Booksurf Blog

Inside Hana’s suitcase. It is a remarkable and moving story about a Japanese teacher and her class who receive a suitcase when they are researching the Holocaust. This is being shown on ABC2 on Wednesday Night (25/11/09).
Here is a snippet from the documentary.

There is also the family’s website … Hana’s Suitcase which is well worth a look.

Click here to purchase a copy of Hana’s Suitcase. Remember to login to Booksurf first.

This video talks about what education might look like in 2025.

Things to think about…

There are technologies that didn’t exist even just a year ago. Students are growing up with these technologies and use them as second nature. Do we need to look differently at the way we approach our lessons?

The Online College is dedicated to bringing you the best online educational tools and resources.
Here is a link to a great post on the Online College for 100 Great YouTube Videos for History . History teachers, students and buffs will enjoy using this link. 

YouTube always up to the challege of providing thorough, accurate information by delivering channels from leading names in historical studies, from The Smithsonian to the Discovery Channel.

This blog site and post has put the top 100 links together in one place.  Areas include General History, Art History, Music History, World History and much much more.

The back cover…

IT’S NOT THE FALL THAT KILLS YOU. JACK WEST JR IS BACK. AND THE END OF THE WORLD… …HAS ARRIVED.

IT BEGAN WITH SIX STONES Jack West Jr and his loyal team are in desperate disarray: they’ve been separated, their mission is in tatters, and Jack was last seen plummeting down a fathomless abyss. IT FINISHES HERE After surviving his deadly fall, Jack must now race against his many enemies to locate and set in place the remaining pieces of The Machine before the coming Armageddon. WHO ARE THE FIVE WARRIORS? As the world teeters on the brink of destruction, he will learn of the Five Warriors, the individuals who throughout history have been most intimately connected to his quest. OCEANS WILL RISE, CITIES WILL FALL Scores will be settled, fathers will fight sons, brothers will battle brothers, and Jack and his friends will soon find out exactly what the end of the world looks like…

Check out the Book Trailer from PanMacMillian

Check out Mathew Reilly’s Website here.

Purchase your copy of Five Greatest Warriors here. Remember to login to Booksurf first.

Purchase other MatthewReilly’s books here.

Spezify is a search tool that presents results in a variety of visual ways from many different websites. Spezify gives a good overview of the subject or topic. Spezify uses all types of media and websites such as blogs, videos, microblogs and images to build wholistic picture of the search.

Spezify collect websites and aim to use as many free, relevant and open API’s as possible to generate a diverse response.

The fourth book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series has been released.

Dog Days: Diary of a Wimpy Kid V4
Author: Jeff Kinney

      ” It’s the summer holidays, the weather’s great, and all the kids are having fun outside. So where’s Greg Heffley? Inside his house, playing video games with the shades drawn.

Greg, a self-confessed ‘indoor person,’ is living out his ultimate summer fantasy: no responsibilities and no rules. But Greg’s mom has a different vision for an ideal summer . . . one packed with outdoor activities and ‘family togetherness.’

Whose vision will win out? Or will a new addition to the Heffley family change everything?”

The original book – ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ is also being made into a movie and due for release April 2010. Watch this space for more details to follow…

Wimpy Kid also has his own website, click here to check it out.

Jeff Kinney explains on the following video explains writing Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This video give students an opportunity to listen and share Jeff’s concepts and development of character.

Click here to purchase your copy. Remember to log in the Booksurf first.

Click here to purchase other titles by Jeff Kinney

Have you checked out Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features the original text of Jane Austen’s beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone crunching zombie action and has become a best seller.

Click here to purchase your copy.

Check out this Youtube Video made by MrDennissecrest for a class preview of the book.

But it doesn’t stop there with Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters coming your way around September.

Ben H. Winters was interviewed  by Tina Jordan (EW’s Shelf Life)

“The Jane Austen aficionados, who can be a tough bunch, seemed to like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

I feel like people who really love Austen get it. Her novels are so strong, so cleverly constructed, so smart and dry, they really lend themselves to over-the-top violence.”

 

Here is a book trailer video for Sense and Sensibility by Quirk Classics.  Certainly a different way of looking at Jane Austin. Let us know what you think.

                                                                       Click here to purchase your copy.

Anthony Bourke and John Rendell were the two Australians who purchased Christian the Lion from Harrods in London in 1969 and then released him back in the wild a year later. They have now released a new children’s book called Christian the Lion for confident readers. 

Click here for the whole story of Christian the Lion with interviews with John and Anthony. A great way to share the story with our students.

Click here to purchase the paperback edition of Christian the Lion by John Rendell and Anthony Bourke.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar turns 40 this year. Check out the video where Eric Carle himself talks about how he came up with the idea and his love for colour.

A classic children’s picture book which should be in every Library’s collection.

Click here to purchase the paperback edition.

Here is a safe way to use YouTube and other videos with your students without the worry about them accessing stuff that’s inappropriate. Vodspot is a cool tool that can help you organise you videos for your students.

Student can make comments about their favourite videos and teachers are able to access statistics to see which are the most watched videos. Quite a useful tool for anyone who uses or is thinking about using the video resources that are freely available on the internet.

Great classroom resource. The only down side found so far is that there is advertising on the side.

Check it out.