Virtual "Watch Party" for the ALA Youth Media Awards

Join the TeachingBooks Zoom Party on Monday, January 25 to watch the announcements of this year's book awards from the American Library Association with fellow book enthusiasts. Together participants can share joy, cheer, and even resources as the award-winning titles are announced. Your classes are, of course, welcome too!

The Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, Coretta Scott King, and many other awards will be announced.

Monday, January 25, 8AM Central Time (6AM Pacific Standard Time).
Zoom: Register today (only 300 slots available).
Twitter: Follow @TeachingBooks

It is super fun and energizing to partake in the award announcements with others. And in this challenging era, celebrating this professional moment together seems spectacular.

Live webcast with author Don Tate!

Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Time: 12:00 PM PST

Duration: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Start preparing for Black History Month with this special webcast event featuring renowned author/illustrator Don Tate. Children's literature and picture books present history in an accessible way for even the youngest of readers, and Don has built his career on sharing incredible stories from Black history through this beloved medium. Providing a special kind of key, his picture books unlock stories and give children a chance to see the world in a new way and from a different perspective. 

Join Junior Library Guild on Tuesday, January 12 at 12pm PST as they sit down with Don Tate to discuss the biographies that he has written and illustrated. They will talk everything from the impactful people in his stories, to how he wrote them, why he wrote them and the importance of embracing works about Black people to empower all children and give them a brighter future. 

Perfect for librarians, educators, parents and students of all ages.

Can't make the live webcast? Don't worry! JLG webcasts are recorded and available to watch on-demand at juniorlibraryguild.com/jlg-webcasts. 

Click here to register.

Don Tate
Author
Peachtree Publishing

Don Tate is the award-winning illustrator of numerous books for children, including Swish! The Slam- Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters, Carter Reads the Newspaper, No Small Potatoes: Junius G. Groves and His Kingdom in Kansas, and Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions. He is the author and illustrator of Strong As Sandow: How Eugen Sandow Became the Strongest Man on Earth and Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton, for which he won the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award. He is also a co-contributor to the Brown Bookshelf, a blog designed to raise awareness of African Americans writing for young readers. Don lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and son.

Did You Know? - January 2021

 

Discovery Education, partnered with Common Sense Education, has created an entire content channel devoted to News and Media Literacy. It features videos, songs and games, Social Emotional Learning material, critical thinking activities and lesson plans, and much more. All content is divided into grade level groupings (K-5, 6-8, 9-12) to make searching easier. To quote DE: 

These resources will help students demonstrate the ability to identify, evaluate, and use information effectively, find credible and trustworthy sources, and give proper credit. They will recognize how individuals and society are influenced by the media and the misrepresentations and stereotypes they sometimes promote. Students will reflect on their responsibilities and rights as creators in the online spaces where they consume, create, and share information. 

Check out the News and Media Literacy channel at Discovery Education in the ERS Portal. Take a look at their How To Handle Stress channel, for all grade levels, as well!

We have your educational needs covered, whether it be through digital resources in our fantastic ERS Portal, or physical resources available for delivery and pick up through the ERS Library. We also continue to offer our ongoing Virtual Learning Resources via Zoom, where you can participate in a session on one or more of our Portal resources and learn how to better integrate digital content into your physical or virtual classroom. Whatever the situation, we’re here to help!

CheckThisOut! Multimedia Subscription Kits -- 4 deliveries remaining this year, sign up now!

Did you know that the ERS Library’s CheckThisOut! Multimedia Kit Subscription Service is specifically designed to simplify how you request educational & engaging resources that support your virtual AND in-person classroom lessons? And that these monthly, curated resource kits can be emailed** or delivered to your school site?  Now is a fantastic time to start taking advantage of this incredible FREE service!   There are four kit deliveries remaining in the 2020-21 school year...January, February, March & April. You can select from random or lesson specific 4-6 or 8-10 item kits that include your choice of the following material types:
·       Digital resources on the ERS Portal** ·       Fiction & non-fiction books ·       Graphic novels ·       Spanish & bilingual materials ·       Art prints ·       Big Books & Big Book kits	·       Class novel sets (8-30 copies of same title) ·       Storytelling Kits ·       DVDs ·       Professional Development books ·       Puppets ·       Board books
or opt to try our popular “Class Library” kit that includes thirty random, grade level appropriate, fiction and nonfiction books for your students to enjoy.
**Locating high quality, age appropriate, digital resources for your virtual classroom just got easier!  When you sign-up for only the *Digital Resources from the ERS Portal* option (see image at left), you will receive an email each month containing links to standards-aligned digital resources from Discovery Education Streaming Video, TeachingBooks, World Book & Britannica Encyclopedias, ProQuest’s Culture Grams, SIRS Discoverer and eLibrary, Opposing Viewpoints and others. The ERS Library’s digital resources support learning in grades K-12. Interested? Click here to sign up today!
Want to know more or start receiving your own curated kits? Click here, or on the CTO! banner above, to visit the CheckThisOut! information page where you will find the sign-up link, participant reviews from fellow teachers, administrators and school library staff, as well as general information and our FAQ section.

2021 Virtual Learning Resources & Tech Tools Sessions

Educators at ERS Library contracting sites are invited to attend 45 minute virtual sessions designed to highlight the ERS Portal digital resources in support of distance learning AND two-hour Tech Tools sessions covering a multitude of educational technology resources, at no charge.

Sessions are currently scheduled throughout the month of January 2021.

Click here to view available sessions and register.

Greetings and...

 

StoryCorps: Listen.Honor.Share

 

StoryCorps reminds the nation that every story matters and every voice counts. Since 2003, StoryCorps has given a quarter of a million Americans the chance to record interviews about their lives, to pass wisdom from one generation to the next, and to leave a legacy for the future. It is the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered. These powerful stories illustrate our shared humanity and show how much more we share in common than divides us.

Developed in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, StoryCorps Connect is a first-of-its kind platform that enables you to record a StoryCorps interview with a loved one remotely using video conference technology. The audio and a still photo from each interview goes into our archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

STORYCORPS CONNECT IN FIVE STEPS
- Plan Your Conversation. Pick someone you want to honor with an interview and invite them to participate. Prepare for your interview using StoryCorps Great Questions list and aim for 6-8 questions over the course of a 40-minute interview.
- Join Our Community. Make sure both you and your partner are logged in on the StoryCorps Archive and visit the StoryCorps Connect recording page.
- Record Your Conversation. Make a plan to record and when you’re ready, start recording by sending the interview link to your partner. Once you are there, send the provided interview link to your partner.
- Preserve It for History. When you’re done, click “Stop Recording,” and then, “Save Interview”. Add a title and keywords to your interview if you are the organizer of the interview.
- Share Your Interview. When you’re done recording, you’ll be prompted to select your privacy settings. Share your interview with the world, or save it for friends and family.

Visit the StoryCorps Archive to listen in on hundreds of previously recorded interviews.

Did You Know? - December 2020

 

When you are looking to pass along fun and exciting resources to your students, don’t forget about TumbleBookLibrary, for TK-6^th grade, and TeenBookCloud, for grades 7-12. Both these dynamic literacy-based resources are available to your students through the ERS Portal.

TumbleBookLibrary features a variety of different kinds of eBooks and audiobooks. Story Books are read aloud, semi-animated, and feature text that change color as it is read which allow emergent readers to follow along. Story Books also feature music and sound effects. Read Alongs are narrated chapter books that feature color changing highlighted text beneficial for both emergent readers and independent readers. eBooks are full-length chapter books for grades 2-6. There are also Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, National Geographic Videos, Puzzles and Games, and 

                                                                            Language Learning modules. Many books allow the reader to create a 

                                                                            book report or quiz themselves on the books content.

TeenBookCloud, support students in 7-12th grade, and is organized by Fiction, Nonfiction, Drama and Poetry, Graphic Novels, and AP English. Fiction is further divided into Middle School Fiction and Teen Fiction. Helpful sections include Hi/Lo Fiction and books for older readers written at a lower reading level. Enhanced eBooks are also available, featuring audiobooks with highlighted text so readers can follow along. 

There is a world of exciting digital books at your fingertips with TumbleBookLibrary and TeenBookCloud, available through the ERS Portal!

Technology Tip - November 2020

                                                                                                          by Steve Woods, Instructional Technology Specialist

Educational Resource Services is proud to present World Book Early Learning, a new online resource for PreK-3 teachers and students..
 
The World Book Early Learning’s easy to use interface is broken up into educational videos, games, stories and activities, as well as the all-new category of Basics for your youngest learners. When you choose an activity type, you’ll see a scrolling bar with sub-categories of resources, allowing you to navigate deeper into topics of interest.
 
Choose the Games button and you’ll find matching, tracing, concentration, and true or false based games. Positive verbal and music feedback is provided throughout each interactive game, to keep younger students excited and interested. 
 
Video categories include animals, dinosaurs, nature, transportation, colors, numbers, weather and more. Videos are short and often narrated to help explain what is being viewed.
 
Stories include fairy tales, rhymes, my body, people at work, animal homes, and even stories in Español. A speaker icon in every story allows emerging readers the ability to hear the words sounded out, as well as the story read aloud to them.
 
The Activities button will lead you to a very long list of downloadable pages with activities involving coloring, tracing, solving mazes and connecting the dots, all in support of the other categories of learning.
 
The new Basics category, specially designed for Pre-Kindergarten students, includes letter practice, early literacy and counting based resources. Students can practice their mouse skills while drawing letters of the alphabet and hearing words that begin with that letter.
 
If you are a K-3 teacher, you can access World Book Early Learning by visiting the ERS Portal and logging in using your credentials. Students will access World Book Early Learning through the ERS Kids Portal with your site's student login. Click on the resource icon, and you're in! Please let us know your thoughts on this great new educational tool!

New Items in the ERS Library's Circulating Collection - November 2020

		Click on each book image to view resources from TeachingBooks.com