March Madness in the book world, too!

March welcomes a plethora of the best reads (reading lists) for all ages and interests. Young adult readers will surely find a good read in Booklist Online's Best Fiction for Young Adults 2015 list.  Notable Children's Books 2015 offers something for younger readers, also published by Booklist Online.  Check out your Marshall Public School library catalogs to find these honorable books, and more award winning books for 2015.

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend written and illustrated by Dan Santat is winner of the 2015 Caldecott Medal for best American picture book.   Find this book at Park Side, West Side, and the Marshall Middle School library



The Printz Award is given to the most notable young adult book, and this year's winner is I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. 

Copyright Morsel

Hopefully with some of the information I’ve posted this year, some of the “muddiness” of copyright is becoming clearer.  The article for this week, Copyright Infringement: 5 Myths vs Facts, focuses on 5 myths and the facts behind them.  This information is shared in an infographic with more explanation in a video and text information.  I like how this article discusses internet copyright infringement.  Many aspects that we certainly need to be aware of today in a digital society. 

YouTube: Everything you need to know and more...and the weekly Copyright Morsel.

YouTube...it's a love hate relationship.  It has both pros and cons alike.  YouTube can encourage creativity, it's free, the music, it can teach you "how to...just about anything", and there is a lot of educational content available.  But the same qualities that make it fun, educational, and interesting, can also bring up a host of problems such as spam, inappropriate material and/or images, bad language, privacy concerns, advertising, etc.

Common Sense Media provides several quick and easy suggestions for making YouTube a family friendly site in the article, A Parent's Ultimate Guide to YouTube.  Using the safety settings, parental guidance, and channel subscriptions are but a few of the recommendations suggested.

Looking for YouTube content for your classroom or family to subscribe to?  Consider the following 7 of the Best YouTube Channels for Kids.  National Geographic Kids and Sesame Street are two listed at the site.  You can also find links to two other published lists of recommended YouTube channels at the bottom of the page.

The Good, the Bad, and the Viral: YouTube Pros and Cons also discusses both sides of the YouTube issue as it relates to kids and the Internet.

Thinking of using YouTube videos in your classroom, and you want to eliminate the unexpected, and often distasteful advertising and pop-ups?  Copy the URL address into the SafeShare.TV site, and you will be redirected to a link free of everything, but the YouTube video itself.  Copy and paste the new URL address into your presentations to make them easy to find for the next time.

Maybe you only want to include a short piece of a YouTube video, try TubeChop.  Copy and paste the YouTube URL address, and then use the tools available to isolate the section of the video you want to use.  The tool creates a new link of the shortened video selection that can be copied and pasted into your presentation, also free of advertising and pop-ups.

Copyright Morsel by Diane Konjura

This week I found an article from The Edublogger that was published in 2012, but is an excellent article about copyright, fair use, and creative commons for educators.  It not only explains copyright, fair use and creative commons, but also provides resources to help when needing images, videos, and curriculum.  An important message in this article points out how more and more law firms and organizations are seeking out copyrighted material that is posted publicly and is in violation of copyright.  I encourage teachers to check out this article: The Edublogger: The Educator's Guide to Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons

Visiting Author, Booklists, Upcoming Teen Tech Week, and the Copyright Morsel

Author Kelly Van Hull will be visiting the 7th and 8th grade language arts classes on Thursday, March 12th.  Van Hull is a South Dakota resident, and the author of two books The first book is titled "Tent City",  and tells the story of 17 year old Dani Campbell and her brother who must survive in a very different world after a plague wipes out civilization as we know it.  Van Hull's second book in the series, "Red River" continues the journey. You can read more about these books at the website linked above.

Looking for great books to recommend to young adults and/or children.  Time magazine posted a list of the top 100 young adult novels, and the top 100 children's books.  How many have you read?

Many exciting events are taking place at both the Middle School and High School media centers in honor of "Teen Tech Week" which runs from March 8th through the 15th.  Stop by either library that week to find the latest in Makerspace activities.

Copyright Morsel by Diane Konjura

Last week, February 23-27, was Fair Use Week 2015.  The Origin of U.S. Fair Use (in comic format) tells the story of Fair Use in our U.S. history and expresses the importance of Fair Use for artists, teachers, news reporters, musicians, students and our economy.  Another great example is the outstanding Yale student project video titled The Infringement Medley.  Be sure to check this video out and share it with students to help them understand our First Amendment Rights of Free Speech may support Fair Use.  This along with an infographic regarding Fair Use can be found in the following TechDirt.com article: Reminder: Fair Use is a Right-- And Not 'An Exception' or 'A Defense'

Geoff Herbach Visit, New Dr. Seuss, and More...

Remember that this Thursday, Feb. 26th, author Geoff Herbach will be visiting the Marshall - Lyon County Library beginning at 6:00 pm.  This is a wonderful opportunity to meet and talk with an outstanding author of young adult literature. This visit might just inspire the next great author!

New Seuss book set for release this summer!  Put this one on your reading list for young, and old alike!  "What Pet Should I Get?" will be released in July of 2015.  Remember that the late Dr. Seuss' birthday is fast approaching, Monday, March 2nd.


Remember to make it a point to read books that your child, young or old, is reading.  This affords you a wonderful opportunity to make connections with him/her about the things that are important in his/her life.  The article, "My Booklist Can Wait: Why I'll Keep Reading What My Kids Are Reading" describes how one mom's experience changed her relationship with her children.

Copyright Morsel by Diane Konjura

While reading the article 2 Live Crew, Weird Al Yankovic, and the Supreme Court on Parody I think about MAD Magazine from when I was young as well as the years of entertainment with Saturday Night Live.  Two most important aspects of this article to keep in mind is the first sentence under the heading Use that clearly is not fair stating, “One action under any test is using an entire original work in the creation of another,” and the final paragraph under the heading The Limits of the Law.  How might parodies or satires be used in the classroom?  This is a great way to integrate creativity and learning.  

Join the MPS YALSA Hub Reading Challenge, and learn tips on how to cite social media.

Looking for a reason to read, and a way to stay motivated?  Join me in the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) 2015 Hub Reading Challenge.  Read at least 25 of the titles from the list of eligible books.  The competition officially started on February 9th, and closes on June 21st. Read/listen to some of the best titles in YA (young adult) literature, along with many adult books.  Get in sync with your students or teen-aged children, and challenge them to the same feat.  Win a tote bag full of 2014 and 2015 YA books!  If you decide to join, share your intentions and progress by tweeting #hubchallengemps . The first MPS staff, student, or community member to join the challenge, and tweet to the MPS hashtag above will receive a prize!  I look forward to tweeting with you.  Let's see how many participants we can gather for Marshall Public Schools!  Check for these books at the MPS senior high/middle school media centers, and the Marshall - Lyon County Public Library.

Copyright Morsel by Diane Konjura

I found this chart providing a Social Media Citation Guide.  Citing social media information is an area where limited information has been available.  This chart shows how to cite a blog post, a YouTube video, a tweet, a Facebook post and an email in MLA format.  

Award Winners Announced, Author Visit, Copyright Morsel and More...

On Monday, February 2nd, the ALA (American Library Association) announced this year's award winning books.  The Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, Coretta Scott King, and several other notable award winners are highlighted in this CNN post.  Let this be your guide when selecting new books for your child and yourself.  Marshall Public School media centers are quickly getting their orders in, and these books should be on the shelves in no time!

Author Geoff Herbach is coming to Marshall!  Diane worked with the Marshall-Lyon County Library to secure a SAMMIE (Southwest Area Multicounty Multitype Interlibrary Exchange) grant to help bring him to Marshall High School and the Lyon County Library on Thursday, February 26th.   The public is invited to attend the 6:00 p.m. presentation on that date at the Marshall-Lyon County Library.  Information on books by this author can be found at Geoff Herbach's website.  Students at both the high school and the middle school have the opportunity to pre-purchase the author's books through Friday, February 13th.  Geoff Herbach will be signing copies the day of his visit.

I Love to Read Month activities are in full swing at each school, and the media centers are busy helping with the celebration.  Students and staff are submitting guesses on the candy count in the  M&M jars, and there are reading trivia contests in each building.  As well, parents, community members, and senior high students are visiting the elementary schools and reading with the younger children.  Students at Park Side are working on art projects relating to Dr. Seuss book characters.  Later this month, several Seuss characters will visit Park Side school for a photo opportunity.  Celebrate and encourage your child to read every day!  Here is a site that has links to 11 great, free reading websites. Simply scroll through the page menu, and click on the links.

Copyright Morsel by Diane Konjura

During workshop week in August, the copyright presentation included a framework for copyright analysis.  Consider the five questions in the order presented below for copyright analysis:

1.       Is the work protected by copyright?

2.       Is there a specific exception in copyright law that cover my use?

3.       Is there a license that covers my use?

4.       Is my use covered by fair use?

5.       Do I need permission from the copyright owner for my use?

Take time today to look at what you have posted on your teacher website.  If you have any questions as to what you have posted in regard to copyright please contact Diane Konjura or Nancy Thooft rather than taking the risk of being contacted by a publisher or other owner of copyrighted materials asking you to pay for a copyright violation.    

Green screens, Mozilla, and Copyright Morsel

Are your students creating video projects to demonstrate their learning?  A great way to spice up their video production is to use a green screen which allows them to change the background behind them.  The easiest way to think of this is to imagine a weather forecast where the screen behind the meteorologist changes to depict the maps or weather images needed.  

Bring the green screen to your room for little or next to nothing by simply tacking up green butcher paper.  Instructions are available here.  Then get your students started making your their own dynamic movies using the directions in the video!

In an earlier blog post, I discussed the arrival of makerspaces at the Middle School Media center.  Students have been making origami projects, constructing cranes, monster trucks, and airplanes, and making a puzzle.

The intent is to offer new projects and makerspaces every 3 to 4 weeks. 

A great resource for students to practice more technology related "making" is the Mozilla Webmaker site.  Create your own account and become a mentor.  Have students make their own account to explore and save all of the many wonderful web projects available to either remix or create from scratch.

I was able to get my feet wet to explore a beginning project called Meme Maker and created the following remix of a poster.  The original poster looked like this.

Copyright Morsel by Diane Konjura

Teaching Copyright is an excellent resource for teaching about copyright to teens.  It includes curriculum that covers copyright law, fair use, and public domain.  It offers help in teens understanding their legal rights and responsibilities with respect to copyright and technology use.  In addition to the curriculum, it also includes many resources.  Consider including copyright as an integral part of teaching.