Here ye, hear ye! (...not sure if it's "Hear" or "Here" so I'm using both. 99% sure it's "Hear" now that I think about it. Oh well, too late to change it.)

Today is election day. Some guy named McCain and some other guy named Obama both want to be president. Everyone likes one or the other, but here at READ, we like Poe.

WE LIKE POE! WE LIKE POE!

That's right, we like Poe. And in honor of Poe, we are celebrating his 200th birthday on January 19, 2009 with a brand new Weekly Reader web site. Have ya heard that you can be a part of it?

Get your video camera and film a special birthday tribute to the man who wrote such classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Rambo, the entire last season of LOST, and much much more...

Wait... what?

Don't worry about it. All will be explained on January 19th. In the meantime, click here to visit our TeacherTube page where you can upload your video birthday wishes.

P.S. The video lies. It says "Upload your videos here", but really it means

UPLOAD YOUR VIDEOS HERE.

This just in...

There's a fairly new website that is dedicated to rapping the news. It's called The Week In Rap and is conveniently located at www.theweekinrap.com. The site is put out by the guys at Flocabulary, who have rapped on Shakespeare for READ in the past, and, coming soon, will be rapping for us on Poe as well.

If you want to get your news in a fun, enlightening way, check out The Week In Rap.

Here is a taste. Word.

The Week in Rap 10-31-08 from Week in Rap on Vimeo.

In celebration of all things spooky, READ welcomes you to a reading from the classic The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. 

Written in 1896, this science fiction novel features a mad scientist who does ghastly experiments on live animals. In this passage from chapter 3, the main character Edward Prendick encounters one of Moreau's half-man half-beast creations. Listen to find out what happens next.

Beware, this monster puts up a fight.  

Get ready for more fabulous Pioneers' cartoons!