Category Archives: School Media Specialist

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AASL Top Digital Tools 2021: Britannica LaunchPacks: Social Studies

AASL released its list of Best Digital Tools for Teaching and Learning 2021! This year’s list took into special consideration how well these tools work for remote/distance students. The resources enhance learning and encourage the following qualities:

  • Innovation/Creativity
  • Active Participation
  • Collaboration
  • User-Friendly
  • Encourages Exploration
  • Information/Reference

We share these resources every year and you can explore our archive of past recommendations here.

Britannica LaunchPack Social Studies provides over a thousand expertly curated collections, which include photos and primary resources. Educators can customize the info for different classes or assignments.

The tool “empowers blended learning, personalized support for every learner, and student-led inquiry. LaunchPacks: Social Studies integrates SEL into curriculum-relevant lessons and allows students to build critical skills while educators effectively teach subject-area content in social studies.”

Grades: K-12

This article from Ed Tech Impact includes case studies, screenshots, and a comparison tool to give more information about the learning pack. And this article from School Library Journal describes the tool in detail, including aspects like ease of use and visual detail.

Watch this quick 2 min video to get an idea of how the learning pack works:

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Best Digital Tools 2021: Sora

AASL released its list of Best Digital Tools for Teaching and Learning 2021! This year’s list took into special consideration how well these tools work for remote/distance students. The resources enhance learning and encourage the following qualities:

  • Innovation/Creativity
  • Active Participation
  • Collaboration
  • User-Friendly
  • Encourages Exploration
  • Information/Reference

We share these resources every year and you can explore our archive of past recommendations here.

If you love using Overdrive to check out ebooks and audiobooks from your library, Sora is the version for students!

“The Sora app allows learners to access popular and educational ebooks and audiobooks on any device from any location. Sora allows school librarians to curate their own collections and change the titles during the school year to align with their school’s curriculum and students’ needs. Sora also enables school librarians to support all kinds of readers by providing access to graphic novels and audiobooks paired with text. Sora also enhances reading with a dyslexic font as well as highlights and notes features students can use to complete their tasks.”

Grades: K-12

The Lion’s Roar blog has this student review of the app which details the genres Sora offers, from fiction to history and more. The Learning Counsel has this article about the app and describes how it can be made to fit teacher’s lesson plans and track students reading statistics. And Staying Cool in the Library has this article with Sora tips for both students and teachers!

Watch this 1 min video with a student explaining how she gets the most out of Sora:

Check it Out:, CMLE, Guest Blogger, Resources, School Media Specialist

Anna Hazzard Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Anna Hazzard at Liberty Elementary in Big Lake. Find out more about our Extended Mini Grant Program.

First of all, I want to give a huge thank you to the CMLE for accepting my mini grant submission! I am beyond excited and thankful!

   Here at Liberty we are a K-2 elementary school with over 700 students.  Each one of our students has a weekly library time to check out books with their class. My vision as the media assistant at Liberty is to create excitement around books, reading, and the library experience.  Why can’t the library be lively, fun, a little loud (sometimes), AND educational? 

   Every couple of months the Liberty library transforms into a newly decorated, interactive theme! This has been so successful and such an amazing way to create excitement around the different books we have in the library! The students have absolutely loved these various themes and always look forward to what’s next! Some of our past themes have been Rev Up with a Good Book, Camp Out, Once Upon a Time,  Back to School with the Characters We Love, and Snowmen At Night.

   With this mini grant we were able to purchase decorations, books, and activities to create our latest themed experience…Ms. Anna’s Gingerbread Land (as named by one of my students)! Not only will we enjoy these items now but they will also be reused for future events!!!

   When students visit the library every week to check out books they also get to enjoy this interactive gingerbread theme! They are having a blast with the larger than life decorations to take pictures by, themed special events/activities, and of course BOOKS!!!

   The joy that this grant has brought to the students of Liberty is one for the books!  It’s really something you have to see on the faces of the students as they walk into the library!

 It is truly magical!!! Thank you again CMLE!!!!

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Best Digital Tools 2021: Britannica ImageQuest

AASL released its list of Best Digital Tools for Teaching and Learning 2021! This year’s list took into special consideration how well these tools work for remote/distance students. The resources enhance learning and encourage the following qualities:

  • Innovation/Creativity
  • Active Participation
  • Collaboration
  • User-Friendly
  • Encourages Exploration
  • Information/Reference

We share these resources every year and you can explore our archive of past recommendations here.

This database of curated images does cost money but is a smart choice for students (and even public libraries) who need safe, ad-free, and copyright-cleared images,

“Britannica ImageQuest brings lessons, assignments, and projects to life with the best and broadest oering of curriculum-relevant imagery and digital art materials (symbols, educational illustrations, infographics, flags, and conceptual illustrations), all rights-cleared for educational, non-commercial use. Users have access to over 3.25 million images from more than 60 leading collections.”

Grades: K-12

This article from Ed Tech Impact includes reviews, case studies, and plenty of details about using the ImageQuest program. And this review from School Library Journal offers examples of how the program can be useful to teachers and explains the easiest ways to use the program.

Watch this two minute video to see how the program works!

https://youtu.be/ZzV6TrdlVf8
Check it Out:, School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Best Digital Tools 2021: Copyright & Creativity

AASL released its list of Best Digital Tools for Teaching and Learning 2021! This year’s list took into special consideration how well these tools work for remote/distance students. The resources enhance learning and encourage the following qualities:

  • Innovation/Creativity
  • Active Participation
  • Collaboration
  • User-Friendly
  • Encourages Exploration
  • Information/Reference

We share these resources every year and you can explore our archive of past recommendations here.

Copyright is a big deal and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. If you work in a school library or media center, you might be asked questions or expected to share knowledge about copyright. This FREE resource can help!
Their website has engaging videos, actual feedback from both students and educators, and specific teaching resources for elementary, middle, and high school plus professional development and copyright & distance learning.

Copyright & Creativity is a full suite of free K-12 resources that teach the essentials of copyright and fair use and how they work together to encourage creativity. Resources include in-class lesson plans, plug-n-play lesson slides, learning videos, visual aids, and a professional development course for teachers. Rather than just emphasizing what copyright prohibits, the goal is to offer useful and positive information about what copyright allows and how students can successfully navigate and rely on copyright in their own roles as creators.

Watch this 2 min video to get a sample of the curriculum: