Never too soon to ask, “What do you want to be?”

What Do You Like? BLS Career Information Home, http://www.bls.gov/k12/, accessed September 6, 2011.

YouthRules! (U.S. Department of Labor), http://youthrules.dol.gov/, accessed Spetember 6, 2011.

So often my blog posts focus on resources for preschool, early elementary and high school students.  Middle school students have their books, reviewed frequently in this blog, but resources haven’t been easy to find.  Most either condescend or address issues that do not interest this group.  Well, now that school has resumed, I have been thinking about the middle school book club I worked with.  They all had very strong opinions and most of their opinions were based on the premise that they have very strong preferences and are only interested in those things.

I wish I’d known then about the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ career information website because I would have recommended that they look up careers in their range of interests on their own time!  What Do You Like? is geared to middle school students.  With a simple click on a quote on the splash page, they are redirected to a page with information about careers that reflect their interests.  The lead-in on this page says, “If you love [interest clicked on previous page], then look at these possible careers.”  Under the headline, 5 or 6 career fields are listed.  Click on one of those and you’re redirected to a page rich in information including what’s the job like, how do you prepare for this job, and what are some similar jobs.  Links at the bottom of the page include the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook  which goes into greater detail about the job prospects and earning potential of each career.  What a terrific way to plan what electives to take in middle school and high school!  Teacher (and parent) resources are also available.  This website, one of ALSC’s Great Websites for Kids list, belongs on school and public library resource pages.

A link from the teacher resource page sent me to YouthRules!, a website created by the U.S. Department of Labor, subtitled “Preparing the 21st Century Workforce.”  Links in both margins lead to resources for Teens, Parents, Educators and Employers.  On the Teens page, information is provided about what jobs kids of different ages can have, what hours they can work, and how to be safe on the job.  Posters, stickers and bookmarks are available to download and print for free.  Similar information is available from the links geared to adults.  Although summer is unofficially over, and the opportunity for summer jobs has past, some middle school students will still look for opportunities to make money.  The “What Jobs Can Youth Do?” Web page has a list of possible jobs broken down into age ranges which includes opportunities for middle school students.  With class trips coming up, some middle schoolers may need to earn some money to pay (or to participate in extracurricular activities), and suggestions are abundant here.  Again, this vetted resource belongs on middle school, high school, and public library career/employment resource lists.

 

Earthquake! Hurricane! Flood! Oh my! FEMA for Kids can help.

FEMA for Kids, http://www.fema.gov/kids/, accessed August 24, 2011.

In light of yesterday’s earthquakes on the United States’ East and West Coasts, flooding in the Midwest, and Hurricane Irene barreling toward the Outer Banks and New York City, introducing children to FEMA may help allay some fears.

The site excels at providing facts, activities and games.  Additionally, there is a link for kids to see what other kids have to say about different kinds of disasters.  If knowledge is power, then children who use FEMA for Kids will be mighty powerful!  To prove their powers, FEMA offers a free Disaster Action Kids program with a certificate and receive special informational emails from FEMA.

The FEMA for Kids site offers links to free information from other government agencies; a Ready Kids program online; parent and teacher resources; and even information for preschoolers.

As a librarian, this is a site I would highlight on my children’s library website and include in homework help links.  Some of the games and activities are printable, so I would use this site to print activity pages that correspond to current “disaster” events locally or world-wide.

And the winners of the 2010 Children’s Choice Awards are…

Last night, the Children’s Book Council (CBC) announced the winners of the 2010 Children’s Choice Book Awards.  Children voted at school libraries and bookstores across the country: more than 115,000 votes were cast!  Categories included books, authors and illustrators.

According to an announcement on CBC’s website:

The Children’s Choice Book Awards program, launched in 2008 by The Children’s Book Council (CBC) in association with Every Child a Reader, Inc. (the CBC Foundation), was created to provide young readers with an opportunity to voice their opinions about the books being written for them and to help develop a reading list that will motivate children to read more and cultivate a love of reading.

And the winners are (as listed on CBC’s website):

Author of the Year

James Patterson for Max (A Maximum Ride Novel) (Little, Brown)

Illustrator of the Year

Peter Brown for The Curious Garden (Little, Brown)

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year

Lulu the Big Little Chick written and illustrated by Paulette Bogan (Bloomsbury USA)

Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute written and illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Knopf/Random House)

Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-so-fabulous Life written and illustrated by Rachel Renee Russell (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster)

Want a cool way to promote these books?  Or want to let your kids hear their favorite authors read aloud?  Well, CBC has three of the authors/illustrators reading their award-winning books at their website, A Story Before Bed.  What a can’t-miss opportunity to connect authors and illustrators with the books kids love!

For information about the teen winner, please see my YA review blog, YA Need Books.

Boowa and Kwala

Boowa and Kwala, http://www.boowakwala.com/.

Although this is promoted as a preschool site, I would certainly use it for early elementary aged children as well.  The site includes “My First Clicks” which train children in use of the computer keyboard and includes practice exercises.  In addition, there are over 800 games, a variety of songs and other games and activities for younger children.

I would use this in information literacy training (using the computer) and as a site suitable for younger elementary students to use and explore.  The characters are designed with this age group in mind—they remind me of Maisy Mouse or Mo Willems’ Pigeon.

Mysteries, chillers and scary stories online

MysteryNet’s Kids Mysteries from Newfront Productions; 2009; http://kids.mysterynet.com/.

Online mystery stories that kids can solve, chiller challenges, mystical magic tricks, and scary stories written by kids are featured on this website.  Even though this is a commercial site, the books for sale and advertisements were segregated to the far righthand edge of the page so it would be easy to steer children away from these links (another opportunity to teach information literacy).

This site would be great to feature during summer reading programs (scary stories for around campfires) and for October programs (Halloween, of course!) for upper elementary students.

Warm ups for math workouts

Gymnasium for Brain by Sitalakshmi Seshadrinathan; 2005; http://www.gymnasiumforbrain.com/.

This site includes “warm up” puzzles to get the brain ready to do math exercises.  Math puzzles and directions for math activities are also included.  The homepage isn’t terribly attractive, but the exercises are valuable math tools.

I don’t think children will select this site on their own, but it would be a valuable tool for teachers and homeschoolers.  In addition, I would include it on the children’s homework help page on the library’s website.

Sel Shilverstein has a weat grebsite!

Shel Silverstein online by HarperCollins Publishers, designed by Ta-Da Inc; 2003-2008; http://www.shelsilverstein.com/indexSite.html.

I had to include this website because his poetry helped my son learn to read with inflection and fluidity.  Being able to hear the poems read out loud benefits all elementary aged children.  Even better, the site includes games and activities for children and also links for ideas for teachers and parents.

I would include a link to his website on the children’s library website under “authors” as well as on a bookmark with other poets’ websites for distribution in April.  The ALSC page with all of the author’s web links is invaluable for librarians and teachers.

Additionally, I would be sure that homeschooling families, reading tutors and speech therapists know about this site because it is a wonderful tool for teaching how to read with inflection.

Science can be fun on the Web

OLogy by the American Museum of Natural History, New York; 2009; http://www.amnh.org/ology/.

Wow!  The information resources here are rich and kid-friendly.  I imagine this site could augment homework websites.

Options to ask a scientist, along with links to specific scientific fields, make finding answers to questions easy.  The site was designed for children ages 8-12, but I can imagine older children using it as well.  The layout is definitely geared for children with its bright colors, wacky fonts and heavy use of graphics.  There are games, activities, information and other resources available from this portal.  In addition, children can register (it appears to be free) and collect virtual trading cards—what an ingenious way to encourage return visits!

I definitely would make sure that links to this site were included on the children’s web page for my library.  I would also make sure it was on science or discovery pathfinders for upper elementary students.  Maybe some bookmarks could be made and distributed after classroom visits to the library.

Web site encourages art detectives

Portrait Detectives by The Walker, National Museums, Liverpool, England; http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/nof/portraits/index.html; copyright 2008.

I spent far too much time exploring the Portrait Detectives.  A series of portraits from The Walker are posted on the splash page.  From there, “detectives” select one of the paintings, examine it then answer questions about it.

I imagine art teachers would eat up this website.  I also think it would be a great resource on a pathfinder for homeschoolers.  I would also include it in any program about art or portraits for upper elementary aged students (and older).  It also would be appropriate to correlate with Blue Balliett’s art detective series, including Chasing Vermeer, The Wright 3, and The Calder Game.