VRC 2010:
MIDDLE
SCHOOLS
What’s It All About on the Web!
Sabrina Carnesi, School Librarian
Crittenden Middle School
2010 VEMA State Convention
Hampton Roads Convention Center
Hampton, VA
October 29, 2010
After Tupac and D Foster.
By Jacqueline Woodson,
Putnam Young Adult, 2008.
The unnamed narrator and her best
friend, Neeka, live in a quiet and boring
Queens neighborhood, with strict parents
always in their business. When D Foster shows
up in their lives, they are jealous of her
freedom to roam the city, but D, in turn,
wishes she had a real home like theirs, not the
life of a foster child she currently leads.
D arrives a few months before Tupac
Shakur is shot the first time, and leaves the
summer before he dies, and in those years,
framed by Tupac and his music, the three
African American girls go from age 11 to 13,
become steadfast friends, and begin to find
the Big Purpose in their lives.
2009 Newbery Honor
2009 Best Books for Children
2009 Coretta Scott King Honor
…39 additional awards
Topics Supported on the Web
http://streaming.teachertube.com/music.php?music_id=2325&title=After_Tupac_and_D_Foster
•This is an audio introduction to the book posted on TeacherTube.com
http://oh.webjunction.org/ohctroaftertupac
•State Library of Ohio site with toolkit that includes author profile,
summary, discussion questions, and extension projects.
http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/ya.shtml
•Jacqueline Woodson’s actual website w/ comments on the book
http://www.tasf.org/
Tupac Shakur’s legacy site
http://rap.about.com/od/toppicks/tp/2PacTop10Songs.htm
Tupac Shakur songs that include “Brenda’s Got a Baby” and “Dear Mama”.
Tupac Shakur
1971 - 1996
•http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/yr/tl/tl-guides.html
•Penguin Books Study Guide in brochure format. Scroll down and look under Reader’s Companions
for Young Adult Readers.
Marian Wright Edelman’s
Viewpoint on Incarceration and Racial Profiling
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/830000283/post/1440043744.html
Marian Wright Edelman’s concept of “cradle to prison pipeline” in School
Library Journal. April 24, 2009.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marian-wright-edelman/the-cradle-to-prisonpipe_b_165163.html
Marian Wright Edelman’s “The Cradle to Prison Pipeline: America’s new
Apartheid”, February 9, 2009
http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-datapublications/data/marian-wright-edelman-child-watch-column/Cradle-toprison-pipeline-americas-new-apartheid.html
Marian Wright Edelman’s Child Watch Column: “The Cradle to Prison Pipeline:
America’s new Apartheid”, February 6, 2009
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The Amphitheater at Queens College
http://cdm128401.cdmhost.com/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/qc&
CISOPTR=0&CISOBOX=1&REC=6
All of the Above
By Shelly Pearsall
Little Brown, 2008.
MN Maud Hart Lovelace Award List
Garden State Reading Award
MO Truman Reading Book Award
KS William Allen White Children’s Book Award
Young Hoosier Book Award
Mr. Collins, a seventh grade
math teacher, was discouraged by his
inner city students’ lack of interest and
desire to learn math and geometry. He
challenged them to try for a shot at the
Guinness Book of World Records by
making the largest tetrahedron.
James, Rhondell, Marcel, and
Sharice face many typical problems of
the inner city: homelessness, poverty,
crime and abandonment, but somehow
they find in themselves the
determination to see the project through
to the end even after vandals destroy
their first attempts. Told through 7
different points of view.
Discussion Guide and Extensions
http://www.shelleypearsall.com/forT
eachers.htm#ideas3
Ideas for using All of the Above in
the classroom.
http://www.shelleypearsall.com/AllO
fTheAboveGuide.pdf
Author’s discussion guide
Web Connections
Alexander Graham Bell’s use of the tetrahedron to develop kites – www.design-technology.org/bell.htm
Work of M.C. Escher who often used geometric shapes in his art – www.mcescher.com
Biography of Waclaw Sierpinski who developed the tetrahedron –
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Sierpinski.html
The Battle of Hamburger Hill where Mr. Collins’ brother was killed –
http://www.historyinfilm.com/hamhill/real.htm
Foster care issues and concerns – www.puberty101.com/aacap_fostercare.shtml
African-American hair care services, products, and styling information www.hairboutique.com/tips/AfricanAmericanhair.htm
Platonic Solids and their role in our everyday lives -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_solid
The consequences and costs of vandalism –
http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/fs200010.pdf#search=%22vandalism%22
The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had
by Kristin Levine
Putnam, 2009.
The last thing Harry “Dit” Sims
expects when Emma Walker comes to town is
to become friends. Proper-talking, brainy
Emma doesn’t play baseball or fish too
well, but she sure makes Dit think, especially
about the differences between black and
white. But soon Dit is thinking about a whole
lot more when the town barber, who is black,
is put on trial for a terrible crime. Together Dit
and Emma come up with a daring plan to
save him from the unthinkable.
Set in 1917 Alabama and inspired
2010 AL Children’s Choice
by the author’s family history, this is the story
NM Recommended Book List
of a remarkable friendship and the perils of
2009 Best New YA Books
small town justice. Based on stories from
2009 Librarian Choice Awards
author’s family.
Historical Connections:
Publisher’s Study Guide
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/penguin/best_bad_luck_
dg.pdf
US Postal Museum
http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/AfricanAmericanHistory/p1.html
This link documents the history of African Americans’ involvement in the
US Postal Services from slavery to present-day: “The History and
Experience of African Americans in America’s Postal Service” by Deanna
Boyd and Kendra Chen.
Mrs. Minnie M. Cox
January 3, 1903 NYTimes Article
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=980CE1DC103
0E733A25750C0A9679C946297D6CF
President Teddy Roosevelt’s Involvement
http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/civil%20rights.htm
Photograph of Minnie M. Cox,
1903 US Postmaster of
President Woodrow Wilson’s 1912 Federal
Indianola, Mississippi
Segregation
http://www.theorator.com/bills110/text/hr401
http://www.jstor.org/pss/2716036
0.html
The Minnie Cox Post Office
…as designated by the US House of Representatives
Bill 4010 October 30, 2007
H. R. 4010
To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 100 West Percy
Street in Indianola, Mississippi, as the `Minnie Cox Post Office Building'.
http://www.theorator.com/bills110/text/hr4010.html
Breathe: A Ghost Story.
By Cliff McNish
First Avenue Editions, 2009.
Discussion Guide http://www.yourlibrary.ws/ya_webpage/ritba/rit
ba08/breathe.htm
Cliff McNish's Website http://www.cliffmcnish.com
Jack can talk to ghosts. In his new home, an
aging farmhouse, he meets the Ghost Mother, a griefstricken spirit who becomes very attached to him...too
attached. He learns that the Ghost Mother is preying in the
cruelest imaginable way on four child ghosts who are
trapped in the house, stealing their energy to sustain her
own. Before Jack can figure out how to help them, the
Ghost Mother takes possession of his real mother's body.
Jack wants to fight back, but he has severe asthma and risks
fatal attacks with any physical exertion.
Jack encounters Isabella, the Ghost Mother's
daughter. She died of TB at a young age leaving her mother
alone and inconsolable. She and Jack work together to save
the young ghosts and Jack’s mother.
2009 DE Diamond Book Award
2006 PA YA Top 40
Other Related Links:



Real Life
Paranormal
Investigator
Paul Eno


Write your own Ghost stories and use the "Ghost Checklist" in this
site for self assessment/reflection. Lesson plan available at:
www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view_printer_friendly.asp?i
d=225
Ghosts and Fear in Language Arts: Lesson Plan
at: www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=237
Make up clues for several groups. The clue for each group led to
another clue somewhere in the library. When the students found the
second clue, it led them to a mystery book on the shelf. They pulled it
and sit down until everyone has finished. Read the titles of all the
books found and ask what these books have in common. Show
students a poster with criteria for a good mystery book:
 Characters are well developed.
 Reader can solve mystery along with main character because all
clues are given
 Plot engages the reader and propels the reader on through the
book.
 The mystery is solved at end of the book.
from http://www.roundrockisd.org/docs/literary_genres.doc
TAPS: The Atlantic Paranormal Society - www.the-atlanticparanormal-society.com
The Atlantic Paranormal Society is the organization of Rhode Island
ghost hunters, as seen on the TV show Ghost Hunters on the SciFi
Network.
Paul F. Eno, Rhode Island's own "ghost guru"www.newenglandghosts.com and www.footstepsintheattic.com
The Girl Who Could Fly
Piper McCloud lives with her
By Victoria Forester
normal ma and pa on a normal farm in
Feiwel & Friends, 2008.
normal Lowland County. But Piper isn’t
your normal girl. Ever since Piper was a
baby she’s been able to hover a few feet off
the ground, and if the people of Lowland
County knew she could fly, they would
have something to say about it. So it only
seems best that Piper be sent away to
I.N.S.A.N.E., the top secret school for
children with extraordinary abilities like
hers.
Her new friends have powers like
telekinesis, X-ray vision, and the ability to
create their own weather. Piper likes her
new life at school, but soon, she realizes
things aren’t as they seem. Now, the
school she was sent to for her own
2010 Sunshine State Young Readers Award
protection might be the most dangerous
2010 Young Hoosier Book Award
place she’s ever been.
2009 What’s New in Children’s Literature
2010 Young Hoosier Book Award
Discussion Questions and
Videos
Discussion Questions
http://media.us.macmillan.com/discussionguides/9780312602383DG.pdf
Author’s Website
http://www.victoriaforester.com/
Student Video (2:19 length)
http://www.victoriaforester.com/
Teacher Video Summary 1:47
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5yM9zLXSbA&feature=related
Film Trailer 0:23
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmIChorQhVo&feature=related
Can People Really Fly?
 Dean Potter
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/sports/othersports/14climber.html?_r
=2&pagewanted=1&sq=dean%20potter&st=nyt&scp=1
 Stuff Your Brain Likes http://stuffyourbrainlikes.com/2008/03/17/canhumans-fly/
Can People Really Fly?

Photos of Flying People – True or False http://www.chilloutpoint.com/featured/incredibl
e-levitation-photography-people-can-fly.html

Levitation – Ellusionists – How to Levitate http://www.levitation.org/how-to-levitate.htm

Horizontal Levitation Revealed –
 http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4431207/pr
edators_movie_trailer/
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IALCzl56Mw
Little Audrey
By Ruth White
Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2008.
This story is an autobiographical
account of a short period in the
author’s life. Here’s an
interview with Ruth White
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2
009/mar2009/whit-m06.shtml
•Jewel Valley, Virginia
•Coal miners
•1948
•Scarlet fever
•Alcoholism
•Poor man’s food such
as beans
•Shirley Temple
2009 Notable Books for Global Society
2010 SC 100 Titles for HS
2009 WV Children’s Book Award
2008 Best New Books for YA
2011 AZ Grand Canyon Reader Award
Story Elements:
Jewell Coal & Coke Coal Plant
Jewell Valley, VA
Main Characters:
Audrey, Momma, Daddy,
Betty Gail, & the 3 Little
Pigs (Eleanor, Ruth Carol,
Yvonne )
Thematic Connections:
 Little Audrey’s fantasy world was Jane
Eyre’s Thornfield Manor. Below are 2
website study guides for Jane Eyre .
 http://www.studyguide.org/jane_ey
re.htm
 http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/jane
eyre/study.html
• Audrey White’s nickname came from
the cartoon character “Little Audrey.”
Little Audrey Comic strip from the
1940s
http://www.comicstripfan.com/comic
book/l/littleaudreycomic.htm
Lye Soap and Shirley Temple…

Audrey’s mother’s hands are
sometimes rubbed raw from cleaning
her father’s workclothes with lye
soap. Here’s the ingredients for lye
soap
 http://farmgal.tripod.com/lyesoap
concoctions.html
 Useful Soap recipes that are
not harmful to your skin
 http://www.soapnaturally.org/soa
p_recipes/#soap_recipe_index
 Audrey went to see a Shirley Temple
movie. Shirley Temple was a child star
of the 1930s.
 http://www.shirleytemple.com/

Shooting the Moon
By Frances O’Roark Dowell
12-year-old Jamie Dexter's brother TJ joi
the Army and is sent toVietnam. Instead
letters, TJ sends Jamie rolls of film for
which she develops herself. Each film ha
pictures of the moon that become more
gritty as her awareness of the true nature
of war comes to be.
Atheneum, 2008.
Understanding the Moon Phases
http://www.moonconnection.co
m/moon_phases.phtml
Moon Phase Calendar
http://www.moonconnection.co
m/moon_phases_calendar.phtml
2010 SC 100 Titles for HS
2008 Best New Books for YA
2010 RI, IL, IA Children’s Book Award
2009 VT State Award
Vietnam POW/MIA
http://lonestar.50megs.com/vietn
amvet/powmia.html
Military-centered sites
Author’s Website
http://francesdowell.com/
Fort Hood News in the Killeen Daily Herald
http://www.kdhnews.com/forthood/
Fort Hood Sentinel Newspaper
http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/news/
Jamie learned the 5th Infantry Division call-andresponse from the time she was born, “Pathfinders!”
Combat Ready , Sir!”
The 5th Infantry is the oldest military unit organization
to still be in existance.
http://www.societyofthefifthdivision.com/
Fort Hood, Tx
http://www.hood.army.mil/
Army Ranks from lowest to highest
http://www.militaryfactory.com/ranks/army_ranks.asp
Gin Rummy, football, and Vietnam
• Jamie played Gin Rummy with Private Hollister almost everyday. Below
are some online websites for playing gin
o http://rummy.com/
o http://uk.games.yahoo.com/online-games/card/games_gin.htm
• TJ was a star football player in high school. If he attended public HS, he
probably attended one in the Killeen Independent School District
https://www.killeenisd.org/schools/index.cfm#
• Instructions for developing Black & White film in 12 steps
http://www.photogs.com/bwworld/bwfilmdev.html
• Vietnam Battlefield History:
• Sgt. Byrd, an avid photographer fought at Khe Sanh http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/khe/index.html
• Jamie’s brother TJ, has been assigned to the 51st Medical Unit at Phu
Bai Airport Base - -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3hekx5B_n4
2009 Notable Books for Global Society
T4: A Novel
By Ann Clare LeZotte
Houghton Mifflin, 2008.
http://asl.ms/
This is an interactive resource for students,
teachers, and parents of deaf children
http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/fingerspellin
g/index.htm
This site is hosted by the ASL University and
houses Fingerspelling quizes
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/asl/
Printable Worksheets
http://pajka.blogspot.com/2008/08/intervie
w-with-deaf-author-ann-clare.html
Interview with deaf author Ann Clare
LeZotte about T4, her book told in verse.
(September 22, 2008)
It is 1939. Paula Becker, 13 years old
and deaf, lives with her family in a rural
German town. A priest comes to her
family’s door with an offer to shield
Paula from the Nazis. Paula meets and
befriends “Poor Kurt” who turns out to
be more than what is expected.
Tiergartenstrasse 4 Links
http://www.tiergartenstrasse4.org/
This a site for the Tiergartenstrasse 4
Association, an organization
committed to research and
documentation of the Nazi
Euthanasia projects.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/js
ource/Holocaust/t4.html
This is a site that has documentation
and pictures of the headquarters of
the operation at Tiergartenstrasse 4
in Berlin, Germany. T4 is the code
name derived from the address.
http://www.irren-offensive.de/t4.htm
Virtual Tour of Action T4…then and
now photos.
Books with Deaf Characters
The Sign for
Drowning: A Novel
By Rachel Stolzman
Miss Spitfire:
Reaching H. Keller
By Sarah Miller
Feathers
Hurt Go Happy
by Jacqueline Woodson By Ginny Rorby
Love That Dog & Hate
That Dog
by Sharon Creech
The Last Days of
Hamburger Halpin
by Josh Berk
Kami and the Yaks
by Andrea Stenn
Stryer
The Immortal Life of
Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot
The London Eye Mystery
By Siobhan Dowd
Random House, 2008.
•Sheffield Children’s Book Award
•Cheshire Schools’ Book Award
•Southwark Book Award
•Coventry Inspiration Book Award
•Essex Book Award
•14 other national and regional prizes.
Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim board the
London Eye. But after half an hour it landed and
everyone trooped off – except Salim. Where could
he have gone? How on earth could he have
disappeared into thin air? Ted and his older sister,
Kat, become sleuthing partners, since the police are
having no luck. Despite their prickly relationship,
they overcome their differences to follow a trail of
clues across London in a desperate bid to find their
cousin. And ultimately it comes down to Ted,
whose brain works in its own very unique way, to
find the key to the mystery. This is an unputdownable spine-tingling thriller–a race against
time.
The Siobhan Dowd Trust
www.siobhandowd.com
(1960 – 2007)
A Swift Pure Cry (2006)
The London Eye Mystery (2007)
Bog Child (2008)
Solace of the Road (2009)
Study and Discussion Guides:
•Plot Summary
http://www.enotes.com/the-london-eye-mystery/
•Discussion Questions by students at
Colleyville Middle School
http://www.allstudies.org/London+Eye.htm
•Extensive Study Guide
Introducing the class to The London
Eye Mystery. Whole class discussion .....
questions about the map and to make observations
about its organisation;
[PDF] LEM Teachers Resources.qxp
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
London Eye Websites:
•Official Website for the London Eye
www.londoneye.com/ExploreTheLondonEye
•You Videos of London Eye
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oHAo8m-c-E
•4 – D London Eye experience
http://www.londoneye.com/Static/TheNew4DEx
perience.htm
Addition Support Sites:
 London Tube Map downloadable PDF –
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/11
06.aspx
 20 Facts About Asperger Syndrome
http://autismaspergerssyndrome.suite1
01.com/article.cfm/20_facts_about_asp
ergers_syndrome_in_children
Additional Support Sites
continued…
 Ted is interested in the
daily weather shipping
forecast for London
neighborhoods
http://sebbrennan.com/ar
ea%20pages/deptford.ht
ml
 BBC Shipping Forecast
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/we
ather/coast/shipping/
The Underneath
By Kathi Appelt
Simon & Schuster Children’s, 2008.
2009 Newbery Honor
2010 AR State Awards
2009 Coop. for Children’s Book Center
2010 First Choice
2009 IL State Award
…plus 35 additional awards
One kitten's one moment
of curiosity sets off a chain of
events that is astonishing,
remarkable, and enormous in its
meaning.
In this National Book
Award finalist, Kathi Appelt spins
a harrowing yet keenly sweet tale
about the power of love -- and its
opposite, hate -- the fragility of
happiness and the importance of
making good on your promises.
Study Guides and Questions:
Reading Guide on Teacher Vision webpage from Simon
and Schuster. Contains pre-reading, during reading, and
post reading materials, activities, and projects.
•http://www.teachervision.fen.com/literatureguide/printable/59404.html
•http://books.simonandschuster.com/Underneath/KathiAppelt/9781416950585/reading_group_guide
Interactive discussion questions that can be answered
online
•http://216.74.34.10/trivia/book/2768169.The_Underneath
Author Links:
Author Website
http://www.kathiappelt.com/
Kathi Appelt reading from “The Underneath” at the
National Book Awards, from chapter 4 (Mama Cat’s
discovery of Ranger), includes singing the blues song
that is sung by Ranger the bloodhound that is chained
under the house.
http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2008_ypl_appelt.html
YouTube book trailer (1:29 in length)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ4Ds1Yub3Q
Caddo Nation Info:
The Official Caddo Nation of Oklahoma Website. The old legend of the ‘g
Grandmother Moccasin and the Alligator King” mentioned in the story is
an old Indian fable. The Caddo use to live on the Texas – Louisiana border
in the Bayou country where the story takes place.
http://www.caddonation-nsn.gov/
Caddo Legacy site contains presentations and discussions prepared by the
Caddo people on their culture.
http://caddolegacy.com/default.aspx
Short video clip that contains Kathi Appelt’s viewpoint on writing, “ Write
like your fingers are on fire”.
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Underneath/KathiAppelt/9781416950585
Caddo Pottery
One of the things that set the Caddo apart from their
neighbors was their extraordinary skill and creativity as
potters. Caddo women (and perhaps some men) made all
kinds of pottery from huge storage jars over three feet high
to tiny bowls smaller than a tea cup made for their children
as well as a variety of other objects including smoking pipes
and earspools. While much of the pottery was made for
everyday use in cooking, storage, and serving, the Caddo
fine wares served other purposes (ritual and funerary) and
are renown.
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/tejas/clay/index.html
Voting Procedures:
 Read four of the 10 books by
March and you can vote for your
favorite with students from all
over the state of Virginia
 Turn in your school results to
your district representative for
district-wide count
Thank You for Attending.
 This video is accessible on my school library’s website:
http://crittenden.nn.k12.va.us/library.html
 Please feel free to use it at your convenience.