Media Week in Review – May 19th – 24th

Life just never slows down, does it? If you had a crazy week and missed some of our blogs here in Media Reviews, here’s your chance to get caught up. We started off the week with a closer look at virtual book tours with a chat with Jean Hackensmith, an author who has done quite a bit of virtual touring and found success in this new way to market. We then took at look at popular author Jan Brett’s website, which has over four thousand activities, including drawing lessons, coloring pages, and a concentration game. Does one of your children … Continue reading

Just Vocabulary – Podcast Review

If you or your teenagers would like to improve your vocabulary, give the Just Vocabulary podcast a try. They have over 400 podcast episodes, each featuring two different words from sources like the GRE test list. Each podcast covers two different words, one at a time. The word is repeated several times, then spelled. Several example sentences are spoken, using the word in context. The listener is told what kind of word this is – noun, verb, adjective. And if the etymology is helpful, they will explain where the word was derived from. Alternate meanings and usages are also stated, … Continue reading

Media Week in Review January 6th – 13th

We have such a great selection for all types of interests this week in Media Review. Last week, Tristi interviewed author Anita Hackley-Lambert. They discussed writing as therapy and the inspiration and research behind her latest book. Plus here’s a review of that non-fiction book on the civil rights pioneer F.H.M. Murray – First Biography of a Forgotten Pioneer for Civil Justice. Tristi also interviewed screenwriter and novelist Carole Schutter about the challenges of writing both books and screenplays. Is Regency romance more to your liking? Try My Dearest Friend by Hazel Statham. Looking for a fun picture book? Try … Continue reading

Free Genealogy Resources from iTunes

Do you know what a podcast is? It can be described as something like a radio show that someone does at home, with their own recording equipment. After recording, editing, and adding extra sounds and music, a person puts their podcast online, for people to listen to. A podcast can be about any subject at all. Many podcasts are educational. One nice thing about podcasts is that you can download and listen to them for absolutely free. One quick way to find podcasts is to look at the iTunes store. From here, you can do a search to find podcasts … Continue reading

Students Use Zunes Instead of Books

Technology has made homework a completely different experience lately. That is because instead of taking home books, students at one rural New Mexico school are taking home MP3 player, Zunes to be exact. Teachers at the school were given a $400 bonus for coming up with lessons that could be podcasted or watched in video, and taken home to review by students. Microsoft supplied 100 students with Zunes for free in exchange for data from the school that indicated whether or not the student’s test scores have increased through use of the Zunes. The Zunes normally retail for $300. Students … Continue reading