Scoop.it: Useful Tool for Web Research and Evaluation

In the past few weeks, I have been using Scoop.it with a couple of classes, including Holly Hamm's AP Langauge and Comp classes and Melenie McBrayer's Environmental Science classes.  This is a site that allows students to access up to the minute news and information about topics that interest them.  They can then choose the information they want to "scoop" and add to their topic page. Other members of the site can view their topic page, read articles, their comments, and make suggestions for new information. 

To create a topic, students add a title, description, and key words for the site to use to search.  The key words the students use are important in finding relevant information.  This gives us the opportunity to teach necessary searching skills and ways to narrow results, so they aren't looking at a lot of information that isn't relevant to them.  Scoop.it crawls the web using Google News, Google Blogs, Twitter, Youtube, and Digg to find information based on those key words.  It then lists articles as suggested content.   The suggested content will look like this:



Students then have the opportunity to evaluate the article and source, and decide whether or not it is credible.  They can discard the source, or scoop it.  A completed topic page looks like this:



So, why should you use Scoop.it with your students?  If you require students to gather articles or current events, or research current topics,  then Scoop.it is a tool that can help them do that. It can also help teach them how to navigate the web intelligently and evaluate and manage the sources they find.  They can also create beautiful and creative topic pages and keep up with their notes by typing them on the page.  Lastly, they can search other topic pages and "follow" other topics that interest them.  If you are interested in using this tool with your class, let the library know today!

Go to their site for more information:

www.scoop.it

Here is the link to the Libguide we created to instruct students how to use it:

http://homewood.libguides.com/scoopit

The Power of Books

After watching the short animated film "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," I was reminded of the power of books.  Books can transform lives, and make us feel like we are not alone.  Many students here at Homewood just need to find that one, right title to inspire a love of reading to last a lifetime.  My brother was never a reader in high school, but then someone gave him Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. He couldn't put it down.  He now reads voraciously, and things that I would never in a million years think that anyone would want to read, like the History of Railroads in the United States.  He needed his trigger.  Your reluctant readers all need a trigger, and we can help them find that book.  There is something in our library for every type of student.  If you have struggling reader, try to find out what they are interested in, and then recommend a book that would fit that interest, or send them to us to recommend a title.   My trigger was Nancy Drew.  From her, I went straight to Stephen King, and never looked back! 

This short film was just nominated for an Oscar.  It's worth a look.  What was your trigger?  Share it with us, and share it with your students, and inspire a love a reading that can last a lifetime.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.

Book Club Spring Semester Dates and Themes

Tuesday, January 31:

If you can dream it, you can read it!  Read any fantasy fiction title to share with the group.  Subgenres include urban,  fairy tale, dark, and epic.

Tuesday, February 28:

All Read!  We will be discussing racism in the Jim Crow South through two novels: The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and Mudbound by Hillary Jordan.  Pick one or read both!

Tuesday, April 3:    

The Hunger Games!  To celebrate the new movie, we will discuss The Hunger Games trilogy and other dystopian novels. 

Tuesday, May 1:     

Books into movies end of the year party!   We will discuss movie adaptations of popular books and view excerpts from some of your favorite films.

All meetings will be held in the library from 3 to 4 PM.  We hope to see you there!