The Kids In Need Foundation announces the second year of a teacher grants program sponsored by Elmer’s Products Inc. As a result of this educational partnership, teachers nationwide can visit the Kids In Need Foundation website to apply for an Elmer’s Teacher Tool Kit grant that can range from $100 to $500.

The grants will be given to teachers who wish to conduct classroom projects selected from a catalog of more than 500 projects currently in the Kids In Need Guide to Award Winning Projects during the 2012-2013 school year. Applications will be available online at www.kinf.org. This year, approximately 250 grants sponsored by Elmer’s will be provided to teachers nationwide. These grant awards are based on financial need, number of children who will benefit, and the teacher's commitment to complete the project. Special consideration is given to first year teachers. The deadline for online submissions is April 30, 2012.

“The Kids In Need Foundation recognizes the creativity of teachers through our Teacher Grants Program. Our library of projects showcases dynamic classroom activities, but they all require funds,” said Dave Smith, executive director of the Foundation. “We want to alleviate the need for teachers to reach into their own pockets to fund these projects, and we are thrilled to partner again with Elmer’s to provide teachers with the tools they need to strengthen imagination and critical thinking skills and abilities among their students.”

“Elmer’s has a deep commitment to the education of young people and those who help to mold them,” said Terri Brown, senior manager marketing services and communications at Elmer’s. “Together, with the Kids In Need Foundation, we will provide teachers with tools that help strengthen critical thinking, creativity and innovation among their students. The Teacher Grants Program is just one way Elmer’s provides educators with the resources they need to be successful.”

As part of the Elmer’s-Kids In Need partnership, Elmer’s will also donate product to the Foundation’s national network of free stores for teachers. The Kids In Need National Network of Resource Centers, 27 facilities across the country where teachers from low income schools can obtain free school supplies for their students and classrooms, will feature an area called Elmer’s Tools for Teachers stocked with such items as Elmer’s School Glue and Disappearing Purple School Glue Sticks, art materials, scrapbooking supplies, and other Elmer’s products.

For more information about Elmer’s Teacher Tool Kit grant and this educational partnership with the Kids in Need Foundation, visit Elmers.com.

On February 1, 2012, thirty-nine states, hundreds of school districts, more than 15,000 teachers, and nearly 2 million students participated in Digital Learning Day. Digital Learning Day is a nationwide celebration of innovative teaching and learning through digital media and technology that engages students and provides them with a rich, personalized educational experience.

The marquee event of Digital Learning Day was a National Town Hall featuring a roundtable discussion with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. It also included live interaction via Skype with four school districts in Charlotte, Cleveland, Denver, and Houston; profiled great teachers who are effectively using technology to deliver instruction; and focused on successful education innovation projects that demonstrate how technology can be used in the classroom to improve student outcomes. 

As well as the National Town Hall, Governor Bob Wise, Bailey Mitchell, Esther Wojcicki, and Barbara Treacy moderated discussions about digital education on the morning of February 1. 

Visit the Digital Learning Day website to view videos of the events and for more details. 

Photo caption: Leon Harris interviews U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski during Digital Learning Day's National Town Hall event. 

by Denise H. Stuart

Teachers are offering positive reviews of the online composing tool, Prezi. Middle level Language Arts teacher Katie Metcalf notes “I find that learners’ enjoy the flexibility and non-linear nature of Prezi…. [it] allows you to draw connections in a very visible, ‘outside of the box’ manner. It really speaks to the visual/spatial nature of the 21st century learner as they are able to visually manipulate and connect information. It is even cooler when you get to use a touch-interface and zoom through the Prezi with your hands—very exciting to manipulate!” This web-based presentation software allows composing and presentation to develop beyond a traditional slide show. Easy to create, co-create from distances, and share, it encourages both creativity and collaboration in the process.

A Prezi starts as a canvas, the big picture, and moves through layers of details as you zoom in and zoom out of graphically organized text, visuals and other media. As with any tool, the way one uses it makes the difference. It can be cluttered with text or brought alive with animation and visuals. Prezi offers a toolbar for editing, viewing, sharing and other options. Editing takes you into your construction site to insert shapes, images, video, diagrams and files. Organize these with a frame of brackets or shapes then create a path that links the content. Customize design and aesthetics with colors and fonts. A recent addition to this evolving tool is a path thumbnail strip on the editing page, with a click and drag feature to realign sequence. Viewed in published form in a browser a Prezi shows as an animated tour of the canvas rather than the series of inserts or slides.

Beyond presentations, teachers and students are using this free web based tool for collaborative storytelling, sequencing activities and more. Coach Metcalf tells “I’ve been able to search for already created Prezis on different topics, copy them to my login and then edit them or add to them.” The Prezi website offers examples and support, particularly through video instruction and the Prezi blog is a forum for users to discuss and enhance ideas with this technology. PC Magazine describes Prezi as “an animated visual feast unlike the usual boring set of bullet points.” This web 2.0 tool offers many possibilities for composing online, alone or with others. Explore, compose, and share! 

Denise Stuart is from The University of Akron, Ohio. 

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation recently announced that The Ezra Jack Keats New Writer and New Illustrator Book Awards have moved to the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection at The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries from the New York Public Library. Known collectively as The Ezra Jack Keats Book Award, the 2012 ceremony will be held in conjunction with The University of Southern Mississippi's Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival on April 12, 2012. 

“As the major repository for Ezra’s work and a leader in the world of children’s literature, the de Grummond is a natural partner for us to further Ezra’s legacy through the Book Award,” said Deborah Pope, Executive Director of The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.  “Over the years, this Book Award has continued the work Ezra began 50 years ago when he forever changed the world of children’s literature with his Caldecott award-winning book, The Snowy Day—the first book in mainstream literature to feature a child of color.” 

Since 1985, the Ezra Jack Keats Book Award has been given annually to an outstanding new writer and new illustrator of picture books for children (age 9 and under) by The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by the late Keats and dedicated to enhancing the love of reading and learning in all children. 

“We are delighted to be co-presenting the Book Award with The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation,” said Ellen Ruffin, Curator of the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection.  “Through his writing and art, Ezra broke down racial barriers to include all children in picture books—a first in the genre. We look forward to supporting the next generation of fine authors and illustrators who will make a difference in children’s lives in their own way, just as Ezra did.” 

The Book Award was created to recognize and encourage budding children’s book authors and illustrators who share Keats’ values—the universal qualities of childhood, a strong and supportive family, and the multicultural nature of our world. 

Schools, libraries, museums, businesses, websites, and other organization that are doing something truly unique and innovative to help foster a love of reading are invited to apply for the National Book Foundation’s 2012 Innovations in Reading Prize.

Winners receive $2,500 each to put toward their programs, and the Foundation will publicize the program via their website, press releases, eNewsletter, and Facebook and Twitter feeds. As part of the Prize, winners receive an all-expenses-paid trip to New York to attend a special luncheon at the Ford Foundation, where they will present their work to funders and other people in the field, as well as the National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner at Cipriani Wall Street.

The postmark deadline for application materials is February 21, 2012. 

To see a list of past Innovations in Reading Prize winners and to download the 2012 application, visit www.nationalbook.org/innovations_in_reading.html.