1. Children’s Books and Technology: Comedy, Controversy and Social Commentary 2014 VAASL Regional Conference Lynne F. Stover stoverlf@jmu.edu

2. A modern interpretation of… A trip to the museum Quality time with friends A day a the beach A romantic date

3. For Consideration… Today’s young students have never known a world without computers, electronic books, and smartphones. This situation has not escaped the authors of some lighthearted but “edgy” children’s books.

4. Picture Books for All Ages Social Commentary Controversy Comedy

6. Old Word-New Word Cards

7. Creative Card Activities Alphabetize: Give pairs of students a set of the Old Word-New Word Cards. Instruct them to shuffle the cards. Tell them that when you say “GO” they are to place the cards in A-B-C order. The pair that is the first to complete the task wins. Categories: Provide small groups of students with a set of the Old Word-New Word Cards and instruct them to create categories into which to sort the illustrated items. Some suggestions might be old words-new words, words with multiple meanings-words with one meaning, computer words-non computer words. Encourage them to share their sorting ideas with the class.

8. Creative Card Activities Compare/Contrast: Turn multiple sets of Old Word-New Word Cards face down on a table. Instruct students to select two of these cards. They are to return to their seats and list five ways the words on the cards are the same and five ways they are different. Encourage students to share their results with the class. Concentration: Two sets of Old Word-New Word Cards run off on the same color of paper are needed for this game. Divide the students in groups of two to four students. Each group gets an envelope containing the forty-two cards. On the outside of the envelope print these directions: Take cards from envelope and shuffle them. Lay the cards face down on the table. Take turns turning over two cards at a time. If the cards match keep them and go again. If they do not match replace them. Repeat until all pairs have been matched The player with the most cards wins!

9. Creative Cards Activities Dictionary Skills: Allow each student to select an Old Word-New Word Card. Instruct them look it up in a dictionary, write the definition, the guide words, the page number where it was found and use it in a sentence. Students may wish to illustrate their word. If the dictionary does not contain a definition for the word, one may be created. Include the page number in the dictionary that the word would have been located on. Fable Writing: A fable is a short tale featuring animals that act like humans. Fables end with a moral or lesson. The moral for the story in It’s a Book could either be “old-fashioned things are the best” or “keep an opened mind”. Instruct the students to select two or more Old Word-New Word Cards and write and illustrate a fable based on the selected words.

10. Creative Words Activities Poetry: Allow the students to select one of the cards. Instruct them to write an acrostic poem using the word on their card. (In an acrostic poem the first letter of a selected word is the beginning of each line of the poem.) They may wish to illustrate their poem. Example: E-Mail Everyday Messages And Interesting Letters Ranking: Students use their knowledge of the items depicted on the cards to rank them in a specific order. Allow students to compare their selections and discuss their decisions for card ranking. Possible categories include: Smallest to Biggest Least Valuable to Most Valuable Lightest to Heaviest Most Useful to Least Useful Oldest to Newest

11. BLACKOUT

13. http://www.librarysparks.com/pdf/librarysparks/2013/lsp_ll_blackoutcards_may13.pdf

14. 43 Old Cemetery Road Series Written by Kate Klise Illustrated by Sarah Klise What happens when an 11-year-old boy, a cranky writer, and a ghost named Olive try to spend the summer together in a haunted house? Find out in this giggly ghost story.

15. The letter-loving trio at Spence Mansion has something to grieve about— Ghastly’s post office is about to close, which will cut off their connection to their fans. A new invention called VEXT-mail is threatening to replace not only letters, but books, hair dryers, and even garage door openers! Could the mysterious occupant of P.O. Box 5 and his seemingly sinister plan save the doomed post office? Will he strike down Ghastly’s beloved ghostwriter in the process? In this fourth book in the award-winning 43 Old Cemetery Road series, eleven-year-old Seymour Hope and his new friend, Wy Fye, must solve this postmortem mystery... before it’s too late!

17. http://www.kateandsarahklise.com/uploads/1/0/3/3/10335273/82302519-43-old-cemetery-road-series-discussion-guide.pdf

18. LibrarySparks Lessons Published in May/June 2014