Welcome to my Web of videos, each about information and technology literacy skills, the standards Wisconsin has developed for school library media centers.

Multi-media is a powerful way to connect with today's youth, digital natives.  Using the digital formats youths are interested in is an effective strategy to introduce, teach, and reinforce a wide-array of media skills that relate to traditional print media, books, digital search tools, and computer technologies.

Students respect this because when we create and share multi-media, we are modeling their world and the skills that they aspire to master.  The "digital divide" in schools is not really about who has access to computers and modern software, it is about access to adults that take interest in emerging technology and model the life-long learning skills that are necessary to continue to learn new technologies.

When teachers take the initiative to create and share multi-media, we are preparing students to apply these valuable skills to demonstrate their learning.  To more-fully support our students with technology, educators need to:

1. Model expectations for quality and enriched content.
2. Demonstrate a workflow process that efficiently enables projects to be successfully completed.
3. Share these skills across diverse learners by organizing projects in collaboration with students.

As a library media specialist that is also involved with professional network TV production, I can share how the "pros" organize the three steps of production:

1. Planning (pre-production)
2. Capturing (production)
3. Editing & finalizing (post-production)

But my purpose here is to make available for my students, their families, other teachers & media specialists, and school stakeholders some of the videos that I have created and shared with students this year. 

Each is a short presentation, less than 10 minutes.  All are effective and provide an important resources that I integrate into lessons.  I have used these videos here with upper-elementary students, middle school students, and even high school students.  The key is to include enriched content in a short, attention-grabbing way.  You will find that the formats and styles I use work with very wide and diverse age groups.

Research / Book Selection
For Kids / Book & Author Talks
/ Top /

Research Skills

"Take 5" Research Process.  Have a research project? Maybe for school, work, or your personal life? Let’s review how we can find the information we need, spending no more time than necessary, and get the best information available.

Evaluating Information.  Using digital search tools and the Internet to find information is fun and easy. Access to different resources is valuable. However, easy access means evaluating what we find is important. Let's look at how to help choose the best information available.

Keyword & Subject Heading Heading Searches.  Professional researchers know that the fastest way to find information is to understand how people have organized it. Finding good resources is easy when we understand the difference between SUBJECT HEADINGS and KEYWORD searches.

Badger, Badger, BadgerLink.  Here's a short video to demonstrate BadgerLink, a wonderful collection of online resources that provides access to quality online information for Wisconsin residents, schools, and libraries.

Meet Melvil Dewey & Dewey Decimal Catagories.  Sit back and enjoy ScooterStories' Dewey Decimal Rap and then we will review the 10 basic number categories that Melvil Dewey created to organize information in libraries.

Doin' Dewey:  Nonfiction.  Join Bogey Bear and Fuzby as they talk about getting started with Dewey Decimal Numbers - Melvil Dewey's system for organizing nonfiction books in the library. Dewey Decimal numbers are used in libraries all around the world!

Reference Team.  Need to find some information? Want to find it quickly? Then you will want to get to know the "team" at the library. The reference team - they can help you find information quickly.

Almanacs:  General Index.  The World Almanac is organized with tabs, a table of content, a general index, and a quick reference index. Students are surprised to see we find information quicker in an almanac than an Internet search.  Let's let some young readers explain.

Earth, Globes, and Maps. If you we out in space looking at Earth, you would see an amazing, beautiful sight, a spinning globe. You can see the large masses of land. To see the details of how earth, you might want to look at a model of it (globe) or a diagram of what you are seeing (map).

Maps:  Latitude & Longitude. So do you ever ask "Where am I?" Sounds like an easy question, and it is unless you mean “Where am I located on the earth?” Several hundred years ago, a system, lines of latitude and longitude was developed.

Plagiarism & Citing Sources.  Giving others credit for their ideas and words is important.  It's the right thing to do.  Let's review how to avoid plagiarism and look at a simple way to cite sources - a format based on APA that is used in with primary students at the Herman School District.

Research / Book Selection
For Kids / Book & Author Talks
/ Top /

Book Selection & Recreational Reading

Fiction Genres. Reading books is fun. Reading is fun because there are different kinds of books – different books for different kinds of fun. We call different types of stories, genres. Let's look at the 6 basic types of fiction genres.

Newbery Medal Winners & Honors Books. Looking for a fun book to read – try an award-winning book. Try a Newbery book. These books have entertained millions of people, folks all around the world. You’ll probably enjoy them too.

Folk Tales & Fairy Tales.  Learning about genres is the key to connecting young readers with fun books - there are many different types of stories and books, different genres. Let's get started by comparing and contrasting folk tales with fairy tales.

Finding Fiction Books.  Mr. Breitsprecher always likes it when students and other friends stop by the library. Join Bogey Bear, Fuzby, and Mr. Breitsprecher as they review the alphabet and how fiction books are shelved in the library - they are in ABC order by the author's last name.

Your Library:  Finding Fiction and Nonfiction Books.  Mr. Breitsprecher and his friends review an old video about libraries, call letters for fiction, and Dewey numbers for nonfiction.  This project shows how older videos can have good information if you look for useful clips that are still valid.

I Remember Dr. Marting Luther King. I created this video to help introduce biographies to upper elementary students during the week the nation honors Dr. King.  There are many great books about him for kids of all ages.  My favorite is David Adler's "A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr."

Amazing Grace:  A Legend of Hope, Change, and Freedom.  This lesson celebrates African American Heritage by reviewing slavery in America, the inspiring story of the song Amazing Grace, and what that song has meant to different people over the years.

Research / Book Selection
For Kids / Book & Author Talks
/ Top /

For Kids

I Love It When You Read To Me.  I wrote this song a couple of years ago when I accepted a library media position in a lower elementary school, K through second-grade. What a happy and joyous place! Here I play it with some 4-year-old Kindergarten students.  This is just too cute and I am so grateful to have an opportunity to share with these children.

Caldecott Awards.  Children love to sing - they love songs about books. I wrote this to share a love of books with the young students I read to. The kids love it and they love the books we share too.

Wisconsin's Golden Archer Award 2007/2008.  Each year, Wisconsin students nominate books and a popular vote determines the "winner" as determined by the state's young readers.  It's a lot of fun and promotes a love a reading.  Learn more with this short video.

Author Study: Jeanne Willis.  A popular author from England who has written more than 80 books for children, Ms. Willis' book Tadpoles Promise is one of the 2007/2008 Golden Archer Award nominees.  This video also features a presentation I made of her book, Mayfly Day.

Alphabetical Order.  Some things we learn to do by DOING. I always carefully practice procedures like alphabetical order with students, but find having different ways to explain it and multimedia really helps. This video outlines the process so that we can practice.

Dictionaries:  Guide Words.  We use guide words, two words on the top of each page. The first guide word is the first word on that page. The second guide word is the last word on that page. We just use alphabetical order and find the 2 guide words that the word we are looking up falls between.

Encyclopedia:  Guide Words.  Encyclopedias have guide words - one set of the top of each 2 pages. The first guide word is the first item on the first page. The second guide word is the last item on the second page. Use alphabetical order to find the guide words that our word would be between.

Using Dictionaries.  Here are the basics that we need to know to look up words in dictionaries.  I created this for my 3rd graders.  Please note how I have simplified the process of making multimedia by using a PowerPoint-style, narrated presentation.

Using Encyclopedias.  This is another video I was able to quickly create using a PowerPoint format with transitions and animations.  We review the basic thing

A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Every person's life is a story. Every person's life touches others. Dr. Martin Luther King's life was productive and compassionate. Featuring a title from David Adler's award-winning biography series, I have also included a short video about Dr. King's life.

A Picture Book of Rosa Parks.  David Adler biography series of picture books are great for young children.  They are good books for older readers. This book, about "the mother of the civil rights movement" tells us about the life and times of Rosa Parks.

Bear Snores On  Karma Wilson is a popular children's book author that is increasingly getting the attention and affection of young readers. She has a wonderful, whimsical style that uses rhyme and repetition to delight children.

Corduroy.  Children love their teddy bears! Many adults love bears too. Written by Don Freeman, the book Corduroy is one of the most popular picture books in school and public libraries. entertained generations of kids and helped get them ready to read.

The Blues of Flats Brown  The blues are an old style of music, born in hard times. But blues music takes a sad situation and makes it joyful. Let's listen to Albert Collins & BB King, look at what blues music is, and then share a wonderful picture book by Walter Dean Myers.

Parody:  Goldilocks and the Three Bears  Some stories are fun because we have heard another story first. Sometimes authors take our favorite stories and create new ones with new meaning and characters. These new stories keep some of the original story, which making it fun.

Paddington Bear  One of the most popular bears in the world, one of the most popular series of chapter books in the world, is Paddington. He is a bear that came to London as a stole-away from Peru. This "book-talk" video presents the main titles in the Paddington series.

Tadpole's Promise  Written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross, Tadpole's Promise is a delightful book and was nominated for a Golden Archer Award in 2007/2008. This video also reviews the lifecycle of butterflies and frogs.

Where's My Teddy?  Having a routine, a set of things we do at bedtime, can help us get a good night's sleep. For many children, going to bed means huddling and cuddling their own teddy bear. Here's a fun story about a boy, a bear, and the teddy bears that they love.

Research / Book Selection
For Kids / Book & Author Talks
/ Top /

Book & Author Talks

Spotlight Today Author Talk:  Cynthia Rylant.  Cynthia Rylant grew up in rural West Virginia and loved comic books, cats and dogs, pajama parties, and the Beatles. Like most kids, she played with dolls, rode bikes, and had fun outside. Today, she believes that all the playing she did as a child is what helped her become a great writer. Ms. Rylant is an author that kids can enjoy reading for many, many years.

Oz Series Book Talk. This video looks at each of the original Frank Baum Oz books, summarizing the books and flipping through the original print editions so that students can get a feel for how artwork adds to the author's presentation.  This is an effective video - there are timeless classics that often sit on library shelves because today's youth do not even see them.  After showing this video to my classes - ALL of the Oz books get checked out and another generation of kids learn to enjoy the work of one of America's greatest writers.

Spotlight Today Book Talks.  This is a pilot for a series of book talks for this fall's youth TV show on TVW, Club TNT. Let's look at four popular books for middle age/middle school students:  The Heart of a Chief, by Joseph Bruchac; Blue Jasmine, by Kashmira Sheth; The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child, by Francisco Jimenez; and I'll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers in the Civil War, by Anita Silvey

I Love It When You Read To Me:  Book Talks by BreitLinks.  While I have been making videos to promote great books with my students for a few years now, these are public service announcements I am making for a Madison-area youth radio show, Listen Hear! and a youth TV show, Club TNT.  Each starts as a voice-over done to professional radio standards and then I use a video template I created to quickly turn that narration into a simple, 1-minute TV spot.

Research / Book Selection
For Kids / Book & Author Talks