Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)

Guided Inquiry Design: The Put-It-All-Together Chart Previous GID posts: #1, #2 As part of our decision-making process for choosing Guided Inquiry (GI), the three librarians (ES, MS, HS) scheduled weekly meetings to read/discuss both of the Guided Inquiry Design books. (If you can only buy one, definitely get the Framework one. Aside from nuts and bolts of the process, much of our discussion focused around how the model fit with IB philosophy, the Learner Profile, and our individual sections. A big part of GI is research centered on student interests. Once we'd finished reading/discussing, we felt we still needed a deeper understanding, so we broke up the various steps, and each of us gave a presentation summarizing how it all fit together.

YALSA's Book Awards & Booklists *YALSA has launched the new Teen Book Finder Database, which is a one-stop shop for finding selected lists and award winners. Users can search this free resource by award, list name, year, author, genre and more, as well as print customizable lists. This new resource will replace the individual award and list web pages currently on YALSA’s site that are not searchable and that are organized only by year. Looking for great teen books? While these books have been selected for teens from 12 to 18 years of age, the award-winning titles and the titles on YALSA's selected lists span a broad range of reading and maturity levels. Book Awards Learn more about the Alex Awards, Edwards Award, Morris Award, Odyssey Award, Nonfiction Award, and Printz Award and read speeches from winners Selected Book & Media Lists Teen Book Finder App Find YALSA's award-winning books and media and selected lists wherever you are with this app, funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. Best of the Best

5 Series You Probably Missed as a Kid (But Should Read as an Adult) In my freshman year of college, I learned that a kid down the hall had never seen Star Wars. None of it. He had actually never heard of Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader or R2-D2 — I don’t know how; he seemed normal enough. Once my roommates and I overcame our shock, we plopped him down in our common room for a marathon viewing: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, with no digital enhancements — the complete series, at the time. We sat like anthropologists, observing our perfect test subject, completely silent to avoid spoiling anything, watching him discover this strange new world. By the time we got to the most famous line, the line, the spoiler it’s virtually impossible not to hear at some point growing up — “Luke, I am your father” — the look on my friend’s face was one of pure wonder. As adults, it’s easy for us to feel that everything fun is already finished, that all the worlds have already been thoroughly mapped, especially when it comes to books. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Aotearoa Reads Details | New Zealand Book Council When Stuff published 50 books every kid should read by age 12, the Book Council staff started talking about NZ books we loved as kids, and NZ books that the kids in our lives love. We compiled a (very subjective) list of 50 NZ books we think every Kiwi kid should read before they're 12. We're not making any high claims of this being THE list. (What even is THE list?) This is just a selection of books we’ve been talking about in the office lately - more of a jumping off point to start a conversation about what NZ books us Kiwis think are important for our kids. We’d really love to hear your thoughts! Top three - Mahy, Cowley and Gee Margaret Mahy, Joy Cowley and Maurice Gee are the holy trinity when it comes to NZ children's authors. 4. Okay, we also bent the rules and gave Donovan two books - they're equally amazing and we have so many nieces/nephews/cousins who are obsessed with these two classics! 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28.

Social Emotional Learning / Welcome About SEL Social and emotional learning (SEL) is a process through which children and adults develop the fundamental skills for life effectiveness. These are the skills we all need to handle ourselves, our relationships, and our work effectively and ethically. Everyone strengthens their social competencies to connect across race, class, culture, language, gender identity, sexual orientation, learning needs and age. SEL Core Competencies (OUSD SEL Standards) There are five core SEL competencies that can be taught in many ways across many settings. Self-Awareness - The ability to accurately recognize one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior. Self-Management - The ability to successfully regulate one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in different situations — effectively managing stress, controlling impulses, and motivating oneself.

Diversity in YA | Puttin' a little diversity in ya since 2011. 10 Authors for Elementary School Social Studies Teachers to Know The Common Core State Standards are being rolled out this fall, and teachers around the United States are looking for ways to incorporate more nonfiction books into their lessons. I have been devoting this week to helping teachers find excellent nonfiction books to incorporate into their lesson plans. On Monday, I discussed the main goal of the Common Core language arts standards and the role of nonfiction children’s literature in helping teachers meet this goal. Day 1. Day 2. Day 3. In Tuesday’s post about science texts, I recommended sixteen picture book series. 1. Books: Those Rebels, John and Tom, Walt Whitman: Words for America, The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, What to Do About Alice? Lexile: 550-970Grade level: K+ 2. Lexile: 580-780Grade level: K+ 3. Lexile: 850-910Grade level: K+ 4. Lexile: 380-1050Grade level: 1+ 5. Books: Apples to Oregon, Sky Boys, Annie and Helen, A Boy Called Dickens, Michelle, John Adams Speaks for Freedom, Susan B. Lexile: 590-950Grade level: 1+ 6. 7. 8. 9.

The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time We’re living in a golden age of young-adult literature, when books ostensibly written for teens are equally adored by readers of every generation. In the… We’re living in a golden age of young-adult literature, when books ostensibly written for teens are equally adored by readers of every generation. In the likes of Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen, they’ve produced characters and conceits that have become the currency of our pop-culture discourse—and inspired some of our best writers to contribute to the genre. To honor the best books for young adults and children, TIME compiled this survey in consultation with respected peers such as U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt, children’s-book historian Leonard Marcus, the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, the Young Readers Center at the Library of Congress, the Every Child a Reader literacy foundation and 10 independent booksellers. The List: 100 Best Children's Books of All Time HarperCollins

Six Back-to-School Goals for Teacher Librarians | Tech Tidbits Librarians can jump-start the school year by setting some essential goals. Here, teacher librarian Phil Goerner tackles his top six objectives and lays out a plan for achieving these goals, which range from creating new maker space projects to engaging teachers in professional development. Collaborate with teachers I think this is one of the most important parts of our jobs. I know it always takes a while to build momentum in the fall and get into classrooms. One of the best ways for me to get started is to stay organized. I’m working on “sneaking” into as many classrooms as I can to line up team teaching jobs, demonstrate a tech tool, or just to promote the library resources. Promote the library Letting teachers and students know about the library resources is vital in the fall. Take a lead on professional development Wow! Meet with clubs For our book club, student leaders and I help all members create Goodreads accounts to share their reading. Engage in making Celebrate “freadom”

Comix Experience Home Page Best Graphic Novels Long dismissed as a less serious art form, graphic novels have finally started to gain more mainstream credibility over the last 20 years. There are many, many excellent examples out there, but if you’re looking for a place to start, start here! The world of the graphic novel is one that spans a wide range of authors, artists, styles, and subject matter, and this primer covers all the bases. Blankets by Craig Thompson Clocking in at 592 pages, Blankets may not be a light graphic novel (physically or stylistically), but Craig Thompson’s autobiographical coming-of-age story is sweet and dreamy, covering the profoundly intense experience of falling in love for the first time, questioning your faith, and negotiating your relationship with your siblings.

School reading list: recommended reading books for children