Delacorte Press, 1996

1. http://www.familytreemaker.com/abtffiv.html A blank form to enter a family tree. (Windows only)

2. Joan Lowery Nixon's e-mail address.
JNixon5130@aol.com

3. http://www.bdd.com/teacher/nixo.html audio message from Joan Lowery Nixon

4. www.realaudio.com Free download of Real Audio Player

Activities:

A. Search for URLs using the search terms "Joan Lowery Nixon". Write a report about what you can learn about her and her works. Include a bibliography of the URLs you used. Include what is missing - what you did NOT learn about her. Now search your library for the missing information, and write a supplement to your report with a bibliography. Assume the results of your searches are typical. List the kinds of information you would probably find about a children's author

(a) on the Internet, and (b) in your library. Which kinds are common to both, which are unique? (A group of youngsters could be divided in two; one group could do the above activity, the other do the reverse, writing a report from library resources, supplementing it from the Internet. A discussion about which approach was more helpful would be enlightening.)

B. Find a copy of Stephen Caney's Kids' America, Workman, 1978, or some other book that describes how to discover and record your geneology. Choose one of the sample charts or other formats and diagram Andy Thomas' family tree, using clues from Search for the Shadowman.. (If your computer uses Windows, you can download [free] the Family Archive Viewer #1 above.) Use the sources Andy did and/or those described in your geneology book and create your own family tree.

C. Listen to Joan Lower Nixon answering questions at the URL #3 above. The file is in Real Audio format. You can download the Real Audio Player onto your computer from URL #4 above. Or print out and read the trascript of her message which is included in URL #3. Now make a list of questions you still have about Joan Lowery Nixon. Share and discuss this list with your librarian and perhaps a group of readers. Also discuss what a letter questioning an author should include. Choose the question that now seems best, write your letter to Ms. Nixon and send it to her e-mail address - #2 above. If you haven't a return e-mail address to give her, ask her to reply to you snail-mail using your library's address. - D. For a group of older students: examine geneology-related books available through your library. Now locate geneoloy-related Internet sites. The search engine Yahoo has a listing of geneology sites to start you off. (Be sure to look for beginner tips in the National Geneology Society URL.) Choose 3 or 4 sites that expand the information you found in the library materials and that would help students to explore their family tree. Write a description of each of these sites. Now discuss with your librarian how to make this information available to other library patrons........an inclusion in the library catalog, cards for book pockets, taped notes inside book jackts, for example. (Some libraries have special notebooks for Internet users with instruictions as well as suggested sites.)

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The Life and Death of Crazy Horse by Russell Freedman
Holiday House 1996

1. State of South Dakota website
http://www.state.sd.us/state/executive/tourism/adds/crazyh.htm

2. Insert of a Dakota newspaper, the 'Bismarck Tribune'
http://www.ndonline.com/TribWebPage/OldWest/LittleBighorn/*bighorn.htm

3. PBS Ken Burns 8 part series on Old West, including Archives
http://www3.pbs.org/weta/thewest/wpages/wpgs000/w010_001.htm

Activities:

A. Look at the Bighorn timeline in the Bismark Tribune's website, the 1876 timeline in PBS' The West website, and the chronology in The Life and Death of Crazy Horse. Research what else was happening in the United States at this time. Make a new timeline about your findings.

B. In the archives of Ken Burns' "Old West" PBS website, Read Chief Red Horse' eyewitness account of the Battle of Little Bighorn. (It's in the archives of Ken Burns' "Old West" PBS website.) Now compare it with the account of the battle in The Life and Death of Crazy Horse. Find and write down three important differences and three important similarities. Share these with others who have done the same. Check items that others also chose. Add items that were different.

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The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker by Cynthia DeFelice.
Farrar,1996.

1. Part of a Nova Scotia community network (Antigonish)
http://www.grassroots.ns.ca/health/tb.htm

2. A medical journal
http://www.glaxowellcome.co.uk/health/odyssey/tuberc/tuberc3.html

3. World Health Organization
http://www.who.ch/programmes/gtb/wtbday/events.htm

Activities:

A. March 24 is the day each year of TB outreach programs. Find out why, and explore some of the programs. Plan a March 24 outreach program for your community and/or school. (Best done with a group.) If possible, join with some adult group and actually bring it about. If not, choose one aspect of your plan to communicate in some way to others.

B. Make a "then and now" chart to show information or concepts about tuberculosis in the mid-1800s and now. Include boxes for symptoms, diagnosis, risk of infection, how you get TB, treatment. Add any other concepts or information you would like. Make a key to show the sources of the content in the chart.

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Sees Behind Trees by Michael Dorris.
Hyperion 1996.

University of Arkansas Web Links for the Rehabilitation of the Blind http://www.ualr.edu/~coedept/CurLinks/REHAB.html

Activities:

The only help Walnut had in Sees Behind Trees was his mother. How did she help him become self-confident and a contributing member of his community?

If he lived today, what kinds of help and what opportunities would be available to Walnut? Go to the University of Arkansas site and explore their list of Web Links for the Rehabilitation of the Blind. Choose one of the following topics and create a non-visual communication for Walnut to let him know what is available. This would be a good set of activities for a group.

Topics: Mobility, traveling, including electronic travel aids
Career counseling, evaluation, and training
Independent living
Sports and Recreation, including literature and dancing
Other skills

Families can help through puppy raising programs. Create a poster that will give essential information as well as being inviting. Beforehand, create a set of criteria for "The Perfect Poster", then see how close your poster can come. Arrange to display your poster in a place where families will see it.

If you wanted to begin a career in helping blind and visually impaired people, what kind of education would you need? Write a description of the kinds of courses you would have to take, how long it would take, what level of education would it be, and what kind of degree or certificate you would get.

by Audrey Conant, MEMA Information Skills Chair

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