Inaugural links

So many smiles, teary eyes, and teachable moments were captured in the music, poem, prayers, and remarks of our 44th President's inauguration, and now it's all on the Web for classrooms and family discussions. Within minutes of President Obama finishing his inaugural address, it was up on YouTube, with its full text printable at Time.com. Here's video of poet and Yale professor Elizabeth Alexander reading her inaugural poem "Praise Song for the Day," as well as the full text at NowPublic.com and a Q&A with her at Time. Don't miss Aretha Franklin and John Williams's composition played by Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Anthony McGill, and Gabriela Montero on YouTube with Chinese subtitles and on Breitbart.tv (looks like NBC footage). Because stories are powerful teachers, here's "One's family's long road [from Selma, Ala.] to the Obama inauguration" in the Christian Science Monitor, with its subhead: "Frankie Hutchins, whose grandmother was born into slavery, saw her mother fight for voting rights. She attended a white school" and today her children saw and heard the first black president. Finally, it seems fitting to include Rev. Joseph Lowery's inaugural benediction on video at YouTube.

Inauguration through young eyes

From a virtual inaugural ball in WeeWorld to young reporters' covering the real thing in Washington, there are lots of resources for young people themselves to observe or participate in this historic moment. YPulse provides a collection of links, listed by age group. For teens and 20-somethings, MTV and ServiceNation teamed up with the Presidential Inaugural Committee to produce and air the Youth Inaugural Ball starting at 10pm tomorrow (Tuesday) night, TVWeek.com reports. And CNN and Facebook are presenting social/new-media-style coverage of the event, HollywoodReporter reports. As for social-Web users of any age, USATODAY reports that the Obama inauguration "will arguably be the biggest live social-networking event ever in one location."