I recently came across yet another really good (and free) literacy website called Storyline, which students will really like. Why? Because it is a site created by the Screen Actors Guild on which famous people read (on video) children's books.
Here is a list of some of the stories that are currently available:
To Be a Drum, by Evelyn Coleman; read by James Earl Jones
Guji Guji, by Chih Yuan Chen; read by Robert Guillaume
Sebastian's
Roller Skates, by Joan De Deu Prats; read by Caitlin Wachs
Sophie's Masterpiece, by Eileen Spinelli; read by CCH
Pounder
Stellaluna, by Janell Cannon; read by Pamela Reed
Wilfrid
Gordon McDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox; read by Bradley Whitford
No Mirrors in My Nana's House, by Ysaye M. Barnwell; read by Tia and Tamera Mowry
The Night I Followed the Dog, by Nina Laden; read by Amanda Bynes
Thank you, Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco; read by Jane Kaczmarek
My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother, by Patricia Polacco; read by Melissa Gilbert
Knots on a Counting Rope, by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault; read by Bonnie Bartlett and William Daniels
Brave Irene, by William Steig; read by Al Gore
A Bad Case of Stripes, by David Shannon; read by Sean Astin
Private I. Guana, by Nina Laden; read by Esai Morales
Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, by Eileen Spinelli; read by Hector Elizondo
The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg; read by Lou Diamond Phillips
Me and My Cat, by Satoshi Kitamura; read by Elijah Wood
Dad, Are You the Tooth Fairy, by Jason Alexander; read by Jason Alexander
When Pigasso Met Mootisse, by Nina Laden; read by Eric Close
White Socks Only, by Evelyn Coleman; read by Amber Rose Tamblyn
Romeow and Drooliet, by Nina Laden; read by Haylie Duff
Enemy Pie, by Derek Munson; read by Camryn Manheim
At the ASCD Conference last month, I met fellow blogger, Steve J. Moore, who you should follow. This video comes courtesy of Steve, and it speaks to the miracle that teachers perform.
Our Board held its regular monthly meeting tonight. Here's a recap of the issues discussed, and actions taken on tonight's Agenda.
Our meeting started with Special Presentations to recognize the outstanding work of the following:
David Cain, Webmaster, and Melissa Wiland, Web Designer, as our March 2010 Employees of the Month. Click below to watch a video honoring Mr. Cain and Ms. Wiland.
Alicia Lopez, Maria Hernandez, Juana Perez, and Norma Cardenas, volunteers at Northbrook Middle School, as our March 2010 Volunteers of the Month. Click below to watch a video honoring these deserving volunteers.
Next on our agenda was Citizens Participation. No one spoke during this portion of the meeting tonight.
We then had our Board member liaison reports(each Board member serves in a liaison capacity). Click here for the materials provided by Wayne Schaper, Sr., in his Facilities update.
Presenters: Tim Shriver, Chairman of the CASEL Board of
Directors, Sheldon Berman, superintendent, Jefferson County
Public Schools, Louisville, Kentucky, and Kati
Delahanty, English teacher, Charlestown High School, Boston
Target audience: Educators in the elementary and secondary grades
interested in evidence for the value of social and emotional learning
and practical ideas for implementing it
Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important -- there's no doubt of
that. But it takes more than those basic academic skills for students
to grow into happy, successful adults.
As educators know well, children also need to learn self-esteem,
self-discipline, and strong communication skills in order to succeed in
school and life. But it's easy for those essential lessons to get lost
in the race to raise standardized test scores.
In this session, two pioneering educators and a national education
leader explain why social and emotional skills deserve time and
attention -- SEL has been shown to raise test scores -- and how they
provide it effectively in their schools. Learn more at the
webinar's resource page.
Today marked the end of the filing period for the 2010 election, and I
am unopposed. I truly appreciate this vote of confidence, and I look
forward to continue to work on the transformational change to make
Spring Branch the finest school district in Texas.
Please click the image below to go to my campaign website for information about my re-election campaign.
My friend (and current candidate for Spring Branch ISD Board Position 5) is presenting his "Paying for College" Seminar three times in March. For more information about the dates and times of each session, you can enlarge the email from Bob below by clicking on it.
Our second discussion item concerned potential participation by Spring Branch in the D.A.T.E. (DIstrict Awards for Teacher Excellence) Grant Program. As I articulated during the meeting, I am not a fan of this Grant because it is based solely on TAKS scores. I do not believe that any performance based pay should be based on a single factor, and I feel particularly strongly that TAKS, as the only measure, creates an incentive that is inconsistent with the goals of our Five Year Plan.
Our final discussion item examined some fascinating data about Spring Branch prepared by ERG concerning the District's Five Year Plan. Spring Branch ranks #1 in the ERG data on SAT/ACT which shows the success of our college-focus in the Five Year Plan. However, the data also show that we have work left to do in both education and financial efficiency.
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