Literacy & Writing Skills
LAMusArt’s Playmaking project approached their goals with a lot of ambition and spirit. Their program was an exciting one, aimed at engaging students ages 9 – 11 in the fundamentals of playwriting over the course of 10 weeks, culminating in a full scale performance of the student written plays by adult actors. It can be extremely difficult to schedule several adult actors to appear in one place at any one time, but in Los Angeles this difficulty can be compounded. So the fact that they were able to get 11 kids plays up and running cast with professional actors is something that on it’s own should be applauded.
But before we get into what they accomplished, let’s take a dive into what goals they set out to accomplish.
1) to give underserved students in their East Los Angeles communities a public opportunity to experience success and recognition through artistic expression, authorship, and performance regardless of race or gender.
2) to aid the growth and development of each student’s important life skills, including their cognitive and emotional evolution, and their creative, academic, social, and behavioral progress by way of artistic opportunities.
3) to validate each student’s unique voice by giving them an opportunity to tell and see their own stories about their respective experiences.
4) to bridge the gap between our community and the life-affirming power of the arts, which they’ve been traditionally barred from due to barriers like language, finances, and exposure.
5) to provide students with the academic attention they lack in public schools, including inclusive and enriching creative programs and better student/adult ratios.
4) to increase student learning in fundamental theater concepts and practices.
Now, a number of these goals seem a bit hard to quantify. Many of which won’t be fully known until long after the student has left the program. But, you might be surprised by the results that the parents are reporting. But we’ll get to that shortly.
So how did they accomplish their goals?
Over the course of 10 weeks, each student kept a notebook of their weekly writing exercises, vocabulary lessons, and understanding of key concepts. Each student was able to grasp these exercises, as proven by the completion of their original plays. Although some plays were more complex than others, every student completed a play with at least two characters and a central conflict between those characters. The driving idea that was used to emphasize dramatic storytelling was “Want. Conflict. Change.” They started the course by establishing that every character must have a strong want or wish. To move the story forward, they put characters with different wants in a scene together to establish a high-stakes conflict, in which the characters want to get in the way of each other. To resolve the story, they needed a change, from either one or both characters, or an outside force. The idea of “Want. Conflict. Change.” was interpreted in different ways by each student, resulting in wildly different, but entirely vibrant and entertaining works. And having personally attended the event I can say that what resulted was a wildly surreal night of shows. Even though their concepts were simple… or often nonsensical (like the boy and his friend, and a slice of pizza) what they demonstrated was unfiltered creativity. It’s not often that playwrights get to write without self consciousness, and while it’s doubtful that they approached it without self doubt — the final product betrayed a sense of fun, unfettered imagination, and clear encouragement to tell the story they want to tell.
So where are the students now and how are they doing?
According to reports from the parents, the students have seen vast improvement in all areas that the program set out to address.
- 100% said they would recommend the program to others;
- 100% said that the elementary school their student attends does not offer a program similar to Playmaking, which tells us the program is unique and needed in the community;
- 100% said their student’s literacy and writing skills developed over the 10 week course;
- 100% said their student’s listening skills developed over the 10 week course; and
- 100% said their collaboration and creativity skills developed over the 10 week course.
Now, I’m no math teacher, but 100% returns across the board seems to me to be pretty good results. If not pretty great.
But no program is without its challenges. How can this one improve?
The most notable challenge was the coordination of rehearsal time for all eleven groups of adult actors and directors. It was difficult to fit adequate rehearsal time for all eleven plays into a two week period, causing them to schedule additional rehearsals with actors and a prolonged tech period in the theater space.
Another challenge they faced was giving the composer sufficient time to compose an original song for each play. Because the songs and plays were not written until Play Day, the composer was unable to read the plays and lyrics until a day before the first rehearsal, giving barely enough time to compose a new piece. They believe this can be improved by having the composer present on Play Day to aid the students in writing their lyrics. This will also give the composer a better idea of what the student has in mind stylistically for their song.
Completely surmountable challenges aside, this program seems to have legs that are going to carry it into the future and help improve the confidence, writing, and collaboration skills for any students involved.
Connecting lessons learned in classrooms to real world applications is one of the great challenges in teaching. Teachers and administrators at Harrison High School in Evansville, Indiana have come up with an innovative new classroom model to address that challenge.
What is the CFCO?
They have created the Center for Family and Community Outreach (CFCO), which aims to use student skills (built around academic content) to create documents, multimedia, events, presentations, and more for over twenty non-profit organizations in their community.
Educators are able to connect students with members of the non-profit community, creating a symbiotic relationship wherein the student gains valuable real-life skills and the non-profits get a free service. Not only is it easier to engage teenage minds directly if they feel a sense of involvement and contribution towards the betterment of their community, it also helps teens build invaluable skills for the transition into their adult lives.
How can service learning support non-profits and drive engagement for learners?
There are many service learning projects around the country, but few, if any, that drives content in the classroom around producing products for non-profits. The CFCO model has elements of numerous trends in education, such as:
- project-based learning
- student-centered learning
- and new technology,
but is truly innovative for the level of engagement it produces for students.
This program has seven distinct goals.
- Research the non-profit groups and social issues in students’ communities.
- Hold ‘Round Table’ discussions with local experts on special topic issues using the latest online literature and information.
- Tour the non-profit facilities and volunteer with local organizations and events.
- Collaborate with leaders on project ideas and write formal proposals
- Use project based learning and technology to design and create materials
- “Pitch” their ideas through benchmarks and final presentations
- Openly communicate with the community through blogging and video reflections.
Importance of Community Support
Students are immersed in the tangible application of skills from the classroom, and since students know what they are doing will have a real impact on their community, it is readily apparent how seriously they take it. The program has relied on a tremendous amount of community support and is currently in it’s third year of operation. Fortunately they continue to draw in new non-profit partners based on the satisfaction of their initial partners and publicity the projects have generated for the mission of non-profits in Evansville.
What is the impact?
So where are the teachers and students of Harrison High School now, a year into the program? Reports have come back with very positive results, including:
- Students have a sense of ownership and engagement in their work as well as their community.
- Non-profit data shows that the community’s organizations have much higher perception of the schools and teens’ abilities after working with the CFCO.
Moving forward they plan on moving the program to a half day model, to increase student exposure, as well as continuing to nurture community involvement and contribution.
With such an easily adaptable model, educators around the country should be looking to Evansville, and Harrison High School in particular. How they proceed could very well dictate how dozens of similar programs pop up in the future. Community involvement and concrete links between lessons learned in the classroom and real world applications are key in both advancing education as well as building a student body that is invested in the present and future of their community. While the saying “It takes a village to raise a child,” has been politicized as of late, I think we can all agree that fostering a child’s investment and involvement in his or her village can only lead to positive results.
For more information
- What is Service Learning?
- NSSE Results 2013 (teachingresearcher.wordpress.com)
- Creating Space for Marginalized Voices: Re-focusing Service Learning on Community Change and Social Justice (knrajlibrary.wordpress.com)
- Online Student is Set on ReStore-ing Ethics (blogs.msbcollege.edu)
As we wrote earlier this year, “Among the many challenges facing us in education one of our most formidable foes is the comprehension gap, across all content areas, between students of low socioeconomic status and those of high socioeconomic status.” The multi-year project Opening Classrooms to Close the Knowledge Gap‘s goal was to enhance students’ ability to develop literacy across the diverse content areas. In the first post, we shared how teachers at School for the Future in New York City had addressed students’ ability to work autonomously through Peer Assistance and Review seminars that took place after school.
In this post, we’ll look at how the project worked to build a school wide culture of Teacher-Led Professional Learning Communities.
A professional study group around lesson analysis
To support the goal of building this teacher-led culture, School for the Future teachers engaged in a professional study group around a shared text, John Hattie’s Visible Learning for Teachers. This book challenged their thinking and pushed the teachers into incorporating many of the exercises into their own coursework. A specific example from the book gave instructors a simple three-step process to analyze their own lessons by looking specifically at the learning intentions.
- What is the outcome I am tracking progress toward?
- How do I track progress toward that outcome?
- How do students track progress toward that outcome?
In establishing the learning intentions the teachers looked at two things; skills necessary for participation in a democratic society and skills necessary for success in secondary and post secondary school.
Improving feedback on persuasive writing
What did teachers choose to focus on? Persuasive writing.
Although the teachers understood the need to zero in on writing performance, the students were somewhat harder to reach. To assist, teachers established another simple method of tracking student progress that included a common rubric that was used on every persuasive writing task and an online grading platform accessible to students, teachers, and parents.
Every participant teacher constructed a video that encapsulated how participating in the study group enhanced their professional practice. During the first year, only 11th and 12th grade teachers participated while in the second year it was expanded to include 9th and 10th grade teachers.
After the first year each of the participating instructors constructed a video encapsulating what they gained from participation and how the study group improved their professional practice. In this example, Scott Chesler, Inclusion Teacher, explains the impact of the teacher led professional development community.
In the videos teachers spoke how the group led them to alter how they gave feedback to students, leading the students to get to know more about themselves as writers. Teachers noted in their annual report that they are attempting this change from the bottom up rather than the top down. For example, teachers like Stephanie Van Duinen (9th grade social studies) asked students for feedback about the course and then analyzed the information. When she learned that a signifigant group of students needed more feedback, she worked with her professional learning community members to form an action plan for providing “in the moment feedback” so that students could use the information to improve their work as soon as possible.
This was a highly rewarding experience as it forced me to reexamine my beliefs about my own personal practice and think not so much about my methods of teaching but about their effectiveness.
-Stephanie Van Duinen, 9th Grade Social Studies Teacher
School of the Future, Manhatten, NY
One teacher reported that the course helped him realize that student expectations have a high effect on performance so he reimagined his course to track individual student goals, regularly meeting with the students as he coached them forward. Jessica Candlin, 11th Grade English Teacher, presented how she used commenting features in Google Docs to support enhanced feedback for student writing in the slides below.
Teacher-led collaboration creates powerful connections
Although there was a certain amount of trepidation when new teachers were introduced into the program during the second year, the collaboration ultimately led to powerful connections between educators. Teachers reported they could have started earlier in the year to complete the project. While it seemed like March would be an ideal start time, as most teachers have “settled” into their schedules, it made it difficult for them to get their video materials together in time for the deadline. In the future, the teacher led professional learning community will be able to draw on the important learning experiences from this project and continue making an impact on student literacy.
Explore the following articles about teacher-led learning communities to learn more.
- Redefining Professional Development as Teacher-Led Professional Learning – NWEA 2013
- Teachers, Learners, Leaders – ASTD 2010
- When Teachers are the Experts – Education Week 2009
Why does this matter in real life?
One of the chief complaints you hear from students is “How can I actually apply what I’m learning to the real world?” And while there is no helping Algebra in that department, there are a myriad of other subjects that can benefit from a dose of real world interaction. This is what the Digital Art Afterschool Studio is doing. It’s taking a cue from larger real world curriculum programs, such as Career Oriented Curriculum and focusing on digital artistry and community involvement.
What is Career Oriented Curriculum and how can it benefit students?
According to District Administration, a website focused on creative solutions for school districts: “A summer job for a 16-year-old typically involves serving coffee, scooping ice cream, or babysitting the neighborhood children. Some students at Miami-Dade County (Fla.) Public Schools, however, spent their summer vacation designing a children’s Web site for the city of Miami Beach. An increasing number of students are finding themselves mingling among professionals with internships in local businesses—the culmination of a work-based learning curriculum.” These real world experiences are invaluable to students as they do two things:
- Reality Check Experiences like this show the students the real life application for what they are learning.
- On the Job Experience Projects like the digital after school studio create professional connections that go beyond graduation and help move our students forward professionally.
One organization with a stellar track record in this area is the National Academy Foundation (NAF). Since 1982 they have worked tirelessly with teachers and schools to create and implement career-oriented curriculum. Schools that work with the NAF will frequently require an internship with a local business before allowing the student to graduate. According to NAF:
“Over 90 percent of NAF students graduate from high school, and four out of five students continue to college or postsecondary education. Of those students, 52 percent earn a bachelor’s degree.”
How do you do it?
So how are the teachers and students at Overton High School, where the Digital Art Studio program has been in full swing for two years, applying the idea of career oriented curriculum to their specific needs?
According to their proposal “The after-school Digital Arts Studio program … enables students to build professional-level skills, as they develop their artistic portfolios. … The students will be introduced to client-based projects where they are expected to develop a working relationship with the client resulting in a marketable product.”
The program operates similar to a small graphic design studio. Taking place three times a week for two hours after school, students have the opportunity to really put work into a portfolio, and increase the possibility of scholarships and if a professional internship is tacked on, some AP credit. Projects are introduced from the needs of real world clients who the students and teachers reach out to. The projects can be anything from helping a local business create a print add to designing a website for a church event. This helps create crucial bridges between the school and the community around them, ultimately strengthening both.
This program has had to start small, accommodating only a few students at first. The principal and instructors consult with local ad agencies to create an interview process for students to simulate a job interview. The students selected work together to create a marketing campaign to alert the community to their presence and start soliciting clients. It is their hope that this model will, after a couple years, become self-sustaining.
What is the impact of a Career Oriented Curriculum?
So where are the students that have already passed through this program? Here are just a few of the success stories.
- Olivia Campbell, a second year participant, was awarded a full scholarship to attend University of Tennessee’s summer program for her Digital Art exhibited in the West Tennessee Regional Art competition last winter.
- Darion Beasley, King Hobson, and Maurico Farmer (all second year participants) were selected as three of the thirty-three students chosen to be represented in the Frist’s Museum’s exhibition Tennessee’s Top Young Artists.
- This year’s West Tennessee Regional Art Competition just released their awards and participants currently in the program won Best Graphic Design work, Best Photographic work, and placed in several other categories.
- One of the program’s participants, Cesar Pita, was just offered a $66,000 scholarship, the Presidential Scholarship, from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, one of the finest art colleges.
And these are just a few stories of success as this program continues to grow.
It’s clear from the work that NAF does and how Overton High School applies it to their own program that career-oriented curriculum puts students at a huge advantage over their peers that do not participate. By giving students an education grounded in reality, rather than existing in the abstract on the white board, we strengthen their chances of succeeding in the real world. Forging professional connections early on only increases the chance of future employment and education. By also giving students a personal stake in how their work is perceived by the community at large we give them the opportunity to push themselves to create something they can be proud of.
Learn More with these Related Links
- Career and Technical Education: Research
- Linking Learning to Life
- Career-Oriented Curriculum Delivers Critical Skills
- Proof is in: Career-oriented education works
The Bigger Picture on Holistic Writing
What is Holistic Writing?
So what is holistic writing and how can we apply it to our classrooms? Holistic writing is about mastering the art of looking at the big picture in its entirety before even putting pen to paper. It’s starting with the sum rather than the individual parts. Plot, characterization, grammar, cadence, all of these things are extremely important to learn individually; what’s more important is learning to use them in tandem. Even if every part is working fine on its own, if they don’t fit into the larger whole, the machine doesn’t work and the writing suffers for it.
By changing how we approach teaching writing, we can impact how students comprehend material.
How do you do it?
So what can educators do to integrate holistic writing in the classroom?
- Learn and foster a new writing process: This can include cross-genre analysis of texts, incorporating new media into their writing assignments, and fostering a collaborative writing process.
- Require all students to write extensively: By writing frequently and for many purposes, learners can be comfortable writing extended prose in elementary school and onward, setting them up for success in college. Schools can aid this process by making sure they hire excellent writing teachers as well as creating a curricula that fosters writing across all content areas at every grade level.
How can Holistic Writing be integrated in a Chicano Studies class?
Teachers at Valley High School a public school, with a predominately Latino population, were awarded a McCarthey Dressman grant to develop a Holistic Approach to Writing. This school is in a high poverty area where most students are English Language Learners and close to 90% of them receive free lunches. Valley High School Educators decided to address student gaps in literacy by taking the holistic writing approach and integrating it into their Chicano studies class.
The course is about the Chicano experience in relation to the following themes: history, identity, labor, gender and culture. While this course focuses on research and writing it takes a holistic method to teaching and learning. Students create murals, linoleum prints, and spoken word along with other forms of art. Each art piece is supported by research, a works cited page and thesis. Research skills are strengthened along with the student’s writing. In addition, students are required to construct a thesis surrounding their artwork, backed up with cited research. Instead of teaching writing and research separately, research lessons were taught throughout the year. Students were evaluated both on the artwork itself and the research that went into it.
What is the impact of Holistic Writing integration?
While initially it served eighty students, portions of the lessons bled over into history courses as the program moved forward. Over the three year project, they will reach 600 students and over 3,000 students will view their murals. Collaboration and teacher training has been a key factor in creating curriculum for this project. In the beginning of the project, it was necessary for the teachers to research the quality of papers at the college freshman level. Using what they learned, they developed a common rubric for the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE).
Their program has proved very effective. The Chicano studies instructor accomplished this by collaborating with the English instructor. He brought a sense of structure and form, while the English teacher helped the students understand style. According to the report, the students participating in this method have a 79% CASHEE passing rate, as opposed to the school’s average of 59%. The students have used a multi-disiplinary approach to Chicano studies including creating pieces of art (sugar skulls, day of the dead altars, murals painted with both acrylic and aerosol paints). When this method was later applied to the World History class in the second year of implementation they found the same thing happened, 79% vs 59%. The results speak for themselves.
If students are given the proper tools to excel, they will. The great thing about the holistic writing approach is that its reach far exceeds that of simple literary skills. It helps create a broader lens in which the student can view the world, their work, and ultimately themselves.
Learn more about Holistic Writing
Writing Now – pg. 4
Addressing the Knowledge Gap
Among the many challenges facing us in education one of our most formidable foes is the comprehension gap, across all content areas, between students of low socioeconomic status and those of high socioeconomic status.
E.D. Hirsch, The Case for Bringing Content Into The Language Arts Block and for a Knowledge Rich Curriculum Core for All Children American Educator, Spring 2006.
[T]his neglect of [content] knowledge is a major source of inequity, at the heart of the achievement gap between America’s poor and non-poor”
The Importance of Literacy Skills
While there are many factors that attribute to poor performance, one of the chief offenders is a lack of literacy skills. This is often noted at the college level when students are forced to take non-credit developmental education classes just to catch up to the basics. This both demoralizes the student as well as extending the amount of time they have to spend in, and thus pay for, college.
By expanding literary sources, however, we expand the sphere of knowledge surrounding the content areas. Students can gain a broader context of how a given subject fits into the larger narrative of the real world.
“If they want their students to learn complex new concepts in different disciplines, they [content teachers] often have to help their students become better readers…”Chris Tovani in her text Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?
Peer Assistance and Review (PAR): A Teacher Development Project
Teachers need to move beyond textbooks to increase their literary skills so that they can better communicate their subject to students. So how do we get a teacher to step away from the science textbook and into some Sagan or Hawking?
One of the ways we can work to address the knowledge gap is through the model of Peer Assistance and Review. In order to address inequity, our featured project at The School of the Future has done just that. With a Teacher Development Grant from McCarthey Dressman, The School of the Future helped improve the overall literacy of their teachers and subsequently their students.
Supports for Improved Content Literacy for Educators and Students
- Collaboratively Created Curriculum
Teachers in high school met after school and collaborated to develop, create, and implement a curriculum that would enhance their students’ ability to read and write in the content areas (History, Math, Science and Technology) across the 11th and 12th grade.
- Shared Texts Across Content Areas
The group worked together to come up with a list of shared texts across content areas. While history and science have obvious literary sources outside the textbook, with a subject like math the teachers could study the history of math and biographies of mathematicians to give a wider scope to how the content area applies to the real world.
- Content Literacy Support
Included was a training program for inexperienced or ineffective teachers to improve their literacy skills across their content area, specifically focusing on grades 11-12 to start.
The Difference: Educator Driven Approach
The difference between this program and previous initiatives aimed at teaching reading in the content areas was that previous efforts were top down administrative mandates that focused on ensuring uniformity in how reading, whereas the current effort was focused on expanding the teacher’s actual knowledge base. Past “one size fits all” approaches to teaching reading in the content areas failed to account for the fact that students read different types of texts in every content area.
The unique aspect to this program is its need for a personal “buy-in” from the teachers. Not a monetary buy-in, but those teachers who want to get involved will need to be willing to pull up their sleeves and put a little more time on the table.
The Impact: Students Identify and Analyze Printed and Non-Printed Texts
What have the teachers accomplished with this project?
During year one, five teachers (half the 11th/12th grade team) studied professional literature in their content areas to be able to implement a plan for teaching students to independently identify and analyze multiple non-fiction printed texts and non-print texts, at the student’s own instructional level, appropriate for the content of the class. Classroom visits and observations of each other in the form of Lesson Study, analysis of student growth, refinement of practice, creation of videos, continued throughout the year. In year two, participants in year one become “Anchor” teachers and shared best practices with the half of the team that was not previously involved (“Innovator Teachers”). For year three, the 11th/12th grade teacher team will mentor the 9th/10th grade team.
PAR provides teachers with the opportunity to work collaboratively to improve professional development. But it is not easy; successful implementation of PAR requires commitment, time, resources, cooperation and flexibility from the teachers involved. In successful PAR projects teachers play a key role in the support, assistance and review of their colleagues. Everyone has to pull their weight for the program to be successful
Teachers can look to existing program models, such as the California Peer Assistance and Review program to get some idea on how they can best start their own. Those who have experienced it emphasize that PAR models should only be used as reference tools, not as fixed templates, which could hinder the development and implementation of plans tailored to meet individual schools and students needs and goals.
Learn more about PAR


Here are the top 30 computers & technology books for teen & young adults. Please click Read Review to read book reviews on Amazon. You can also click Find in Library to check book availability at your local library. If the default library is not correct, please follow Change Local Library to reset it.
: Programming is only for kids who are good at math and science.
The reality: Anyone can learn how to code. Kids with an artistic bent and curious minds can give life to technology that shapes our daily experience.
Don’t believe it? Give this book a try! It will prove to be the best investment for your kids. This book teaches kids how to create animations with code. No big words or scary concepts. Only step-by-step, visual programming laced with digital art, games, and storytelling projects. It is a great art and code mixer. Animation for Kids with Scratch Programming is the perfect first taste that any budding programmer could fall in love with.
This book has three sections:
*Section one starts with simple projects to help students learn basic programming concepts. Those projects give students hands-on learning experience in developing their own games and animations.
*Section two provides students with animation techniques to fuel their creativity and imagination. It provides them tools to create more interesting animations.
*Section three guides students through four complete animations, each with its own storyboard. Kids learn how to manage the complexities of development, the interactions of multiple characters, and the timing of separate events. Many of the animation techniques introduced earlier are utilized to create these projects.
This book highlights the following areas:
Art and Code: Art and code go together like cookies and milk. This book leads with what kids know – art, games, and story-telling. Let them discover their Aha moments while having fun.
Simplicity: No kids study grammar to figure out how to talk. They learn by talking. Why should it be different with programming? No more concept overload and wordy explanations. Start coding from day one.
Projects: The book guides students to create their projects step-by-step. The instant gratification gained in each project reinforces their confidence and love for learning. Use this book in classrooms or for self-learning.
Techniques: This is the 1st book focusing on animation techniques in Scratch. Kids can use it as a great reference book for building their own games and animations.
Storyboard: Actions and scenes have to be planned out just like in filmmaking. This book teaches kids how to use the storyboard to guide their programming logic.
Before Christmas, the first five hundred copies sold will entitle the buyers with a two-hour free webinar class. In this online class, we will walk students through the first chapter. To register for the free webinar, please go to MentorsCloud.com.
Teen & Young Adult > Education & Reference > Science & Technology > Computers > Programming
New Eden Township is more than a dungeon for Fillion Nichols. The medieval biodome community, where Fillion is serving time, is a birthright that torments his life and threatens his future. Sealed inside the experimental Mars colony, there is no escape from anyone, especially the young woman who has haunted his thoughts for nearly six years. To preserve his sanity, he focuses on one goal – decoding the mystery behind the Watson deaths.
It is a mission that shatters his distorted perceptions of reality and helps rebuild the fractured elements of his life.
Meanwhile, to prove his worth to the Daughter of Earth, a young nobleman ventures beyond the walls of the biodome and experiences the Outside world for the first time. But his quest takes an unpredictable turn when he meets Lynden Nichols and Mack Ferguson, who draw him into their world – a community also confined and isolated by society. The Anime Tech Movement’s computer underground is far from the rustic, honorable life the young nobleman knows. Yet, he discovers familiar elements within the high tech subculture that may sustain the home he left behind.
As worlds converge, each young man faces a choice that will affect the survival of an entire community. And to save the generation they fight for, both men must defy the boundaries of everything they know.
Youth cultures collide as The Biodome Chronicles continues in a compelling quest for truth, forging an unforgettable story rich in mystery, betrayal and love.
Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Cyberpunk
Make: Getting Started with 3D Printing is a practical, informative, and inspiring book that guides readers step-by-step through understanding how this new technology will empower them to take full advantage of all it has to offer. The book includes fundamental topics such as a short history of 3D printing, the best hardware and software choices for consumers, hands-on tutorial exercises the reader can practice for free at home, and how to apply 3D printing in the readers’ life and profession. For every maker or would-be maker who is interested, or is confused, or who wants to get started in 3D printing today, this book offers methodical information that can be read, digested, and put into practice immediately!
Arts & Photography > Decorative Arts & Design
This book is a research paper covers everything you need to know about WebRTC and the ecosystem around it to make educated decisions about launching new initiatives using this technology.
Spanning over 100 pages, this book covers in a simple language what WebRTC is, what you can and can’t do with it, how the ecosystem is divided along with many vendor stories of those who adopted WebRTC.
This book is useful if you are:
* An entrepreneur, seeking to start a real-time communication related initiative
* A product manager, trying to understand where WebRTC fits into your planning
* A decision maker, who needs to make sense of the brave new world of WebRTC
The book addresses the following key questions:
* What is WebRTC?
* What can WebRTC do, and what can’t it do?
* In which browsers and environments can WebRTC be used?
* What types of vendors are adopting WebRTC and how?
* In which markets is WebRTC used and with what kinds of business models?
The book is free of charge curtesy of Kandy by Genband who are sponsoring it.
Business & Money > Industries > Computers & Technology
A LitPick.com Top Choice award winner!
Adam Locke’s latest stunt finally gets him expelled from the ninth grade and shipped off to a stuffy private school. When it turns out to be an undercover organization in need of fresh operatives, he and his new classmate Emma begin their clandestine training. Intrigue, danger, and adventure follow the pair around the world as they learn how to use the gadgets, technology, and tactics at their disposal. During their country-hopping education, they uncover a grave threat to their new way of life and the organization itself. Can a pair of teenagers contend with an international criminal intent on revenge?
Check out book 2 of the Adam Undercover series, ‘The Consortium Directive’ coming Fall 2016.
Children’s Books > Growing Up & Facts of Life > Friendship, Social Skills & School Life > Boys & Men
“It’s not that our students aren’t reading and writing, but that where and what they are reading and writing is off the school radar. We can build a bridge between the literate lives of our students outside of school and the literacies we want to teach them.”
–Dana J. Wilber
The power of Dana Wilber’s insight is in its simplicity. Students are texting, networking, and blogging- i.e., writing and reading- all the time, everywhere, just maybe in places we aren’t necessarily paying attention to. Build on their authentic interest and motivation using the technologies they are already committed to and you’ve won half the battle. You won’t believe how engaged they are; they won’t believe they’re learning for school.
In iWrite, Dana shows you how to guide students through the complexity of new literacies, including:
- how to discern between media
- how to account for audience and voice
- how to choose appropriate genre
- and how to harness what they already know to be more successful in school.
Dana deftly elucidates the lives of Millennials, those students growing up around the turn of the 21stcentury, and the technologies embedded into their everyday reading and writing. She shows us how three accessible tools-wikis, blogs, and digital storytelling -can be used to scaffold learning for our students. And she demonstrates how they can help us address 10 key issues in the literacies of today’s students:
- Meaning and identity
- Interest and inquiry
- Cognitive development
Let iWrite show you how to capture students’ daily literacy practices and develop them for the kind of writing we want them to learn.
Born in 1944, Mary Gorden grew up with dreams of becoming an astronaut and a scientist. But during the 1950s and 60s traditional attitudes about women in the workplace still prevailed. Mary’s searing memories of being told girls don’t” in response to her aspirations opens this compelling memoir of her journey through the groundbreaking new world of computer programming and the computer as a business tool.
After she graduated from college in Wisconsin with a degree in mathematics, Mary made her way to Washington, D.C., where she began her first programming job. She then followed her heart to San Francisco in 1969 meeting her husband along the way.
With her natural gifts as a logical problem-solver, Mary excelled in her programming work. Yet she was constantly pressured to leave the technical work she loved and to go into management. It was an unusual problem for a woman to have in the 1970s.
Written in a no-nonsense style, Mary recounts challenging years in management and marriage––eventually discovering that she needed to leave both. She also writes about the outdoors as her passion and escape, of the intense freedom and focus to learn horseback riding and cross-country skiing, of navigating the skies as a licensed pilot, of her world travels and her love of her horses and her dogs.
Over the course of her story business computing evolves from punched cards to the beginning of the internet, and opportunities for women continue to change and grow.
Biographies & Memoirs > Memoirs
Small business owners often begin their businesses with limited funds, focussing on urgent matters and necessities. While we understand that starting lean is critical to long-term success, we also know that there is a lot you can do to get your business growing immediately using the tools that are available so readily today! We are here to point you in the direction of success, by using inexpensive (sometimes, even FREE!) technology that can make a huge difference for your business.
Computers & Technology
More and more eBay sellers are gradually turning their entrepreneurial efforts on the world’s foremost online auction site into serious business enterprises. Whether they see their eBay business as a modest addition to their revenue or a potentially fulltime venture, they need expert advice on how to do it right. Filled with in-depth, easily-understood answers readers can flip to, as-needed, this is a one-of-a-kind resource for any eBay seller.
Business & Money > Industries > Retailing
“Virtual World Design and Creation for Teens” shows teens like you how to develop virtual 3D worlds using the simple, visual programming language, Alice. Virtual worlds can take the form of animated stories, movies, and games. This book will teach you step-by-step how to create virtual worlds, including developing your story, setting up your world, adding and animating characters, incorporating sound, and sharing your world with others. You’ll even discover how to add strategy to your worlds so they can be used as interactive stories or games. Written in clear language using hands-on projects and exercises to teach you each new skill, this book is easy to follow at your own individual pace.
Computers & Technology > Programming > Game Programming
Learn to Make Great Digital Photos for 5 Bucks is a tight, bright, four-color, quick reference manual for anyone who wants to learn to use their digital camera. Written by an intelligent expert of digital photography, the text is integrated with large illustrations (either photographs or software interface shots). Brief tips or warnings at page bottom address any ancillary points not covered in the basic how-to text. There’s nothing else. Readers will quickly learn the fundamentals of using a digital camera: your camera’s basic features, how to shoot in different lighting conditions, tips for different kinds of shots (portrait, landscape, close-up), basic rules all the pros know, and more than 50 tips and secrets that help get the perfect shot, or maybe just save your day. You’ll also learn what to do with your images after you’ve imported them into your computer: managing your photo files, editing and cropping, printing, and emailing them to friends and family. This book isn’t designed to be a complete reference, but an irresistible impulse buy for people who don’t normally buy books in this area–or for people who just want to learn the basics.
Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Digital Photography
Google is not only the search engine of choice for millions of users, it is an immensely powerful tool for savvy businesspeople who know how to use its advanced features. “Go Google” is a comprehensive guide to everything readers need to know about Google’s myriad applications, including Google Apps, Google Docs and Spreadsheets, Google SMS, Google Base, and other services that will help businesses get organized – and get noticed. Complete with information on research tools like Google Local, Google News, and Google Alerts, this is the ultimate guide for businesses of every size.
Business & Money > Marketing & Sales > Marketing > Multilevel
Comencé este libro a los 17 años de edad, pero el camino ya lo había empezado mucho antes, y del camino sé que me falta mucho recorrer.
¿Por qué 30 reglas? Pues un mes tiene en promedio 30 días, y pensé lo bueno que sería tener una regla para pensar por día, y repetirla 12 veces al año. Sé que el camino del éxito es la perseverancia, pero si le sumamos un plan ¡mejor!. Martin Luther King cuando quiso transmitir lo que sentía por en su accionar dijo, “Tengo un sueño”, y esto representa el principal motivo para este libro: ¡Tengamos un sueño!. Primero soñemos donde llegar, luego vendrán los planes y los cambios, primero soñemos.
Hoy en día es muy simple copiar y pegar, entre tanto Big Data con más de 500.000 artículos creados por día a través de diferentes personas de todo el mundo.
En este punto nos vemos desafiados a lograr comprender la información, filtrar la más relevante y poder transformar creando algo de valor para el otro.
Nos es imprescindible derribar un mito que dice que la generación de Nativos Digitales es experta por nacimiento en el uso de las Tecnologías de la Información y la comunicación (TICs). Estudios internacionales dejaron demostrado que esta generación desconocer cómo utilizar la información que los rodea para conectar ideas y generar nuevos contenidos. Las encuestas realizadas por ICILS indicaron que un 89% de los jóvenes confían en que saben cómo obtener información de internet, pero solamente el 2% logro efectivamente pasar una prueba diferenciando el contenido relevante de aquel que era falso.
Podemos remontarnos al pasado y darnos cuenta que la educación desde el Siglo XIX hasta el Siglo XXI es algo que va evolucionando de una forma lenta en comparación con el resto de los avances desarrollados por la humanidad. Es por este motivo que deseo transformarla, y preparar a todas las generaciones, en los cinco continentes para adaptarse a un contexto que cambia continuamente, con un ritmo nunca antes visto.
Es prioritario traer la educación a la actualidad y lograr generar un pensamiento proactivo y anticipatorio en todas las etapas de la vida.
Comprender el comportamiento de una acción, de un sueño, de una compra, es el desafío que les propongo. Los invito a leer este libro y compartir sus opiniones luego.
Soñar, educar, comprender, entender… ¡comencemos!
Business & Money > Small Business & Entrepreneurship > New Business Enterprises
The Comprehensive edition of AutoCAD and Its Applications combines the complete contents of the Basics and Advanced editions to provide flexibility in course design and teaching approaches. This package provides a complete program for teaching introductory and second-tier AutoCAD courses.
Arts & Photography > Architecture > Drafting & Presentation
//WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE/ The Internet…a world without rules, without boundaries. Where you can be anyone you want, whoever you aren’t. And it’s all just a click away…. Nick Annunciato wants to impress his new girlfriend’s father. So when he flies to Key West with his own father, who’s a cookbook author and chef, and his stepsister, Annie, to attend a local food festival, he places an notice on the Internet: “I’m in Key West looking for the obvious contraband.” Nick does get a response. But what he doesn’t realize is that he has unwittingly thrown himself and Annie into a dangerous swirl of murder, mayhem, and Cuban cigars. Who is the dead man missing a hand? Can Nick and Annie find the killer before he cooks up more trouble? Will this adventure be their last? Different people in different places. The one thing they have in common is a new address on the Internet: danger.com. Where all your fears come true.
Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Mystery & Thriller
Drawing from fourteen years experience, author Leanne Beitel guides teens in touch typing and basic word processing skills specifically for Christian schools and/or home schools. Keyboarding for the Christian School gives clear directions and brief assignments with the following advantages:Biblical references for each unitGives screen shot examples from Microsoft Word XPCompares APA and MLA report stylesUses inspiring sample textsIncludes timings and grading chartUtilizes commonly-used proofreader’s marksText copy is formatted in 12 point Times New Roman font for readabilityKeyboarding for the Christian School is designed for time-constrained classes, skills review, or as a supplement to computer courses. A printable e-book version of this book along with Teacher Tools to create a typing course is available at https://christiankeyboarding.com
Teen & Young Adult > Education & Reference > Science & Technology > Computers
Computers are everywhere, running our lives, handling our social interactions, serving as the backbone of every business.
And yet, how well do we understand them? How much do we know about their rise to ubiquity? We take computers for granted, but there is a fascinating wealth of ideas waiting to be explored, a rich trail of information explaining how we got to where we are now. That trail includes grand dreams, intricate puzzles, mind-stretching concepts and a cast of colourful characters.
Brown Dogs and Barbers is a story about computer science. Join me on a journey through the story of computing, discover just what makes the machines tick, learn why computers work the way they do and meet the cast of characters responsible for it all.
Computers & Technology > Computer Science
Millions rely on computers at work and at home, and email is a convenience that many take for granted. Information technology professionals develop, create, maintain, and operate computer-related technologies. In this book, the careers profiled include: Bioinformation; Computer animator; Computer game designer; Desktop publisher; and more.
Teen & Young Adult > Education & Reference > Reference
When Sanjeev’s sister runs away to join her boyfriend Raj, a crewman on a cruise ship, they get word she’s been killed in a train wreck. Sanjeev goes in search of Raj, and instead finds her sister alive, but bound and gagged aboard ship. He also discovers a multi-million dollar computer chip smuggling operation and calls on Cyber.kdz to help him track down the thieves.
Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Mystery & Thriller
The Internet gives us information, communication options, shopping opportunities, entertainment, and much more–all at the touch of a fingertip and much of it for free. But in exchange for these benefits, we may be losing a basic right: the right to privacy. By clicking to accept website user agreements, we often allow companies to track our activities online and to share our data with outside groups. In addition, the police and government agencies can also track people online–and this tracking is sometimes done secretly, without user agreements or search warrants. Privacy laws and the US Constitution are supposed to protect privacy in the United States, as are laws and conventions in other parts of the world. But judicial and legal systems have not kept pace with technology. And until laws catch up, users enter a legal gray area when they communicate digitally–an arena in which their most private conversations might not be protected from intrusion. Such intrusion can be dangerous: government agencies can use information obtained via digital spying to harass, arrest, or imprison citizens. Other groups can use private digital data to discriminate in banking, retail, housing, and other businesses. Around the world, critics are sounding the alarm about digital privacy. Many have called for stricter controls on data tracking. What rights do you have when it comes to privacy online? How can you be a smart cyber citizen and protect your personal digital data? These questions are at the heart of the Internet privacy debate.
Teen & Young Adult > Education & Reference > Science & Technology > Computers > Internet
This insightful work combines Jeff Bezos’s life story, beginning in 1964 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with the creation of Amazon, in 1995, and its rise as the largest online retailer in the world. Bezos’s zeal and tirelessness has seen Amazon through the inevitable ups and downs that come with building a start-uptaking it from a garage and turning it into a worldwide powerhouse. Although Bezos has wide-ranging interests and investments today, Amazon remains the cornerstone of his work life, and he is determined to keep his company at the forefront of technological and commercial innovation. The narrative includes captivating sidebars on Bezos’s life and innovations, and fact sheets on his life and the company. A timeline helps readers glean pertinent facts about Bezos and Amazon quickly.
Children’s Books > Computers & Technology > Internet
Bren Mickler has fallen in love at first sight! Bren tries everything to catch her dream date – right down to starting an electronic dating service for her friends. She plugs everyone’s vital stats into a program she pulled off the Web, and the trouble begins.
One disasterous and often hilarious match leads to another, and Bren finds that her attempts to win love actually keep her from finding it.
Just when Bren thinks she’s ruined everything, the timeless message of I Corinthians 13 envelops her heart. And the verses had been there- literally right in front of her face on the TodaysGirls Web site – the whole time! Bren learns the gifts of Godly love and friendship, discovering that “the greatest of these is love.”
Computers & Technology > Computer Science
When P.C. and Mackenzie are invited to join Mac’s dad on a business trip in Monaco, they are thrilled. But their luxurious vacation is cut short when a serial killer thought to be long retired suddenly strikes again…in their hotel!
Computers & Technology > Software > E-mail
Eighteen-year-old Joshua Amandil and his best friend Kyle Frost are two computer science majors starting their sophomore year of college. All is routine until they stumble upon a projector hidden in their apartment which opens a portal to a virtual world created by the ultra-secret Spyrius Technology.
Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction
– High interest/low reading level books for middle- and high-school students
– Attention-grabbing opener to provide immediate visual introduction to each book
– Mock dialogues to present crucial vocabulary terms in context
– Compelling visuals and information to help students build a background in each topic
– Real-life case studies to show scientists’ problem-solving processes
– Portfolio of tools, equipment, forms, and other real materials used by experts in the field
– Science as Inquiry out of the classroom and into the real world
– Forensic science is a hot topic, making these books the ones teens will want to read
– Highlights of key historical moments in each discipline
– Current events tie-ins
– Career emphasis, featuring interviews with scientists in the field
Computers & Technology > Software > E-mail
Adam and Emma are used to being the youngest agents in the Arcanum Trivindico. Remarkable gadgets, vehicles, and advanced training continue to hone their abilities as undercover operatives. When the US government pleads for them to engage an unhackable global crime syndicate, the students are forced to abandon their unusual education. A pair of new classmates and a dangerous assignment bring questioned loyalties and sparks of romance. As they battle their way across an unfamiliar continent, each of them will be pushed to the limit to complete their mission.
Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure
There is a lot of material on Scratch Programming on the Internet, including videos, online courses, Scratch projects, and so on, but, most of it is introductory. There is very little that can take students to the next level, where they can apply their Scratch and CS concepts to exciting and challenging problems. There is also very little material that shows students how to design complex projects, and introduces them to the process of programming.
This book is meant to fill these gaps.
In short, this book is for students who are already familiar with Scratch: its various commands, its user interface, and how it represents a variety of CS concepts such as, variables, conditional statements, looping, and so on. The book does not attempt to teach these concepts, but, it does provide a quick introduction to each concept in the free Supplement to the book.
I call this an “interactive book” because it is something between a traditional book – which is static and passive – and a fully interactive online course. It does look like a book: it has a series of chapters, diagrams, a lot of text, etc. But it also contains links to online Scratch programs, code snippets, references, which the reader is expected to click and explore to fully benefit from the ideas presented.
I have organized the book as a series of independent Scratch projects – each of which describes how to design and build an interesting and challenging Scratch program. Each project progresses in stages – from a simple implementation to increasingly complex versions. You can read these chapters in any order you like, although I have tried to arrange the chapters in an increasing order of challenge.
Programming is a powerful tool that can be applied to virtually any field of human endeavor. I have tried to maintain a good diversity of applications in this book. You will find the following types of projects:
-Simple ball games
Learn the concepts:
As the experts will tell you, concepts are really understood and internalized when you apply them to solve problems. The purpose of this book is to help you apply Scratch and CS concepts to solve interesting and challenging programming problems. Every chapter lists, at the very start, the Scratch and CS concepts that you will apply while building that project.
Learn the design process:
Besides these technical concepts, you will also learn the “divide and conquer” approach of problem-solving. This is a fancy term for the technique of breaking down a bigger problem into many smaller problems and solving them separately one by one.
You will also learn the “iterative design process” for designing programs. This is another fancy name that describes the idea that something complex can be designed in a repeated idea -> implement -> test cycle, such that in each cycle we add a little more complexity.
You will also learn a bit of “project management”. Project management helps you undertake a project, such as creating a complex program, and complete it in a reasonable time, with reasonable effort, and with reasonable quality. It involves things such as planning tasks, tracking their progress, etc.
Audience for the book:
The book is intended for students who are already familiar with Scratch. The level of challenge is tuned for middle- and high-school students, but elementary-school students who have picked up all the concepts in an introductory course might also be able to enjoy the projects presented in this book.
The book would be a great resource for teachers who teach Scratch programming. They could use the projects to teach advanced tricks of programming and to show how complex programs are designed.
Finally, the book is for anyone who wants to get the wonderful taste of the entertaining and creative aspect of Computer Programming.
Computers & Technology > Programming > Game Programming
Book by Corrigan, Jim
Biographies & Memoirs
How to build 4x4x4, 8x8x8 and 8x8x8 color LED cubes with several sample programs to demonstrate them.
Computers & Technology > Hardware & DIY > Peripherals
Madison Finn is back online, and she’s spilling all the details on her new friend, old flame, and very unexpected crush
Madison, Aimee, Fiona, and the gang are ready for a new school year, but Madison knows that nothing is ever what you expect—especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Regardless of how prepared she is, the eighth grade is going to bring a bunch of awkward new experiences and some major surprises, including a new love interest—and a very confusing love triangle!
Perfect for fans of the Dork Diaries, Back Online is the newest novel in the hugely popular From the Files of Madison Finn series.
Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Social & Family Issues > Friendship
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Last updated: Monday, December 5, 2016 9:56 AM


By Andreina Soto
Roll over the images to learn more about them!
Women performed noncombatant roles during the WWI in the U.S. and in Europe. Their presence in the war, sometimes overlooked, can be observed through a wide scope of visual culture that circulated during the years of the Great War. Photographs, postcards, and propaganda show different dimensions of the female persona during this period. They were mothers, but they were also providers; they were waiting at home, but they were also in the battlefield healing the soldiers.
The visual culture and printing media that circulated during the Great War reflects the imagery towards gender roles, shows the multifaceted character of the female representations, and women’s engagement in different activities at home and overseas. Giving the inextricable relation between war and gender, the following storytelling portrays and explains some of the female representations of women during the WWI based on propaganda, photographs, and videos I have selected from digital databases related to the Great War. These resources serve to explore in more depth the role of women in the early-twentieth century U.S., which opened a road to women’s involvement in the political and public life of the country.
Women became the “second line of defense” that secured the moral, social, economic, and political sustaining of the U.S. in ways the male soldiers and civil men could not achieve. As Susan Grayzel sustains, World War I was the first modern war that required the full participation of both combatants and noncombatants, altering the battlefield as well as the domestic and social spaces of the Homefront in Europe and the U.S. Even though the outcome of WWI did not radically changed the place of women in society, this epoch did had a great influence in different aspects of the domestic and public life that affected women and men. As well as the image of the country and the male soldiers highlighted the cohesion of a national identity, the visual representations of the war also relied and engaged female imagery. At the same time, the war opened new opportunities for education, employment, and national service for women in the country and overseas, performing duties as nurses, stenographers, factory workers, food producers, among others. The composition of different types of visual culture using female models, especially in propaganda, reflect this transition.
This is a story about female imagery – how they were envisioned during the course of the war.
This project bases on the visual analysis of different photographs and printed media -mostly propaganda- produced and circulated during the course of the Great War. In order to compile and curate the images, I have used the following digital databases:
- Alma Clarke Papers Collection. Bryn Mawr College Special Collections:
- Manuscript Journals of Frank R. Steed US soldier in WWI France, 1918-1919, vol. 1. Digital Library, Villanova University.
- Scrapbook, Home front – Atlantic City, 1918. Digital Library, Villanova University.
- World War One posters. Prints and Photographs Online Catalog of the Library of Congress.
Printed media and photographs had an important role in the distribution of information by the turn of the twentieth century. Their use seems remarkable during the course of the Great War in which, for example, a great scope of newspapers, commercial photographs, postcards, and propaganda circulated worldwide to keep the population informed.
To construct my story about female imagery in the war, I have incorporated different types of propaganda I have found at the Library of Congress Digital Collection, a very comprehensive database to locate printed media from U.S. and overseas from the early twentieth century. I have also used printed media and photographs from the scrapbooks of Alma Clarke, Frank Steed, and the Scrapbook from the Home Front (anonymous), who offer a personal perception of the war from the angle of three different persons who, from Europe and from Home, gathered, selected, and constructed their memories into scrapbooks.
The comparative examine of these sources -propaganda and scrapbooks- allows to see collective and individual perspectives based on gender, occupation, leisure activities, social interactions, and personal values.
“The Second Line of Defense” goes through a main narrative, divided in four themes. Each excerpt offers a particular view or role I have defined to understand the female imagery during the WWI: Motherland, Healers, Muses, and Providers. Each excerpt is formed by a main argument presented through a comparative analysis of different visual resources. This gives the sense of an “interactive museum,” where in each gallery the user cannot just observe the visual culture but also manipulate the images and learn through the contrast between visual and writing content.
Scroll down the page to read the storytelling. You can also hover over the images to learn more information about their visual content.
If you wish to know about the composition of the storytelling, click here. Meanwhile, enjoy the wonderful story of the female imagery during the WWI.
Motherland: Female Symbolism of National Identity
In the early-twentieth century, the battlefield was considered a place solely for the male warrior to defend his nation. Nonetheless, from a century before the image of the United States had a female face that made the call and unify the people under the same national sentiment. Her name was Columbia.
Roll over the images to learn more about them!
Once the thirteen colonies began to acquire a greater sense of national identity, the image of Columbia emerged to personify this new spirit. The references to Columbia date back from 1697, when Chief Justice Samuel Sewall of the Massachusetts Bay Colony wrote a poem suggesting that America’s Colonies should be called Columbina, a feminization of Christopher Columbus’ last name. But it was not until late-eighteenth century that Columbia acquired a more meaningful place in the way United States depicted itself as a nation in search for independence from Britannia, the female representation of the empire overseas.
Columbia appeared for the first time in a poem written by Phillis Whatley, a former slave who wrote in 1776 during the revolutionary war. Since then, the image would become a recurrent symbol that unified the country.
Columbia, as well as the national embodiment of the European countries, was inspired in Roman symbols that resembled images of mythical figures. Columbia’s physical attributes and clothes gives her the image a classic goddess. Some of the representations depict her wearing a white draped garment, but during the course of the war it is also common to see her body covered with the flag of the United States.
Beside Columbia, other pseudo-mythical representations took part in the way war propaganda animated combatants and noncombatants to participate in the war. The most popular image, one that remain until our days, is Uncle Sam, who displays a male representation.
Move the arrows at the center of the image to the left or to the right to appreciate the similarities and differences between Columbia and Uncle Sam!
Nonetheless, we can notice Uncle Sam is almost coercive to the viewer, suggesting obedience or threat if the person fails to obey the call for duty. His use to encourage enlistment in the military and working duties during the war suggests his association with the governmental institution. Meanwhile Columbia, a softer and motherly image, would embody the virtuous and protective motherland.
Throughout the propaganda from the period, it is noticed how Columbia became a more powerful symbol to enact national identity, as the voice and the face of the mother -the country- who called her sons –soldiers- and daughters –noncombatant nurses, wives, and workers- to involve in the battle, to take action.
The image of Columbia was used to recruit soldiers as well as to request the help of civilians to contribute with the nation by preserving food, working as volunteers, and performing other duties, such as serving for the Red Cross. Along her, other female representations named Liberty and Victory took part in the advertising that circulated during the war.
Similar to Columbia, these pseudo-goddesses also use draped garments that combined white, the colors of the U.S., and physical features of classic Roman imagery. Nonetheless, these two representations also represented other meanings. Even though they suggested patriotism, their moralizing voices called the population to engage the population in different levels. For the male population, it is common to see Victory, shoulder to shoulder, holding a sword and leading the men with bravery in the battlefield. Liberty, on the other hand, called the attention of the female and the male population in the Homefront, guiding them to produce the land, to enlist the army, to volunteer as nurses.
The use of these different representations highlights the power of the WWI propaganda and shows the circulation of patriotic ideas that sought to create guilt, passion, and bravery among the U.S. population. Their representations, as well as their messages, also expose how men and women played particular roles in the war, the first seeking for victory, the seconds at home, securing the nation’s freedom.
Healers: Nurses in the Battlefield
Columbia called men to join the battle, but she also addressed women to travel away from home and serve as nurses and nurses’ aides for the Red Cross.
The posters from the period show a predominant use of female representations, an embracing and motherly image that suggests the role of nurses as healers of the physical and moral state of the men.
Others images also show nurses serving civilians, they became comforters of a context broken by the destruction of the war. Several posters depict female nurses standing aside of wounded soldiers, while others depict them taking actions holding men, performing medical assistance. There are, on the other hand, photographs of women in action, such as the images preserved in the Alma Clarke scrapbooks.
The relevance of the war propaganda is evidenced in Alma Clarke’s papers. In these, she used photographs along printed media to frame her experience and perception of the war. Alma and many other U.S. American women were part of the healers that aided in the physical and moral assistance of the soldiers in the battlefield.
While Alma captured her memories in a scrapbook, while other healers of the war, such as the British Vera Brittain, compiled her experience in a written memoire titled Testament of Youth. Vera Brittain was a student at Oxford when she decided to train as a nursing auxiliary. Her autobiography, Testament of Youth, records her experience before and during the Great War with profound sorrow by witnessing wounded and deceased soldiers during her time serving in England, Malta and France. Her fiancé Roland and her brother Edward died in combat.
Vera published her autobiography in 1933 and it became one of the most compelling stories about the effects of the war on the women and middle-class civilians in European youth population.
Muses: The War in the Domestic Space
“Knowing the women he loves is safe and waiting for his return becomes far more important to the soldier that the work provided by women as comrades in arms” –Susan Grayzel, Women’s Identities at War (1999).
Perhaps one of the most famous role of the women during the course of the Great War that has perpetuated until our days, is the women who stayed at home, waiting for her beloved one to return. Vera Brittain depicts part of this story, using her own voice to narrate her time in Oxford thinking about her brother and fiancé before deciding volunteering as nurse. This image of the lover, the mother, and the daughter in despair served to recruit soldiers. The messages embedded in the poster argues the necessity of men to involve in battler to defend their families and lovers, as well as for the safeguard of their male honor.
It is interesting to observe how these images affect the construction of men and women that lived in flesh and blood the consequences of the war in their social and family circles. Alma Clarke’s scrapbooks, for example, puts greater emphasis in the images of nurses and nuns as mothers and caretakers. Alma’s memories frame the way in she saw herself as a noncombatant in the battlefield, how the posters of recruitment from the Red Cross highlighted their role to “heal” the damages of the war.
However, Alma does not emphasize the domestic space in the same way as Frank Steed or the author, probably a man, of the Atlantic City scrapbook. The vision of these persons, which we can observe through the scrapbooks, reflect the gender and work relations in the midst of the war. These men, in Europe and in the U.S., compiled almost simultaneously media representing ideal versions of female as inspirational motifs of male heroism and in leisure environments.
The women portrayed by these men always look young, radiant, and smiling. These men, unlike Clarke who relied on her heroism as a nurse in the war, utilized photographs and printed media of real-life muses to create their memories. They focus on an image of female’s positive and embracing images to maintain the spirits high in the midst of a chaotic context.
But even though there were women who stayed at home, their duties went beyond the romanticized idea of the lady in despair. The propaganda that circulated in the country call the attention of the housewives to honor their men and serve their country by rationing food and donating supplies for the cause of the war. These media gives the idea women should serve a sort of penitence while men are overseas sacrificing their lives for them and for Columbia.
Providers: Working Women in the Homefront
While the image of Muses is very popular, the recruitment campaign during the war also aimed at involving women in different duties in the Homefront. The main goal of these tasks was to provide different means: food, weapons, information. Along with the role of nurses, this imagery of women turns empowering and provided a channel of social mobility in the public sphere of the U.S. In the absence of men, women took agency and went to the factories, to the fabrics, and to the farmland.
Then, women became providers, a fundamental system that secured the well-being of the soldiers and the stability of the country.
In terms of resources, the most prominent scope of propaganda targets the role of women working the land, planting the seed, and preserving food.
The image from the right exposes the sentiment that the battle was not isolated in Europe, but it affected the way people saw their quotidian task in the U.S. In this case, women became “the army land,” adjudicating implicit combatant roles that addressed their importance in the production of good for the civilian and military population. The image from the left, which belongs to the “Scrapbooks – the Home Front”, reasserts the role of women as providers, as the sources of the energy that would guarantee the success of the soldiers in battle. Furthermore, the images exposes the women also in a combatant role with her duty, since she is also wearing an uniform. Even though this image seems to be more patronizing than the previous, it does give an idea on how the domestic and the public sphere merged to create the female role of provider.
While the production and preservation of food appears as the most constant theme of the propaganda and printed media, there were also other two roles that increased female’s involvement in the war, as providers of weapons and providers of information.
These four dimensions of female imagery -Motherland, Healers, Muses, Providers- show the multifaceted character that surrounded women’s role in the early twentieth century. They also show the transitions of women from the domestic environment of the home, preserving food, to the public spheres working shoulder to shoulder, reaffirming an active position among men, occupying positions once limited in the past, and serving as examples for the nation. Women in the Great War played important roles that preserved the national sentiments in the home front and the battlefront, that healed the soldiers physically and spiritually. Most of all, these women opened new paths for the following generations, and in the same way as WWI transformed men, countries, and governments, it also changed and reaffirmed the importance of women at family, social, and economic levels.
Hopefully, this storytelling exposes how fundamental the presence of this imagined and real women was for the place female population occupies nowadays!
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