All posts by Theresa

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Best of the Best: Social Science Apps

This year, we highlighted apps recommended by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL).  AASL considers these to be some of the Best Apps for Teaching & Learning.  As a recap, we’ve resorted them into their five categories and will feature one list per week for the next five weeks. 

This week, we focus on the Social Science apps:

DuoLingo

 

Duolingo is a game that teaches users a foreign language – points for translating correctly!

History Pin icon

 

Historypin lets users put their pictures on the map – and compare to pictures from the past that were taken in the same location.

Civil War

 

Civil War by KIDS DISCOVER interacts with users through nonfiction readings, battlefield visits, and info about the key players of the Civil War.

Umano

 

Umano saves users’ time by reading their news stories out loud!

More Best of the Best Apps: STEM, Books, Organization & Management, and Content Creation.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

WWII saves ‘The Great Gatsby’

GatsbyIn honor of the 90th anniversary of its publishing (April 10, 1925), we’ve got an interesting read on ‘The Great Gatsby’ for you!  Mental Floss’s How WWII Saved ‘The Great Gatsby’ From Obscurity is a fascinating piece on how “a group of book lovers – authors, librarians, and publishers” changed how our nation thinks of books.

Wanting to promote titles that would maintain the country’s morale, they founded the Council on Books in Wartime.  Books, they argued, were “weapons in the war of ideas.”  In February 1943, they embarked on an ambitious effort: shipping titles to soldiers overseas.  The concept was as simple as it was idealistic.  While the Nazis were busy burning books, American soldiers would be reading them.”

This post is worth the read – it’s a little bit about history, literature, war, and social change.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/o83aore, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Infographics for You to Use: Reading and its Benefits

Want to use infographics in your space, but don’t have the time to create your own from scratch?  Well, thanks to A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet, we have infographics of all kinds – this week, five infographics on reading!

The Benefits of Reading Books The Benefits of Reading Books
Books Make a Difference in Kids' Lives Books Make a Difference in Kids’ Lives
The Literary Crisis and Kids in America The Literary Crisis & Kids in America
On the Road to Reading On the Road to Reading
Reading Like a Sleuth Reading Like A Sleuth

More Infographics for You to Use: Books and eBooks, Libraries and Librarians, Information Literacy, Copyright, Attribution, and Plagiarism, Digital Citizens, Writing and Grammar, Press and Visuals, and Fun Ones!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Best of the Best: STEM Apps

This year, we highlighted apps recommended by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL).  AASL considers these to be some of the Best Apps for Teaching & Learning.  As a recap, we’ve re-sorted them into their five categories and will feature one list per week for the next five weeks. 

This week, we focus on the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) apps:

moster_physics

 

Monster Physics users play with monsters while they learn the rules of physics!

Water Cycle HD icon

 

Water Cycle HD uses videos to make learning about the water cycle more interactive.

DragonBox Algebra 5+

 

DragonBox Algebra 5+ has its users solve equations in a gaming environment.

Kodable Pro

 

Kodable teaches users how to code as they play their games!

NOVA Elements

 

NOVA Elements features a game, videos, an interactive periodic table, and a chance to build atoms and molecules.

More Best of the Best Apps: Social Science, Books, Organization & Management, and Content Creation.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

How-To: Really Utilize that Instagram Account!

InstagramWe know that social media sites like Instagram can be used to connect with patrons – but do you ever wonder if you’re using your social media sites effectively?  The New York Public Library (NYPL) is here to help you really get some use out of Instagram!  Morgan Holzner, who manages the NYPL’s Instagram account, recently posted, 20 Ways to Make People Fall in Love With Your Instagram. It is based on a presentation she gave at the annual MCN conference in November 2014.  Her final bit of advice?  Be passionate!  “I cannot stress this one enough,” she writes.  “If you run your account with passion, your followers will see this and give it right back to you.”