Shake Girl, The Graphic Novel

A creative writing class at Stanford got together and created Shake Girl, a graphic novel.

Mental_floss: Punctuation Quiz

Mental_floss' newest quiz tests your knowledge of obscure punctuation marks

ALA Store: READ posters

The American Library Association has celebrity READ posters for sale. Even better: they feature a diverse range of actors, musicians, and athletes. I plan on getting a few when I move into my new classroom next year.

Mental_floss: 14 Sentences about 14 Shakespeare Comedies

14 Sentences about 14 Shakespeare Comedies features shortened summaries of Shakespeare's comedies, along with a few of the phrases he coined.

The Winter’s Tale – Set it Bohemia, this play features a character named Hermione (see also, Harry Potter), the oracle of Delphi, a magical resurrection, and Shakespeare’s most famous stage direction: “Exit, pursued by a bear.”

The Poetry Archive: Historic Recordings

The Poetry Archive has a collection of historic poetry recordings, including Robert Browning, Roald Dahl, and others.

Thanks to Dana for the link!

PBS: Jazz

PBS has a website dedicated to JAZZ - the music and the Ken Burns film.

Welcome! The resources offered here are designed to help you use the PBS JAZZ video series and companion Web site in music, social studies, math, and language arts classes. JAZZ may be taped off-air and used for up to a year following broadcast, or you may choose to purchase it through Shop PBS for Teachers. The lesson plans may also be adapted for use as stand-alone resources.

Includes lesson ideas and related links.

Thanks to Dana for the link!

ARTSEDGE: Drop Me Off in Harlem

ARTSEDGE (a division of The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts) has a website dedicated to the Harlem Renaissance.

Discover the themes and works that emerged when creative and intellectual voices intersected during the Harlem Renaissance.

Includes an interactive map of Harlem, biographies of prominent figures of the movement, themes and variations, and classroom connections.

Thanks to Dana for the link!

Website: Shakespearean Tragedy Lecture notes

This site has a great lesson on Shakespearean tragedy, including the tragic hero and the tragic pattern within the plays. A great resource for studying Shakespeare and drama in general.

Thanks to Dana for the link!

National Geographic: Salem Witch Hysteria

National Geographic has an interactive Salem witch trial. Excellent for studying (obviously) the Salem witch trials, McCarthyism, The Crucible, etc.

Thanks to Dana for the link!

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Believe it or not, that subject is actually a complete sentence. mental_floss explains it here. Not terribly educational (who's going to use buffalo as a verb, really?), but could still be interesting for students.

Article: Babies See Pure Color, but Adults Peer Through Prism of Language

Does language affect how we see color? That's what one study suggests, according to this article on Wired.com.

"As an adult, color categorization is influenced by linguistic categories. It differs as the language differs," said Kay, who is renowned for his studies on the ways that different cultures classify colors. He cited recent research on the ability of Russian speakers to detect shades of blue that English speakers classify as a single color.

Could make for interesting discussion in an Art or Language Arts classroom.

Author Blog: Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is a great writer for young adults. He frequently posts about the writing process, revising, and any difficulties he encounters with his work. It can be encouraging for students to learn that even a professional writer sometimes has to start over or change the direction of a story, because so many seem to think that they have to get it right the first time.

Website: NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. Similar to FAWM, it is a yearly novel-writing challenge. From the site:

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.

Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

There's a section for Young Writers, and teachers who sign their classes up for the challenge receive a "Classroom Starter Kit."

Website: BookCrossing

BookCrossing is a community where members register books, then leave them "in the wild" for others to find. They even have a helpful PDF about BookCrossing in the Classroom, to give you ideas.

Website: The Atlas of Fiction

The Atlas of Fiction uses Google Maps to give a visual representation of locations in famous fictional works. It's not comprehensive (there are only about 20 authors to search), and it focuses mainly on the UK and the US, but students may find it interesting. It could also be useful for interdisciplinary units or serve as a starting point/inspiration for class projects.

Website: FAWM

FAWM stands for February Album Writing Month, a yearly songwriting challenge. From the site:

Can you write 14 songs in 28 days? What are you waiting for... inspiration?

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." — Jack London

For songwriters, this is the club. FAWM.ORG forges a collaborative community each February, where musicians of all walks and skill levels write an album's worth of material in the shortest month of the year (roughly one tune every other day). So many quality works so quickly is challenging, but healthy and doable, even with a full-time job not related to music. We began in 2004 with a mere four "fawmers," and grew to over 800 hopefuls in 2007. Fawmers are a mix of music professionals, students, homemakers, and folks who work dayjobs but rock nightclubs. It's a great experience for everyone.

It could be good for Musical/Rhythmic students, or for lessons incorporating music and poetry.

Neatorama: The Origin of Everyday Punctuation Marks

The Origin of Everyday Punctuation Marks gives the history of symbols like $, &, #, !, ?, and others. May be a good starting point for an interdisciplinary unit.

Website: ReadWriteThink

ReadWriteThink, a part of the National Council of Teachers of English website, has lesson plans, web resources, and student materials. For all grades.