Gainfield Elementary School

Books, Authors, and Stuff

• Dewey Decimal System - Learn about Mr. Dewey and the Dewey Decimal System the fun way!  Created by 5th and 6th graders in Jonesboro, AR.
• Dewey Rap - Sing along!
• Picturing Books - a great website that tells all about picture books.
• An Animated History of Books
• RobertSabuda.com - The Manufacturing of a Pop-Up Book -- check out how pop-up books are made.
• Patricia Polacco - Check out what inspires Patricia Polacco and how she got her start. 
• Audrey Wood - Check out how she makes her digital art.

Evaluating Web Pages

• Is the information on the site correct/true?
• Is the site relevant to your need?
• Who is the author?
• What is the purpose of the site?
• Is the information biased?
• Is the site up to date?
• Is it easy to move around the site and locate information?

• World Wide Web Page Definition and Criteria for Evaluation - from Media Scope
• The Quality Information Checklist - a checklist to help you determine the quality and usefulness of information on the internet.
• The Jackalope Conspiracy - What do you think?
• Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus - An octopus in a tree?!?!?!
• All About Explorers

    I want to know what the difference is between a frog and a toad.  Try evaluating these websites:

• Exploratorium:  Frogs
• Frogs and Toads
• Diffen:  Frogs vs. Toads
• AdoptAPond:  Frogs vs. Toads

Storytelling

• Story Arts Online
• Storytellers and Their Tales from ArtsEdge
• Circle of Stories for PBS
• Stories in American Indian Cultures from the National Museum of American Indian

        Storytelling Forms:

• An Introduction to the World of Bunraku from the Japanese Arts Council
• Vietnamese Water Puppets
• Playing with Shadows: An Introduction to Shadow Puppetry from ARTSEDGE
• International String Figure Association - Learn about string figures and stories
• Pictales from Richard Thompson and The Story Vine - Learn about draw-and-tell stories and sand stories
• Kaleidoscope Storytellers - check here for info. on Tangram stories
• The Magic Window - This is the tale of how Tangrams came to be.
• What Are Worry Dolls? - from wisegeek.com
• Kamishibai for Kids 
• Kamishibai from the Japanese American National Museum
• Kamishibai Theater - see an example of a Kamishibai story
• Hopi Katsinas - From the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office at Northern Arizona University
• Hopi Kachina Dolls - From Native Languages of the Americas
• History of Russian Nesting Dolls - From the Russian Crafts company
• Whakairo (Maori Carving)
• Global Explorers Kids' Blog - see what other kids learned about storytelling forms from around the world.

Cyberlibraries: Digital Collections of Electronic Books, Journals, and Reference Works

• The Internet Public Library - Hosted by the University of Michigan's School of Information, the IPL boasts over 20,000 books from famous authors such as Chaucer, Edgar Allen Poe, and Jane Austen.  All texts are available online, free of charge, and are searchable by title, author, and subject.
• Librarians' Index to the Internet - This searchable subject directory contains annotated descriptions of nearly 10,000 Internet resources. 
• LibrarySpot - Offers links to numerous online libraries, reference materials, periodicals, and quotations. 
• Bartleby.com:  Great Books Online - Includes several information and reference tools.

Making Puppets

• Puppets!  Puppets! Puppets!  -  Directions for making a simple sock puppet.
• Puppetry Workshop Construction Page - Directions for making sock, glove, box head, string, shadow, felt head, and junk puppets.
• A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling:  Puppets - Beginner, intermediate, and advanced puppeteers.  Links to scripts, shadow puppets, and tips & tricks.
• How to Make a Puppet - View a video of Paul Muller, a professional puppeteer as he demonstrates how to make a moving mouth puppet.

Media Smart

• Don't Buy It - Get savvy with advertising techniques with this PBS sponsored site.
• Messy Marvin promoting Hershey Chocolate Syrup

Miscellaneous

• The First Thanksgiving - Check out this great web site.  Includes a video clip of the Journey by the Mayflower, a Timeline, and a Tour of the Ship. Lots of extra information including what it was like to live in the Plymouth colony, as well as a visit to the Plymouth Plantation.
• The New7Wonders of Nature
• Scratch

Glogster

• Samples:

  • Clownfish

  • Penguins

  • Endangered Elephants

• Nature Videos from PBS

Wikis

• Grade 3 Public Service Announcement Wiki
• Web 2.0 in the Classroom Wiki