Designed with the busy media specialist and teacher in mind, the "School Resources" tab offers information on new materials and links to the resources listed below. This page also offers links to relevant bibliographies and gives searching tips to enrich your results.

Articles with Curricular Connections

These articles discuss various ways to use fiction in the classroom (K-12), from encouraging your students' interaction with books to finding literature from around the world to teaching about survival using Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, and much more. Articles include author-focused materials, as well as articles and annotated book lists for students at all levels.

BookTalks (for Children's and Young Adult levels)

"There are worse things than being born a Third, and one of them is going to Battle School. "
So begins the BookTalk on Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game.

To capture the interest of young readers with a short enticing description of a particular title, libraries have used booktalks for years. NoveList provides BookTalks for both children's and young adult titles. Students can browse through these talks OR you can print out a selection of BookTalks and use in a display OR as handouts for your students. Great for independent reading ideas! The product's booktalks are actual scripts of booktalks delivered by such well-known young adult librarians as Joni Bodart, Bonnie Kunzel, and Tom Reynolds.

Book Discussion Guides for Young Adults

NoveList develops book discussion guides for selected young adult titles. These comprehensive guides are excellent ways to support librarians and teachers as they work to integrate young adult literature into their classes. You should also check out the book discussion guides at the adult level. Several of these titles will be of interest to you including To Kill a Mockingbird and Fahrenheit 451.

Picture Book Extenders

More than just a collection of nice illustrations or an easy way to fill up time with preschoolers, the picture book format has come into its own as quality literature that delights, teaches, informs and inspires. Picture Book Extenders offer a look at the many ways in which picture books can be used by teachers and parents: as a comprehension tool, as enrichment to curricular content areas, and as a springboard to exciting and interesting activities that are suggested by a picture book's content.

Each picture book "extender" provides:

• Questions and answers that evaluate comprehension, as well as touch on literary elements such as theme, characterization, setting and point of view.
• Vocabulary words from the text with definitions designed especially for younger children.
• Extension activities that can be used in the classroom or with a parent at home.
• A list of titles that offer further exploration of the theme or author.