I learned about Goodreads.com about three weeks ago, when English teacher Vicki Heilig asked me if I’d include some discussion about the tool during book talks with her freshman and senior English classes. I set up an account and played around in the social media site to prepare to demonstrate to the students all of its features and how they might use it as a resource. I was hooked! It reminded me of the addiction I experienced when I signed up for Facebook about ten years ago. Everything is so much more fun when you do it as part of a community! ​

Other than the now defunct Google Reader, I had never heard of a blog reader service until a couple of weeks ago when my School Librarianship instructor at Illinois State University required me to sign up for one. I’ve been introduced to a whole new world! ​

Do you remember where you were when Elvis died? (Yes, I believe I am dating myself.) I was returning to the family farm from an evening out roller skating with friends. When the news came over the radio, everyone in the car was silent. We didn’t know what to say…

​Fast forward to 2014, in which the names may be different, but certainly there are notable personalities that have had an impact on us. As we work on our curriculum, biographies are one way we can easily incorporate non-fiction, informational text.
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More than 600,000 words, over a thousand years

Ahh, so many words, so little time. Have you ever wondered what the word robot means in South Africa? Or, when the noun text message was first recorded in English?

​As teachers, we understand that vocabulary acquisition and use are at the core of the work that we do.  To help teachers with vocabulary instruction (and yes, to meet Common Core standards:), your Information and Learning Center has purchased a subscription to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).