Books Archives - Page 2 of 14

Published February 25, 2013

Bookshare Members: Join Read Across America Day!

Saturday, March 2, is Read Across America Day, an annual event sponsored by the National Education Association (NEA) to motivate students to read. This year, it coincides with Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Schools are celebrating on Friday, March 1. Whether you celebrate on Friday or Saturday, let’s show the NEA that Bookshare students are readers! Add Dr. Seuss’s books to your students’ Bookshelves! It will be so easy to get all the titles to them! Watch this video to learn how to use Bookshelves in schools. Or look at the first-time user guide. Post a picture on Facebook of your students…

What is the Bookshare team reading?

What is the Bookshare team reading? For fun, we recently asked them, thinking our friends and followers might be interested and find a new idea or two. While selecting a new book, try adding them to your Bookshelf and opening one and reading it with the Bookshare Web Reader. They are easy to use! Read about the new tools. Fiction Picks: The Racketeer, by John Grisham. His latest title. Given the importance of their role, it is remarkable that in the history of this country only four active federal judges have been murdered. Flight Behavior, by Barbara Kingsolver. A current…

First Reactions: Educators and Members Talk about the Bookshelf and Web Reader

You probably saw that Bookshare just released two new pieces of functionality, the Bookshelf and Web Reader. If you haven’t heard the news, our website has lots of information, including links to training, videos, and webinars. You can also read the announcement. Both tools are going to make it quicker and easier to get books to Bookshare students, saving time and effort. The Bookshelf will help individual members organize their books. Several educators and members have already tested and used the tools and have agreed to share their feedback. We encourage you to try the tools too! Here’s what they…

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Published January 31, 2013

The Year That Was and the New Year Ahead

2012 was a year of titanic shifts in the fields of consumer technology, education, and publishing, along with the requisite challenges brought about by such rapid change. At Benetech, where innovation is the engine behind our mission, we did our best to make the most of it and help lead the charge into the future. Bookshare and our other Access to Literacy initiatives, including the DIAGRAM Center and Route 66 Literacy, all made big strides this year through the significant dedication of the community that makes it all happen. We celebrated the tenth anniversary of Bookshare—both online and with in…

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Published January 23, 2013

Educators, This Week Is the Week for Individual Memberships Because…

An announcement next week about changes to Bookshare will let students with individual memberships (IMs) get books more quickly and easily. So get them ready! Giving students individual memberships is really easy: In your account, in “My Organization,” select “Members,” and click the box next to the names of all members you plan to give an individual membership. Then select the “Individual Membership Form” at the bottom of the screen. Forms will have the basic information about your students filled in. Print the forms and send them home for a parental signature, email address and mailing address. Teachers or parents…

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Published January 11, 2013

Books about Bullying for All Grade Levels

Bullying can take many forms and harms everyone involved–victims, perpetrators and bystanders. Here are some books that tell stories about how kids have responded to bullying, and that share ideas of how you can help stop it, wherever and whoever you are. Big Bullies (grades K-2) Animal friends find ways to help each other stand up to a bully. The Meanest Thing to Say (grades 1-3) A new boy in second grade tries to get the other students to play a game that involves saying the meanest things possible to one another. Pinky and Rex and the Bully (grades 2-4)…

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Published December 21, 2012

“Bookshare Made a Difference” Contest Winners

Congratulations to all participants in the “Bookshare Made a Difference” Contest. This year, 210 people submitted entries, and over 2,000 people participated in the public voting! All entries were wonderful and very moving; there were some close votes. From your stories, you are all winners! So who are the prize winners? Drum roll please… The Grand Prize goes to Katy Noelani Kingery, the author of the entry, “From Baby Honu to the Ocean!“ The 2nd and 3rd place winners were a tie! Congratulations to Teresa Paporello, the author of the very moving poem, “An Ode to Bookshare” And to Elizabeth (Beth) Heintz…

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Published December 13, 2012

Holiday Reading for Everyone!

Best wishes to all for a warm and wonderful holiday season! As holiday books are always fun to read and can add meaningful traditions to the season, we wanted to share a few titles with our readers. If you are looking for something to read this holiday, browse these titles. They are by no means all the holiday books in the collection; if you have a favorite and it isn’t listed, please search for it. The library has many more! A popular list of holiday titles: Twelve Holiday Books for All Ages Recent additions to Bookshare’s holiday collection: Inventing the…

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Published December 12, 2012

Bookshare Supports Computer Science Education

This week is Computer Science in Education Week. Congress set the week aside in the fall of 2009 “to recognize the transformative role of computing and the need to bolster computer science at all educational levels.” You can read more about the week and gather educator resources at the CSedweek website; the Computer Science Teachers Association website also has resources. Students with print disabilities can be computer scientists! Two Bookshare members with computer science degrees have shared their inspiring stories: A Computer Science Degree to a Job with Bookshare Bookshare Member Develops Amazing Flight Simulator Game for Blind People For members who…

Meet An Image Description Volunteer

Bookshare volunteer, Steven Obenour, lives in Jacksonville, FL. He currently supports the Poet image description project with a special focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) texts. Steven has worked more than 32 years in various technical occupations including manufacturing and process engineering, software development, and the robotics industry. Technical writing is always a big part of his work responsibilities. Steven continues to work in temporary and contract employment positions. He says the volunteer opportunities with Bookshare improve his creativity and writing skills. He enjoys setting daily goals and targets for completion of image descriptions and finds that even…

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Category: Books