Meet NGSS with Professional Development from NSTA

Start your school’s science programs off right with professional development titles from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). This complete collection of 52 titles engages students with real-world scenarios representing science in all its messy, thought-provoking glory. Many of the titles support Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and include: Lesson plans and experiments for incorporating … Read more

The Dark and the Light: Dahl on Paper and Film

By Catherine DiMercurio

When I learned that September was the first ever Roald Dahl month, I tumbled instantly and joyfully back to my childhood, to another September day when I was beginning the third grade at a new school. My classmates and I sat clustered on the floor, around the feet of our teacher. She was kind and soft-spoken and smelled of vanilla, and she began reading James and the Giant Peach to us. The freckled blond boy next to me kept poking my shoulder, trying to annoy me or get me in trouble or both. But he was easy to ignore because I was instantly enveloped by the story of James and his horrible aunts and his glorious, magical adventure. And his new friends. Making new friends in a strange world sounded pretty lovely too, and just as fantastical and unlikely to a shy girl at a new school as James’s giant insect companions were to him.

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Not Your Mother’s Large Print

By Mary Kelly

Back in olden times, large print was hardly full of current best sellers.  When I was growing up, large print materials were relegated to one of the dustier corners of the library complete and with the occasional old person looking for something. It was a small collection and to be honest, kind of crappy looking. There was no real cover art and the selection seemed to be only romance. This is what I remember as a youngster. Well now I am one of the “old people” and we aren’t going to do that anymore.  I can only imagine that many people my age remember this as well.  

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A Look at Gale Through the College Intern’s Eyes

By Joe Jabbour

As a product summer intern on the Business & Organizations Team in Content & Development, I spent the last three months assessing Gale’s business content and resources. I’m excited to tell you all about the fun, intellectual work I accomplished at Gale.

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Gene Wilder, Roald Dahl, and the Chocolate Factory

By Traci Cothran

Gene Wilder’s passing is hard to accept, as he’s forever etched in minds playing Willy Wonka, complete with top hat and bushy eyebrows.  Or perhaps you best remember him with his mustache and frizzy hair in “Young Frankenstein,” in cowboy boots as the Waco Kid in “Blazing Saddles,” or as the nervous Leo Bloom with his blue blanket in “The Producers.”  They’re all amazing performances, but since Wonka is my personal favorite, and Roald Dahl a beloved writer, I took a look through our Gale collections to find some Wonka-related things about which to reminisce – here are just a few of them:

Did you know there was a Smell-o-Vision showing of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at the Boston Children’s Museum in 2007, where fans “forcibly waft[ed] the smells of blueberry pie and banana tapi(ph) over the audience, as well as the scents of dirt, grass and sushi”?  WOW, OH WOW.

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GVRL Makes Researching Easy

By Kevin Rygiel

With the summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro coming to a close, your patrons might have a continued interest to familiarize themselves with the sporting events. Thanks to GVRL’s strong search capabilities, they will be able to stay informed and might even find a new favorite sport!

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Flipped Classroom – Where Were You When I Needed You?

By Debra Kirby

If the flipped classroom concept had existed when I was a student, I might have avoided one of my most vivid and unpleasant childhood experiences — a home visit by my 4th grade teacher after repeated but failed attempts to curb my chattiness in his classroom. Mr. Y was a very nice guy and good teacher and had tried his best by moving my desk to different locations around the classroom, including and lastly right next to his desk at the front of the room, all to no avail. I was happy to talk to him too! Watching Mr. Y get out of his car and head up our walkway was one of those frozen in time memories for me. I can still recall the panicky feeling when I realized he was coming to my house.

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Boosting STEM Achievement Through Visual-Spatial Learning

If you have ever taken a basic chemistry course, you probably remember making molecular models out of marshmallows and tooth-picks or whatever comparable substitute was lying around the science lab. This kind of molecular modeling is not only a great excuse to eat marshmallows in class; it also enhances spatial literacy, an essential part of … Read more

Calling All Academic Librarians: Charleston Conference Scholarship

Our mission at Gale is to connect libraries to learning and learners to libraries – librarians are the essence of that mission. This fall librarians and industry partners will gather in Charleston, South Carolina at The Charleston Conference to collaborate on issues of mutual importance in an exciting and informal atmosphere. In line with our mission to connect libraries … Read more