The View From Here | How Education, Literacy, and Technology Fit Together in My World Welcome to the Learning Librarian blog! At the top of any list involving library centers, I have to put Cari Young’s Library Learners blog! No matter what combination of search terms I use when looking for center ideas, Google consistently returns this blog on the first page of results! I have been following Cari’s blog for awhile now, and it has been a real source of inspiration for me. Here are her tips for getting started, and information about her book The Centered School Library: Engaging Every Learner with Library Skills Centers Below you will find a categorized list of suggestions for library centers. If you would like your idea credited with a link to your blog or library website rather than (or in addition to) your Twitter profile, please let me know. Note: Take a few minutes to post the correlating AASL Standards and/or CCSS Standards at your learning centers. General Learning Center Advice From Mrs. From the Elementary Librarian blog: How I Use Library Stations (@Elem_Librarian)
I’ve Got Research. Yes, I Do. I’ve Got Research. How About You? | Donalyn Miller In 1847, Hungarian doctor, Ignaz Semmelweis made a remarkable discovery. When doctors washed their hands in a solution of chlorine and water, childbirth fever rates at Vienna General Hospital dropped from 18% to near zero. Offended that Semmelweis implied doctors were killing their own patients, the medical community rejected hand washing as an infection prevention measure, and drove Semmelweis out of medicine and into an insane asylum. A few years later, Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister made scientific advances that reinforced Semmelwies’s claims about germ theory and infection. In spite of all scientific evidence, we still live in a world where hand washing isn’t universal practice. In 1977, the Journal of Reading (now The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy) published Richard Allington’s landmark paper, “If They Don’t Read Much, How They Ever Gonna Get Good?” In 2000, the federally funded National Reading Panel concluded that, The Power of Reading by Stephen Krashen Like this:
Facts about Children’s Literacy According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a divison of the U.S. Department of Education1, children who are read to at home enjoy a substantial advantage over children who are not: Twenty-six percent of children who were read to three or four times in the last week by a family member recognized all letters of the alphabet. This is compared to 14 percent of children who were read to less frequently. Children who read frequently develop stronger reading skills. According to the National Education Association, having kids read a lot is one of the crucial components of becoming a good reader. Other facts The substantial relationship between parent involvement for the school and reading comprehension levels of fourth-grade classrooms is obvious, according to the U.S. 1 U.S. 2 U.S. 3 Educational Testing Service, 1999. 4Gutloff, Karen. 1999, January. 5U.S. 6Poll commissioned for the National Education Association by Peter D. 7U.S. 8U.S.
Visions of the Future Imagination is our window into the future. At NASA/JPL we strive to be bold in advancing the edge of possibility so that someday, with the help of new generations of innovators and explorers, these visions of the future can become a reality. As you look through these images of imaginative travel destinations, remember that you can be an architect of the future. › Learn more about the posters Can I get copies of these posters from NASA or JPL? Knowledge Quest | AASL Water May Erase These Pacific Islands but Not the Culture Boys on a seawall on Tarawa atoll watch a squall approach. The warming atmosphere is predicted to bring heavier rainfall to Kiribati and other island nations in the central Pacific Ocean. By Kennedy Warne Photographs by Kadir Van Lohuizen Published October 15, 2015 It was the time called itingaaro, the dawn twilight, when the island was just waking up and the roosters were vying to out-crow each other and the angel terns were twittering their love talk in the breadfruit trees. The tide was full and taut like the skin of a pregnant woman. I-Kiribati now live with the reality of marawa rising. As Ice Retreats, Greenland Natives May Have to Redefine Traditions 5 Ways Climate Change Will Affect You How can they not feel afraid when the world keeps telling them that low-lying island countries like theirs will soon be underwater? But many I-Kiribati refuse to think of their homeland as a “disappearing island nation,” its fate already out of their hands. But it is surely suffering.
The Top 10 Reasons Students Cannot Cite or Rely On Wikipedia 10. You must never fully rely on any one source for important information. Everyone makes mistakes. The focus of your search should be on finding accurate information and forming a full picture of an issue, rather than believing the first thing you read. 9. 8. In March 2009, Irish student Shane Fitzgerald, who was conducting research on the Internet and globalization of information, posted a fake quotation on the Wikipedia article about recently deceased French composer Maurice Jarre. Fitzgerald was startled to learn that several major newspapers picked up the quote and published it in obituaries, confirming his suspicions of the questionable ways in which journalists use Web sites, and Wikipedia, as a reliable source. 7. According to The Financial Post, when Connolley was through editing, “The Medieval Warm Period disappeared, as did criticism of the global warming orthodoxy.” 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. And finally, the number one reason you can't cite or rely on Wikipedia: 1.
Articulating an Impact on Student Learning by Elizabeth Burns, Assistant Professor, School Library Program, Department of Teaching & Learning, Darden College of Education, Old Dominion University The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), passed in December 2015, positions school librarians as Essential Personnel and provides potential dedicated funding to effective school libraries–IF we make them understand why school librarians matter. ESSA falls short, however, of identifying what characterizes an effective school library program. This significant language allows school librarians to voice how their programs make an impact in their schools. School systems follow the new norm in education: accountability is standardized in the evaluation process. When we discuss the multiple ways library program is critical to student learning, school librarians should: Looking to ESSA requires us to carefully and intentionally articulate the librarian’s instructional roles and the expertise required in an effective program. Tags: ESSA
Note Taking Skills for 21st Century Students Note taking skills aren’t just automatic. We tell students “take notes” but they have no idea what that means. What makes “good notes.” What do they write down? Ever since I went through the Writing Across the Curriculum Course at my school I realized the tremendous gap between “writing” as we’ve taught it traditionally and 21st century writing skills. Now I have a new frustration that has me grappling with noteaking. So, now, I’m taking the approach of helping students master analog notetaking. A note about In-Flip: The kids love it. I want to know what they are getting out of the videos and if they are pulling out the essential questions I’m giving them. So, here are some of the essential notetaking skills I’ve taught them so far. Cornell Notetaking System My favorite Cornell notetaking video is by Jennifer DesRochers. This method is THE SINGLE MOST important reason (besides studying myself blind) that I graduated first in my class from Georgia Tech. Visual Notetaking You did it!
10 Online Resources to Improve EL Literacy Many elementary school ESL teachers are now looking at materials for their 2016–2107 classroom. During a recent #ELLCHAT discussion, we shared ideas for choosing materials for ELs. One of the liveliest discussions was about online resources. I’d like to share some online resources that feature books for children and really work well for ELs. The best books sites for ELs have an audio component, and the words are highlighted as they are read. If your budget is limited, some of these sites are free. Fiction Resources EPIC is a free website for U.S. and Canadian-based elementary teachers. I also want to mention another site that is just for teachers. Nonfiction Resources I would also like to include these online articles that can be adapted for ELs in Grades K–12. Newslea takes news articles from around the world and rewrites them at up to five different lexile levels and in Spanish. In my next blog, I will discuss apps for ELs that help build literacy.
The Lilead Project | about school library leaders 11 Free Websites to Practice English at Home RTlibrary on FlickrAt the New York Public Library's Adult Learning Centers, where adults work on basic English and literacy skills, we're often asked for recommendations of websites for adults to practice English at home. Below you'll find eleven sites, some with a focus on listening, some on vocabulary, others on grammar, and some with a range of activities. Happy learning! Easy World of Englisheasyworldofenglish.com An attractive, user-friendly website including grammar, pronunciation, reading and listening practice and an interactive picture dictionary. Many Thingsmanythings.org This website includes matching quizzes, word games, word puzzles, proverbs, slang expressions, anagrams, a random-sentence generator and other computer-assisted language learning activities. The site also includes a special page on pronunciation, including practice with minimal pairs. Dave's ESL Cafeeslcafe.com A forum for both ESL teachers and students around the world. Also, don't forget YouTube.
I-PICK Book Tasting | Tree Frog Blog! Before I get any farther with this post, I need to give credit where it’s due: thanks to Mr. Plemmons at Barrow Elementary for inspiring this lesson! You can read more about his I-PICK activity here. At our school, teachers use a framework called the Daily Five for literacy instruction in their classrooms. One component of Daily Five is teaching students how to choose good-fit books. To help students build self-efficacy in choosing good-fit books for themselves, many of our teachers share with students a strategy called I-PICK: image from our-cool-school.blogspot.com (click to visit) I always do an I-PICK library lesson at the beginning of the school year with 1st and 2nd grades because their curiosity in the library often outpaces their ability to read everything independently. Since the K in I-PICK stands for “Know most of the words,” I also teach students the 5-finger rule to help them keep track of how many unfamiliar words they encounter: image from demco.com (click to visit)
Level the playing field Veteran journalist and documentary filmmaker Soledad O’Brien tells how technology can help overcome barriers and close achievement gaps. “Education is the next civil rights,” said Soledad O’Brien in her opening keynote address at ISTE 2015. This story appears in SmartBrief’s digital publication, SmartReport on ISTE 2015. To see more features, tips and our Tech Showcase, download it now. Seventeen-year-old Maria Castro had a dream: to attend Stanford University and study solar engineering. Determined, Maria set out to get the course she needed. Unfortunately, despite Maria’s hard work, her story didn’t have a fairy tale ending. This is “unfair” and “criminal,” said veteran journalist and documentary filmmaker Soledad O’Brien. “Maria should have access to online classes and high-speed wireless networks to do research,” said O’Brien. Education today is the next civil rights battle, O’Brien said. Personalize the learning experience This is a serious issue, said O’Brien. Exposure and mentoring