Half-life

A great day at OLHMS

Fern — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:27:56 +0000

: FSC and Kathleen Spedale

Great to meet students and staff at Oak Lawn- Hometown Middle School. Thanks to Library Media Specialist Kathleen Spedale and the District 123 Educational Foundation for organizing and sponsoring the presentations.

35 seconds about new app for ‘Night or Day’

Fern — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:49:44 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20Axf6×5Zt8&feature=youtu.be

iPad app for ‘Night or Day’ in iTunes store

Fern — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:22:54 +0000

Night or Day?

By Literactivity LP

View In iTunes

Through historic videos, compelling visuals of the story, comments from the author and protagonist, delightful interactivities, and case studies that explore bullying, this app reinvents the award-winning historical novel, Is It Night or Day?. Through a totally immersive experience, this app follows 12-year-old Edith’s journey from Germany and the Holocaust to America and resonates with the thousands of children who come to this country alone.

This new literary invention features:

• Video comments from the author and protagonist as the story develops
• Delightful animations that add to the reader’s understanding
• Stunning graphic interpretations of the story

So far, everybody loves the app:

“So many schools are introducing the iPad in classrooms, yet, little content exists for these devices,” says Amy Heber, president of Literactivity. “We at Literactivity are raising the bar on ebooks, by providing a virtual reality with rich, educational content that enhances the nature of reading.”

“The students are loving it,” says Erin Wyatt, a Language Arts teacher, who used the Literactivity program in her classroom at Highland Middle School in Libertyville, Illinois.

“…Brilliant,” says John TerMaat, former computer software developer. “I love all the different forms of media… graphics, music, sound, video, programming, etc. I can see this as the future of books, especially in education, where this media could keep the attention of kids.”

“Great!!!… I took [my students] to your Literactivity app as well,” writes Beth Donofrio, English teacher at Epiphany Cathedral School in Venice, Florida. “We made it about half way through. A number of kids asked for the link so they could finish it at home…It’s a great teaching tool.”

iPad Screenshots

View In iTunes

$2.99
Category: Books
Released: Feb 15, 2012
Version: 1.0
Size: 246 MB
Language: English
Seller: Literactivity, LC
© Literactivity, LP

Rated 4+

Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

A young Ohio reader’s reaction to ‘Night or Day’

Fern — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:25:59 +0000

1-24-11

Dear Fern Schumer Chapman,

Olmsted Falls Middle School, Olmsted Falls, Ohio

When I started reading Is it Night or Day?, I really didn’t care about World War II. After about a quarter into the book, I felt as if I was living with Edith and the things that happened to her. I can relate to Edith in many ways.

Edith had many outstanding qualities that I liked. The one thing I admire most about her was she was very strong throughout the book. Also, she was independent. Your writing about how independent she was really helped me out with tough times with family and friends and relationships.

Edith had some experiences that many girls at my age (13) can relate to. For example, when Edith sees that boy she liked from the boat, Julius, she feels sad and angry and definitely confused. But every girl at some point feels that way. I felt the exact same way while I was reading this book.

Your book really talked to me. Everything that happened to Edith is so realistic and exciting – and sad. But reading Is it Night or Day? made me want to read more books! Especially realistic fiction. I can never stop reading your book or other realistic/ non-fiction books.

Your book inspired me to read more and to read about more important things that have happened in history. This is such a relateable book, which I think is better than all fiction. Since it’s relateable to more and more people, I will recommend it to others to read.

Cathy Drury

8^th grade Olmsted Falls Student

Happy New Year from a Florida teacher and student

Fern — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:05:51 +0000

Dear Fern,

Happy New Year! I hope this finds you well.

I wanted to share with you a short essay one of my 8th graders, a boy named Michael, wrote on his mid-year exam. The students were asked to write a paragraph about their favorite book we’ve read so far this year. While a number of students chose Is It Night or Day?, this essay really stood out, and I thought you would like to read it. Oftentimes kids write about whatever book they read last as it is most fresh in their minds, so I think it is a tribute to you as well that your book made such an impact on them that they remembered it months after finishing the story.

Here’s the paragraph:

“I think the best story we read so far this year was Is It NIght or Day?. The story shows the real world. It’s not about some little kid who gets into trouble a lot, but it’s about hardship and feelings. It shows how horrible people can be and how life can be altogether. What I liked best about it is it shows how tough your life really can be, which today kids seldom seem to understand.”

Michael clearly thought a lot about Edith, about other people who face hardships, and about himself and his place in the world.

Thank you for writing this book and for talking to us about it.

Happy 2012!

God bless you,

Beth Donofrio

English Teacher

Epiphany Cathedral School

Venice, Florida

To download the Teacher’s Guide, please click on the link below:

FinalTeacher’sGuide

Memorializing and denying the Holocaust

Fern — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 01:48:14 +0000

In 2008, when I visited the glass-box memorial on the tracks at the train station in Darmstadt, Germany, I found it to be moving, with the shards of green glass aptly portraying how lives fragmented at this location. This was where my grandparents were deported in the late 1930s.

For me, the most stunning aspect of the memorial was simply seeing my grandparents’ names – Siegmund Westerfeld and Frieda Westerfeld – etched on the glass. I have rarely seen my grandparents’ names written on anything, even documents. Since they were murdered in concentration camp long before I was born, I never met them and my mother rarely spoke of them. It was too painful for her to remember.

When I saw their names, I was struck by the thought that I was standing in a place they once stood and seeing what they once saw. I tried to take in the entire scene – the sights, the smells, the noises. Since we have no shared experiences, I thought, this is the closest I will ever get to them.

But then, I felt sick. I realized that 60 years earlier, I would have shared their fate. Like them, I would have been marked. My heart hammered as I thought about how afraid they must have felt as they boarded the train. My grandfather, a decorated World War I veteran, must have had a deep sense of betrayal; his country and fellow soldiers had turned against him. I felt what I imagined he felt that last time he was at the Darmstadt train station -- a toxic brew of anger and hurt.

Seeing the names of Siegmund and Frieda (I never knew them so I never called them by an affectionate grandparent name) on that glass in that location made the incomprehensible reality of the Holocaust more real for me. It is difficult for anyone to understand the inhumanity and the scale of this horrific genocide, even someone like me who has had to integrate this history into my identity.

The glass memorial in Darmstadt is another piece of evidence confirming the Holocaust. And, given my experiences last week at a school in a small town in Texas, that is critical.

The librarian at the school where I was giving presentations about my books told me that many in this town of German immigrants are Holocaust deniers. “Yet, they live right next door to neighbors who have their Hitler Youth uniforms stored in their attics,” she said.

Though it has been defaced and damaged in recent years, the memorial at the Darmstadt train station isn't hidden in an attic.