New Books in the ERS Library - September 2020

Reserve these titles and more in our Follett Destiny online catalog. Visit www.erslibrary.org.

Did You Know? September 2020 | Peekapak: SEL Tools & Upcoming Training

Are you looking for Social Emotional Learning tools to use with your students? If so, check out Peekapak, ERS Library’s fantastic SEL digital resource for grades TK-5. Peekapak features scaffolded lessons that could be used for an entire school-wide SEL program. In addition, Peekapak has leveled eBooks, study units for each book containing lesson plans, teacher resources and activities. You will also want your students to experience Peekaville, the online game world where students interact with characters from Peekapak’s eBooks. Relatable characters like Leo, Ines and Cody, will help your students learn valuable lessons about emotions and social behavior.

Responding to the overwhelming need students have to understand and process their emotions and feelings these days, educators at Peekapak have created an entire unit of lesson plans and resources specifically dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Peekaflu, a COVID-19 like virus has invaded Peekaville, and is front and center in the eBook, “Back to School with the Peekaflu”. The book features a back-to-school story, but in this story all the Peekaville characters are wearing masks and working through their emotions and feelings during a turbulent time. Peekaville characters wonder why they have to wear masks and why the school and the library are closed and why their favorite public events and activities are canceled. It makes Cody, in particular, feel angry and a little scared. Over the course of eight lessons, the Peekaville characters learn to understand their emotions and in turn help students learn to understand the emotions they are experiencing. If you have not yet enjoyed the benefits of Peekapak or Peekaville, today may be the day. 

I’ll be conducting a training for this digital resource on Thursday, September 10 from 3:00-4:00 pm.

I hope you can join me!

 

ERS Library Curbside Services - convenient drop off/pick up, without ever leaving your vehicle!

 

In an effort to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the following ERS Library curbside services are available until further notice. 

CURBSIDE HOURS:

Monday - Friday     9:00am – 4:00pm

CURBSIDE SERVICES:

• Pickup/return of ERS Library materials – as reserved through Follett Destiny on the ERS Portal. Use "Reserve for specific date" and set the start date as the day you intend to pick up the item(s). Note: The ERS Library Staff are delivering & picking up library materials at contracting sites that have given approval. If reserving materials for delivery, please start/end your reservation on your site’s assigned day.
• Poster orders – send PDFs and instructions to library@ersconnect.org. The Library staff will process your order and inform you when the order is available via curbside pickup. Payment options: school PO, credit/debit card (via phone).
• Lamination – drop off materials to be laminated at curbside pickup. After a 72 hour (3 day) quarantine your order will be processed. Call (559) 651-3031 to make arrangements with the Library staff. 
• Teacher Resource Center (TRC) services – for the availability of all other TRC services (copies, binding, die-cuts, etc.), please email library@ersconnect.org.  

Reserved materials and TRC orders will be available for curbside pickup at a mutually agreed upon time between the hours of 9:00am-4:00pm, Monday-Friday. To make an appointment for curbside pickup or drop off, email library@ersconnect.org or call (559) 651-3031.

When you arrive at 7000 W Doe Avenue, park in one of the “Reserved for Curbside Pickup” parking spaces facing the main building and call (559) 651-3031. The ERS Library staff will bring materials to your vehicle and place in the trunk, or retrieve materials from the vehicle trunk, for contactless service.

Upcoming Holidays & Observances with Teaching Resources - August 2020

Arts in Education Week is coming up next month, September 13-19, 2020.  Whether you are a student, educator, or parent there are many ways to celebrate the arts in education. The arts are an essential part of every student’s education. Young people of all ages benefit from artistic learning, innovative thinking, and creativity. The ERS Library and Teacher/Student Portals have a variety of digital resources for you to use for your next art lesson. Click the links below to find grade level appropriate videos from Discovery Education. In addition to digital resources, the ERS Library print collection contains beautiful books that highlight the value and importance of art; search our extensive collection at erslibrary.org today! You can reserve art books to be delivered to your school site or arrange to pick them up via curbside service at the ERS Library.

Arts Books in the ERS Library circulating collection:

Arts Resources on the ERS Portal:

To access digital resources, log into the ERS Portal, click on Discovery Education, then return to this post to click the links.

Grades K-2nd            Grades 3rd-5th

Grades 6th-8th          Grades 9th-12th

Technology Tips: Google Jamboard

Google Jamboard

While the 55-inch cloud-powered Google Jamboard (whiteboard) costs around $5,000 USD, Google's Jamboard mobile apps are completely free! With the Jamboard apps you have a virtual whiteboard wherever you are. The apps are available on mobile devices and on the web.

Educators can engage all students in the learning process, whether working together in a traditional classroom, a group setting, or through distance learning. Jamboard makes learning visible and accessible to collaborators on the jam session. Plus, it is easy to present your jams in real time through Google Meet, allowing for easy sharing or making real-world connections. Jamboards use “frames” as the workspace(s). The frames are where collaborators draw, write, add images and more.  

The tools change depending on the app you are using. Mobile devices have more functionality than the web app. The toolbar will also adjust to the tool you are currently using.

The Jamboard app is not on by default so you will want to talk with your school’s Google Administrator and request that JamBoard be enabled.

Find the apps in your favorite app store and try them out today!

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

Click image above for TeachingBooks link	Click image above for TeachingBooks link	Click image above for TeachingBooks link
A young girl looks out her window, pondering the universe. A subsequent family trip to the planetarium gives her a lot to think about. Are humans the only beings who wonder if they are alone in the universe? Our sun is a star. In the night sky are all kinds of stars and orbiting those stars are planets like the ones in our own solar system. Are there other “Goldilocks planets” out there capable of sustaining life, planets that are “not too hot and not too cold, not too big and not too small, not too soft and not too hard” but “just right”? Could those planets have life like we do on Earth? Beginning with the insights of astronomers such as Lucretius and Giordano Bruno and continuing with the observations of a fictional young girl from the present day, this illuminating book examines the possibility of life on other planets.	Hank Hudson is in a bit of trouble. After an incident involving the boy’s bathroom and a terribly sad book his teacher is forcing them to read, Hank is left with a week’s suspension and a slightly charred hardcover—and the attention of new girl Maisie Huang. Maisie has been on the lookout for a kid with the meatballs to help her with a very important mission: Saving her neighbor’s dog, Booler. Booler has seizures, and his owner, Mr. Jorgensen, keeps him tied to a tree all day and night because of them. Hank has autism, and he knows what it’s like to be treated poorly because of something that makes you different. But different is not less. And Hank is willing to get into even more trouble to prove it. Booler might not be the only one who needs saving. And being a hero can look a lot like being a friend.	Ruth David was growing up in a small village in Germany when Adolf Hitler rose to power in the 1930s. Under the Nazi Party, Jewish families like Ruth's experienced rising anti-Semitic restrictions and attacks. Just going to school became dangerous. By November 1938, anti-Semitism erupted into Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, and unleashed a wave of violence and forced arrests. Days later, desperate volunteers sprang into action to organize the Kindertransport, a rescue effort to bring Jewish children to England. Young people like Ruth David had to say good-bye to their families, unsure if they'd ever be reunited. Through the moving and often heart-wrenching personal accounts of Kindertransport survivors, Hopkinson paints the timely and devastating story of how the rise of Hitler and the Nazis tore apart the lives of so many families and what they were forced to give up in order to save these children.
Interest Level: K-3rd Elementary	Interest Level: 3rd-6th Intermediate	Interest Level: 9th-12th High School

Resource: With Remote Learning Still the Norm, Publishers Extend Permissions for Read Alouds

From School Library Journal | August 5, 2020



With remote learning looking like the state of play this fall, publishers have extended permissions for read alouds of their titles.

To help educators and librarians engaged in online learning and storytimes held via Zoom and other virtual means, many publishers relaxed copyright restriction on their works at the start of the pandemic.

(Click here to read full article on slj.com)

Did You Know? - August 2020

Welcome back! The ERS Library staff returned to the office on Monday, August 3 after working from home since March. The library staff made a quick pivot in our support for schools, conducting virtual “Drop-In” Learning Sessions throughout April, May and well into June. Over 360 educators from across Tulare & Kings Counties attended our “Drop-In” Learning sessions. Each 50-minute session provided an opportunity to learn about our many standards-aligned digital resources in the ERS Portal including Discovery Education, ABC-CLIO, World Book Online, ProQuest, TeachingBooks, TumbleBooks, TeenBookCloud, Opposing Viewpoints and Peekapak! Many of you attended these sessions and we valued the opportunity to serve you in a new and unique way! 

For those who did not have the opportunity to attend, we will be scheduling new sessions starting this month. An informational email with a schedule of sessions will be emailed to educators at contracting school sites.   

In this complex information and digital world, we want to introduce you to new resources for both teaching and interacting with your classes, whether virtual or in the classroom. We’ve added two new resources this year – MackinVIA ebooks and Sora audiobooks – we are excited to share these with you.  

Just like you, we’re learning and growing as we meet new challenges daily. If you need assistance please do not hesitate to contact us at library@ersconnect.org. We are here to support you!

P.S. Beginning Tuesday, August 11 delivery and pick up of library materials will resume to schools open for delivery.

Giveaway - The Global Read Aloud

Enter for your chance to win a STAMPED: RACISM, ANTIRACISM, AND YOU classroom pack!

(click image to enter)

Includes: Buttons, Tote Bag, Educator Guide, Bookmarks

Promotion Start Date: August 1, 2020, at 8:00am EST

Promotion End Date: November 13, 2020 at 11:59pm EST

Prize: Three (3) prizes are available for three (3) winners. Each prize consists of one (1) copy of the official Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You educator guide, one (1) Little, Brown Books for Young Readers tote bag, twenty-five (25) "Be Antiracist" bookmarks, and twenty-five (25) "Be Antiracist" buttons. 

Please read the Official Rules before entering

Sponsor Coordinator: CM at 5-640

Good luck to all entrants!