  partners with the Lawrence Hall of Science, Exploratorium, New York Hall of Science, Science Museum of Minnesota, and the Children’s Museum of Houston to bring activities of all kinds to kids of all ages. 

LISNews Librarian Essay Contest

  Have something to say about libraries or the library profession? Want the chance to win an Amazon or Borders gift card?

 Visit this link http://lisnews.org/node/37272/ for information on how you can participate in the August LISNews Essay Contest.

 The only requirements are that you write an “essay length” document and that your essay is in some way (whether round-about or direct) about the impact of libraries and librarianship.

To review previous essays, visit this link … http://lisnews.org/essays/

 Check it out!

Things 59 and 60

“Things” 59 and 60 are now available! Linda Wadman, director of North Country Library Cooperative, introduced three very useful tools in the most recent newsletter installment. Thing 59 is about the Reading Rewards website for children. Thing 60 covers two tools that will assist you with reading webpages more effectively and efficiently. To view the latest Things on a Stick Newsletter follow this link… http://thingsonasticknews.blogspot.com/.

31st Annual Children’s Workshop: A CMLE Scholarship

The following report was submitted by a recipient of our new CMLE scholarship program.

Submitted by: Mary Berning

The 31st Annual Children’s Literature Workshop was help on Monday, June 21st and Tuesday, June 22, 2010 in St. Cloud, MN.  It was sponsored by the Center for Information Media at St. Cloud State University. 

 On Monday morning Will Hobbs, author of 17 adventure novels for upper elementary, middle school and YA readers, shared where he gets the ideas for his books.  Much research goes into each of his books.  By visiting his website (willhobbsauthor.com) and clicking on the book covers, you can see photos and also learn about where Will gets his ideas.  In the afternoon, Susan Carr Brown, a librarian at the Minneapolis Public Library shared what she feels are the best of children’s books for 2009 – 2010.  Her list included Will Hobbs’s Go Big or Go Home and Derek Anderson’s Hot Rod Hamster

 On Tuesday morning, participants attended three out of four of the small group sessions.  Small group sessions included Secrets and Skullduggery:  Mysteries and More for Tween Readers, Motivating Readers through Technology, Hands-on Bookmaking and Award-Winning Children’s Books of 2009-10.  Kelly Killorn, a 6th grade reading teacher for Bloomington Schools presented Motivating Readers through Technology. She shared ideas for using 21st century technologies like wikis, blogs, graphic posters, social networks, voicethread, and videos to motivate readers.  To learn more about how she uses these technologies visit her wikispace (kidlittechnology.wikispaces.com).  In the afternoon, Derek Anderson, illustrator of eight books including the Little Quack series and author/illustrator of six of his own titles, shared photos and drawings from his childhood and young adult years that showed how he became the illustrator he is today.  Curtis Hed, a magician, ended the workshop with his Magic of Reading show; his show shared how reading and using the library has played an important part in his life,and how it can do the same for others.