Posts by Shauntee Burns

Summerreading.org has launched a great interactive website that allows everyone, young or old to participate in summer reading!

In case you haven’t checked it out, go to summerreading.org and click where it says, “Register now!” (When registering you do not have to fill-in first name, last name, or email address).

Once you have created your account the fun begins. You get to create your virtual person, by dressing it, changing the hair, and picking facial features 

The key to a great book report is to choose a book you like! You may have to look at a few books to find one that interests you but it is time well spent. It will make the difference between making this a fun and rewarding experience or just another chore. How you feel about the book is sure to come through in your report as well. If you like the book, then writing the report is so much easier.

Here are some ideas for finding a good book:

Visit your library and browse the shelves. Read a page or two of books that look interesting. Ask your librarian 

The World Wide Web is a great source for online calculators. Some of these calculators are much more powerful than your typical desktop calculator. They show you not only the answer to your problem but also the step-by-step process used to get to that answer.

If a student is not sure how to do a math problem these calculators can help…but…there is often more than one way to solve a problem. A teacher may show a different method of solving a problem.

These calculators cover different subjects and work in different ways. Choose the 

Have you ever looked at your child's homework and wondered "what is this"? You want to help but you have no idea where to begin. Well there is a service that can help you provide homework help to your child. It is called, Dial-A-Teacher and it is part of New York City's public libraries website homeworknyc.org

HomeworkNYC.org provides homework help in any subject of the school's curriculum. Get one-on-one help online or by phone from a New York City school 

William Shakespeare is one of the world's most famous poets and playwrights. However, when students find out they have to read one of his plays or sonnets a huge question mark (?) appears in their heads. The New York Public Library has databases that will help your students get through the Shakespearen confusion.

To help demontrate how to research I chose Macbeth as a topic. Personally, Macbeth is my favorite. Lady Macbeth rocks!

Try these databases:

   

Many of us, use google for everything. We look up addresses, movie times, weather, admit it you know you have typed in your name too. In any case, google has become a search strategy, but many of us do not use all of the incredible features it has to offer.

How to do a basic google search?

-Always put your search terms in "quotation marks". This will allow google to search the words as a phrase.

-When specifying your search use "+" to include another topic in your search OR use "-" to exclude a topic from your search.

-You can also specify what 

Now we all have heard horrific stories about sexual predators preying on our kids online. Facts like this make it scary for parents and teachers to feel comfortable with social networking sites. It's extremely important and our responsibility as adults to provide safety measures to kids when using the internet.

Ask questions (find out what the kids are doing online and confirm if they are telling the truth) View their profile page (make sure personal information or provocative pictures are not posted on the child's webpage) Inform them that not