Folks,
         First of all, let me offer my sincere condolences to those at the
Library of Virginia who have fallen victim to the heavy budget cuts in the
Commonwealth. The agency hubby works for has not yet announced cuts, so we
are still on edge, hoping for the best.

         But my exciting news is that I have completed the Pocahontas
project and am ready to go public with it. It can be seen at
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org/famamer/Pocahontas . The whole project
includes a short summary, a longer biography, a time line, a bibliography,
the Flash movie (with clothed figures as authentic as possible but still
conscious of the needs of primary teachers to not expose students to nudity
even when it's right), a text script of the movie for blind users, and
three quizzes: a picture quiz in Flash for the little kids, a multiple
choice online quiz for older kids, and a printable version of both quizzes.
The project meets the Virginia History and Social Science SOL K.1a for
Pocahontas, and is suitable for studying this interesting lady no matter
the age. The text script was added at the request of an teacher at the
Hebrew University in Israel who wants to use it as a reading exercise for
her disabled (including blind) students learning English.

         I am extremely grateful for the help of Melinda Skinner and Tom
Magnuson of this list who helped me clean up the fiction that had crept
into my work. I am also thankful to those on this list who responded to my
appeals for help in making this historically accurate.

         Please help me get the word out on this project, to Kindergarten
teachers who teach Pocahontas, as well as to librarians around the state
who help students with their homework.

         And, again, my sympathies to all on the Library staff who are job
hunting. I hope they will find a new and perhaps better position quickly.
Hubby has worked for the Commonwealth for 19 years, and the threats of
layoff- for new administrations, new priorities, and now severe budget cuts
have regularly dotted our lives. It is very difficult to say good-bye to
good folks. It's hard to see people walking the streets of the complex in
tears over dashed hopes. We are hopeful he will survive this one, but it's
still up in the air.

                                                 Anne


Anne Pemberton
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http://www.erols.com/stevepem
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org

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