Laurie King, a third generation Californian with a background in theology, is best known for her detective fiction. Her yearly novels range from police procedurals and stand-alones to a historical series about Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, beginning with 'The Beekeeper's Apprentice.' Her books have won the Edgar, Creasey, Wolfe, Lambda, and Macavity awards, and appear regularly on the New York Times bestseller list. (49 minutes)

Mary Roach is the author of New York Times bestsellers 'Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers,' 'Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife', and 'Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex'. She speaks to an audience at UC Berkeley. (47 minutes)

Award winning author and emeritus faculty member at UC Berkeley Maxine Hong Kingston reads and discusses her work, "I Love a Broad Margin to My Life." She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the presidentially conferred National Humanities Medal, and the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation. (56 minutes)

Melanie Abrams' novel, Playing, arrived from Grove/Atlantic in April 2008, and has been acquired for translation in three different languages. Here, she reads a section from her debut novel. She currently teaches creative writing at UC Berkeley. (29 minutes)

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, screenwriter, columnist and short story writer Michael Chabon's books include 'Mysteries of Pittsburgh,' 'Wonder Boys,' 'The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay,' and most recently, 'The Yiddish Policeman's Union.' (59 minutes)

Rabih Alameddine was born in Jordan to Lebanese parents and has lived in Kuwait, Lebanon, England, and the United States. He began his career as an engineer, then moved to writing and painting. He is the author of two novels as well as a collection of short stories, and is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in San Francisco and Beirut. He reads from his new novel 'The Hakawati,' set in the Middle East. (52 minutes)

Story Hour in the Library celebrates the writers in the Berkeley campus community with an annual student reading featuring short excerpts of work by winners of the year's biggest prose prizes, Story Hour in the Library interns, and faculty nominees. (45 minutes)

Sylvia Brownrigg's newest novel, Morality Tale, is an analysis of a modern marriage. She has written four other works of fiction, including the New York Times Notable Book 'The Metaphysical Touch' and the Lambda Award-winning 'Pages for You.' She divides her time between Berkeley and England. (49 minutes)

Vikram Chandra has won many awards and critical acclaim for his novels and short stories. The best selling Sacred Games was published in 2007. Born in New Dehli, he now teaches creative writing at Berkeley. He reads from his most recent novel to an audience at UC Berkeley. (57 minutes)

Li is author of 'A Thousand Years of Good Prayers' and 'The Vagrants.' A Beijing native and graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, she has received numerous awards. She reads and speaks at UC Berkeley. (54 minutes)

Named one of Granta's Best of Young American Novelists, ZZ Packer has received a Commonwealth Club Fiction Award, Wallace Stegner and Guggenheim Fellowships, and a Whiting Award. Her acclaimed 2003 collection Drinking Coffee Elsewhere features eight stories whose subjects range from Girl Scouts to expatriates in Japan. Originally from Chicago, Packer is currently writing a novel set in the post-Civil War period. (55 minutes)

This lesson explores the senses of smell, touch, taste, sight, and hearing. It provides an opportunity for students to meet a doctor who will show them how the senses are used when examining patients. The lesson introduces Dr. Virginia Apgar and the use of the Apgar Score in examining newborn babies.

Purpose of UnitThe purpose of this Climate Science NTC Project GLAD® unit is a call to action, providing equity of access for all students. Through a model of instruction that promotes language development within core content, the Voices of Hope unit teaches students the science behind climate change and equips them with the tools necessary toward making a positive impact on our planet. This unit was written for 4th - 7th grade.

In this introductory lesson, students will learn the basics of the aurora through small group discussions, reflection and reading. The lesson includes teacher notes and instructions, student workshops and an online, animated story, and related teacher resources on aurora. This is lesson one of a collection of five activities that can be used individually or as a sequence; concludes with a KWL (Know/Want-to-know/Learned) assessment activity.

Designed to help middle school students begin to answer the important question: "Who Am I?", these lessons use self-portraits from the National Gallery of Art's collection to inspire students to create their own self-portraits, poems, speeches, and letters. Artists studied in these lesson plans include Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Judith Leyster, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Andy Warhol.

First and second grade students will study diverse historic characters that have contributed to improve the community they lived in. Students will be guided to reflect on how these characters’ work has changed the world. Students will synthesize learning in writing and create a visual representation of their understanding of the topic. Consequently, they will present it to their classmates to receive and provide feedback to each other. The second part of the unit will incorporate students’ personal perspective about how to improve the community and what they would do to contribute to it. Students will follow same process as in the first part of the unit. They will complete the writing and visual piece to present to their classmates, explain their rationale and receive feedback from peers. During this unit, students will learn how to provide feedback and receive feedback in a respectful way that contributes to the learning environment.