Read.gov is a website run by the Library of Congress whose aim is to get people of all ages to read. The site is broken down into specific sections for kids, teens, adults, and educators and parents. In each section, the audience is offered different categories such as classic books online, author webcasts, booklists, and contests on writing about literature. The website also offers information local and community resources and festivals. In the educator and parent section, it offers lesson plans, online activities, exhibitions, collection connections, and primary source sets.
I would use this site in the classroom in a variety of ways. I could easily find documents that connect the literature we read in class to the backdrop of the story. It is also a great source for informational texts and images to bring stories to life. I would also use the author webcasts to provide students with further insight into the pieces of work they are studying.
Storycorps is an organization that collects stories of Americans as a way to preserve our shared history. They have collected over 35,000 interviews over the past 8 years. These short interviews are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and can be heard on public radio, such as NPR. The website offers a listen page which has general categories or a search bar to find stories on specific topics. The website also provides information on how to record your own stories and guides you through questions worth asking. Storycorps also target certain stories through organized projects called initiatives. Current initiatives include legacy-capturing the voices of families dealing with life-threatening conditions, griot-capturing the stories of African-Americans, September 11th-collecting the stories of people affected by the terrorist attack, and teachers-aimed at collecting stories that showcase the profound affect teachers have on all our lives.
Storycorps is a very helpful tool in an English class. It allows students to be exposed to a different source of literature. The stories could be viewed as warm-up activities or to facilitate discussion of a certain topic. They can also be used to personalize a piece of literature being read in class. In my unit, we are reading Night. There are several stories on the site that deal with survivors stories as well as soldier and life on the home front. This would be a great way to bring the time period to life for my students. This site is also a great source for students to practice effective interviewing and storytelling.
Tiffany, these are two wonderful sites for students to use in class or, in the case of storycorps, as part of community service projects. Reading Rockets is a site similar to read.gov for the elementary level and very useful, I have found, for ideas on ways to work with high interest/low level readers. Another site, also, from the LOC that may work with your unit on "Night" is the American Memory Collection http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
ReplyDeleteI love Storycorps and its goal. This site can also be used in a history class. The way that you plan on incorporating this site in your class is awesome. I always love when teachers have personal stories that relate to a specific topic. The personal stories make the topic more relevant.
ReplyDeleteI really like Storycorps! This is very interesting and I know students would love to read real survivor stories and stories about soliders. Most students would take interest in this site because there are many articles that allow them to build on their background knowledge making take charge of their own learning. Students are more likely to take interest in these stories because they are a personal story. I am sure teachers too could find articles that could relate to whichever they are learning.
ReplyDelete