ERS Library Featured Service: Free Tech Tools Sessions

Tech Tools Sessions are provided FREE of charge to all staff at districts/sites with an active 2022-23 ERS Library Media Services Agreement. Staff members are encouraged to register for as many sessions as they like. All Tech Tools sessions are virtual and will be held via Zoom.

There are eighteen sessions in the 2022-23 Tech Tools series. The remaining seven sessions occur in March – May 2023. They include Google Sites, Microsoft Sway & Whiteboard, Blogger, Code.org, EdPuzzle, and Scratch.

If your schedule does not allow you to attend a live virtual session, you can register to receive a link to the session recording. This will be emailed to all registrants one week after the event. The recordings are for your viewing only; please do not share any link(s) you receive.

For a list of upcoming 2022-23 Tech Tools sessions and registration links, visit: https://erslibrary.tcoe.org/tech-tools

ERS Portal Featured Resource: ABC-CLIO (grades 7-12)

ABC-CLIO is an all-in-one curriculum solution featuring four social science subject areas: American History, American Government, World History: Ancient & Medieval, and World History: The Modern Era. More than 1,800 videos give students context that primes them to explore new concepts more deeply while providing tools for their research and inquiry. Self-assessment quizzes enable students to assess their comprehension of essential concepts and direct students to resources to review when questions are answered incorrectly. In addition to scaffolded inquiry activities for a variety of learning levels, the text-to-speech tool transforms all resources into a read-along for students who read below grade level or who learn best through listening; the translate tool offers translation of all resources into 12 languages. The Academic Success Corner features a helpful video series that gives students easy-to-follow steps for strengthening their writing, reading, research, and critical thinking skills. The research list tool allows educators to build customized lists of articles, essays, and primary and secondary sources to use in class and to assign to students. [Video] How to use ABC-CLIO Databases (3:48) [Video] ABC-CLIO Database Presentation (14:17)

2nd Annual Picture Book Palooza with School Library Journal

Join SLJ on July 14 for their second annual SLJ Picture Book Palooza, an all-day, free virtual celebration of authors and artists dedicated to the visual dance and extraordinary craft of picture books! Come for a day packed with keynotes, author panels, and illustrator spotlights with visionary creators. 

Visit the exhibit hall, chat with authors and publishing teams, download digital galleys, and be prepared to be inspired as you build your collection.

• Program
• Speaker List

Event Hours: 7:00 AM ET - 2:00 PM PST

 

All live sessions will be on Zoom. Make sure to log in to your work or personal Zoom account before the day starts to avoid having to log in for each session.

Please note that the event environment and the sessions have attendance capacity limits. If on the day of the event you find that you are unable to access the environment or join a session, please know that sessions will be available for on-demand viewing within 24hrs., and the entire event will be accessible for three months from the event date.

Please make sure your computer and browser are up to date. Chrome tends to work best. The event platform does not support IE11 + Windows 7 or older versions.

By registering for this event or webcast, you are agreeing to School Library Journal Privacy Policy and Code of Conduct Policy and agreeing that School Library Journal may share your registration information with current and future sponsors of this event.

Having trouble registering? Contact sljevents@mediasourceinc.com

Webinar: Shake Up Your Shelves - April 14, 2022

Join HarperCollins Children's Books for this exciting webinar, 

Shake Up Your Shelves: Examining AAPI Representation in Library Collections and Classrooms

Click Here To Register

Now more than ever, it is important for teachers and librarians to include culturally authentic books in curricula and library collections that uplift and center Asian-American and Pacific Islander voices. Join NEWBERY MEDALIST LINDA SUE PARK as she leads a discussion on how we can Shake Up Our Shelves by examining AAPI representation in our current collections and asking what to consider when adding new books by or about AAPI community members. You’ll also hear from NEWBERY MEDALIST ERIN ENTRADA KELLY, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR JOANNA HO, 2022 NEWBERY HONOR AUTHOR RAJANI LAROCCA, and DEBUT AUTHOR XIXI TIANM as they share what it means to be part of the AAPI community and the process of writing those lived experiences for children today. Please join HarperCollins Children's Books and Booklist for this free, one-hour webinar on April 14th at 9 AM PST.

Can't make the date? Register for Booklist's upcoming webinars and they'll send you the archive after the event!

Free Virtual Event: Winter Book & Author Festival

Join Penguin Random House, Library Journal, and School Library Journal on December 9 for our second free, day-long virtual book and author festival as we celebrate librarians everywhere! Enjoy a day packed with author panels and interviews, book buzzes, virtual shelf browsing, and adding to your TBR pile. You’ll hear from many of your favorite authors, whose work runs the gamut from Picture Books to Young Adult titles to the best new Fiction and Nonfiction for adults. There is something of interest for every reader. Attendees will also have the opportunity to check out the virtual exhibit hall, chat directly with authors, access eGalleys, and enter to win prizes and giveaways.

For the program and a full list of speakers, CLICK HERE.  

Event Hours: 7:00AM PST - 2:00PM PST

 

Please note that the event environment and the sessions have attendance capacity limits. If on the day of the event you find that you are unable to access the environment or join a session, know that sessions will be available for on-demand viewing within 24 hours, and the entire event will be accessible for three months from the event date.

By registering for this event or webcast, you are agreeing to the Library Journal Privacy Policy and Code of Conduct Policy and agreeing that Library Journal may share your registration information with current and future sponsors of this event.

Free Webinar from HarperCollins Children's Books: Picture This!

Picture This!

Featuring Lian Cho, Kevin Henkes, Oge Mora,

and Dan Santat

October 20

9AM PST

Over the last year and a half, the words “home” and “community” have taken on new meaning. “Home” has become office, school, and safe haven. Home has become the place we’ve stayed to protect our community as we have learned how interconnected the health and well-being of communities truly are. Libraries, which are so central to the foundation of our communities, have also been drastically affected this past year. We are so glad that through creativity, perseverance, and technological innovation, the book world has been able to reach far and wide to those who may not be able to meet in person.

Four new picture books look at these concepts of what and who are home and community to young readers. Home can be a house through the seasons, home can be a beloved companion (stuffed or otherwise). Community can be those who share your red brick walls and those who share this planet. Hear from four of today’s best illustrators, Kevin Henkes, Dan Santat, Lian Cho, and Oge Mora, on how their art processes were informed by these themes and how creativity has given them a sense of home throughout their careers and particularly in the last year.

Virtual Conference: Best Results for Multilingual Learners -- Register now!

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

8:30 am - 4:00 pm

Breakout presenters and topics now available.

Register and build your itinerary.

Click here for conference flyer.

Registration link:

https://www.eventsquid.com/event/14362

About our keynote speaker:

Dr. José Medina is the founder and Chief Educational Advocate for Dr. José Medina: Educational Solutions. Prior to establishing the boutique consulting firm, Dr. Medina served as Research Scientist and Director of Dual Language and ESL Education at the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Washington, DC. José provides technical assistance, professional development, and job-embedded support to schools and districts across the United States, and globally. He is a former school principal and district leader who has served as an administrator/educator/advocate at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Dr. Medina is a co-author of the third edition and widely-used Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education. He is also the author of three bilingual poetry books based on his testimonio. 

*Keynote and breakout sessions by Dr. José Medina will not be recorded. Remaining program breakout sessions will be recorded and made available to registered participants.

Registration closes Monday, Oct. 25, 2021. Registration Fee: $99.

FREE Event! Future Ready Librarians® Fall Summit

Future Ready Librarians® Fall Summit
Thinking Critically About Media and News Literacy
Saturday, October 16, 2021

Future Ready Librarians® summits are FREE, live, virtual, interactive, high-quality professional learning experiences for librarians interested in learning, growing, and expanding their professional practice through collaboration and networking with like-minded colleagues from across the country.

During this summit, we will reflect and collaborate around the following questions:
How has the conversation about information and media literacy evolved?
What are current and emerging best practices for teaching media literacy?

What roles can teacher librarians and school libraries play in leading media literacy?

Register Today - It's Free!

Literacy for Texas & Amanda Hunt Present: Social Media 101

Social Media 101 Webinar

October 4th @ 2:30pm PST!

Join Literacy for Texas and Amanda Hunt for a special presentation that will share how librarians can use apps such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitter to share ideas, collaborate, learn and grow from other librarians and professionals.

This free session will offer tips and tricks to get started, as well as how-to videos, examples, links to other presentations, and more to get you started and be successful!

SLJ Summit 2021: In Community -- FREE event

Join School Library Journal on Thursday, October 28 for SLJ Summit: In Community. Beyond geography, community can mean a lot of things. We all work and live in the context of community, and the fact of our interdependence—how all aspects of our lives, our very fates, rely on how we function together—has never been made more apparent than in our shared experience of the pandemic.

Date: Thursday, October 28

Time: 6:00 AM - 2:00 PM PST

Cost: FREE

MacKids School & Library: "Winter 2022 Preview -- FREE Event

 

Join MacKids School & Library for their exciting Winter 2022 Preview!

MacKids School & Library will preview their Winter 2022 list of titles, including picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and young adult titles from all of their imprints at Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. Special guests include Lizz Huerta, young adult debut author of The Lost Dreamer, and Gary Paulsen, three-time Newbery Honor winner and author of the upcoming middle-grade novel Northwind. Register to receive digital review copies of The Lost Dreamer and Northwind, plus access to their Winter 2022 featured titles.

Can't make the date? Register for Booklist's upcoming webinars and we'll send you the archive after the event!

JLG: Fueling Young Minds & Bodies webinar

Do you ever wonder what happens inside your body after you eat? Take a journey through the digestive system and get a better picture of how what you eat affects you. Helping kids understand how the different systems in their bodies work from a young age can teach them how to take care of themselves and encourage them to make wise choices as they get older, all while having fun and a laugh.

Join Junior Library Guild (JLG) Thursday, August 19 at 3pm ET as they sit down with Dr. Jennifer Gardy in honor of August’s Kids Eat Right Month. They’ll be chatting all about her new book, It Takes Guts, the importance of educating our kids about eating well, and how we can best prepare them as they go back to school.

Discovery Education: Back to School Webinars

Welcome Back to School 2021! 

Over the summer, Discovery Education released many enhancements to save teachers time and engage students with exciting new features and functionality! Register for one of the learning opportunities linked below to learn how your current Discovery Education Streaming service supports multiple learning modalities, new ways to spark curiosity amongst students, and more.  

Come and see all of the tools that are ready for you to dive in and explore, such as the redesigned Educator Supports tile and some of our most popular resources like Instructional Strategies, Studio Boards, and Current Events Channel. Each event features creative ways to save educators time and invigorate your instruction with ready-to-use materials while engaging your students. You won’t want to miss these sessions:  

DE Streaming: Back-to-School Webinars

September 11 -- 20th anniversary free digital poster exhibition

In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum is offering libraries a free digital poster exhibition, "September 11, 2001: The Day that Changed the World." September 11, 2001: The Day that Changed the World is a downloadable educational exhibition that presents the history of 9/11, its origins, and its ongoing implications. The exhibition explores the consequences of terrorism on individual lives and communities at the local, national, and international levels, and encourages critical thinking about the legacy of 9/11. Request your free download to receive: Digital downloads for 14 captivating posters, featuring archival photographs and images of artifacts from the Museum's permanent collection An invitation to free virtual training, including a live virtual tour of the Museum and information on how to use the Museum's online resources to supplement the exhibition Access to the 9/11 Primer, an online collection of resources for educators and online learners, to help you supplement the exhibition. NOTE: A limited number of printed poster sets are available to libraries with limited resources or technological barriers. Printed posters will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis and will be shipped, free of charge, to libraries. Printed poster requests must be received by August 6. Librarians and educators are eligible. Questions? Contact posterexhibition@911museum.org. Learn More and Request Posters

SLJ Teen Live! What's Next - Free Virtual Event

Join School Library Journal on Thursday, August 5, 2021 for their tenth annual SLJTeen Live! virtual event!

With hope on the horizon of an unprecedented, traumatic year, educators, librarians, and students are wondering: Where do we go from here?

So much of adolescence is preparing for the future—college, careers, adulthood, the next grade—and that's even tougher when no one knows what the future will look like. As we adjust to a new normal, we must move forward while remembering where we’ve come from. After a pandemic and amid continued tragedies of racist violence, teens and adults alike are called to heal and grow, to learn more, and to further conversations about history and justice. Through it all, books reflect and illuminate our lives, telling boundary-pushing stories that take publishing to the next level. As teens consider what comes after childhood, we all must think about what the future holds for students and storytelling.

The conference’s author panels and library programming sessions will help you support and engage teens in this new moment and beyond.

 

Event Hours: 6:00 AM PST - 2:00 PM PST

For more information and to register, visit https://www.slj.com/?event=slj-teen-live-whats-next.

Can't make the live date? No problem!

All the sessions will be archived, and the virtual environment will be accessible for three months.

SLJ Picture Book Palooza -- Free virtual event!

School Library Journal is hosting this first time event on Thursday, July 15 (7:00am-2:00pm PST). It promises to be a fun-filled day & registration is FREE!

 

Got 15 minutes? session recording

If you haven't had a chance to attend our popular "Got 15 minutes?" virtual tour of the ERS Library resources available to you, you're in luck! We now have a session recording to share. Please enjoy the video below. Questions or requests can be directed to library@ersconnect.org.

Direct link to video for our email subscribers.

SLJ Webinar: Grant Writing for School Librarians

 Click image to visit registration page.

Virtual Event: Dia del los Niños 2021

Sunday, April 25th is Visalia's annual Dia de los Niños celebration, which will be virtual for 2021. To register your child (ages 5-17) for a free event bag, click on the flyer below.

 

Registration is open for April/May "Tech Tools" sessions -- Join us for Blogger, Google Classroom, Screencastify & more!

The Tech Tools virtual sessions are provided FREE of charge to all staff at ERS Library Media Services contracting sites. Due to the ongoing need for virtual & distance learning, these sessions are intended to replace our previous Tech Tools Voucher classes. Site staff are encouraged to sign up to attend as many sessions as they like. All sessions will be held via Zoom. The currently listed April & May sessions will be our last for the 2020-21 school year.

In the event you are not able to attend a LIVE virtual class, or if you would like it for reference, you can register for a recording of each session to be emailed to you following the LIVE session. This recording is for your viewing only; please do not share the link(s) you receive. You will have two weeks to view each recording before access expires.

Please use the following link to view and register for these sessions:

https://bit.ly/TechTools2020-21