Coskrey Biz Business -- 8/21/75

NetworkShrub

 News from the NetworkShrub Members and Me

What a busy time these past few weeks have been.

Mertie's This and That

Mertie and I are busy networking with local antique dealers. Vic Penuel is coordinating the efforts. More on this later.

Meanwhile, Mertie has "new" items in her inventory. Check out the July and August postings I wrote for her blog and use its links to visit her Facebook page. It is like visiting the store--almost.

English Garden
Florist & Boutique
button in the
NetworkShrub
directory.
Links to website.

I have been blogging and developing webpages. Good thing, too, because my tutoring students have all taken summer breaks, although my network of tutor friends is growing.

The creative here is the Button for the English Garden Florist & Boutique in Brazoria, TX. This website should be completed by the middle of next week. It currently has 2 pages of the 4 loaded.

With school starting, my schedule is again undergoing drastic change. I still read a bit, do computer work at night, and manage to keep up with friends sporadically.

Gifts & Gadgets

The Gifts & Gadgets website is up and functioning. Cindy has a new student worker who will be taking over the blog, if she decides to continue it.  My best to her and my thanks for allowing me to assist her in adding to her online presence. I went shopping there last week. She has a new inventory of clothing in fall colors and plenty of scarves by Sarah's Smiles Shop.

Firebush at West Columbia Discovery Garden, TX,8/21/14
Photo ©Sam Stamport

Volunteering with the Discovery Garden

Sam Stamport and I, with the help of City Manager Debra Sutherland, completed the pages on the West Columbia city website for the Discovery Garden. I wrote 2 poems for it, which I put in Valerie's Soapbox, and Sam has now started a blog for the West Columbia Discovery Garden. I volunteered to do an online pamphlet for West Columbia. I will keep you posted.

 Taking care of Business--My own Websites

I am slowly adding pages to my own websites Coskrey Biz and Valerie Coskrey's Classroom Tools and Ideas. The latest set of pages added to VCCTI deal with using science fiction in the classroom.

Speaking of science fiction and the young reader, I have reactivated the RFF Reflections blog.

'Til next time. ~Valerie

Suggested Readings for K-12 From the Golden Duck Reading List

Reference URL:
http://www.sff.net/rff/readlist/goldduckRL.htm

Last month,I posted a book list at a local library in TX while visiting my parents, Smithville Public Library. The book list was based on the Reading List provided by DucKon the sponsors of the Golden Duck Awards and the Hal Clement Awards. I did this as an Reading for the Future volunteer.

The Golden Duck Awards and the Hal Clement Awards are given annually for quality science fiction written for youth.

I share the book list with you as it was submitted to the Smithville, TX, library -- minus the formatting and the RFF illustration.

(When the actual award-winning book is not in this library--but other books by the author are-- then either the author or the author with another book is listed in parenthesis.)

The Golden Duck Awards, one per age group and a few other categories, are given annually to science fiction and speculative books for children. The Golden Duck Awards team recommend these. ( http://www.goldenduck.org )
For Grades preK - 6
For YA: Grades 6-10
(Dinotopia: Land Apart by J.Gurney)
Twenty-One Balloons by W. Du Bois
(My Brother, Ant by B. Byars)
Citizen of the Galaxy by. R. Heinlein
(Rasco and the Rats of NIMH by J. Conly)
Farmer in the Sky by R. Heinlein
My Teacher is an Alien by B. Corville
The Star Beast by R. Heinlein
Aliens Ate my Homework by B. Corville
Time for Stars by R. Heinlein
Aliens Don't Wear Braces by D. Dadey & M. Jones
Invitation to the Game by M. Hughes
The Girl with Silver Eyes by W. Roberts
Wrinkle in Time by M. L'Engle
Me, Two by M. Ryan
Wind in the Door by M. L'Engle
(Peter David) (Stephen Kroll)
Swiftly Tilting Planet by M. L'Engle
(Pamela Service) (Mark Teague)
Ring of Endless Light by M. L'Engle

Drangonsinger by A. McCaffrey
More on next page, including
Drangonsong by A. McCaffrey
A list of Golden Duck Award Winners in this library
Drangondrums by A. McCaffrey
Adult Titles to be enjoyed by Young Adults
More Gr 6-10 (B. Bova) (A. Clarke) (A. Sloate)
The Handmaid's Tale by .M. Atwood
Golden Duck Award Winners
Nightfall & other stories by I. Asimov
The Hunger Games by S. Collins
The Invisible Man by H. Wells
Baby Brains and RoboMom by S. James
The Time Machine by H. Wells
Found by M. Haddix
The War of the Worlds by H. Wells
Genius Squad by C. Jinks

Here's just a few from J. Gunn, author & teacher from New York and others (ref. Web site below)

Gravity buster: Journal #2 of a Cardboard Genius by F. Asch
Basic Science Fiction Library http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/sflib.htm
George's Secret Key to the Universe by L. Hawkings & S. Hawkings
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Quantum Prophecy: the Awakening by M. Carroll
(Glory Season by D. Brin)
(Harry Turtledove)
(Darkover Series by M. Bradley)
Shape Changer by B. Brittain
Ender's Game by O. Card
Taking awards for young adult science fiction:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and The Policemen's Union by M. Chabon
From the Hal Clement Award for Young Adult Winners List
Rendezvous with Rama by A. Clarke
Baloney by J. Scieszka
American Gods by N. Gaiman
Time Flies by E. Rohmann
Dune by F. Herbert
Feed by M. Anderson
The Left Hand of Darkness by U. Le Guin
Invitation to the Game by M. Hughes

Valerie says, “As an RFF, Inc. volunteer, it is my mission to foster a love of reading among our youth through quality speculative fiction.”

“Suggested books have been either published especially for youth or have been read and/or recommended by teachers, librarians, parents, and professors as age appropriate for grades K-12 and college freshmen. There are hundreds more that are fantastic, but these plus just a few more are in this library. Ask me about my favorites!” says Valerie.

This list is provided by an RFF, Inc. volunteer and is not an official action of the RFF, Inc. Board of Directors
For more information, contact valeriecoskrey@gmail.com

Science on TV: a Counterpoint to the Anti-science Movement

Kudos to the Science Channel, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel and the Animal Channel for their wonderful shows designed to explain science and technology to the general public. They are using modern advertising techniques to interest viewers in the topics, and modern educational and showmanship practices in informing the public during the programs.

Bottom line is the programs are fun to watch and chock full of information.

Some of my favorite themes are these:

>> I smile every time I hear and/or view the "missing link" commercial for the science channel website.
>> I have long believed that science fiction would assist the general public in understanding science and technology knowledge and issues.
>> Who would have believed that Meerkat Manor would have become such a hit soap opera?!

I hope that these programs will continue in production. Many can be viewed on DVD:










Visit the websites for schedules and some online videos.

Newberry Award Winners in eBook Form

Many Newberry Award winners and some nominees (books and stories for youth) are available as free ebooks from Fictionwise. Use the site search for Newberry Awards to see the list.

Lee and Miller are writing more coming-of-age novels. This time about Theo Waitley, Val Con's newly discovered sibling. You can read the rough drafts on line. Visit the Liaden Universe for information and links to the Fledgling and Saltation sites to read the books.

Lee and Miller write quality stories. Their Balance of Trade is another coming-of-age science fiction novel that can be safely used with teens.

'Til next time.

More on science fiction for youth

Yet Another Reason to Read Science Fiction

"...creative perception often anticipates scientific findings..."

so says Science News this week (2/2/08, v 173, p. 79)when it lists a book called Proust was a Neurologist. The book summary states," Lehrer analyzes artistic discoveries such as (these)....

Read the rest of the post at Valerie's Soapbox.

For Science Fiction Readers Everywhere: A New Resource

Hi Y'all,


Because every blog need pictures, I have used an image of one of the PowerPoint slides that I use to illustrate the Template Design Sets that I sell on my VCCTI site and elsewhere. To me it is otherworldly. I call it boy walks in the woods: Can you see the boy?

I received this email notification from some science fiction fans on 2/2/08. I pass it on to you, my friends.

• To Readers of Science Fiction and Fantasy everywhere,
• 
  
• When you have something great, you want everyone to know. So you tell people about it. You share it. You pass it along to friends everywhere. Well, that's what we're doing with InterGalactic Medicine Show. We want to make sure everyone has had a chance to check out what we're doing, so we're offering up a sampling of our stories – for free.
• 
  
• During the month of February we are going to make one story from each of our first four issues available at no charge. Two stories will be set free on February 1st, and two more on February 15th. Just visit www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com and explore the table of contents; the free stories will be clearly marked.
• 
  
• Issue one's free story will be "Trill and The Beanstalk" by Edmund R. Schubert, issue two's will be "Yazoo Queen" by Orson Scott Card (from his Alvin Maker series), issue three's "Xoco's Fire" by Oliver Dale, and issue four's "Tabloid Reporter To The Stars" by Eric James Stone. Each story is fully illustrated by artists who were commissioned to create artwork to accompany that tale – as is every story published in IGMS.
• 
  
• "Tabloid Reporter To The Stars" will also be featured in the upcoming InterGalactic Medicine Show anthology from Tor, which will be out this August (we wanted you to get a sneak peek of the anthology, too). However, the other three stories aren't available anywhere except the online version of IGMS.
• 
  
• It's really quite simple. Great stories. Custom illustrations. Free. We're pleased with and proud of the magazine we're publishing; now we're passing it along to our friends and telling them about it. We hope you'll enjoy it and do the same.
• 
  
• Edmund R. Schubert
• Editor, Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show

Please visit this site at http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com


A great source of comics and gifts from altiverses is
Things From Another World, Inc.

I have contributed a booklist to the discourse. See this page in my VCCTI website to get the entire list with comments on how to use the books in a classroom. Yeah, I know it is a list of products, but the books chosen are all that I have screened for use with secondary grade students.

bye for now,

Valerie

Nominate your favorite science teacher

This announcement comes from Cathy Tramontana AAAS Project 2061/CCMS

• Please help spread the word about an outstanding science teacher in your state or district.


• AAAS is now accepting nominations for the 2008
  AAAS Leadership in Science Education Prize for High School
  Teachers.
  
• The $1,000 prize honors a high school science teacher who
  has contributed to the AAAS goal of advancing science education by
  developing an innovative and effective strategy, activity, or
  program.
  
• The 2007 winner was veteran chemistry teacher Chris Kennedy of Hiram, Georgia.


• All nominations must be received by AAAS no later than 2 March
  2008.
  
• For full details about the prize and to download the
  nomination and application forms, please visit
  www.aaas.org/aboutaaas/awards/hs_scied_leadership .



• For more information, contact AAAS Project 2061's Lester Matlock at lmatlock@aaas.org.

Want to know how to use science fiction in your teaching?

If you have visited my website, then you know that I am passionate about the usefulness of science fiction to teach science and to explore the ethical issues of both today and tomorrow.

I was pleased to come across this announcement in an email:

• The Life, the Universe & Everything Educator's Conference is Saturday, Feb 16, 2008. Life, the Universe & Everything: the Marion K. "Doc" Smith Symposium on science fiction and fantasy (LTUE) is February 14-16, 3rd floor, Wilkinson Student Center, Brigham Young University, Provo UT. Guests include Orson Scott Card, Gail Carson Levine and Kevin Wasden.


• The conference is FREE. For more information and a schedule go to ltue.org.

But, that's not all. This is a conference for educators. One of the presentations will be on ways to use science fiction in classrooms, including K-12.

I want to thank Dave Anderson for bringing the conference to my attention. I expect lists of books appropriate for students and lesson plans to come out of this conference. If you go, let us know.