Kristin Fontichiaro

Using Primary Sources

Forming Great Research Questions

Library Edition

Podcasting 101

A series that provides readers with the tools they need to find, organize, and share information clearly and effectively, encouraging them to think critically as they conduct research, collaborate with fellow students, and present their findings in new and interesting ways.

Super Smart Information Strategies: Go straight to the Source provides students with practical information on how to use primary sources. Readers are encouraged to think critically as they conduct research, collaborate with fellow students and present their findings in new and different ways.

Story Starters and Science Notebooking: Developing Student Thinking Through Literacy and Inquiry is designed to provide a meaningful, comfortable framework in which teachers and parents can encourage elementary children to explore scientific ideas in an inquiry-oriented format. The basis for each scientific concept presented in Story Starters and Science Notebooking is embedded in a story appropriate for elementary-aged children. The activity that follows each narrative encourages learners to observe, compare, gather data, organize or classify, and draw conclusions about the problem posed from the story. Because current scientific knowledge and understanding guide scientific investigations, background information in each chapter provides teachers with a synopsis of the scientific concept involved in the activity for that story. The story starters present a framework for inquiry, which eliminates the free-wheeling, uncontrolled, and unstructured view some teachers have of inquiry. These are either original stories or familiar children’s stories that ask learners to investigate a possible scientific explanation for a problem or scenario. Learners then communicate their findings in an oral, written, pictorial, or technological form back to a lead character from the story. Extension activities provide an opportunity for learners to compare their answers with what scientists already know about the world and also motivate them to frame new questions. Grades 3-6IntroductionNotebooking activitiesProblems to solveBackground information for teachers60 illustrations and halftones24 figures Appendix

Web 2.0, the read/write web creates new opportunities for students to share their learning with a larger, real world community via the Internet. One Web 2.0 tool that is gaining in popularity among educators is podcasting, the process of creating audio files using computer software and distributing them electronically, giving students authentic audiences and the motivation to do outstanding work. Contrary to popular understanding, podcasting software does not require an iPod. In fact, projects made with podcasting software also can be converted to CDs, sent via email, stored and heard on classroom computers, posted to a Web site or blog, or channeled into iTunes to await subscribers. This book takes an in-depth look at several podcasting tools, many of which are free, that can be used by educators to create podcasts. After building a solid technical foundation, the book introduces readers to a wide variety of lesson plans that motivate students and stretch their higher-order thinking. Discussion of student privacy issues is interwoven throughout. Grades K-12.

Contrary to the trend to do away with arts education as an unnecessary expense in schools trying to boost student test scores, this book promotes and explains the value of integrated arts instruction in furthering the accomplishment of curricular objectives and fostering student achievement. Accomplished library media specialist and arts instructor Kristin Fontichiaro discusses how drama, shadow puppetry, and podcasting can be used as tools to meet curriculum objectives in the K-8 media center. By concentrating on the process of creating a piece of drama or puppetry or a podcast, as opposed to the goal of performance, and by infusing the arts with curriculum objectives in story or research, these techniques can intensify a child's learning and provide context for classroom curriculum objectives. A discussion of the affective and academic benefits of this process-based work as well as sample lessons are included. Photographs and examples of student work illustrate the oechniques. Grades K-8.