Web Site Reviews: December, 2004

-- School Library Journal, 12/1/2004

Celebrations Around The World
Carolyn Kirio, Kapolei (HI) High School Library

African Ceremonies. www.culturesontheedge.com/gallery/archives/ceremonies/photos. Cultures on the Edge. (Accessed 9/30/04).

Gr 9 Up-Photographers Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher created this site featuring their amazing images of traditional rituals and festivals throughout Africa. The photos are a visual exploration of initiations, courtship, marriage, season rituals, death, and burial rites. Each section leads with some descriptive text, and although the materials can be used with younger grades, the photos work best for older students as illustrations to support classroom instruction or as visuals for a research project. African Ceremonies is an issue of the quarterly online magazine Cultures on the Edge, which aims to support cultural diversity through education.

Earth Calendar. www.earthcalendar.net. Earth Calendar. (Accessed 9/30/04).

Gr 4 Up-Every day is a holiday according to this site. A simple interface, with tabs at the top of each page, allows easy navigation. Each country entry offers links to the nation's official Web pages (if available) and most have the ability to display maps. At the time of publication, the "Search by Holidays" feature was not functioning. A comprehensive range of countries is offered, which makes the site an excellent reference resource and desk reference tool.

Facts for Features and Special Editions. www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/index.html. United States Census Bureau. (Accessed 10/29/04).

Gr 6 Up-The U. S. Census Bureau has created an online portal to display the data collected from their Decennial Census (official population census of the United States) and nearly 100 other various surveys that they conduct annually. A bonus for educators is the "Facts for Features and Special Editions." Teachers will find collections of information intended to "commemorate anniversaries or observances." Each entry contains a short history of the holiday/event followed by single lines of startling facts. Sure to grabstudents' attention, these eye-opening statistics are a must! A drawback of the site is that each entry is listed by the creation date, rather than alphabetically orby topic. In addition, the site provides "The Photo Zone," a collection of public domain images to accompany the facts discussed. Check out www.census.gov/pubinfo/www/bcasthome/html for this and additional resources to aid educators.

Family Traditions. www.humnet.ucla.edu/famtrad. UCLA. (Accessed 9/30/04).

Gr 4-12-What is a family? This site attempts a definition using a collection of documented personal experiences of cultural and holiday events around the world. Aligned to national standards, the comprehensive curriculum guide shows teachers how to incorporate the site's materials into lessons. It's geared for high school students, but the articles can be adapted easily to lower grades. This resource was developed by Dr. Peter Tokofsky of the department of world arts and culture at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the UCLA Center for Digital Humanities.

Holidays Around the World www.worldbook.com/features/holidays/html/holidays.htm. World Book, Inc. (Accessed 9/30/04).

Gr 4-12-Part of World Book's free resources for educators, Holidays Around the World offers articles on traditional events and how they are celebrated worldwide. Holidays covered include Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, and the New Year. Each entry is comprehensive and provides facts about the celebration's history, details of holiday icons, and explanations of family traditions. For additional information and further research, links are provided to other entries within the site and related pages on the Web.

Holidays on the Net. www.holidays.net. Studio Melizo. (Accessed 9/30/04).

Gr 4-12-Despite the overwhelming animation, this site covers the breadth of cultural festivals and includes everything from Los Dias del los Muertos (Days of the Dead) to Mardi Gras. Go to the menu at the left of the page to navigate the site and access various pop-up options. It's a commercial site, so be prepared for the various ads/sponsors. Yet the content is informative and useful for student researchers. Studio Melizo, the creator of this site, has extended an invitation to interested educators who wish to collaborate on a class project for a particular holiday. If you have classes that are up to the challenge, check out www.holidays.net/teach.htm.

It's International. www.topics-mag.com/internatl/center.htm. Topics Online Magazine. (Accessed 9/30/04).

Gr 4-12-Get a first-hand account of celebrations around the world, described by a resident of the country you select. Topics Online Magazine (TOM) is a resource for teachers who work with English as a Second Language learners. This site aims to create a forum for students to share their experiences--from Christmas in Angola to Independence Day in Zaire. Currently, there are 55 accounts of traditional festivities celebrated throughout the world, and the site offers many other sections that are useful in culture studies, notably: "International Folktales," "The Way It's Done in Other Countries," and "Superstitions Worldwide." Vivid details, illustrations, and photos of dress, food, and family traditions enhance instruction and student research.

A World of Festivals. www.festivals.com. Festivals.com. (Accessed 9/30/04).

Gr 6 Up-Since 1995, this site has amassed information about community festivals, fairs, and special events worldwide. Over 40,000 listings help visitors find a means to "celebrate life." Despite its commercial aspects, A World of Festivals is a valuable resource for geography and social studies instruction. Go to the interactive atlas on the home page, click on any of the continents and you'll get a regional map. For each country, there's a detailed map, along with current facts and background information on the people and culture of the area as well as a list of observed holidays and festivals. No explanations are included, but the festival list for each country is impressive. Links to official tourism pages, festivals, events, and travel sites are also provided.

The Sounds of Music
Bina Williams, Bridgeport (CT) Public Library

Essentials of Music www.essentialsofmusic.com. W. W. Norton. (Accessed 10/15/04).

Gr 6-12-Essentials of Music is a companion Web site to Sony Classical Music's series of recordings called Essential Classics. The site is divided into three parts: "Eras," "Composers," and "Glossary." "Eras" includes the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th Century. Click on any of thetopics to see a short outline of historical themes, musical context, styles, and names of composers. The main "Composers" section includes biographical information, including some RealPlayer clips of talents ranging from Hildegarde, Von Bingen, Palestrina, and Handel to Duke Ellington, John Cage, and Richard Rodgers.

The New York Philharmonic Kidzone! www.nyphilkids.org. New York Philharmonic Orchestra. (Accessed 10/21/04).

Gr 3-8-The New York Philharmonic (NYP) has created a delightful site about orchestral music. Using animation, rollover links, and charming humor, NYP Kidzone! offers a "Game Room," "Instrument Storage Room," "Dressing Rooms," "Instrument Lab," "Musician's Lounge," "Composition Workshop," "Composers' Gallery," and "Newsstand." Scrolling across the backstage "Storage Room," students can pick out items from a strange multi-instrument suitcase. Once selected, there are pictures and sound clips of the instrument and mini-films of musicians discussing how they play it. (Visitthe San Francisco Symphony site to see that the two orchestras do not place all the instruments in thesame "family" sections!) "Dressing Rooms" offers info on NYP conductors and soloists.

Sesame Street Music Zone. www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/music. Sesame Workshop. (Accessed 10/20/04).

PreS-Gr 2-The youngest students will enjoy using this fun, interactive site. Silly (yet instructional) features such as the "Sesame Street Opera" allow children to help director Big Bird cast the opera. The Juke Box in "Global Groove" has many choices including Grover banging a spoon on his garbage can lid, while an accordian plays Cajun music. "Song Bites" features five favorite childhood songs, each broken into four parts that kids can listen to while looking atimages that accompany each section, until Cookie Monster eats one of the cards. Younger children will love this winning Web site. (Macromedia Shockwave 8.5 is required for most of the games).

SFS Kids: Fun with Music. www.sfskids.org. San Francisco Symphony.(Accessed 10/21/04).

Gr 3-8-Bravo! The San Francisco Symphony engagingly invites younger students to learn about music through pages called "Instruments of the Orchestra," "The Music Lab," and "Radio." Appealing cartoons and graphics encourage children to explore instruments by clicking on a family of them, such as strings. When a row of instruments appears, including viola, cello, and harp, one click leads to sound clips of each one, rotating photos, close-ups, and a brief written description and history. E-postcards can also be sent to friends. This easy-to-navigate site offers help on every page and children will clamor "Encore!"

Smithsonian Jazz Class. www.smithsonianjazz.org. America's Jazz Heritage, Smithsonian Institution. (Accessed 10/20/06).

Gr 5-8-What is jazz? The Smithsonian's umbrella jazz site has links arranged according to three categories: "Live It!," "Learn It!," and "Love It!" The "Jazz Class" begins with four featured artists--band leaders and composers Duke Ellington and Benny Carter, innovative jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, and the legendary jazz icon Louis Armstrong. A unique format has students listening, printing out, and matching up pictures, biographical snippets, and musical clips in the "Match Game." Unlike other music Web sites, which only offer short clips, the Smithsonian site offers entire songs. Each section includes a teacher lesson plan replete with objectives, activities, and National Standards for Arts Education. (Some areas require Flash 5 Plug In).

300 Years of People and Pianos. www.menc.org/guides/piano300/Piano.html. MENC: The National Association of Teachers of Music. (Accessed 10/22/04).

Gr 9-12-Celebrating three centuries of piano culture, this site was designed to accompany a 2001 PBS program created by the Smithsonian and the EuroArts Music International. The section "Teachers' How-To" offers lessons on History and Culture, roles of Musicians and Pianos, Genres--Musical Languages, and Making Your Own (perhaps the most interesting lesson!). "Fun and Games" relates to the Smithsonian's Piano 300 Exhibition, which explores the instrument across ages and cultures. "Play Some Music!" includes short sound clips of piano music, ranging from "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck to a Chopin Waltz (in MP3 or WAV.) The site wraps up with a required link.

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