To Wideo ot not to Wideo?

That's a good question. I just used Wideo for the first time to create a short video promoting our author visit. You can watch it here. Wideo is a FREE web-based animation tool. I first read about it here. You first must create an account and profile page or sign up with your Facebook account.

Pros
You can:
Personalize your wideo by using your own images, logos, pictures and sounds (music or voiceover)
Add animation relatively easily
Publish or unpublish your wideos to make them public or private
Save a wideo and continue to edit it later
Start from scratch or use one of their templates to create your wideo, just click Reuse (I used a pre-made template for my wideo)
View your videos online and embed them into blogs or Websites

Cons
You cannot:
Download your videos unless you pay for a premium subscription.

Applications
As Richard Byrne states from his review of these animation tools, "you and your students can create your own simple animations to convey powerful ideas."

Verdict
I would give Wideo a try. If you don't like it or it doesn't suit your needs, there are a ton of other similiar apps out there, such as ABCya Animate, Animation Desk, Stop Frame Animator, Stop Motion HD, and iMotion HD.

Wideo: Kara Taylor's Upcoming Author Visit

If embedded video does not play, click here.

Code Academy

Once finished with our Age of Empires tournament, the students in Computer Club began to learn how to code via Code Academy. I began to learn too! With Code Academy you can "learn to code interactively, for free." Awesome. Codecademy is really the easiest way to learn how to code. If I can do it, so can you! It's interactive, fun, and you can do it with your friends or frenemies. Sign in and create a profile. You can save your work and track your progress with points and badges.

Wonderopolis

Have you ever wondered...

Why Is Ice Slippery? (#494)
How Do You Speed Up Time? (#1133)
Why Are Batteries Different Sizes? (#1137)
Do All Liars Lie? (#1134)
Why Do You Get Goose Bumps? (#638)
How Do Mirrors Work? (#300)
Can You Really Hear the Ocean in a Shell? (#655)

You can subscribe to the Wonder of the Day at the Website Wonderopolis, via text message or email.  

From the Page to the Screen

I just read Divergent by Veronica Roth in two days and really, really liked it. I should have known it was good when it was our best selling item at the Scholastic Book Fair! It is very Hunter Games-esque. It is part of a trilogy and you can pick up all three copies in our school library today. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Read Divergent before it hits the big screen on March 21, 2014.

Fun fact: Mrs. Castellano's cousin, Joanna Volpe, is Veronica Roth's agent. Way cool!

The book premise:

"In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all."

For movie information, click here.