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Links - Inspirations Training and Consultancy

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Links - Inspirations Training and Consultancy

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The Beginnings of my Reading Life by Caroline Petrow | Nerdy Book Club

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The Beginnings of my Reading Life by Caroline Petrow | Nerdy Book Club

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The Beginnings of my Reading Life by Caroline Petrow

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I am an ambivalent reader. I always have been. That is, until a few months ago. As a child I learned to read with little difficulty and fondly remember childhood books. Examples of avid readers fill my life including my librarian grandmother carrying a book everywhere, my mother pouring over novels during summer nights on...

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Many of you have asked about my Nonfiction Video Game Level Up day - all the details I have to give are below. This will review text features, nonfiction comprehension, context clues and text structure. Students will have to complete each level before moving on.

I was mainly inspired by this Periscope by Hope King - a Mario room that she used for reading! I watched the video to get some great ideas! The only room items I purchased were some wall clings since I already had some tablecloths to hang up - just didn't have the funds for any other purchases.

We are using this day to wrap up our study of nonfiction which started at the beginning of the year.

Students will need to complete 4 levels to save Princess Peach! Student will work in pairs and have a recording sheet (above) that needs to be complete.

Students will use this link to play the "Scatter" game on text features 3 times - teacher will initial after each time. This will review definitions of text features. We will see and use text features in more articles coming up on different levels.

Level 2:

Students needed to complete a context clues sheet and check their answers with "magic" markers - color changing markers. Here is the worksheet we used and the answer key - these are not made by me but resources I found.

A video posted by Amber Nicole (@sssteaching) on

Level 3:

Students will pick out of a "tunnel" an article in which they will analyze the text structure and defend it with evidence. They will have to choose the articles randomly for this. I created an answer key for the ones I chose.

***I picked articles specific to my students' interests and searched EBSCOHost Primary Search - most are Scholastic, Boy's Life, or Girl's Life***

I'll list some I chose but can't give out links to them - if your school has access ask your librarian to help you search:

1. Fast Friends - Animal Companion Story

2. Crayon Maker Job

3. The Girl Who Discovered Dinosaurs

4. Extreme Hotels

5. Go Pro with Legos

6. Gymnastics

7. Meet the Cyber Chefs - a kid's online video cooking show

8. Treehouse Masters

9. The Perfect Pitch - analyzing a pitch

10. Meet the Stars - video game characters introduction

the first group to reach level 4 will reach up and "punch" out the bottom of our box like on Mario and this article from Newsela like Hope mentioned will be inside. You can choose the level of complexity depending on your grade level or to help differentiate!

I coded the answers to have numbers instead of letters and the numbers from the answers (just nonfiction comprehension) will unlock our Breakout Box!

A photo posted by Amber Nicole (@sssteaching) on

The Breakout box will contain our Mario flag that the first group will get to raise and the save Princess Peach sign. It will also have some Mario tattoos for us to wear in celebration! I did print out small flags to write our names on and put in the hallway as well. I plan to play Mario music while they are working.

Let's pretend this is a great picture of our makeshift flag pole - right now it is in mystery mode:

Here is a link to some of the printables with levels and the recording sheets for each level for students and the flag and signs.

Mario had to have some chocolate on plan time after all the excitement :)

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Many of you have asked about my Nonfiction Video Game Level Up day - all the details I have to give are below. This will review text features, nonfiction comprehension, context clues and text structure. Students will have to complete each level before moving on.

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Mrs. ReaderPants: What's Your Genre Personality? Quiz: A fun way to recommend genres to students!

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Mrs. ReaderPants: What's Your Genre Personality? Quiz: A fun way to recommend genres to students!

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UPDATE: I am resending this quiz today because I have added an elementary version! Last week, I had two requests for an elementary version of the quiz, so now this product now includes TWO versions--elementary and middle/high school. The elementary version has more images, simpler language, and I have changed "The Romantic" genre personality to "The Bestie," which focuses on friendship rather than romance. I also removed two questions from the elementary quiz to make it a little shorter.
You can use either presentation with almost no preparation--it's all ready to go!

If you already purchased the quiz on TPT, go here and re-download the file. Voila! Two versions!

Both of these slides are from the new elementary version:

Download both elementary and MS/HS genre personality quizzes at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Remember those Teen magazine personality quizzes we took in middle school? Or more recently, the Buzzfeed quizzes about "What ice cream flavor are you?" or "What's the best state for you to live in?" Well, I'm took a page from that playbook and developed the "What's Your Genre Personality?" quiz for school libraries and classrooms!

I give a genre personality quiz every year to my incoming sixth grade students. It's a fun way to introduce genre and give the students an idea of what kinds of books they might be interested in reading. Since our library is genre-fied, students are easily able to find and select books based on genre.

The quiz is clearly more fun than scientific, but I do think that it helps give students direction. If nothing else, it gets them thinking about choosing books based on their interests. The genres featured correspond with my library's genre sections. Once downloaded, you can edit the quiz and change the genres to suit your library as needed.

Please note: If you have bought the What's Your Genre quiz from me previously, you can download this updated version free of charge on the product page on TPT.

Recommended for: Grade 5-9
Number of slides: 27
Technology requirements: computer, projector, screen
Student supplies: pencil + paper
Number of questions: 12
Number of genre personalities: 8
Time: 40 minutes

Each genre personality is described on its own slide at the end. Multiple genre recommendations are given for each genre personality (this slide is from the MS/HS version):

The Questioner

The Escapist

The Innovator (formerly The MacGyver)

The Realist

The History Buff

The Thrill-Seeker

The Class Clown

The Romantic

Download both genre personality quizzes at Teachers Pay Teachers

Like this library idea? Check out my Library Lessons board on Pinterest:

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What's Your Genre Personality? Quiz: A fun way to recommend genres to students!

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UPDATE: I am resending this quiz today because I have added an elementary version! Last week, I had two requests for an elementary version of the quiz, so now this product now includes TWO versions--elementary and middle/high school.

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Celebrate Roald Dahl 100 With Teaching Ideas! | Teaching Ideas

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Celebrate Roald Dahl 100 With Teaching Ideas! | Teaching Ideas

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2016 marks 100 years since the birth of the popular children's author Roald Dahl and schools around the world are celebrating with a wide range of classroom activities. To help you to prepare, we have created this list of some of our most popular Roald Dahl teaching, activity and display resources.
Teaching Ideas and Classroom Activities: Downloadable Resources:

Biography and Comprehension Questions - Find out all about Roald Dahl's life by reading our comprehensive biography. Three different versions are included (for different levels of reading ability) and related comprehension questions are available for each (with answers too!).

Timeline Posters (with related questions) - Create a classroom display that shows some of the main events in Roald Dahl's life using our free posters. These are also available as smaller cards that can be used for sorting / sequencing activities. A set of related questions are also included to challenge your children's comprehension skills!

Roald Dahl Quotes Posters - Inspire your children by adding this collection of ten posters to your classroom displays, reading area or library. Each poster includes a famous quote from one of Roald Dahl's book.

Fact Cards - Learn about the life of Roald Dahl using our fact cards. They're a great resource for shared / guided reading activities or on a classroom display board.

Banners - Use our printable banners on your classroom display boards about this fantastic author!

Display Picture - A poster that shows an illustration of Roald Dahl. A lovely way of enhancing your classroom displays.

Books - You can also visit the Teaching Ideas Library to find a huge collection of teaching and activity ideas linked to many of Roald Dahl's wonderful books:

We have also been sent some wonderful photos of classroom displays based on Roald Dahl's books. Check out this BFG Display and another one based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Don't forget to visit the Roald Dahl Day site to find out more about this event.

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Celebrate Roald Dahl 100 with Teaching Ideas!

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2016 marks 100 years since the birth of the wonderful children's author Roald Dahl. Schools around the world are celebrating with a wide range of classroom activities. To help you to prepare, we have gathered together our popular Roald Dahl teaching, activity and display resources.

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Karen Ogen- i Teach With Technology: Picture Books on Video

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Karen Ogen- i Teach With Technology: Picture Books on Video

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You may know that Discovery Education has a great selection of educational videos for your classroom. But, did you know that they also have an impressive collection (over 200 titles) of children's picture books on video? Audiovisual adaptations of these classic books has been provided by Weston Woods. This site has a full list of titles that you can find on Discovery Education.

Here is a sample of some of the titles that you can find:

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Danny and the Dinosaur

The Emperor's New Clothes

Harry the Dirty Dog

Make Way for Ducklings

Miss Nelson Is Back

Officer Buckle and Gloria

Stone Soup

Strega Nona

Where The Wild Things Are

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Try searching for "Reading Rainbow" to find over 100 more titles. Look for chapter books and audio books, too.

Play the video on your SMARTboard so that all of your students can follow along. Most have closed captioning, so your students can read along, too!

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You may know that Discovery Education has a great selection of educational videos for your classroom. But, did you know that they also have an impressive collection (over 200 titles) of children's picture books on video? Audiovisual adaptations of these classic books has been provided by Weston Woods.

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eCROP Blog: Maker Schools and Makerspace

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eCROP Blog: Maker Schools and Makerspace

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"We learn by doing" Aristotle

"To understand is to invent" Piaget

"Constructing solidifies learning" Papert

Invent to learn" Martinez & Stager

"The Makerspace in the library is an oasis for student self-directed learning. It serves as a rejuvenation center for inspiring love of both formal and informal learning. In my opinion, a space like this should be a priority for all schools in the twenty-first century; and you do not have to break the bank to create one." Eric Sheninger, award-winning Principal at New Milford High School, Bergen County, NJ.

Maker Schools and Makerspace

For over 30 years the personal computer revolution has expanded cyberspace into our homes, businesses, government, the globe and our pockets and purses and ever so glacially slow into 1 to 1 computer-to-student-technology for our public school classrooms. Meanwhile, technology races on ahead, transforming and giving rebirth to long dormant ideas. Sprouting out of the advanced sensor and robotics areas of the cyberspace cloud, a makerspace uprising of 3D printers and more drives what many call a new industrial revolution. The maker movement is not just a digital transformation of our country's strong heritage of inventive making; it is also a potential trojan horse hiding deep intellectual, economic and school change ( Brynjolfsson & McAfree, 2014; Rifkin, 2014).

To over-simplify, a makerspace ( zoomable international map) is a room, often a community center, with tools and collaborative people that encourage making. There are other titles for the makerspace movement that are variations on this theme, titles like Fablab which come with slight distinctions. Makerfaires ( zoomable international map) are events in which makers share the works and ideas that emerge in their makerspaces. At present the makerspace movement is a fertile mix of the interests of the arts and crafts, science, hobbyists, digital composers, the Internet of Things, sensors, citizen scientists, industrial designers and entrepreneurs.

As our North Carolina schools take advantage of their move to 1:1 computing to innovate further, they should look closely at makerspace developments. Many interesting discussions center around the #makered and #pbl hashtags. Readily visible for those who have ever read the seminal work of John Dewey is the reinvention by other names of his progressive education movement. His book on Interest and Effort in Education should be considered a primary supporting document to the makerspace movement manifesto. Unfortunately Dewey's hands-on, project based learning door to creativity and innovation did not quite match the needs of his 1900's factory centered time like they do of our exponential 21st century age. Early makerspace movers and shakers are surfacing that are revitalizing their communities and libraries and Dewey would not be surprised to note that they are beginning to re-imagine the methodology and curriculum of public schools as well.

Makerspace is just the latest phase of our evolutionary layered literacy. This new direction does not conceptually leave cyberspace skills behind, though in practice it is sometimes hard to see the rich digital heritage of compositions for computer screens being hailed in makerspace communities. At the same time its reweaving of digital tools with hands-on making and thought in building objects draws on the very earliest literacy, the hands-on composing and communication skills of the first signs of human intelligence that emerged in the stone age. Given the deep digital foundation that is already in place, makerspace advance will happen much faster and perhaps with even greater impact than any of the prior ages of literacy. A digitally inclusive makerspace cloud would have the opportunity to expand and integrate all that has gone on before it. As a new kind of space for community learning, makerspaces of physical tools in libraries or community centers also become 21st century role models for a new approach to the meaning and methodology of schools.

As librarian Jeff Sturges of Detroit's Mt. Elliott Makerspace said "this is about creating creative people". MakerFaires show that creativity in events held all over the world. One was held just down my highways in Raleigh on June 7. One cannot help but feel the footsteps of Dewey's Chicago School in the 1890's and the project based learning and inquiry groups of today (#pbl, #pbi). Much more recently Papert's ideas about constructionism pulls together Piaget's "building knowledge structures" with Dewey's experiential "learning-by-making" ( Wikipedia; Papert papers).

The desire to make is so universal that the makerspace movement also raises the question as to whether separately tracked college-bound courses and vocational courses involved with physical design, creating, building and maintaining should have ever been distinct tracks for students over our long educational history. The emerging digital fabrication palette of makerspace has re-ignited the deep American frontier spirit so thoughtfully described by the Pulitzer Prize winning work of Frederick Jackson Turner in 1933. It has also raised a storm of interest around the globe. There will be many competitors to American global leadership in manufacturing. For example, Barcelona, Spain (once home to Gaudi, Picasso and Dali) is revitalizing their spirit through plans for many makerspace centers around the city for public use. It is in this need for revitalization that makers and makerspace provide such an opportunity for everyone around the globe. In an age of rapid change and exploding knowledge, everyone in every culture has a need for what Sheninger called a " rejuvenation center for inspiring love of both formal and informal learning".

Exemplars

Many schools are at the forefront of establishing makerspace basecamps for further exploration, including equipment with specialized rooms, after school programs, library spaces and in-classroom time. These are school makerspaces within a school and classroom that tack such activity on to the current school model. Some are thinking about building a "maker school" and transforming the educational pedagogy from top to bottom. The "thinking about it" effort of West Michigan in Detroit has come to my attention. Another, the National Inventor Hall of Fame School in Cleveland, Ohio, was designed as a STEM school. It has been in operation for a couple of years beginning as a 5th - 8th grade school with nearly 300+ students and feeding the approximately 100 students in 9th & 10th grade at the National Inventors Hall of Fame® Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics High School. Their mission statements sound close to the goals of the makerspace effort but an analysis of their methodology and operation are not available at this time.

Only one (to my knowledge), Bricolage Academy of New Orleans has entirely erased the board and reimagined a school from scratch.

They've gone far beyond schools that are beginning to provide maker space in a library or spare room, tools, resources and time in the schedule; they've planned an entire multi-graded school from Kindergarten on up, building one year at a time. Bricolage has built an entire charter school around the thinking of the maker movement; they began with kindergarten in the fall of 2013. They are growing and moving to new space this fall (link to school below), expanding to include first grade. They also gave great leadership to New Orleans' first MakerFaire, held, Saturday, April 5. I took this photo of the the marble ramps their kindergarten classes invented, replete with QR code for each that showed a video of the "engineer/designer" talking about their work.

But change also occurs in other ways. Albamarle Schools in Virginia have spent more than a dozen years building project based learning, so makerspace was a natural progression. And moves to 1:1 computing only rev those engines further.

I would also claim that Montessori schools have had a similar mission since their inception in the late 1800's, but have not given sufficient leadership to digital age thinking using their methodology. So, who and where are the other Maker Schools that are in process or who have begun a "maker school"? Comment space below!

I was privileged to attend the entire day of this "first annual" event in NOLAland (New Orleans, LA), April 5, 2014. It was especially rewarding to also hear, meet and discuss why the maker revolution matters with Sylvia Libow Martinez, co-author with Dr. Gary Stager o Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, a book on my Kindle that has long been well "thumbed". She was presenting at the National School Board Conference ( conference ; events ; #NSBAConf) there and made the extra effort to also present at this MakerFaire. Kudos to Sylvia for her talk on "Why Can't School Be More Like MakerFaire". Josh Denson, founder of Bricolage and the rest of the event team deserve a special Kudos for a highly successful first makerfaire and to the graciousness of so many in responding so thoughtfully to my queries throughout the day.

The third annual Burlington, NC maker faire that I also attended April 12 was impressive in that a much smaller city could provide a much larger and more significant set of exhibits from their community.

There is a difference between viewing a virtual object (e.g., computer screen, web compositions) and holding an object, whatever the composition is. Both are forms of composition are important. However, I've been concerned that maker movement efforts tends to leave cyberspace out of the focus of their thinking or at least underplay it. Compare this image on the left of the cyberspace digital literacy palette (click for an infographic loaded with clickable hotspots) with the makerspace palette above to see similarities and differences.

It was especially heartening to see that cyberspace for computer displays (image on left) was not excluded from maker exhibits at state and regional fairs; unfortunately this is not true of the world faires. Elements of this cyberspace palette that were in the exhibits of NOLA's and Burlington's MakerFaire include: cardboard marble ramps with QR code linked to digital video story telling; image capture manipulation to study plant photosynthesis; video/image/audio with visual dj software using Arena and remote video viewing and capturing with a camera mounted on a drone; sound composition and manipulation with made instruments; and digital animated story telling with a wide variety of props which certainly could be 3D designed. This is how it should go with makerspace, the creation of real world objects and events intimately integrated with the power of computer screen communication.

A final exemplar for now is the Maker Education Initiative which is busily and productively engaged in creating a national youth movement of maker activities and locations. Not directly engaging and challenging the system of schooling currently in place has enabled it to grow dramatically, not impeded by past practice. Unfortunately this also means that a large, capable and interested professional work force is not contributing at its scale to makerspace advance.

To gain a better idea of what he makerspace movement is producing in enthusiasm and learning, Google Search "maker faire OR makerfaire" for your state or country and attend some this year. For North Carolina folks, this means April 12 for the MakerFaire in Burlington and June 7 for Raleigh; otherwise, visit http://makerfaire.com/map/.

It is interesting to watch the maker movement seek to invent from scratch some persistent but long marginalized educational ideas long promoted by Montessori, Dewey, Piaget, Freire and Papert, among others. For example, Piaget's thinking, To Understand Is To Invent ( entire book online). It goes much deeper than that. For a great study of the real genius behind the invent to learn idea and the science on which it is based and practiced for a century, see A.S. Lillard's work, Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, 2005, Oxford University Press. Her book and related thinking is a tour de force of Montessori's thinking and the research that continues to uphold the value of the key elements of her methodology. Perhaps at last the many disconnected yet historical allies of the maker movement can be networked to a tipping point that takes us beyond the obsolete notions of "the school as factory and the child as a blank slate" (Lillard) that "are firmly ensconced in the standard operating procedures of today's schools" (Lillard citing Resnick & Hall).

As Lillard has shown of Montessori's work, there is an effective evidence-based world of choice, personal interest, intrinsic reward, learner centered boundaries, inter-age grouping, context learning and order. Makerspace is redefining this evidence based world as both digital and physical constructivism and constructionism. Dewey made a good run at this with the Progressive Education movement at the beginning of the 20th century before its star was driven off the road after WWII by a growing national addiction for the promise of "measurement driven efficiency". That only 24% of high school seniors rated proficient in the last national writing assessment is one more indication that the current measurement efficiency model fails, in this case failing to sufficiently lift 3 of 4, 75% of our public school population. An even smaller percent graduate from college in four years. Too many see digital technology as the "at last" savior of what in reality has been revealed as a negligent and inhumane model for both teachers and students. Education has lingered long enough in trying to resuscitate this increasingly obsolete system.

Digital technology can be used to assist many causes. The makerspace movement is offering one more new-day alternative in the educational firmament of the 21st century. Which one do we choose? Will makerspace sustain itself over the long haul? Can it continue to transform the traditional school model? What allies might collectively work with it to do so? Will colleges of education lead or ignore such practices in the preparation of new teachers?

Below are some additional high interest resources for Makerspace developments in public libraries, school libraries and classrooms.

***Library concepts
http://www.ubmfuturecities.com/author.asp?doc_id=526566
http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2012/12/what-is-a-makerspace-creativity-in-the-library.html
"the emphasis is on creating with technology ...teaching our patrons to think for themselves, to think creatively, and to look for do-it-yourself solutions before running off to the store."
Jeff Sturges of Detroit's Mt. Elliott Makerspace said in ALA TechSource's December 3 makerspace webinar, "Beyond engineering and STEM, this is about creating creative people."

***Schools
-Bricolage Academy, charter school, New Orleans, founded 2013. http://www.bricolagenola.org
- Albamarle Schools in Virginia

***Public libraries
http://library-maker-culture.weebly.com/makerspaces-in-libraries.html
http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/a-librarians-guide-to-makerspaces/
http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2013/10/make-it-your-library-website-launches-connecting-librarians-makerspace

*** School Libraries
http://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com/2014/03/thinking-about-our-new.html
http://www.pinterest.com/cari_young/library-makerspaces/
http://makezine.com/2013/09/17/school-library-to-makerspace/
Leslie B. Preddy ( ). School Library Makerspaces: Grades 6-12, $45.00. http://www.abc-clio.com/product.aspx?isbn=9781610694940

*** North Carolina Libraries (NC)
UNCG http://acrlny.org/newsletter/connections-winter-2014/adam-rogers-shaping-a-makerspace-in-an-academic-library/
NCState http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/spaces/makerspace

***School Classrooms
http://makezine.com/2014/01/10/makerspace-in-the-classroom/
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/classroom-makerspaces-transformative-learning-stephanie-west-puckett
http://k12makers.org
http://makerschool.blogspot.com/ after school
http://www.makered.org/about/
http://k12makers.org/makered-twitter-chat-archive/
http://educonphilly.org/conversations/MakerEd_Design_Sprint

***Makerspace design
http://makerspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/MakerspacePlaybook-Feb2013.pdf
http://library-maker-culture.weebly.com/makerspaces-in-libraries.html

***Resources
http://makezine.com
http://littlebits.cc
Curt Gabrielson, Tinkering: Kids Learn by Making Stuff, 2013.
Rifkin, J. (2014). The Zero Margin Cost Society.

Twitter tools and tags: #pbl #pbi #makerspace, #maker #makers #makered #inventToLearn

Shortened URL for this posting: http://ow.ly/vlZOb

Updated May 14, 2014

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"We learn by doing" Aristotle "To understand is to invent" Piaget "Constructing solidifies learning" Papert Invent to learn" Martinez & Stager "The Makerspace in the library is an oasis for student self-directed learning. It serves as a rejuvenation center for inspiring love of both formal and informal learning.

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Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms - Australian National Dictionary Centre - ANU

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Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms - Australian National Dictionary Centre - ANU

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A Queenslander. The term derives from the joking notion (as perceived from the southern states of Australia) that Queenslanders spend their time putting bends into bananas. An article from 15 July 1937 in the Queenslander provides a forerunner to the term when a man is asked by the Queen what his occupation is:

"I'm a banana-bender". Further to enlighten her Majesty he explained that bananas grew straight on the trees, and so just before they ripened, his was the job to mount the ladder, and with a specialised twist of the wrist, put into the fruit the Grecian bend that was half its charm.

The association of bananas with Queensland ('banana land') is based on the extensive banana-growing industry in tropical Queensland. The Queensland border has been called the Banana curtain and Brisbane has been called Banana city. Banana bender, in reference to a Queenslander, is first recorded in 1940 and is till commonly heard.

1964 D. Lockwood Up the Track: We are so close to Queensland that I think we should hop over the border. What do you say to a quick look at the banana-benders?

2011 Northern Star (Lismore) 11 July: Should the Matilda's [ sic] have won last night or the Netball Diamonds see off New Zealand, Anna Bligh will doubtless claim it was due to the preponderance of banana benders in the squads or at the very least the result of a Gold Coast holiday during their formative years.
bandicoot
Soon after white settlement in 1788 the word bandicoot (the name for the Indian mammal Bandicota indica) was applied to several Australian mammals having long pointed heads and bearing some resemblance to their Indian namesake. In 1799 David Collins writes of the 'bones of small animals, such as opossums ... and bandicoots'.

From 1830s the word bandicoot has been used in various distinctively Australian phrases as an emblem of deprivation or desolation. In 1837 H. Watson in Lecture on South Australia writes: 'The land here is generally good; there is a small proportion that is actually good for nothing; to use a colonial phrase, "a bandicoot (an animal between a rat and a rabbit) would starve upon it".' Typical examples include:

as miserable as a bandicoot

as poor as a bandicoot

as bald as a bandicoot

as blind as a bandicoot

as hungry as a bandicoot

Probably from the perception of the bandicoot's burrowing habits, a new Australian verb to bandicoot arose towards the end of the nineteenth century. It means 'to remove potatoes from the ground, leaving the tops undisturbed'. Usually this activity is surreptitious.
bandicoot: miserable as a bandicoot
Extremely unhappy. Bandicoots are small marsupials with long faces, and have been given a role in Australian English in similes that suggest unhappiness or some kind of deprivation (see above). The expression miserable as a bandicoot was first recorded in the 1820s.

1828 Sydney Gazette 11 January: On her arrival here she found him living with another woman by whom he had several children, and from whom he was necessarily obliged to part, not, however, without very candidly forewarning his wife, the present complainant, that he would make her as miserable as a bandicoot.

2005 R. Siemon The Eccentric Mr Wienholt: I am as miserable as a bandicoot having to sneak home like this.
banksia man
The large woody cone of several Banksia species, originally as a character in children's stories. Banksia is the name of an Australian genus of shrubs and trees with about 60 species. It was named after the botanist Sir Joseph Banks, who was on the Endeavour with James Cook on his voyage of discovery in 1770. After flowering, many banksias form thick woody cones, often in strange shapes. It was on such grotesque shapes that May Gibbs modelled her banksia men in Snugglepot and Cuddlepie of 1918: 'She could see the glistening, wicked eyes of Mrs. Snake and the bushy heads of the bad Banksia men'.

1979 E. Smith Saddle in the Kitchen: Hell was under the well near the cow paddock, deep and murky and peopled by gnarled and knobby banksia men who lurked there waiting for the unguarded to fall in.
barbecue stopper
A topic of great public interest, especially a political one. The term derives from the notion that a topic is so interesting that it could halt proceedings at a barbecue - and anything that could interrupt an Aussie barbecue would have to be very significant indeed! The term was coined by Australian prime minister John Howard in 2001 in the context of balancing work pressures with family responsibilities. Barbecue stopper is now used in a wide range of contexts. For an earlier discussion of the term see our Word of the Month article from August 2007.

2007 Sun-Herald (Sydney) 11 March: Controlled crying is a guaranteed barbecue stopper among Australian parents, more divisive than the old breast-versus-bottle feeding debate.

2015 Australian Financial Review (Sydney) 1 April: Planning and zoning looms as a barbecue stopper in leafy suburbs, where many residents and traders will defend to the last breath their quiet enjoyment and captive markets.
Barcoo
The name of the Barcoo River in western Queensland has been used since the 1870s as a shorthand reference for the hardships, privations, and living conditions of the outback. Poor diets were common in remote areas, with little access to fresh vegetables or fruit, and as a result diseases caused by dietary deficiencies, such Barcoo rot-a form of scurvy characterised by chronic sores-were common. Katharine Susannah Prichard writes in 1946: 'They were nothing to the torture he endured when barcoo rot attacked him. The great sores festered on his back, hands and legs: his lips split and were raw and bleeding'. Rachel Henning, in a letter to her sister in 1864, makes fun of her Irish servants' fear of scurvy, for which they eat pigweed, 'rather a nasty wild plant, but supposed to be exceedingly wholesome, either chopped up with vinegar or boiled'. Another illness probably caused by poor diet was Barcoo sickness (also called Barcoo vomit, Barcoo spew, or just Barcoo), a condition characterised by vomiting. ' Barcoo was rife among the kiddies and station-hands; vomiting attacks lasting for days laid each low in turn'.
barrack for
1889 Maitland Mercury 24 August: Old dad was in his glory there - it gave the old man joy To fight a passage thro' the crowd and barrack for his boy.

1971 D. Williamson Don's Party: I take it you'll be barracking for Labor tonight?

2011 Gympie Times 28 January: He thought it was about time to take the pledge and officially become Australian as he had barracked for our cricket team since 1955.
barrier rise
The opening of the starting gates to begin a horserace. In horseracing the barrier is a starting gate at the racecourse. The word barrier is found in a number of horseracing terms in Australian English including barrier blanket (a heavy blanket placed over the flanks of a racehorse to calm it when entering a barrier stall at the start of a race), barrier trial (a practice race for young, inexperienced, or resuming racehorses), and barrier rogue (a racehorse that regularly misbehaves when being placed into a starting gate). Barrier rise is first recorded in the 1890s. For a more detailed discussion of this term see our Word of the Month article from October 2010.

1895 Argus (Melbourne) 11 March: Mr W. R. Wilson's colt Merman, who, like Hova, was comparatively friendless at barrier rise.

2011 Shepparton News 27 June: The talented Norman-trained trotter Tsonga, also driven by Jack, speared across the face of the field at barrier rise from outside the front row in the mobile - and from then was never headed.
battler
The word battler has been in the English language for a long time. The word is a borrowing from French in the Middle English period, and meant, literally, 'a person who battles or fights', and figuratively 'a person who fights against the odds or does not give up easily'. The corresponding English word was feohtan which gives us modern English 'to fight'. English also borrowed the word war from the French in the twelfth century; it's the same word as modern French guerre.

But the word battler, at the end of the nineteenth century, starts to acquire some distinctively Australian connotations. For this reason, it gets a guernsey in the Australian National Dictionary.

1. It describes the person with few natural advantages, who works doggedly and with little reward, who struggles for a livelihood (and who displays courage in so doing).

Our first citation for this, not surprisingly, comes from Henry Lawson in While the Billy Boils (1896): 'I sat on him pretty hard for his pretensions, and paid him out for all the patronage he'd worked off on me .. and told him never to pretend to me again he was a battler'.

In 1941 Kylie Tennant writes: 'She was a battler, Snow admitted; impudent, hardy, cool, and she could take a "knock-back" as though it didn't matter, and come up to meet the next blow'.

In this tradition, K. Smith writes in 1965: 'Everybody in Australia has his position. Roughly speaking, there are three kinds of people in this country: the rich, the middle class and the battlers'.

In the 21st century the term has been used in various political contests as this quotation in the Australian from 1 July 2006 demonstrates: 'The Prime Minister, who has built his success on an appeal to Australia's battlers, is about to meet thousands more of them in his northern Sydney seat of Bennelong'.

2. It has also been used of an unemployed or irregularly employed person.

a: (in the country): a swagman or itinerant worker.

This sense is first recorded in the Bulletin in 1898: 'I found patch after patch destroyed. Almost everyone I met blamed the unfortunate "battler", and I put it down to some of the Sydney "talent" until ... I caught two Chows vigorously destroying melon-vines'.

Again in the Bulletin in 1906 we find: 'They were old, white-bearded, travel-stained battlers of the track'.

The word is not much used in this sense now, but in 1982 Page & Ingpen in Aussie Battlers write: 'The average Australian's image of a battler does seem to be that of a Henry Lawson character: a bushie of the colonial era, complete with quart pot and swag, down on his luck but still resourceful and cheerful'.

b: (in an urban context): an unemployed person who lives by opportunism.

Frank Hardy in Tales of Billy Yorker (1965) writes: 'Any Footscray battler could get a few quid off Murphy, just for the asking'.

S. Weller, Bastards I have met (1976) writes: `He was a battler, into all the lurks about the place and just one jump ahead of the coppers all the time'.

3. A person who frequents racecourses in search of a living, esp. from punting. The word is used in Australia with this sense from the end of the nineteenth century.

4. A prostitute.

Meanings 2. 3. and 4 have now disappeared from Australian English, and it is meaning 1 which has become enshrined in the language, especially in the phrase little Aussie battler. This is still the person of the Henry Lawson tradition, who, 'with few natural advantages, works doggedly and with little reward, struggles for a livelihood (and displays courage in so doing)'. But perhaps the battler of contemporary Australia is more likely to be paying down a large mortgage rather than working hard to put food on the table!
berley
Berley is ground-bait scattered by an angler in the water to attract fish to a line or lure. Anglers use a variety of baits for berley, such as bread, or fish heads and guts. Poultry mash and tinned cat food make more unusual berleying material, although this pales beside a Bulletin article in 1936 suggesting 'a kerosene-tinful of rabbit carcasses boiled to a pulp' as the best berley for Murray cod. Berley first appears in 1852 as a verb - to berley is to scatter ground-bait. The writer observes that the locals are baiting a fishing spot ('burley-ing') with burnt fish. The first evidence for the noun occurs in the 1860s. The origin of the word is unknown.
big note
1941 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 18 February: There was no suggestion that Coates had the revolver for any sinister purpose. He had admitted producing it to 'big note' himself in the eyes of the young woman and her parents.

2012 D. Foster Man of Letters: He's never been one to big-note himself.
bikie
A member of a gang of motorcyclists. Bikie follows a very common pattern in Australian English by incorporating the -ie (or -y) suffix. This suffix works as an informal marker in the language. In early use bikie often referred to any member of a motorcycle (motorbike) gang or club - often associated with youth culture. In more recent times the term is often associated with gangs of motorcylists operating on the fringes of legality. Bikie is first recorded in the 1960s. For a more detailied discussion of the term see our Word of the Month article from March 2014.

1967 Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xxxii: Bikie, a member of a gang or a club of people interested in motor bikes.

2015 Northern Territory News (Darwin) 28 May: We need to stop romanticising the notion that bikies are basically good blokes in leather vests. Some bikies procure, distribute and sell drugs through their 'associates', who in turn sell them to kids.
bilby
The bilby is either of two Australian bandicoots, especially the rabbit-eared bandicoot Macrotis lagotis, a burrowing marsupial of woodlands and plains of drier parts of mainland Australia. The word is a borrowing from Yuwaalaraay (an Aboriginal language of northern New South Wales) and neighbouring languages. The bilby is also known as dalgyte in Western Australia and pinky in South Australia. Since the early 1990s there have been attempts to replace the Easter bunny with the Easter bilby. At Easter it is now possible to buy chocolate bilbies. Bilby is first recorded in the 1870s.

1877 Riverine Grazier (Hay) 6 June: There is also all over this part of the country a small animal which burrows in the ground like a rabbit: it is called a bilby, and is found everywhere, almost, up here, in great numbers.

2015 Centralian Advocate (Alice Springs) 10 April: Mining activity can also cause direct and indirect disturbance to sites inhabited by bilbies.
billabong
1861 Burke & Wills Exploring Expedition: At the end of a very long waterhole, it breaks into billibongs, which continue splitting into sandy channels until they are all lost in the earthy soil.

2015 Northern Territory News (Darwin) 13 May: It will soon offer more activities including fishing at a nearby billabong once the area is declared croc-free.
billy
A vessel for the boiling of water, making of tea, etc., over an open fire; a cylindrical container, usually of tin, enamel ware, or aluminium, fitted with a lid and a wire handle. It comes from the Scottish dialect word billy-pot meaning 'cooking utensil'. Possibly reinforced by bouilli tin (recorded 1858 in Australia and 1852 in New Zealand, with variant bully tin recorded in New Zealand in 1849 but not until 1920 in Australia), an empty tin that had contained preserved boeuf bouilli 'bully beef', used as a container for cooking. It is not, as popularly thought, related to the Aboriginal word billabong. Billy is first recorded in the 1840s.

1859 W. Burrows Adventures of a Mounted Trooper in the Australain Constabulary: A 'billy' is a tin vessel, something between a saucepan and a kettle, always black outside from being constantly on the fire, and looking brown inside from the quantity of tea that is generally to be seen in it.

2005 Australian (Sydney) 12 November: The green ants, we learn later, are a form of bush medicine that others choose to consume by boiling the nest in a billy and drinking the strained and distilled contents.
billycart
A child's four-wheeled go-cart. Billycart is a shortened form of the Australian term billy-goat cart which dates back to the 1860s. In earlier times the term applied to a small cart, often two-wheeled, that was pulled by a goat. These billycarts were used for such purposes as home deliveries, and they were also used in races. The term was then applied to any homemade go-cart. Billycart is recorded in the first decade of the 20th century.

1952 J.R. Tyrrell Old Books: As boys, Fred and I delivered books round Sydney in a billycart.

1991 T. Winton Cloudstreet: Bits of busted billycarts and boxes litter the place beneath the sagging clothesline.
bindi-eye
Any of several plants bearing barbed fruits, especially herbs of the widespread genus Calotis; the fruit of these plants. Bindi-eye is oftened shortened to bindi, and can be spelt in several ways including bindy-eye and bindii. The word is from the Gamilaraay and Yuwaalaraay Aboriginal languages of northern New South Wales. Bindi-eye is usually considered a weed when found in one's lawn. Many a child's play has been painfully interrupted by the sharp barbs of the plant which have a habit of sticking into the sole of one's foot. Bindy-eye is first recorded in the 1890s.

1894 Queenslander (Brisbane) 11 August: Fancy him after working a mob of sheep through a patch of Bathurst Burr, or doing a day's work in a paddock where the grass seed was bad and bindy-eyes thick.

2015 Australian (Sydney) 3 January: You know it's summer when the frangipani flower in their happy colours, when the eucalypt blossom provides a feast for the rosellas - and when the bindi-eyes in your lawn punish you for going barefoot.
bingle
A fight or skirmish; a collision. Bingle is perhaps from Cornish dialect bing 'a thump or blow'. Most other words derived from Cornish dialect in Australian English were originally related to mining, including fossick. The word is frequently used to refer to a car collision. Bingle is first recorded in the 1940s.

1966 R. Carr Surfie: There was this clang of metal on metal and both cars lurched over to the shoulder and we nearly went for a bingle.

2015 Daily Telegraph (Sydney) 12 April: In fact some of Hughesy and Kate's listeners are laughing so hard they have to pull over in their cars or risk having a bingle on the way back from work.
bitser
A mongrel. A dog (or other animal) which is made up of a bit of this and a bit of that. This meaning is common today, but when bitser first appeared in the 1920s it referred to any contraption or vehicle that was made of spare parts, or had odd bits and pieces added. Bitser is an abbreviation of 'bits and pieces', and in the mongrel sense is first recorded in the early 1930s.

1934 Advertiser (Adelaide) 14 May: 'Well, what kind of dog is it?' he asked. The small girl pondered. 'I think he must be a bit of everything. My friends call him a "bitzer"', she replied.

2005 Herald Sun (Melbourne) 27 November: We had lots of cats and dogs. My favourite was a bitser named Sheila.
black stump
1898 Launceston Examiner 5 November: The mistake in the past has been the piecemeal and patchwork nature of our public works policy. Tracks have been made, commencing nowhere and ending the same, roads have been constructed haphazard, bridges have been built that had no roads leading either to or from them, railways have terminated at the proverbial black stump.

1967 J. Wynnum I'm Jack, all Right: It's way back o' Bourke. Beyond the Black Stump. Not shown on the petrol station maps, even.

2003 Sydney Morning Herald 29 July: Our own wine writer, Huon Hooke, doesn't know the wine but suspects it comes from a region between Bandywallop and the Black Stump.
Blind Freddy
A very unperceptive person; such a person as a type. This term often appears in the phrase even blind Freddy could see that. Although the term may not derive from an actual person, early commentators associate it with a blind Sydney character or characters. Australian lexicographer Sidney Baker wrote in 1966 that 'Legend has it that there was a blind hawker in Sydney in the 1920s, named Freddy, whose blindness did not prevent his moving freely about the central city area'. Other commentators suggest a character who frequented various Sydney sporting venues in the first decades of the 20th century could be the original Freddy. The term itself is first recorded in 1911.

1911 Sydney Sportsman 19 July: Billy Farnsworth and [Chris] McKivatt seem to suit one another down to the ground as a pair of halves, but then Blind Freddie couldn't help taking Chris's passes.

2013 S. Scourfield As the River Runs: Blind Freddie could see Emerald Gorge is a natural dam site.
blood: your blood's worth bottling
You're a really valuable person! You're a loyal friend! This is one of the many Australianisms, along with terms such as 'digger', 'Anzac' and 'Aussie', that arose during or immediately proceeding the First World War. It applied to a person of great heart, who displayed courage, loyalty, and mateship. It is now used in many contexts - 'Those firefighters-their blood's worth bottling!'
blouse
To defeat (a competitor) by a very small margin; to win narrowly. This verb derives from the noun blouse meaning 'the silk jacket worn by a jockey'. As the origin of this word would indicate, much of the evidence is from the sport of horseracing. First recorded in the 1980s. For a detailed discussion of blouse see our Word of the Month article from November 2009.

2001 Herald Sun (Melbourne) 22 June: Four years ago at this ground - Mark Taylor's last one-day appearance for Australia - England smashed 4-253 to blouse Australia on a typically good batting strip.

2015 Kalgoorlie Miner 2 March: The Meryl Hayley-trained speedster, chasing four wins in a line, was bloused in a thrilling finish by Cut Snake with a further head to third placegetter, Danreign.
bludger
By the 1880s the 'prostitute's pimp' sense of bludger is found in Australian sources. In the Sydney Slang Dictionary of 1882 bludgers are defined as 'plunderers in company with prostitutes'. Cornelius Crowe, in his Australian Slang Dictionary (1895), defines a bludger as 'a thief who will use his bludgeon and lives on the gains of immoral women'.

Thus bludger came to mean 'one who lives on the earnings of a prostitute'. It retained this meaning until the mid-20th century. Thus Dorothy Hewett in her play Bobbin Up (1959) writes: 'But what about libel?' 'There's a name for a man who lives off women!' 'Can't you get pinched for calling a man a bludger?' But this meaning is now obsolete.

From the early twentieth century it moved out to be a more general term of abuse, especially as applied to a person who appears to live off the efforts of others (as a pimp lives on the earnings of a prostitute). It was then used to refer to a person engaged in non-manual labour - a white-collar worker. This sense appears as early as 1910, but its typical use is represented by this passage from D. Whitington's Treasure Upon Earth (1957): '"Bludgers" he dubbed them early, because in his language anyone who did not work with his hands at a laboring job was a bludger'.

And so it came to mean 'an idler, one who makes little effort'. In the war newspaper Ack Ack News in 1942 we find: 'Who said our sappers are bludgers?' By 1950, it could be used of animals which didn't perform up to standard. J. Cleary in Just let me be writes: 'Everything I backed ran like a no-hoper. Four certs I had, and the bludgers were so far back the ambulance nearly had to bring 'em home'.

And thence to 'a person who does not make a fair contribution to a cost, enterprise etc.; a cadger'. D. Niland writes in The Shiralee (1955): 'Put the nips into me for tea and sugar and tobacco in his usual style. The biggest bludger in the country'. In 1971 J. O'Grady writes: 'When it comes to your turn, return the "shout". Otherwise the word will spread that you are a "bludger", and there is no worse thing to be'.

Throughout the history of the word, most bludgers appear to have been male. The term bludgeress made a brief appearance in the first decade of this century - 'Latterly, bludgers, so the police say, are marrying bludgeresses' (1908 Truth 27 September) - but it was shortlived.
bluey
The word bluey in Australian English has a variety of meanings. The most common is the swag (i.e. the collection of possessions and daily necessaries carried by a person travelling, usually on foot, in the bush) so called because the outer covering of the swag was traditionally a blue blanket (which is also called a bluey). The earliest evidence for bluey as a swag is from 1878 where the bluey is humped as it was by the itinerant bush worker tramping the wallaby track in the works of writers such as Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson.

This image (an Australian stereotype) is epitomised in the following 1899 quotation for bluey:

There's the everlasting swaggie with his bluey on his back who is striking out for sunset on the Never-never track. W.T. Goodge, Hits! Skits! and Jingles

The association of the swaggie and his bluey continues in more recent evidence for the term:

A swaggie suddenly appeared out of the bush, unshaven, with wild, haunted eyes, his bluey and billycan on his back. G. Cross, George and Widda-Woman (1981)

That bluey is later transferred to luggage in general, is perhaps not surprising in an urban society which romanticises its 'bush' tradition:

Where's yer bluey? No luggage? J. Duffy, Outside Pub (1963)

In Tasmania, a bluey or Tasmanian bluey is:

a rough overcoat of blue-grey woollen, to be worn by those doing outdoor work during inclement weather. Canberra Times (19 Nov. 1982).

The word has been used to denote another item of clothing - denim working trousers or overalls - but the citation evidence indicates (the last citation being 1950) that this usage is no longer current.

More familiar is the use of bluey to describe a summons, especially for a traffic offence (originally printed on blue paper):

Imagine my shock upon returning to a bluey at the end of the day. Choice (2 April 1986)

Perhaps the most Australian use of bluey is the curious use of it to describe a red-headed person (first recorded in 1906):

A more literal use of bluey in Australian English is its application to fauna whose names begin with blue and which is predominantly blue in colour:

1961 Bulletin 31 May: We call them blue martins...Ornithologists refer to them as some species of wood swallow... They're all 'blueys' to us.

bodgie
There are two senses of the word bodgie in Australian English, both probably deriving from an earlier (now obsolete) word bodger.

The word bodger was altered to bodgie, and this is now the standard form:

In the 1950s another sense of bodgie arose. The word was used to describe a male youth, distinguished by his conformity to certain fashions of dress and larrikin behaviour; analogous to the British 'teddy boy':

This sense of bodgie seems to be an abbreviation of the word bodger with the addition of the -ie(-y) suffix. One explanation for the development of the teenage larrikin sense was offered in the Age (Melbourne) in 1983:

Mr Hewett says his research indicates that the term 'bodgie' arose around the Darlinghurst area in Sydney. It was just after the end of World War II and rationing had caused a flourishing black market in American-made cloth. 'People used to try and pass off inferior cloth as American-made when in fact it was not: so it was called "bodgie",' he says. 'When some of the young guys started talking with American accents to big-note themselves they were called "bodgies".'

This sense of bodgie belongs primarily to the 1950s, but bodgie in the sense 'fake, false, inferior, worthless' is alive and flourishing in Australian English.
bogan
An uncultured and unsophisticated person; a boorish and uncouth person. The early evidence is largely confined to teenage slang.

Some lexicographers have suspected that the term may derive from the Bogan River and district in western New South Wales, but this is far from certain, and it seems more likely to be an unrelated coinage.

The term became widespread after it was used in the late 1980s by the fictitious schoolgirl 'Kylie Mole' in the television series The Comedy Company. In the Daily Telegraph (29 November 1988), in an article headed 'Same name a real bogan', a genuine schoolgirl named Kylie Mole 'reckons it really sux' " [i.e., finds it horrible] to have the same name as the television character.

In Dolly Magazine, October 1988, 'The Dictionary According To Kylie [Mole]' has the following Kyliesque definition: bogan 'a person that you just don't bother with. Someone who wears their socks the wrong way or has the same number of holes in both legs of their stockings. A complete loser'.

The earliest evidence we have been able to find for the term is in the surfing magazine Tracks September 1985: 'So what if I have a mohawk and wear Dr Martens (boots for all you uninformed bogans)?'

2002 Age (Melbourne) 16 July: Campbell, 25, did not grow up as a bogan chick. She had a quiet, middle-class upbringing in Box Hill, attending a private girls' school.

2006 Canberra Times 9 August: We enjoy drinking, pig-shooting, wear check flannelette shirts and have no common sense or good taste ... Our geographic reach is flexible; residents of Taree and like communities, for example, may readily qualify for Boganhood, usually with little or no burdensome paperwork.

2013 Sydney Morning Herald 7 December: Douglas' volley sparked a semantic debate about the use of 'bogan', with Palmer and others claiming the once-pejorative term had become more jocular. Inclusive. Affectionate, even ... 'We're all bogans. I'm a bogan because I'm overweight.' His titular party head seconded that, claiming quickly to have 'spent most of [his] life as a bogan'. 'All I can say is I like chips', Mr Palmer demurred. 'I wear Ugg boots and I go four-wheel-driving.'

2015 Sunday Times (Perth) 25 January: WA's mining boom has given rise to a new kind of bogan - the CUB, or cashed-up bogan.

For further discussions of bogan see our Word of the Month article from Novemeber 2008, and a 2015 article 'Bogan: from Obscurity to Australia's most productive Word' in our newsletter Ozwords.
bogey
To swim or bathe. Bogey is a borrowing from the Aboriginal Sydney Language. The earliest records show the term being used in the pidgin English of Aborigines:

By the 1840s it was naturalised in Australian English:

1841 Historical Records of Australia: I suppose you want your Boat, Sir; Yes, said Mr Dixon; well, said Crabb I suppose we must bogey for it. Yes, said Mr Dixon, any two of ye that can swim.

In Australian English a noun meaning 'a swim or bathe; a bath' was formed from the verb:

1847 A. Harris, Settlers and Convicts: In the cool of the evening had a 'bogie' (bathe) in the river.

1869 W.M. Howell, Diggings and Bush: Florence was much amused the other evening by her enquiring if she (Flory) was going down to the water to have a 'bogey'. Flory was much puzzled till she found out that a 'bogey', in colonial phraseology, meant a bath.

1924 Bulletin: A boar was discovered by two of us having a bogey in a 16,000-yard tank about five miles from the river.

1981 G. Mackenzie, Aurukun Diary: A bogey is the Queensland outback word for a bath or bathe.

A bogey hole is a 'swimming or bathing hole'. The verb is rare now in Australian English. For an earlier discussion of bogey see our Word of the Month article from February 2010.
bombora
A wave that forms over a submerged offshore reef or rock, sometimes (in very calm weather or at high tide) merely swelling but in other conditions breaking heavily and producing a dangerous stretch of broken water. The word is now commonly used for the reef or rock itself.

1994 P. Horrobin Guide to Favourite Australian Fish (ed. 7): Like most inshore saltwater predators, Salmon hunt around rocky headlands, offshore islands and bomboras [etc.].

Bombora probably derives from the Aboriginal Sydney Language where it may have referred specifically to the current off Dobroyd Head, Port Jackson. The term is mostly used in New South Wales, where there are numerous bomboras along the coast, often close to cliffs. The term was first recorded in 1871 and is now used frequently in surfing and fishing contexts with its abbreviation bommie and bommy being common: 'After a day of oily, overhead bommie waves, we decided to head to the pub' (2001 Tracks August).
Bondi tram: shoot through like a Bondi tram
Used allusively to refer to a hasty departure or speedy action. Bondi is the Sydney suburb renowned worldwide for its surf beach. The phrase (first recorded in 1943) probably derives from the fact that two trams typically left the city for Bondi together, the first an express tram which would 'shoot through' from Darlinghurst to Bondi Junction. Trams last ran on the line in 1960, but the phrase has remained a part of Australian English.

2014 Wimmera Mail Times (Horsham) 14 April: The book is aimed at young adults and the young at heart ... 'It took off like a Bondi tram', she said.
bonzer
Bonzer is an adjective meaning 'surpassingly good, splendid, great'. The word is also used as a noun meaning 'something (or someone) that excites admiration by being surpassingly good of its kind', and as an adverb meaning 'beautifully, splendidly'. Bonzer is possibly an alteration of the now obsolete Australian word bonster (with the same meaning) which perhaps ultimately derives from British dialect bouncer 'anything very large of its kind'. Bonzer may also be influenced by French bon 'good' and US bonanza. In the early records the spelling bonzer alternates with bonser, bonza, and bonzor. The adjective, noun, and adverb are all recorded from the early years of the 20th century:

(noun) 1903 Morning Post (Cairns) 5 June: The little pony outlaw is wonderfully fast at disposing of his mounts. Yuong Jack Hansen undertook to sit him but failed at every attempt. Jack states he got a 'bonza on the napper', at one time when thrown.

(adjective) 1904 Argus (Melbourne) 23 July: The python is shedding his skin ... 'I say, Bill, ain't his noo skin bonza?'

(adverb) 1914 B. Cable By Blow and Kiss: Came back grinning widely, with the assurance that it [ sc. the rain] was coming down 'Bonzer'.
boofhead
A fool or simpleton; a stupid person; an uncouth person. Boofhead derives from buffle-headed 'having a head like a buffalo' (OED) and bufflehead 'a fool, blockhead, stupid fellow' (OED). Bufflehead has disappeared from standard English, but survives in its Australian form boofhead. It was popularised by the use of boofhead as the name of a dimwitted comic strip character invented by R.B. Clark and introduced in the Sydney Daily Mail in May 1941. For an earlier discussion of the word see our Word of the Month article from December 2009.

1943 Australian Women's Weekly (Sydney) 16 January: Many a time when his round head nodded wisely in accord with the sergeant's explanations, the sergeant was tempted to think: 'I don't believe the boof-head knows what I'm talking about.'

2015 Daily Telegraph (Sydney) 23 April: For those who think we should follow the Kiwis in taxation, feel free to move there. We get their boofheads so they can have ours.
boomerang
Boomerang is an Australian word which has moved into International English. The word was borrowed from an Aboriginal language in the early years of European settlement, but the exact language is still uncertain. Early evidence suggests it was borrowed from a language in, or just south of, the Sydney region.

While the spelling boomerang is now standard, in the early period the word was given a variety of spellings: bomerang, bommerang, bomring, boomereng, boomering, bumerang [etc].

Very early in Australian English the term boomerang was used in transferred and figurative senses, especially with reference to something which returns to or recoils upon its author. These senses are now part of International English, but it is interesting to look at the earliest Australian evidence for the process of transfer and figurative use:

By the 1850s boomerang had also developed as a verb in Australian English, meaning 'to hit (someone or something) with a boomerang; to throw (something) in the manner of a boomerang'. By the 1890s the verbal sense developed another meaning: 'to return in the manner of a boomerang; to recoil (upon the author); to ricochet'. The earliest evidence for this sense occurs in the Brisbane Worker newspaper from 16 May 1891:

Australia's a big country
An' Freedom's humping bluey
And Freedom's on the wallaby
Oh don't you hear her Cooee,
She's just begun to boomerang
She'll knock the tyrants silly.

On 13 November 1979 the Canberra Times reported that 'Greg Chappell's decision to send England in appeared to have boomeranged'.

These verbal senses of boomerang have also moved into International English. For a further discussion of boomerang see the article 'Boomerang, Boomerang, Thou Spirit of Australia!' in our Ozwords newsletter.
bottle: the full bottle
Knowledgeable, an expert-'Does Robbo know anything about paving? Yeah mate, he's the full bottle.' The probable source of the phrase is the 19th century British term no bottle 'no good' (which in turn is probably an abbreviation of rhyming slang no bottle and glass 'no class'). In Australia the full bottle came to mean 'very good', and then 'very good at, knowledgeable about (something)'. It is often used in the negative - not the full bottle means 'not good (at something)' or 'not fully informed'. The phrase is first recorded in the 1940s.

1946 West Australian (Perth) 12 January: The B.M. went to ensure that the provost on duty was a full bottle on the art of saluting full generals.

2005 Daily Telegraph (Sydney) 8 December: Given that her cousins are real-life princesses, Makim should be the full bottle on the art of pouring and drinking tea like a lady.
bottom of the harbour
A tax avoidance scheme. In the late 1970s a large number of bottom of the harbour schemes were operating in corporate Australia. The schemes involved buying a company with a large tax liability, converting the assets to cash, and then 'hiding' the company by, for example, selling it to a fictitious buyer. Thus the company (and often its records) vanished completely - figuratively sent to the 'bottom of the harbour' (originally Sydney Harbour) - with an unpaid tax bill. The term is usually used attributively.

1983 Sydney Morning Herald 13 August: The Federal Government's introduction of the Taxation (Unpaid Company Tax) Act last year is expected to recoup about $250 million in unpaid tax from the bottom-of-the-harbour participants.

2006 A. Hyland Diamond Dove: The feller in the dock was some fabulous creature - part lawyer, part farmer - who'd been caught in a bottom-of-the-harbour tax avoidance scheme.
boundary rider
An employee responsible for maintaining the (outer) fences on a station, or a publicly owned vermin-proof fence. This sense of boundary rider is recorded from the 1860s but in more recent years, as a result of changes in technology and modes of transport, this occupation has become relatively rare. Since the 1980s the term has been used of a boundary umpire in Australian Rules Football, a cricketer in a fielding position near the boundary, and a roving reporter at a sporting game. For a more detailed discussion of the original sense of boundary rider and the later sporting senses see our Word of the Month article from December 2010.

1885 Illustrated Australian News (Melbourne) 30 September: The duties of a boundary rider for the most part consist in riding round the fences every day, seeing that they are all in good order, blocking up any panels that may be broken, putting out strangers (that is stock that have strayed on to the run), and, in fact, doing all that may pertain to keeping his master's stock on his own land, and everybody's else out of it.

2012 K. McGinnis Tracking North: Mechanisation had finally reached the open-range country. There were no more pumpers or boundary riders.
Bradbury: do a Bradbury
Be the unlikely winner of an event; to win an event coming from well behind. The phrase comes from the name of Steven Bradbury, who won a gold medal in speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics after his opponents fell. For a detailed discussion of this phrase see our blog 'Doing a Bradbury: an Aussie term born in the Winter Olympics' (which includes a video of Bradbury's famous win), and our Word of the Month article from August 2008.

2002 Sydney Morning Herald 19 February: Maybe Doing a Bradbury will become a common saying in Australian sport[:] To succeed only because everyone else fell over. The Socceroos need some of that luck.

2014 Herald Sun (Melbourne) 10 July: Someone would one day do a 'Bradbury' and finish third or fourth in the Brownlow Medal yet be crowned the winner.
branch stacking
The practice of improperly increasing the membership of a local branch of a political party in order to ensure the preselection of a particular candidate. The term is a specific use of branch meaning 'a local division of a political party'. While the practice described by branch stacking has been around for a very long time, the word itself is first recorded in the 1960s.

1968 Sydney Morning Herald 6 November: Banks and Blaxland electorates adjoin each other and what the people lodging the appeals are saying is that extensive branch 'stacking' has been going on.

2002 Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong) 7 October: Labor will fight branch stacking by forcing all members to be on the electoral roll before taking part in a preselection vote.
bride's nightie: off like a bride's nightie
Leaving immediately; making a hasty departure; at full speed. It is likely that this expression was first used in horseracing to refer to a horse that moved very quickly out of the starting gates. The phrase plays on two different meanings of the verb be off: 'be removed' and 'move quickly'. First recorded in the 1960s.

1969 C. Bray Blossom: 'Come on youse blokes!' he shouted. 'We're off like a bride's nightie!'

2005 Canberra Times 18 March: The irony is of course that their CEO is the least loyal person in the company. First sign of a better offer and they are off like a bride's nightie.
bring a plate
1951 Sunshine Advocate 22 March: Mrs Gum has kindly offered her home on Saturday, 14th of April for a social evening. Ladies bring a plate.

2013 Northern Star (Lismore) 16 July: A visit in from our Tasmanian friends. 1 pm start of play. Please bring a plate. All welcome.
brumby
A wild horse. The story of wild horses in the Australian landscape was vividly brought to life in Banjo Paterson's 1890 poem 'The Man from Snowy River': 'There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around/ That the colt from old Regret had got away,/ And had joined the wild bush horses.' These 'wild bush horses' have been known as brumbies in Australia since the early 1870s.

The origin for this term is still disputed. E.M. Curr in Australian Race (1887) gives booramby meaning 'wild' in the language of the Pitjara (or Pidjara or Bidjara) people of the region at the headwaters of the Warrego and Nogoa Rivers in south-western Queensland. This is in the general location of the earliest evidence, but the language evidence has not been subsequently confirmed. This origin was popularised by Paterson in an introduction to his poem 'Brumby's run' printed in 1894. A common suggestion is that brumby derives from the proper name Brumby . This theory was also noted by E.E. Morris in Austral English in 1898: 'A different origin was, however, given by an old resident of New South Wales, to a lady of the name Brumby, viz. "that in the early days of that colony, a Lieutenant Brumby, who was on the staff of one of the Governors, imported some very good horses, and that some of their descendants being allowed to run wild became the ancestors of the wild horses of New South Wales and Queensland". Over the years, various Messrs Brumby have been postulated as the origin. More recently, Dymphna Lonergan suggested that the word comes from Irish word bromaigh, the plural form of the word for a young horse, or colt. For a more detailed discussion concerning the origin of the term brumby see the article 'Wild Horses Running Wild' in our Ozwords newsletter.

1871 Maitland Mercury 10 October: A fine grazing block, lightly timbered, and for which the lessee would expect to draw a thousand pounds for his goodwill, without a hoof upon it, by a singular species of transition is suddenly metamorphosed into a mass of scrub, only fit for a mob of 'Brumbies'.

2010 K. McGinnis Wildhorse Creek: The country's rotten with brumbies.
Buckley's chance
A forlorn hope; no prospect whatever. Often abbreviated to Buckley's. One explanation for the origin of the term is that it comes from the name of the convict William Buckley, who escaped from Port Phillip in 1803 and lived for 32 years with Aboriginal people in southern Victoria. A second explanation links the phrase to the Melbourne firm of Buckley and Nunn (established in 1851), suggesting that a pun developed on the 'Nunn' part of the firm's name (with 'none') and that this gave rise to the formulation 'there are just two chances, Buckley's and none'. This second explanation appears to have arisen after the original phrase was established. For an earlier discussion about the origin of the term buckley's chance see the article 'Buckley's' in our Ozwords newsletter.

1887 Melbourne Punch 22 September: In our sporting columns, in the Fitzroy team appears the name of Bracken. It should have been Buckley. Olympus explains that he altered it because he didn't want the Fitzroy men to have 'Buckley's chance'.

2015 Australian Financial Review (Sydney) 7 March: If I lose this job I've got Buckley's chance of getting another one.
budgie smugglers
A pair of close-fitting male swimming briefs made of stretch fabric. The Australian term is probably a variation of the international English grape smugglers for such a garment. Budgie smugglers is one of the numerous Australian words for this particular garment (others include bathers, cossies, speedos, swimmers, and togs). Budgie is a shortening of budgerigar - from Kamilaroi (an Aboriginal language of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland), and designates a small green and yellow parrot which has become a popular caged bird. The term is a jocular allusion to the appearance of the garment. Budgie smugglers is first recorded in the late 1990s. For a more detailed discussion of the word see our Word of the Month article from December 2013.

2002 Herald Sun (Melbourne) 23 November: Nothing stands between you and a continent made entirely of icebergs except the Southern Ocean. That, and a thin pair of Speedos so figure-hugging you can see every goosebump - flimsy togs that are known not-all-that-affectionately by us Brown boys as budgie smugglers!

2015 Sydney Morning Herald 30 March: Property types joined with investment bankers on Sunday when they swapped suits for budgie smugglers to raise more than $600,000 and awareness for cerebral palsy.
bulldust
1929 Register News-Pictorial (Adelaide) 7 December: Motoring across Lake Eyre ... This 'bull' dust might be about two feet deep, and cakes on the surface, so that it is hard to penetrate.

1954 J. Cleary Climate of Courage: 'I'm seventy-five per cent Irish', said Mick. 'You're seventy-five per cent bulldust, too', said Joe.

2011 M Groves Outback Life: When a stretch of loose bulldust appeared too daunting, Joe would gun the engine down and go at a speed that didn't give us time to bog down.
bull's roar: not within a bull's roar
Nowhere near - 'The club's not within a bull's roar of winning the premiership this season.' A roaring bull can be heard over a great distance, so that to be not within a bull's roar is to be a considerable distance away. The phrase is sometimes used without the negative - to be within a bull's roar means that you are not too far away. A much finer unit of measurement is expressed by the similar Australian phrase within a bee's dick. The phrase is first recorded in the 1930s.

1936 Chronicle (Adelaide) 3 September: He knew that the horse, trainer and rider were O.K., and felt that the danger lay in interference. I told him that nothing would get within a 'bull's roar' of Agricolo to interfere with him, and such was the case.

2005 West Australian (Perth) 18 April: Again, through no fault of the sometimes-too-helpful McGuire, no recent contestant has come within a bull's roar of winning a serious amount of cash.
bung
Incapacitated, exhausted, broken (as in 'the telly's bung'). It comes from bang meaning 'dead' in the Yagara Aboriginal language of the Brisbane region. It found its way into 19th-century Australian pidgin, where the phrase to go bung meant 'to die'. The term is often found in this phrasal form where it now has several meanings: 'to be financially bankrupt, to come to nought; to fail, to collapse, to break down'. These figurative senses of bung emerged in the late 19th century.

1885 Australasian Printers' Keepsake: He was importuned to desist, as his musical talent had 'gone bung' probably from over-indulgence in confectionery.

2006 Australian (Sydney) 27 April: Sydney boy Scott Reed was the name on every recruiter's list, but he has been taken to hospital with a bung ankle.
bunyip
An amphibious monster supposed to inhabit inland waterways. Descriptions of it vary greatly. Some give it a frightful human head and an animal body. Many descriptions emphasise its threat to humans and its loud booming at night. It inhabits inland rivers, swamps, and billabongs. The word comes from the Aboriginal Wathaurong language of Victoria. Bunyip is first recorded in the 1840s. For a more detailed discussion of this word see the article 'There's a Bunyip Close behind us and he's Treading on my Tail' in our Ozwords newsletter.

1845 Sydney Morning Herald 12 July: On the bone being shown to an intelligent black, he at once recognised it as belonging to the 'Bunyip', which he declared he had seen.

2015 Southern Highland News (Bowral): Everyone knows bunyips live in the Wingecarribee Swamp, problem is, there are quite a few different theories about this elusive animal and it all seems to turn on how much grog visitors to the swamp have had before they hear the distinctive roar.
burl: give it a burl
Venture an attempt; give something a try. This is an Australian alteration of the standard English phrase give it a whirl. Burl is from the English dialect (especially Scottish and northern English) verb birl 'spin' or 'whirl' and the corresponding noun 'a rapid twist or turn'. Give it a burl is first recorded in the early years of the 20th century.

1978 Mullally & Sexton Libra and Capricorn: Should be some fish out there I say. We'll give it a burl, eh?

2006 Mercury (Hobart) 13 January: I've never been on a boat cruise. We wanted to give it a burl and see how it went. We'd do it again.
bush week: what do you think this is, bush week?
Do you think I'm stupid? An indignant response to someone who is taking you for a fool - 'You're going to charge me how much? What do you think this is, bush week?' Bush week is a time when people from the country come to a city, originally when bush produce etc. was displayed; and it is also a celebration in a town or city of bush produce, activities, etc. These senses of bush week go back to the early 20th century. The phrase originally implied the notion that people from the country are easily fooled by the more sophisticated city slickers. The speaker resents being mistaken for a country bumpkin. The phrase is first recorded in the 1940s.

1949 L. Glassop Lucky Palmer: I get smart alecks like you trying to put one over on me every minute of the day. What do you think this is? Bush Week?

2012 J. Murray Goodbye Lullaby: They had already been warned about the breastfeeding business ... 'Whaddya think this is?' said the proprietor as she glared at them all. 'Bloody Bush Week or something? Beat it, you two!'.

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Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms

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A Queenslander. The term derives from the joking notion (as perceived from the southern states of Australia) that Queenslanders spend their time putting bends into bananas. An article from 15 July 1937 in the Queenslander provides a forerunner to the term when a man is asked by the Queen what his occupation is: "I'm a banana-bender".

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Open Educational Resources (OER)- A Toolkit for Teachers, Curriculum and eLearning Developers

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Open Educational Resources (OER)- A Toolkit for Teachers, Curriculum and eLearning Developers

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Open Educational Resources (OER)- A Toolkit for Teachers, Curriculum and eLearning Developers

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Fake it till you make it – Some easy ways to make great quality media for the not so creative person. | ResourceLink

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Fake it till you make it – Some easy ways to make great quality media for the not so creative person. | ResourceLink

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It's a phrase that we have all heard and it is also a phrase that we all have a stance on.

Amy Cuddy shares a great TEDtalk about body language and how 'pretending' to be one way might help us to become that way.

While the focus of this blog is not about body language and personal identity, it is about a few quick tips, tricks and tools to build engaging and dynamic media that will impress your audience.

It is important to note that if you are working within an educational context it is vital that you ensure the privacy of your subjects, particularly if you're making media that includes identifiable images of others. Check with your leadership team or organisation for their policies and guidelines when it comes to photographing or filming within a school context.

When creating media, you also have a responsibility in relation the intellectual property of other creatives. The ResourceLink wiki created by Kay Oddone Copyright and Copyleft is an easy starting off point to learn about copyright and creative commons licencing.

Firstly great media isn't about access to technology or possessing a high level of skill - it's all about the story you are sharing! The Humans of New York story is a sensation that has captured the hearts and minds of many on the internet. It began as an artist small idea and grew to a worldwide phenomenon. The portraits are beautiful, nothing overly staged or digitally remastered, and why are they so engaging?
flickr photo shared by ForbesOste under a Creative Commons ( BY-NC-ND ) license

You as an audience member read a story from the image. This is the most important question to consider when starting out building media, what is the story and why is it important to share.

Secondly, great media isn't about access to technology or possessing a high level of skill - it is about following some simple rules. Photography Mad is a beautiful blog that has stacks of tips, tutorials and techniques. Whatever type of product you are making be it print, still photography or a film if you don't capture your subject well the product will always look amateurish. Great composition will always mean that you have a quality end product.

flickr photo shared by blacktsuba under a Creative Commons ( BY-SA ) license

Thirdly: great media isn't about access to technology or possessing a high level of skill - i t is about putting all the pieces together in a simple and engaging way. If you have access to professional editing software, great!

If you don't, here are my current favourite apps and web tools for making great media:

1. Replay is a simple high quality app for iPhone or iPad, edit together video and still images to make high quality videos. It's free to download but you do need to pay for removal of watermarks and some theme packs.
2. PicLab and PicLab HD are photo editing apps for Apple and Andriod devices (PicLab HD is only available for Apple users), once you've mastered this user friendly app you'll be making high quality images in the palm of your hand. It's free to download and you can upgrade to PicLab HD for other features.
3. Video Scribe is an online tool by Sparkol for making whiteboard style animations. Once you master the user friendly web tool you'll be making high quality and dynamic animations. There is a cost to subscribe but with a few different pricing options you can find a plan that best fits your needs.
4. Canva is an online tool and iPad app https://marketing.canva.com/ipad/ for creating highly quality graphic designs. Make fliers, posters, photo collages and more easily and quickly.

Finally great media isn't about access to technology or possessing a high level of skill- it is about sharing the story with your audience in a safe and responsible manner. As mentioned earlier, if you are working within an educational context, it is vital that you ensure the privacy of your subjects if you're making media that includes identifiable images of others. Check with your leadership team or organisation for their policies and guidelines when it comes to photographing or filming within a school context.

With the ability to build media so fast and so easily, it is also vital to remember that you have a responsibility in relation the intellectual property of other creatives. Don't forget to check out the ResourceLink wiki created by Kay Oddone Copyright and Copyleft is an easy starting off point to learn about copyright and creative commons licensing.

flickr photo shared by mrsdkrebs under a Creative Commons ( BY ) license

So there you have it - a few simple tips that will help you ' fake it till you make it ' as a producer of high quality media! Making your own media is a bit like DIY home renovations - sometimes it's best to bring in a qualified and experienced expert to ensure the products success.

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Fake it till you make it - Some easy ways to make great quality media for the not so creative person.

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by Ben van Trier It's a phrase that we have all heard and it is also a phrase that we all have a stance on. Amy Cuddy shares a great TEDtalk about body language and how 'pretending' to be one way ...

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Congratulations to Gabby Tozer THE INTERN listed on the 2015 INKIES longlist ! | teachers'hub@harpercollins

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Congratulations to Gabby Tozer THE INTERN listed on the 2015 INKIES longlist ! | teachers'hub@harpercollins

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The Book Light | Making our library light up the world

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The Book Light | Making our library light up the world

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This year we decided to try something different to reward our library monitors for their hard work across the year. We bussed them down to our local book store, Collins Books on Bulcock St, and allowed each of them to select a book for the library. The books will have a plate inside stating it was chosen by Joe Bloggs, Library Monitor 2016.

We then walked down to the Hog's Breath Cafe and treated the kids to lunch. For $9.95 each they got a meal, soft drink and ice cream, so the cost was quite reasonable. The kids really enjoyed it and felt appreciated.

This activity was so popular we actually had to turn kids away, as we ran out of space. We have a Minecraft Club which runs on Wednesday lunch times, which is always full, and our Minecraft books are continually in circulation.

We took this activity from Unofficial Minecraft lab for kids : family-friendly projects for exploring and teaching math, science, history, and culture through creative building / John Miller and Chris Fornell Scott.. To do it, get kids to cut an A4 sheet of black paper into 2.5cm wide strips. Then do the same with the green piece of paper, but this time don't cut all the way through. Stop about 2.5cm from the end. Students then weave the black strips through the green "loom" to create their image. Glue the finished weaving to a larger sheet of paper to make a frame.

This activity involved a bit of preparation but was popular and had links to the Science curriculum in the Year 2 mixtures unit and in Maths with measurement. We set it up as a series of stations which students had to move through, following the instructions at each stage.

1. Take a bowl.

2. Add one tablespoon of Epsom salts.

3. Add a quarter cup of bicarb soda.

4. Add a couple of drops of food colouring.

5. Add one drop of essential oil.

6. Add acidulated water (1 cup of water with one tablespoon of lemon juice added) very slowly (We used a spray bottle), mixing between each addition until it looks like damp sand.

7. Mold into patty pans.

8. Let sit overnight until hard.

These Minions bookmarks were easy to make and popular with the students. All you need is cardboard, glue, wool and goggle eyes.

Many thanks to the Queensland School Libraries Association for awarding me the Queensland Teacher Librarian of the Year 2016 at the Future Libraries conference last Monday. The award was shared with Debra McGhee from St Teresa's at Noosaville. I'm very honoured.

This entry was posted on October 20, 2016.

This activity was cheap, quick and easy, and combined fun with science - all good things in my opinion. I got the idea here. All we needed was cardboard, sticky-tape and straws. I made a prototype using regular paper but it wasn't stiff enough. After making the hoop gliders we took the kids outside and had a competition to see whose could fly the furthest. It was surprising how far they could travel.

The library celebrated Roald Dahl Day on Tuesday 18th September by inviting all of our Year 2 students to a party.

We decorated the library with a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory theme, complete with chocolate river, giant mushrooms and large "lollies" hanging from the ceiling. The library staff and Year 2 staff all came in costume and most of the students did too.

We started with students doing a round of themed activities. For The Enormous Crocodile we played Stuck in the Swamp on the lawn outside the library; for George's Marvellous Medicine I did a science show where we mixed different chemicals to make things change colour and fizz; for Fantastic Mr Fox we played pin the tail on the fox and for The Twits students donned blindfolds and searched for rubber worms in our wormy "spaghetti".

The food was provided by our Year 12 Hospitality students who did a great job creating a themed menu with lots of chocolate, James and the Giant Peach cupcakes, snozcumber sandwiches and human bean dip from The BFG and chicken nuggets from Fantastic Mr Fox among others, with plenty of fizzy lifting drink to wash it down. We sat down on the floor together and had a giant picnic.

As part of our Book Week celebrations we had four visiting authors across P-12. Nadia Sunde was a big hit with the students and staff alike in P-3. She is a storyteller who gave a hilarious performance involving music and drama, which was highly interactive and explored the power of the imagination.

Pat Flynn spoke to the Year 4-7 students and all of his books were borrowed immediately after his talks. Steph Bowe was our speaker for the Year 9-12 students and it was interesting for them to see someone so young who was a successful author.

Finally, Peter Carnavas conducted workshops with our Year 8 classes as part of their picture book unit in English, focusing on the way in which images can convey meaning.

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This year we decided to try something different to reward our library monitors for their hard work across the year. We bussed them down to our local book store, Collins Books on Bulcock St, and allowed each of them to select a book for the library.

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Resources Toolkit for New Teachers | Edutopia

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Resources Toolkit for New Teachers | Edutopia

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From classroom management to working with parents, lesson planning to learning environments, this compilation of blogs, videos, and other resources provides an array of tips and advice for teachers just starting out.

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This is a presentation explaining the process of writing reflective essays. It includes structuring the essay using a reflective model and suggestions for intr...

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Conferring Toolkits: Record Keeping | TWO WRITING TEACHERS

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Conferring Toolkits: Record Keeping | TWO WRITING TEACHERS

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Detailed records of small group and 1:1 conferences are one of the most important items in your conferring toolkit. Why? Keeping records: Helps distribute your time equitably amongst students. See the tracks of your teaching and monitor student growth. Helps you determine next steps with each student, small groups, or the whole class.

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Your social media cheat sheet for perfectly sized images

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Your social media cheat sheet for perfectly sized images

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Image: Flickr, r. nial bradshaw

Images are a vital element of social media. Set a photo with screwy dimensions as your profile pic or cover photo, and you've immediately set the tone all wrong.

But don't worry - we took a look at the optimum image sizes for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn, so you can make sure your profiles and content look as good as they possibly can.

Bookmark our convenient graphics now, and you'll have the sizes handy next time you want to redesign your profile.

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Your social media cheat sheet for perfectly sized images

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Images are a vital element of social media. Set a photo with screwy dimensions as your profile pic or cover photo, and you've immediately set the tone all wrong. But don't worry - we took a look at the optimum image sizes for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn, so you can make sure your profiles and content look as good as they possibly can.

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Everything Teachers Need to Know about Bloom's Digital Taxonomy

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Everything Teachers Need to Know about Bloom's Digital Taxonomy

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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April 8, 2015
Bloom's Taxonomy is one of the major themes here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. We have been extensively sharing resources on it and we have a separate section where you can access and check all the resources we have posted so far.

A refresher for you, Blooms traditional taxonomy which was published sometime in the middle of the last century was revised in 2001 and henceforth was labelled Blooms Revised Taxonomy. This revision is a little bit different from the original one in that it replaces nouns with verbs and places emphasis on the process of creating by putting it on the top of the thinking continuum.

Since the emergence of the Revised Taxonomy, several educators have been adding to it expanding thus its scope and making it even more comprehensible by integrating technology component into it. Andrew Churches is one of the first guys who was behind the marriage of revised taxonomy and technology; a marriage which resulted in "digital Blooms Taxonomy".

As Andrew Churches stated, Bloom's digital taxonomy is not about web tools or technology, it is rather about effective use of technology to facilitate learning. For instance, Andrew added, "bookmarking a resource is of no value if the resource is inappropriate, invalid, out of date or inaccurate."

Andrew has this wonderful PDF document that features a wide variety of resources and illustrations to help you better grasp and apply the ethos of Bloom's digital taxonomy in your instruction. The PDF is available for free download from this page. For more resources on Bloom's taxonomy, visit Andrew's wiki: edorigami. Enjoy

Here is a snapshot of the table of contents of this PDF:

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Everything Teachers Need to Know about Bloom's Digital Taxonomy

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April 8, 2015 Bloom's Taxonomy is one of the major themes here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. We have been extensively sharing resources on it and we have a separate section where you can access and check all the resources we have posted so far.

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The Educators’ Guide to Infographics - The Edublogger

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The Educators’ Guide to Infographics - The Edublogger

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Sometimes when you're compiling your content for your next blog post you find that, to get your point across, you have to cover a lot of facts and figures, statistics, or tabular information, and it's really tricky to put into words. Wouldn't it be great if you could easily compile it all into a vibrant and easy to read chart, or even a collection of charts that are all related? Then, wouldn't it be great if it was all in one image that you could share to other people, or even print to stick on the wall of your classroom?

Search no more, for we have your solution. Infographics!

What Are Infographics?

As the name may suggest, an Infographic is a graphic that gives you lots of info. In slightly less layman's terms, an infographic is an image that presents facts and figures on a particular subject in an easy to read and vibrant form.

Infographics have gained popularity over the last year or so, and if you are not familiar with the concept, creating them could present a challenge, so we thought it was about time we took a look at some tools that you can make use of to put together useful infographics that you can use on your blog or even your classroom wall.

Our Favourite Infographic Tools

I've been huntng down some of the best tools I can find for creating infographics, and other graphics you can use on your blog. Below are my favourites from the ones I've found.

1. Canva

I've started here because this is my favourite of the tools I'm going to look at, but not specifically for it's Infographic ability. Canva is a general graphic design package that allows you to create images for quite a wide range of situations, such as Facebook and Twitter profile headers, leaflets and blog graphics. For this reason, Canva is extremely versatile.

The interface at Canva.com is extremely easy to use. Virtually everything is drag and drop, and they have a wide selection of graphical elements you can use to pull together your design. When generating an Infographic, they provide a selection of graphs and charts that you can customise, continent maps, stick figure people of various kinds... basically everything you need to put together a great looking presentation.

Canva is a free service, and the majority of the infographic elements are free to use. There is however a charge for using certain photographs and some other elements on the site. Photos and "premium" elements are usually $1 each, so if you DO have to use them, it won't necessarily break the bank... and there's always the option of uploading your own graphics, or those that you've found online elsewhere... although, as always, be careful of copyright implications when using other peoples' images.

2. Piktochart

In many respects, Piktochart is very similar to Canva. Certainly in the appearance of the interface, Canva and Piktochart would be hard to tell apart.

Piktochart focuses more on infographics and printable graphics rather than providing all the pre-templated options that Canva offers, but when generating infographics Piktochart has an equally (if not more) impressive selection of graphic elements and icons that you can make use of. They also provide a number of pre-built infographic templates that you can use, or you can start from a blank template and design it yourself from scratch.

The main difference between Canva and Piktochart is the pricing model. While Canva offers all it's options for free, and charges only for the use of certain photos or elements, Piktochart offers the majority of it's elements for free and charges a Pro membership for higher resolution or print quality versions of your graphic (as well as some other extra features), and their Pro option costs $29/month, which may be off-putting for some educators on a tight budget. Having said that, if you're generating infographics for your blog site, the quality of the free version they offer is more than sufficient.

3. Venngage

Venngage focuses a little more closely on infographics, although it is possible to produce other graphics using their interface. Compared to the likes of Canva and Piktochart, Venngage does feel a little less intuitive, and the interface is slightly more "clunky", however it does offer a decent range of icons and elements you can use in your presentation. Some of their elements are hidden behind their "Premium" pay-wall (such as their maps), but the majority of what you would need is avaiable as part of their Free package.

Where this service does fall down is when it comes to completing and publishing your package, since they don't allow you to simply download your image like the others we've mentioned so far. That is a service reserved for their Premium customers... however they do offer a discounted package for Educational organisations, meaning you can grab their Premium package for $29/month and provide premium access to up to 35 teachers and students within your school, and there's a 14 day trial period you can use too... so that does somewhat cushion the blow.

Without their Premium package, you are free to share to social media, and publish to a hosted page that you can link to, but actually on this occasion their Premium Education package does offer some added benefits that would be worth considering, such as the ability for Teachers to monitor the graphics generated by their students.

4. Infogr.am

Focusing almost solely on Infographics and charts/graphs, Infogram offers a very clever way of presenting specific graphical data. Right on their website they provide a kind of spreadsheet based editor for you to input all your data, then it automatically generates a modern looking graph or chart of your chosen design that fits nicely onto your page, or even a world map, if you are trying to show global distribution of statistics. Other maps are also available, but only to premium members.

Sadly, whilst the simplicity of generating graphs and tables is extremely handy, that seems to be where Infogram reaches its limit. Unlike Canva and Piktochart, Infogram does not offer a library of icons and graphics you can use to create your own layout or catchy design. They also have a more restrictive membership system, meaning that you can't download or print your infographic without signing up for their subscription (from about $18/month), all they allow is sharing to social media, and even that is branded... so for educators, perhaps this may price Infogram out of the race?

Conclusion

If you're looking to liven up your blog, or you've got a presentation you need a catchy graphic for, Infographics are probably the way to go, and there are certainly tools out there to suit whatever circumstances you may be in. The tools I've mentioned here are just a few of the many similar resources available online, so it pays to search around, but hopefully these ones will point you in the right direction and help you generate the Infographics you need.

If you've spotted another tool that you think is better than the ones mentioned here, please feel free to let us know in the comments and we'll take a look. If you have already been using infographics in your class or on your blog, let us know, maybe add a link to your comment, and help our other educators come up with great new ways to engage their class when the subject matter might otherwise be a bunch of boring numbers.

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Sometimes when you're compiling your content for your next blog post you find that, to get your point across, you have to cover a lot of facts and figures, statistics, or tabular information, and it's really tricky to put into words.

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Shelfies: A Snapshot of Our Reading Lives by Melissa Guerrette | Nerdy Book Club

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Shelfies: A Snapshot of Our Reading Lives by Melissa Guerrette | Nerdy Book Club

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Shelfies: A Snapshot of Our Reading Lives by Melissa Guerrette

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Thanks to popularity among the Nerdy Book Club-types, shelfies have become trendy. Many of us have even made shelfies something of a habit. Just look at the call for #winterTBR stacks or the unsolicited shelfies we've all been posting in anticipation of snow day reading bliss. So, why is it?

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Two Excellent Tutorials on How to Create A Newsletter for Your Classroom ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Two Excellent Tutorials on How to Create A Newsletter for Your Classroom ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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February 21, 2015
Newsletters are very good forms of communication and as teachers you can use them to communicate with parents and school community or with your own students. Both Windows and Mac have integrated apps that you can use for this purpose. To this end, we are sharing with you two interesting videos to walk you through the process of creating a newsletter. The first video is for Windows users and it shows how you can use Microsoft Word to create a newsletter and the second one is for Mac users explaining how to use Pages for the same purpose. The process in both videos is very simple: you simply select a theme or template from a wide range of pre-made newsletter templates and start tweaking it inserting text, images, changing text fonts...etc.
1- Create A Newsletter in Word 2011 by Robert Lenart

2- How to Create Newsletter On A Mac

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Two Excellent Tutorials on How to Create A Newsletter for Your Classroom

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February 21, 2015 Newsletters are very good forms of communication and as teachers you can use them to communicate with parents and school community or with your own students. Both Windows and Mac have integrated apps that you can use for this purpose.

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The Secret Book Society by Cathlin Shahriary | Nerdy Book Club

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The Secret Book Society by Cathlin Shahriary | Nerdy Book Club

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The Secret Book Society by Cathlin Shahriary

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It started as a spark, a sudden burst of inspiration that struck me over the summer. It was probably due to the insane amount of books I had consumed while being stuck off of my feet recovering from surgery or the pain meds, but nevertheless the idea struck me - I should start a book club....

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Personalized Learning Vs Traditional Learning ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Personalized Learning Vs Traditional Learning ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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January 22, 2015

One of the biggest affordances of technology is towards the enhancement of the concept of personalized learning. Internet and more particularly web 2.0 technologies and mobile apps have provided learners with unprecedented opportunities to learn whenever, wherever, and however they want. At its core, personalized learning is all about tailoring the available resources in order to meet personal learning needs. On a macro educational scale, personalized learning addresses different teaching strategies and instructional methods that focus on the adjustment and leverage of the curricula and teaching materials to help meet a diverse set of students learning needs and interests.

The visual I am sharing with you today sheds more light on this concept and walks you through some of the differences between personalized learning and traditional learning. Check it out below and share with us what you think of it.

Source: Dreambox

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Personalized Learning Vs Traditional Learning

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January 22, 2015 One of the biggest affordances of technology is towards the enhancement of the concept of personalized learning. Internet and more particularly web 2.0 technologies and mobile apps have provided learners with unprecedented opportunities to learn whenever, wherever, and however they want.

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Our schools at a glance | Going to a public school

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Alphabetical index of common topics of inquiry about NSW public schools including attendance, curriculum, homework, parent organisations, transport an

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Problem Based Learning Explained for Teachers ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Problem Based Learning Explained for Teachers ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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January 4, 2015
Project based learning and problem based learning are two didactic approaches to learning that are often used interchangeably to refer to the same thing: engaging students in authentic learning activities. This truism does not always hold true. In a learning task that is problem based, the focus is on finding solutions to the problem posed through applying learned strategies and in so doing the process of arriving at the solution is, in and of itself, an integral part of the overall learning taking place . Also, Problem based learning is different from project based learning in terms of the length or timeframe of the activities. While projects in project based learning stretch over a lengthy period of time, activities in problem based learning tend to be relatively short.

To learn more about problem-based learning, here is a set of useful videos explaining what PBL is all about:

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Problem Based Learning Explained for Teachers

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January 4, 2015 Project based learning and problem based learning are two didactic approaches to learning that are often used interchangeably to refer to the same thing: engaging students in authentic learning activities. This truism does not always hold true.

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Using Evernote for Research | A School Library Technician's Toolbox

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Using Evernote for Research | A School Library Technician's Toolbox

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A School Library Technician's Toolbox

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See on Scoop.it - Library Social Media Tech My students are currently working on two projects: a digital story and a research essay. Both of these assignments require ample amounts of research using a variety of sources - books, academic jou...See on indianajen.com

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3 TED Talks to Unleash Your Creativity ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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3 TED Talks to Unleash Your Creativity ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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January 4, 2015
Looking for some inspirational ideas to unleash your creativity and kickstart the new year? The TED talks below are definitely a must watch. The start of a new year is traditionally the time that most people set out goals and resolutions and create to-do lists. These talks will help you come up with creative ideas to include in your resolutions list and most importantly, will "offer the kick-in-the-pants you need to unleash your creative spirit.

1- Your Elusive Creative Genius by Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses - and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.

Is your school or workplace divided into "creatives" versus practical people? Yet surely, David Kelley suggests, creativity is not the domain of only a chosen few. Telling stories from his legendary design career and his own life, he offers ways to build the confidence to create... (From The Design Studio session at TED2012, guest-curated by Chee Pearlman and David Rockwell.)

Is there something you've always meant to do, wanted to do, but just ... haven't? Matt Cutts suggests: Try it for 30 days. This short, lighthearted talk offers a neat way to think about setting and achieving goals.

Source: TED Blog

Follow us on : Twitter, Facebook , Google plus, Pinterest .

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January 4, 2015 Looking for some inspirational ideas to unleash your creativity and kickstart the new year? The TED talks below are definitely a must watch. The start of a new year is traditionally the time that most people set out goals and resolutions and create to-do lists.

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VirtualTeacher - Great Websites, Lesson Plans and Information for Educators

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VirtualTeacher - Great Websites, Lesson Plans and Information for Educators

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VirtualTeacher - FREE Website & Newsletter, Lesson Plans & Information for Educators

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AMAZING RESOURCE - Educational Newsletter & Website, Computer Solutions for Teachers & Educators Online Lesson Plans, Great Sites, Free Stuff, Tips, Time savers, and templates.

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Early Words Matter

A child's earliest years are crucial to their development and life chances. Our new Early Words Matter campaign will ensure every child is empowered with the words they need to write their own story.

Early years

Resources and tools for early language development and parental engagement.

Primary

Deliver outstanding literacy provision at primary school stage.

Secondary

Help students develop the literacy skills they need to succeed at school and in their future lives.

We empower parents and families

Parents - you're not alone! Discover a wealth of practical tips to help your child's literacy journey, fun activities to try together as well as reassuring support and guidance on our Words for Life website. We have plenty of creative ways to nurture your child's reading, speaking, listening and writing development at home.

We collaborate with communities and local areas

We work collaboratively in 20 areas of the UK that face the biggest challenges with literacy and where we can make the most difference. We work alongside teachers and football coaches, to librarians and youth leaders - to create bespoke solutions that support literacy at home, in school and in the community.

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National Literacy Trust | UK Literacy Charity

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We are an independent charity working with schools and communities to give children the literacy skills to succeed in life.

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How to write fantasy, science fiction and genre fiction. 145 pages of creative writng advice for novels and short stories.

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Wonderful Mini-posters on The 21st century Literacies ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Wonderful Mini-posters on The 21st century Literacies ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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December 31, 2014
The concept of literacy is notoriously elusive and hard to define. Aside from the shallow and intellectually-impaired definition that sums up literacy in reading and writing printed text, any serious and profound investigation of literacy does, by implication, entail an analysis of the new ways of learning and meaning-making afforded by digitality. New digital media have provided learners with novel and revolutionary ways of producing, discussing, sharing and interacting with text.

These ways, to say the least about them, are multimodally complex and call for an integrated set of skills that go beyond the mere ability to code and decode meaning. In this sense, to be literate in such a multimodal environment requires understanding and using a wide range of interconnected literacies. We are no longer talking about a single literacy as was the case since the invention of writing some 6000 year ago, we are, instead, in front of multiple new emerging and interdependent literacies. Today's students are asked to have a working knowledge of these literacies in order to be able to thrive in a globalized knowledge economy. Katchy Schrock has this wonderful resource where she features some awesome mini-posters defining the key literacies making up today's Literacy (with capital letter) landscape. These visuals are ideal for classroom inclusion. I invite you to check them out and share with your colleagues.

Here is a quick round-up of the major literacies included in these posters:

Information literacy

Visual literacy

Critical literacy

Media literacy

Tool literacy

Digital literacy

Data literacy

Global literacy

Economic literacy

Civic literacy

Health literacy

Historical literacy

Traditional literacy

Here is an example of Kathy's posters. Check out the rest of these posters from this link.

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Wonderful Mini-posters on The 21st century Literacies

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December 31, 2014 The concept of literacy is notoriously elusive and hard to define. Aside from the shallow and intellectually-impaired definition that sums up literacy in reading and writing printed text, any serious and profound investigation of literacy does, by implication, entail an analysis of the new ways of learning and meaning-making afforded by digitality.

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: March is Women's History Month: 50 Resources With Hundreds of Links

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: March is Women's History Month: 50 Resources With Hundreds of Links

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Thomson-Gale's List of Biographies

Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation

Women of Our Time- National Geographic's Twentieth Century Photographs Form the National Portrait Gallery

Women of Valor- trailblazing Jewish women

Women Who Changed History

Women Working, 1800-1930- Harvard University's Library's collection of books, pamphlets, journals, records, manuscripts and photographs

Women's History A to Z- scholars, scientists, teachers, talk show hosts, artists, athletes and much more from Bio.com

Women's History Month- from EDSITEment

Women's History Month- from History.com; videos, speeches, pictures

Women's History Month- from Time for Kids

Women's History Month for the Classroom- grades K-12 from NEA

Women's History Stories- Awesome Stories has a list of over 400 here!

Women's History Teaching Resources- from Smithsonian Institution

Women's History Timeline- from Middle Tennessee State University

A Woman's World- New York Times' interactive photo gallery with reader-submitted photos from around the world

Education World- lesson plans and resources

Lesson Plans Page

Library of Congress- wonderful resources for teachers

Mr. Donn- social studies teacher's website

National Women's Hall of Fame

New York Times Learning Network

ReadWriteThink

Scholastic- plans, activities, websites

Six Lesson Plan Resources for Teachers- from Edutopia

Teaching History's Women's History Month- primary sources, quizzes, lesson plans

TeacherVision- lesson plans, slideshows, printables, quizzes, resources

Vocabulary for Women's History Month- from Spelling City

Women's History Month Worksheets

Women's History Quiz- from About.com

Word Search Puzzle

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March is Women's History Month: 50 Resources With Hundreds of Links

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Thomson-Gale's List of Biographies Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation Women of Our Time- National Geographic's Twentieth Century Photographs Form the National Portrait Gallery Women of Valor- trailblazing Jewish women Women Who Changed History Women Working, 1800-1930- Harvard University's Library's collection of books, pamphlets, journals, records, manuscripts and photographs Women's History A

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: Happy 110th Birthday, Dr. Seuss! Updated Listing of 48 Websites!

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: Happy 110th Birthday, Dr. Seuss! Updated Listing of 48 Websites!

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Happy 110th Birthday, Dr. Seuss! Updated Listing of 48 Websites!

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Time to plan ahead! One week from this Monday is Dr. Seuss' birthday! As many of you know by now, my mega-holiday listing of teacher resou...

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: 34 Lessons, Games and Resources for Language Arts Teachers

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: 34 Lessons, Games and Resources for Language Arts Teachers

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Currently, Language Arts teachers have their own tab at the top of this page, with resources on Digital Storytelling, Shakespeare and Poetry. Today I have updated the list to also have lesson plans and resources for all grade levels. The most recent list is below. As always, please share your additions by commenting below.

Language Arts Lessons- from ReadWriteThink; covers K-12 ( grades are labeled)
Language Arts Lesson Plans-from TeAchnology
Literature and Language Arts Lessons- from EDSITEment; grades K-12
PBS Learning Media-covers English Language Arts and Literacy; all grades; choose from many subcategories
Smithsonian Education-varied topics cover grades K-12
Spelling City Lesson Plans- vocabulary; videos, worksheets, games
Teachit Lesson Plans- vast number of resources!
Top 25 Lesson Plans for 2011- from Thinkfinity; grades are labeled- K-12

RESOURCES AND GAMES
Cliche Finder- 3,300 index cliches

Common Core English Language Arts Resources- from ShareMyLesson

Curriki's Language Arts Resources-small listing covers all grades
English ELA Review Games- pick your grade level

Funbrain Game Finder

Grammar, Usage and Mechanics- from Writer's Choice; grade 9

Guide to Grammar and Writing- over 400 references
Hemingway- students can analyze their writing with this app

Integrating Technology into the Language Arts classroom

Language Arts for Middle and High School- long listing

Language Arts Games on Gamequairium

Middle School Reading Interactives- listing includes language interactives, grammar help, general comprehension stories and much more

Online Language Arts Games- from TeacherVision

PicLits- inspired picture writing

Popular Technology Resources for Reading and Language Arts- covers K-12; from TeacherVision

Powerpoint Presentations on Authors- for grades K-6

Reading, Writing, Grammar- Mr. Donn's extensive site is loaded with resources for K-12

Teaching English as a Language- from Web English Teacher; links for ELL and ESL teachers

We Are Teachers- reading, grammar, spelling vocabulary

Writing Prompts- huge listing of resources!

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34 Lessons, Games and Resources for Language Arts Teachers

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Currently, Language Arts teachers have their own tab at the top of this page, with resources on Digital Storytelling, Shakespeare and Poetry. Today I have updated the list to also have lesson plans and resources for all grade levels. The most recent list is below. As always, please share your additions by commenting below.

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: The Birds and the Bees: 53 Sites If You Teach Sex Education

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: The Birds and the Bees: 53 Sites If You Teach Sex Education

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Yesterday, my colleague and friend Alex stopped by my office to ask if I could post a load of resources for sex education class. I immediately checked my blog to see if I had already done this, ( I just can't remember everything, you know...) and after doing a search, noticed the need for these resources. This list will also be added to the PE and Health tab at the top of the page. If you are ever looking for any resources in particular, feel free to comment at the end of the post. I would be more than happy to post them for you.

GENERAL SITES
Hawaii AIDS Education and Training Center- lessons in PDF format, from puberty to menstruation

HIV and AIDS Lessons and Activity Plans-

Lesson Plans for Grades 4,5,6- PDF and PowerPoint downloads from the Seattle and King County Public Health

Lesson Plans for Grades 7,8- PDF and PowerPoint downloads from the Seattle and King County Public Health

Lesson Plans for Grades 9-12- PDF and PowerPoint downloads from the Seattle and King County Public Health

Lesson Plans for Special Education- PDF and PowerPoint downloads from the Seattle and King County Public Health

Sex Education Articles, Worksheets and Lessons- from TeacherVision

Sex Education Teacher Resources- over 200 lessons

SexEd Library-over 100 lessons covering many topics

Sexual Pressures- lesson plan from Discovery Education

Sexuality and Responsibility- 10 lesson plans for each grade 6, 7, 8

Teaching Sexual Health- Canadian site has lessons in both English and French; covers grades 4-12

SPECIFIC TOPICS
Abortion
Adolescents and Abortion

The Lesson Corner- list of lessons on abortion

The Lesson Planet- lesson plans and worksheets

Revisiting Roe v. Wade- NY Times lesson plan

AIDS: Who's at Risk?- from Discovery Education; grades 9-12

The Body: The Complete HIV/AIDS Resource

HIV and AIDS Lessons and Activities

HIV/AIDS- several lesson plans on HIV/AIDS (and related areas) from the NY Times

HIV/AIDS Awareness Printables, Lessons and Resources- from TeacherVision

HIV/AIDS/STIs- lesson plans for ages 12-18

Reproductive Anatomy- lesson plan from Planned Parenthood includes worksheets, activities and games

STIs and HIV- lesson plan for grade 9 from Needham, MA Public Schools

Conception
Conception Lesson Plans and Worksheets- from Lesson Planet

From Conception to Birth: Teacher's Guide- from Discovery Education; subscription necessary to view the videos; grades 9-12

Reproductive Anatomy, Conception, Pregnancy and Birth- grade 9 lesson from Needham, MA Public Schools
Contraception
Contraception Lesson Plan- from Canadian site TeachingHealth; very complete, including handouts

Reasons and Methods for Preventing Pregnancy- grade 9 lesson from Needham, MA Public Schools; contains glossary and printable worksheet

Studying Contraception- lesson 1; for grade 8; from Canadian site TeachingHealth

Studying Contraception- lesson 2; for grade 8; from Canadian site TeachingHealth
Human Sexuality
The Circles of Human Sexuality- teacher's resource included (PDF)
Human Sexuality Lesson Plans - from Lesson Planet; also has worksheets and presentations

PBS Teachers- lessons on abstinence, smart choices about sex, and STDs
Sexual Pressures- grades 6-8 lesson from Discovery Education
LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender)
Anti-Homophobic Bullying Lessons- from nobullying.org

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Network- assorted lessons

The Gay-Straight Alliance Network- LGBT-Inclusive Lessons

Not in Our Town- lessons about sexual identity and gender

Safe Schools Coalition- lessons for K-12

Teaching and Learning About Gay History and Issues- from NY Times; long list of lessons and resources here

Teaching Tolerance- Southern Poverty Law Center's site; lessons for grades 3-12
Reproductive Systems
Female Reproductive System- from InnerBody; interactive diagrams

Kids' Health- all about the female reproductive system

The Lesson Corner- all grades covered on this very long list

The Male Reproductive System- from HotChalk; grades 6-8

Reproductive Anatomy- lesson plan from Planned Parenthood includes worksheets, activities and games

Reproductive System from the Body Human Series- if you are a Discovery Education subscriber, this lesson goes with the video; includes worksheets, quiz, vocabulary sheet

Teen Pregnancy
Do I or Don't I?- a lesson in making healthy sexual choices; has various scenarios and a pre-test

Pregnancy Prevention- NY Times lesson for grades 9-12

Sex and Teen Pregnancy- lesson plan list from the NY Times

Teen Pregnancy Lesson Plans- from the Lesson Corner

Teen Pregnancy Lesson- from Discovery Education; grades 6-8

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The Birds and the Bees: 53 Sites If You Teach Sex Education

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Yesterday, my colleague and friend Alex stopped by my office to ask if I could post a load of resources for sex education class. I immediately checked my blog to see if I had already done this, ( I just can't remember everything, you know...)

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: Let's Talk About the Weather: 32 Places For Students to Explore

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: Let's Talk About the Weather: 32 Places For Students to Explore

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A few days ago, I was sitting outside my hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, sipping fresh orange juice and looking at the beach. ( Although I did not take the above photo, it accurately represents the view) Today, I am back at work, awaiting a huge snowstorm which will bring us up to 8 inches of snow. With all the extreme weather changes we have been experiencing lately, I decided to put together a collection of resources to teach students about the weather. ( All ages are covered.) I also have created a pathfinder for my students on Natural Disasters in the News.

Active Weather Alerts- from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

American Meteorological Society

Build Your Own Weather Station- Discovery Education lesson plan

Commuter Forecast- just enter destination

Discovery Education Lesson Plans

EdHeads: Weather Activities

Hands-On Science and Literacy Lessons About Weather and Climate- grades K-5

How's the Weather Today?- National Geographic Education

Inside the Climatologist's Toolbox

Interactive Weather Maker

Interactives on the Weather- from Annenberg Learner

Introduction to Weather Map Symbols and Terminology

Kid Info- weather facts and weather resources

Lesson Plan Central- weather lessons

National and Local Weather- weather.com

Preschool Education Theme: Weather

Preschool Weather Arts and Crafts

The Science Spot- weather lesson plans

Stop Disasters!- disaster simulation game

Tree House Weather Kids- Interactive site is also available in Spanish

Weather Activities and Smartboard Activities- very good site with a weather game, research section and so much more

Weather Lesson Plans- from TeAchnology

Weather Lesson Plans, Themes, Printouts, Crafts- The Teacher's Guide

Weather Map- shows U.S. weather map and some streaming video from weather cams

Weather Printables, Lesson Plans, Resources- from TeacherVision; covers grades K-12

Weather Scope: Make a Weather Station

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Let's Talk About the Weather: 32 Places For Students to Explore

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A few days ago, I was sitting outside my hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, sipping fresh orange juice and looking at the beach. ( Although I did not take the above photo, it accurately represents the view) Today, I am back at work, awaiting a huge snowstorm which will bring us up to 8 inches of snow.

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: Health Teachers and Coaches Will Love These 56 Resources

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: Health Teachers and Coaches Will Love These 56 Resources

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Health Teachers and Coaches Will Love These 56 Resources

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The number one New Year's resolution is to lose weight, yet our health is something we should be concerned about 365 days a year. If you te...

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: Teach Italian? Why Not Try These 23 Resources

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A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: Teach Italian? Why Not Try These 23 Resources

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Teach Italian? Why Not Try These 23 Resources

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RESOURCES American Association of Teachers of Italian Inspiring Italy - Mr. Donn's site covers games, activities, resources and a larg...

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It's not the program that sucks, it's you.

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Essential Books for Kids and Teens | Common Sense Media

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Essential Books for Kids and Teens | Common Sense Media

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Best Books for Kids & Teens | Common Sense Media

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The absolute best kids' books, chapter books, and teen reads to help you raise a lifelong reader. Find recommendations for 2- to 17-year-olds.

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Infographics especially easel.ly | READINGPOWER

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Infographics especially easel.ly | READINGPOWER

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I like and have used it myself - I tried a few infographic tools and found this good for me as a beginner and wanting a quick result. I set up an account. However, this site lists the main on...

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Australia Current Affairs Quiz Links | READINGPOWER

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Australia Current Affairs Quiz Links | READINGPOWER

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How to code in schools: a teacher and student's guide (Wired UK)

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How to code in schools: a teacher and student's guide (Wired UK)

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The UK is, according to Codecademy's founder Zach Sims, well ahead of the pack when it comes to teaching the next generation to code.

This year we have seen it introduced on the national curriculum for the first time in a big way, and although it might seem late in the day for some, the UK is in fact one of a handful of nations that has done this.

Now the first term has come to a close, WIRED.co.uk caught up with Codecademy's head of UK operations, Rachel Swidenbank to find out how it fared. The organisation, along with initiatives like Code Club and the Hour of Code, has been integral in providing teachers with support -- support that turned out to be hugely welcome. "Before the term started, a lot of people were feeling under-confident, especially in primary schools," says Swidenbank. "All evidence now shows confidence is on the up." The biggest challenge remains the knowledge gaps, she asserts. But Codecademy's own figures show the extent of the dent being made in that area. It has had 100,000 new student signups in the past three months and has partnered with more than 2,000 schools since September, bringing its total to more than 3,000.

The biggest change, has been a growth in confidence -- in both teachers and students. Keeping on top of the learning is the key to ensuring that confidence thrives, and Swidenbank has seen the results of that firsthand. "One student in Oxfordshire has special needs and is autistic.

They stayed through breaks after classes because they got so involved in completing the courses. It's about providing a new skill for a lot of these students, including students that might not have been previously as engaged."

She points to another student, a girl in year 8 who had literacy and numeracy problems. Now, she is the number one coder in her class -- "it has massively improved her confidence; she has found this niche where she really excels."

But how have the teachers really fared going into the first term, and how can they keep on top of things over the Christmas period? We spoke to Marc Scott, a Computer Science and Codecademy teacher and self-taught programmer, and asked for his guidance in tackling the curriculum headon.
What are your top tips for teachers?
Get online and look for support. Computing At Schools (CAS) is an amazing organisation and their site is packed with resources and ideas. More importantly though, the forum is very friendly and there are hundreds of teachers that can offer advice and guidance. Then there are the regional hubs, with regularly held events where you can meet other teachers in real life and share experiences.
What if they have no experience of coding at all?
You need to get the basics learned pretty quickly. You can play around with MIT's Scratch and Google's app inventor to start with, but they're no real replacement for learning a text-based programming language. Pick a language you like the look of. It doesn't really matter which one. Python is great for its simple syntax, and JavaScript is a good choice as it just runs in a browser. But there are plenty of others to choose from. Once you've decided on a language, you need to practice. Again, there are hundreds of courses online to help you out with this.
What's the secret to catching up quickly?
Practice is key. There's going to be no magic bullet from the government that will suddenly teach you how to code, and no matter how great the resources you use are, students are always going to need help from their teacher. At the end of the day, it's going to be up to you to invest your own time in learning. Try to set aside an hour each evening, or a few hours on the weekend, each and every week.
What advice would you give a student new to coding?
For some, Computer Science is just going to be another subject they study, like Geography or French. Some of them will love the subject, others will develop no particular passion and drop it when it comes to choosing their GCSE subjects. For my students that catch the coding bug the one piece of advice I always give them is to pick a language they don't use in school, and try to build something with it. We mainly use Python in my school, but I have students who are learning Ruby, Node and Lua in their own time.

There's no better way of learning to code and to simultaneously develop computational thinking skills, than building your own project that actually does something. To start off with, forget about building the next Call of Duty, and think of something small; a web-scraper, a quiz app, a pong clone. Then just get coding. You'll learn more in a few hours working on your own project and delving into StackOverflow, than you will in a month of Computer Science lessons.
What has the first term of the new curriculum been like?
I'm very happy with how this term has progressed so far. Our year 7 students have been using Scratch and learning how the internet works, and will be moving onto learning some HTML in the spring.

Our Year 8s and 9s have been using JavaScript to control virtual bots, and then learning about logic gates and how CPUs work, as well as doing some opcode programming on the Little Man Computer.
How have you supported kids that have excelled?
Students that excel are the easiest to support. It's trivial to set them new problems and push them on to bigger and better things.

I've one student in Year 7 who completed all his Scratch work about a month early, as he accessed all our online resources from home.

As a result I had to find new tasks for him to do. My first challenge was for him to create a Flappy Bird clone in Scratch. He managed this in an afternoon, so I knew I had to up my game.

I gave him a couple of lessons on Codecademy so that he could learn the basics of Python syntax and then started issuing him challenges. My first was to make me a simple calculator. The next was to write a script that could encrypt and decrypt messages using a Cesar Cypher. His Christmas project is to write me a script that will tell me the number of prime numbers that exist within any given range of numbers.
What about those that have struggled with the work?
Supporting students who struggle is the hardest part. Here students tend to fall into two categories, in my experience. There are those that have a genuine interest in the subject, but find the work hard, and those that have little interest in learning to program and as a result find it difficult.

I don't believe that everyone needs to learn to code. No more than I believe everyone needs to learn a second language. I do believe that everyone should be given the opportunity to learn Computer Science, and then decide for themselves if it is something they would like to pursue.

For students that show little interest, so long as they make an effort to engage, I am happy. They'll encounter problems that they'll struggle with and I'll help them out as much as possible.

We try to make sure that our schemes have something in them for everyone, so even if they find coding too difficult, there'll be other challenges and tasks that might be more suited to them.

For students who want to study Computer Science, but struggle with the subject, the only solution is to invest more time with them. I have students, particularly at GCSE level, who come to my classroom after school so they can get one-on-one tuition and get past the conceptual blocks they have, or who email me at weekends for help.
Any tips for keeping up practice over the holidays?
Build something. It doesn't matter how big or small, you'll learn the most if you're creating your own problems and then working out solutions. I teach Systems and Control as well as Computer Science, and I learned a huge amount of JavaScript and vector mathematics when I was building a graphical simulation of electrons passing through a resistor, for one of our schemes of work. Making things is really the best way to learn. Pick a project, start to code it and then hit StackOverflow when you hit your first major problem. There's no greater sense of achievement than actually building something yourself.

One tip though, don't bother showing off your script or app to anyone and expect praise. Most people won't get it. An artist can spend a week painting a beautiful landscape and get heaped with praise. A joiner can put together a mahogany drinks cabinet and be swamped with requests for replicas. A writer can craft a short story and be proclaimed a literary genius. If you show your app to a non-coder they'll shrug and tell you that the animated bouncing ball that perfectly replicates real-world physics is the wrong shade of blue. Show it to a coder and they'll tell you that your thousand lines of carefully crafted code could have been accomplished in four lines of Haskell.
What more support do you as a teacher need/what more should the government be doing?
This is a tricky question to answer, so I think the best thing to do is answer honestly. The government could always do more to help every subject. Every teacher would benefit from more training, more resources, more time. I don't feel that Computer Science is a special case. At the end of the day, if you're going to teach Computer Science, you need to invest the time and energy to make sure you are prepared. In an ideal world, we'd all been given a three-month intensive course, run by professional developers and experienced Computer Science teachers, to ensure that we are all fully trained and capable. This isn't going to happen. Use CAS, use Codecdemy, use CodeClub, use The Hour of Code. There's help out there, and much of it is backed by some government funding, but don't expect a magic bullet to come from the Department of Education and suddenly invest you with the ability to deliver the curriculum.
Are you optimistic about the curriculum in its current form?
I'm very optimistic. The Key Stage 3 curriculum is very open, and gives every school the opportunity to develop their own curriculum, tailored for their students. Where I feel there is a need for reform is at GCSE and A-Level, although this is currently being looked at. My Year 10 students are amazing, and their enthusiasm is infectious. We go to hackathons, where they get to mix with programmers from around the country, and see what other people are developing. They write their code in terminal-based text editors on Linux virtual servers. They use git for version control of their coursework, and GitHub for submission of work for me to mark. Yet no matter how accomplished they become as developers, they're going to be assessed on their ability to write thousands of words about how their programs work rather than just presenting working code.

They'll be examined on how well they can read and write algorithms in a formalised style of pseudocode, rather than the languages they've invested so much time in learning. This just doesn't seem right.

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How to code in schools: a teacher and student's guide

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The UK is, according to Codecademy's founder Zach Sims, well ahead of the pack when it comes to teaching the next generation to code. This year we have seen it introduced on the national curriculum for the first time in a big way, and although it might seem late in the day for some, the UK is in fact one of a handful of nations that has done this.

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Reader? Teacher? Both. by Amanda Jaksetic | Nerdy Book Club

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Reader? Teacher? Both. by Amanda Jaksetic | Nerdy Book Club

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Reader? Teacher? Both. by Amanda Jaksetic

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As an undergrad, I commented, "I just read a book like a teacher." I hadn't consciously done it, hadn't read a book planning to teach it, or researched study guides to help me teach it. I had read a book to read it, and BAM! there was the teacher, not just the reader.

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Presentations that work I was recently asked to run a workshop on how to develop effective presentations. I had run this workshop last year, but of course, last year's work needed updating, as so much changes so quickly that workshops from even last week seem out of date!

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Being a Better Online Reader - The New Yorker

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Being a Better Online Reader - The New Yorker

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Soon after Maryanne Wolf published " Proust and the Squid," a history of the science and the development of the reading brain from antiquity to the twenty-first century, she began to receive letters from readers. Hundreds of them. While the backgrounds of the writers varied, a theme began to emerge: the more reading moved online, the less students seemed to understand. There were the architects who wrote to her about students who relied so heavily on ready digital information that they were unprepared to address basic problems onsite. There were the neurosurgeons who worried about the "cut-and-paste chart mentality" that their students exhibited, missing crucial details because they failed to delve deeply enough into any one case. And there were, of course, the English teachers who lamented that no one wanted to read Henry James anymore. As the letters continued to pour in, Wolf experienced a growing realization: in the seven years it had taken her to research and write her account, reading had changed profoundly-and the ramifications could be felt far beyond English departments and libraries. She called the rude awakening her "Rip van Winkle moment," and decided that it was important enough to warrant another book. What was going on with these students and professionals? Was the digital format to blame for their superficial approaches, or was something else at work?

Certainly, as we turn to online reading, the physiology of the reading process itself shifts; we don't read the same way online as we do on paper. Anne Mangen, a professor at the National Centre for Reading Education and Research at the University of Stavanger, in Norway, points out that reading is always an interaction between a person and a technology, be it a computer or an e-reader or even a bound book. Reading "involves factors not usually acknowledged," she told me. "The ergonomics, the haptics of the device itself. The tangibility of paper versus the intangibility of something digital." The contrast of pixels, the layout of the words, the concept of scrolling versus turning a page, the physicality of a book versus the ephemerality of a screen, the ability to hyperlink and move from source to source within seconds online-all these variables translate into a different reading experience.

The screen, for one, seems to encourage more skimming behavior: when we scroll, we tend to read more quickly (and less deeply) than when we move sequentially from page to page. Online, the tendency is compounded as a way of coping with an overload of information. There are so many possible sources, so many pages, so many alternatives to any article or book or document that we read more quickly to compensate. When Ziming Liu, a professor at San Jose State University whose research centers on digital reading and the use of e-books, conducted a review of studies that compared print and digital reading experiences, supplementing their conclusions with his own research, he found that several things had changed. On screen, people tended to browse and scan, to look for keywords, and to read in a less linear, more selective fashion. On the page, they tended to concentrate more on following the text. Skimming, Liu concluded, had become the new reading: the more we read online, the more likely we were to move quickly, without stopping to ponder any one thought.

The online world, too, tends to exhaust our resources more quickly than the page. We become tired from the constant need to filter out hyperlinks and possible distractions. And our eyes themselves may grow fatigued from the constantly shifting screens, layouts, colors, and contrasts, an effect that holds for e-readers as well as computers. Mary Dyson, a psychologist at the University of Reading who studies how we perceive and interact with typography and design online and in print, has found that the layout of a text can have a significant effect on the reading experience. We read more quickly when lines are longer, but only to a point. When lines are too long, it becomes taxing to move your eyes from the end of one to the start of the next. We read more efficiently when text is arranged in a single column rather than multiple columns or sections. The font, color, and size of text can all act in tandem to make our reading experience easier or more difficult. And while these variables surely exist on paper just as they do on-screen, the range of formats and layouts online is far greater than it is in print. Online, you can find yourself transitioning to entirely new layouts from moment to moment, and, each time you do so, your eyes and your reading approach need to adjust. Each adjustment, in turn, takes mental and physical energy.

The shift from print to digital reading may lead to more than changes in speed and physical processing. It may come at a cost to understanding, analyzing, and evaluating a text. Much of Mangen's research focusses on how the format of reading material may affect not just eye movement or reading strategy but broader processing abilities. One of her main hypotheses is that the physical presence of a book-its heft, its feel, the weight and order of its pages-may have more than a purely emotional or nostalgic significance. People prefer physical books, not out of old-fashioned attachment but because the nature of the object itself has deeper repercussions for reading and comprehension. "Anecdotally, I've heard some say it's like they haven't read anything properly if they've read it on a Kindle. The reading has left more of an ephemeral experience," she told me. Her hunch is that the physicality of a printed page may matter for those reading experiences when you need a firmer grounding in the material. The text you read on a Kindle or computer simply doesn't have the same tangibility.

In new research that she and her colleagues will present for the first time at the upcoming conference of the International Society for the Empirical Study of Literature and Media, in Torino, Italy, Mangen is finding that that may indeed be the case. She, along with her frequent collaborator Jean-Luc Velay, Pascal Robinet, and Gerard Olivier, had students read a short story-Elizabeth George's "Lusting for Jenny, Inverted" (their version, a French translation, was called "Jenny, Mon Amour")-in one of two formats: a pocket paperback or a Kindle e-book. When Mangen tested the readers' comprehension, she found that the medium mattered a lot. When readers were asked to place a series of events from the story in chronological order-a simple plot-reconstruction task, not requiring any deep analysis or critical thinking-those who had read the story in print fared significantly better, making fewer mistakes and recreating an over-all more accurate version of the story. The words looked identical-Kindle e-ink is designed to mimic the printed page-but their physical materiality mattered for basic comprehension.

Wolf's concerns go far beyond simple comprehension. She fears that as we turn to digital formats, we may see a negative effect on the process that she calls deep reading. Deep reading isn't how we approach looking for news or information, or trying to get the gist of something. It's the "sophisticated comprehension processes," as Wolf calls it, that those young architects and doctors were missing. "Reading is a bridge to thought," she says. "And it's that process that I think is the real endangered aspect of reading. In the young, what happens to the formation of the complete reading circuitry? Will it be short-circuited and have less time to develop the deep-reading processes? And in already developed readers like you and me, will those processes atrophy?"

Of course, as Wolf is quick to point out, there's still no longitudinal data about digital reading. As she put it, "We're in a place of apprehension rather than comprehension." And it's quite possible that the apprehension is misplaced: perhaps digital reading isn't worse so much as different than print reading. Julie Coiro, who studies digital reading comprehension in elementary- and middle-school students at the University of Rhode Island, has found that good reading in print doesn't necessarily translate to good reading on-screen. The students do not only differ in their abilities and preferences; they also need different sorts of training to excel at each medium. The online world, she argues, may require students to exercise much greater self-control than a physical book. "In reading on paper, you may have to monitor yourself once, to actually pick up the book," she says. "On the Internet, that monitoring and self-regulation cycle happens again and again. And if you're the kind of person who's naturally good at self-monitoring, you don't have a problem. But if you're a reader who hasn't been trained to pay attention, each time you click a link, you're constructing your own text. And when you're asked comprehension questions, it's like you picked up the wrong book."

Maybe the decline of deep reading isn't due to reading skill atrophy but to the need to develop a very different sort of skill, that of teaching yourself to focus your attention. (Interestingly, Coiro found that gamers were often better online readers: they were more comfortable in the medium and better able to stay on task.) In a study comparing digital and print comprehension of a short nonfiction text, Rakefet Ackerman and Morris Goldsmith found that students fared equally well on a post-reading multiple-choice test when they were given a fixed amount of time to read, but that their digital performance plummeted when they had to regulate their time themselves. The digital deficit, they suggest, isn't a result of the medium as such but rather of a failure of self-knowledge and self-control: we don't realize that digital comprehension may take just as much time as reading a book.

Last year, Patricia Greenfield, a psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her colleagues found that multitasking while reading on a computer or a tablet slowed readers down, but their comprehension remained unaffected. What did suffer was the quality of a subsequent report that they wrote to synthesize their reading: if they read the original texts on paper or a computer with no Internet access, their end product was superior to that of their Internet-enabled counterparts. If the online readers took notes on paper, however, the negative effects of Internet access were significantly reduced. It wasn't the screen that disrupted the fuller synthesis of deep reading; it was the allure of multitasking on the Internet and a failure to properly mitigate its impact.

Indeed, some data suggest that, in certain environments and on certain types of tasks, we can read equally well in any format. As far back as 1988, the University College of Swansea psychologists David Oborne and Doreen Holton compared text comprehension for reading on different screens and paper formats (dark characters on a light background, or light characters on a dark background), and found no differences in speed and comprehension between the four conditions. Their subjects, of course, didn't have the Internet to distract them. In 2011, Annette Taylor, a psychologist at the University of San Diego, similarly found that students performed equally well on a twenty-question multiple-choice comprehension test whether they had read a chapter on-screen or on paper. Given a second test one week later, the two groups' performances were still indistinguishable. And it's not just reading. Last year, Sigal Eden and Yoram Eshet-Alkalai found no difference in accuracy between students who edited a six-hundred-word paper on the screen and those who worked on paper. Those who edited on-screen did so faster, but their performance didn't suffer.

We need to be aware of the effects of deeper digital immersion, Wolf says, but we should be equally cautious when we draw causal arrows or place blame without adequate longitudinal research. "I'm both the Cassandra and the advocate of digital reading," she says. Maybe her letter writers' students weren't victims of digitization so much as victims of insufficient training-and insufficient care-in the tools of managing a shifting landscape of reading and thinking. Deep-reading skills, Wolf points out, may not be emphasized in schools that conform to the Common Core, for instance, and need to meet certain test-taking reading targets that emphasize gist at the expense of depth. "Physical, tangible books give children a lot of time," she says. "And the digital milieu speeds everything up. So we need to do things much more slowly and gradually than we are." Not only should digital reading be introduced more slowly into the curriculum; it also should be integrated with the more immersive reading skills that deeper comprehension requires.

Wolf is optimistic that we can learn to navigate online reading just as deeply as we once did print-if we go about it with the necessary thoughtfulness. In a new study, the introduction of an interactive annotation component helped improve comprehension and reading strategy use in a group of fifth graders. It turns out that they could read deeply. They just had to be taught how. Wolf is now working on digital apps to train students in the tools of deep reading, to use the digital world to teach the sorts of skills we tend to associate with quiet contemplation and physical volumes. "The same plasticity that allows us to form a reading circuit to begin with, and short-circuit the development of deep reading if we allow it, also allows us to learn how to duplicate deep reading in a new environment," she says. "We cannot go backwards. As children move more toward an immersion in digital media, we have to figure out ways to read deeply there."

Wolf has decided that, despite all of her training in deep reading, she, too, needs some outside help. To finish her book, she has ensconced herself in a small village in France with shaky mobile reception and shakier Internet. Faced with the endless distraction of the digital world, she has chosen to tune out just a bit of it. She's not going backward; she's merely adapting.
Illustration by Sophia Foster-Dimino.

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Soon after Maryanne Wolf published " Proust and the Squid," a history of the science and the development of the reading brain from antiquity to the twenty-first century, she began to receive letters from readers. Hundreds of them. While the backgrounds of the writers varied, a theme began to emerge: the more reading moved online, the less students seemed to understand.