Bird units are fill-in-the-blank library assigments, or reports; the result of which is copying or outright plagarism. This book provides ways to ban such low-level activities and replace them with exciting learning experiences that link the library and technology into achievement. Models, sample units, forms, and links to popular educational practrices such as Understanding by Design are provided. The models work K-12 and across all disciplines. They work when teachers are interested in going beyond the textbook and the lecture. They work extremely well in differentiated intruction and in classrooms where the students cannot understand the textbook. The models show how to integrate information literacy and technology into learning topics based on state standards. The book is a companion work to Build Your Own Information Literate School. It's a guide for teachers as much as it is for librarians and technology specialists. Great for planning collaborative units and doing professional development with teachers.

Ban Those Bird Units!: 15 Models For Teaching And Learning In Information-Rich And Technology-Rich Environments

Politics & Social Sciences

David Loertscher

Carol Koechlin

Sandi Zwaan

Social Sciences

Hi Willow Research and Publishing

The authors of the popular Ban Those Bird Units have joined their talents once more to provide more ways to create very high-level think units when teachers bring learning activities into the information-rich and technology-rich environment of the library. The new volume adds three new models to the original 15, provides planning sheets for each model, presents all new learning activities, and concentrates on the culminating high-think activities of a teacher/librarian collaboration. If you already own Ban Those Bird Units, this volume will add many new ideas to your repertoire. If not, then acquire this volume for an introduction to significant learning activities where plagiarism is no longer an issue. The book also includes additional (18 in all) think models and planning guides, plus fresh unit ideas.

Beyond Bird Units! Thinking and Understanding in Information Rich and Technology Rich Environments

Sandy Zwaan

Hi Willow Research & Pub

Since the publication of the original best selling edition, the authors and users have discovered even more effective ways of constructing super learning experiences. Thus, every unit of study represented in the original volume has been updated and improved to demonstrate powerful ways of boosting thinking and learning through technology. The book provides 18 powerful instructional designs with examples across the disciplines and grade levels that can be used by teachers, teacher librarians, and teacher technologist to maximize both content knowledge and 21st Century Skills. And, at the conclusion of each learning experience, the authors demonstrate metacognitive strategies to probe what was learned and how future learning experiences can be improved. An essential tool for collaborative construction and assessment of learning!

Beyond Bird Units! Thinking and Understanding in Information-Rich and Technology-Rich Environments

Originally published in 2008, the first edition of this book proposed a complete rethinking of the school library and computer lab in a 21st century school. After four years, the concepts of the Learning Commons have gained momentum across North America and in Australia. This second edition is rich in the further development of the concept and its implementation and draws upon many schools that have developed their programs and recreated their physical space and turned their library websites into virtual learning commons. For those who purchase the print edition, a Book2Cloud version is accessible. In this collaborative digital work, the many links to resources are live and readers can comment, add material and join with other readers in the discussion beyond what a static ebook version would have been. Every chapter has been totally revised and rethought to include the latest research in education, technology, and library science. The book also contains a new chapter concerning the bu

The New Learning Commons: Where Learners Win!: Reinventing School Libraries and Computer Labs

Education & Teaching

Schools & Teaching

This book is a companion to and an extension of, The New Learning Commons Where Learners Win 2nd edition, published in 2011. In that volume, we presented the idea that the school library and computer lab be merged into a single entity in the school, and that this new place be reinvented from the ground up in order to become a giant collaborative. In the past year, as we have watched Learning Commons develop around North America, we have discerned the need to elaborate on the virtual part of the the Learning Commons that would replace the often bypassed school library website.

The Virtual Learning Commons

Esther Rosenfeld