What are you reading now?

 Canadian Bookshelf is social media for books. It is an online community for discovering and discussing Canadian books. Canadian Bookshelf makes it easier to find your next great Canadian read.

It is an interactive virtual library stocked with books by world-renowned and up-and-coming Canadian authors writing in every genre.

Canadian Bookshelf doesn’t sell books directly on the site. They provide quick links to a range of retailers you can choose from to make your purchase.

Don’t forget to check out our blog, which apart from mere speculative opinion, will also feature author interviews, contests, maps, and podcasts

Enter a keyword in the search bar, browse by author or category, or check out featured books or lists. Once you hit on a particular book, you can find out all sorts of other things:

• More books by the author
• More information about the author
• Lists on which the book appears (which will lead you to other interesting books)

To do more, you can sign up to be a member. As a member, you can begin creating and checking out others’ lists and recommended reading. You’ll be able to rate and review books, and comment on others’ recommendations. And you’ll get access to special content and contests, special alerts on new books, and the Canadian Bookshelf newsletter.

TDSB instructors could start their own tag and talk to each other about Canadian books and resources for classroom use and for professional development. Or just for fun - what do literacy instructors like to read?

For Christmas, they are offering a special service: #GiveCDN
"This holiday season, we're making it easy for you Give Canadian. For the next few weeks, we'll be helping our readers match their most special someones with the perfect Canadian Book. If you would like some expert advice, email your holiday book shopping quandary to hello@canadianbookshelf.com, and we'll do our best to get you sorted."

free books!

Richard Byrne teaches US History and Civics to high school students at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in South Paris, Maine. He also runs the resource-rich, creativity-inspiring Free Technology for Teachers blog.

Richard has been writing a series of books about using digital technologies in classrooms that you can download for free.

Here is a sample:

Open publication - Free publishing - More education

The Noun Project

The Noun Project collects, organizes and adds to the highly recognizable symbols that form the world's visual language, so we may share them in a fun and meaningful way.


Here is their pledge to you:

Free

The symbols on this site are and always will remain free. We believe symbols can not be effectively shared with the world if they are not free.

Simple

Everyone likes simplicity. We want you to be able to come to our site and effortlessly find and obtain what you are looking for. Simple as that.

Fun

We think a language that can be understood by all cultures and people is a pretty amazing thing. We also think our symbols and the objects or ideas they represent are works of art worth celebrating.

Highest Quality

We get excited about things like scale, proportion, and shape. We are committed to design and quality in everything we do.

What does your web look like?

Here is a fun activity - a web-related personality quiz called Webify Me.

Answer 20 questions about what you would do in certain situations and get a web page that is all about you.

Here is mine: Weblocked. Click on each item to learn something about me.

P.S. The thing about the keys is definitely not true --- but everything else is so ME :)

Media and Occupy Toronto

In the last post we looked at a City TV report from Occupy Toronto. What other news reports have you seen or heard? Have you read any newspaper articles?

Here are a couple of places to find some television coverage:

CBC: Occupy Toronto takes to the streets again

CTV: 4 protests, a priest and a proposal: Top 'Occupy' moments

Global: Occupy Canada continues

Can you tell when reporters are telling you facts and when they are giving their opinion?

Here is an example from Sun TV as reported by the Canadian Journalism Project: Ezra Levant reports on Occupy Toronto; protestors release unedited video

Ezra Isaac Levant (born 1972) is a Canadian lawyer, conservative political activist and media figure. He is the founder and former publisher of the Western Standard, hosts The Source daily on Sun News Network, and has written several books on politics.



Go to the site and watch the first video.
What do you think about the report that Ezra Levant aired on SunTV?  What is your opinion about Occupy Toronto after you watch this video?

Then watch the second video.
What do you think about the video made by the people in the park? What is your opinion about Occupy Toronto after you watch this video?

Do these videos tell different stories?
Do you think these stories are fact or opinion?

What do you think about the stories? If you only watched one, what would your opinion of Occupy Toronto be?

What is a good way to find out facts about a story? When is it good to listen to opinions about a story?