Category Archives: School Media Specialist

Summer reading time approaches!

Kids painting flowerpots during the Summer Reading Program
Everyone in the library world knows that summer is a time for kicking back with some new reading, trying out some new programming, and (hopefully!) bringing in more people to your library! It’s a lot of work, but the results are fun for your patrons.

Thinking up these fun things to do can be the hardest part!

Fortunately, many library people face the same issue; so we can all work together to share ideas. One librarian asked for help in making teen craft programs over the summer, and there were many suggestions from other library people. See if any of them would work in your library! Continue reading Summer reading time approaches!

National Library Week is coming soon!

Even though every day is a great day to celebrate libraries, there is a special week each year designated to highlight their importance and awesomeness!

This year, that week is from April 9 – 15 and “is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and library workers and to promote library use and support.”

This year’s theme for the week is “Libraries Transform.” ALA has a Press Kit to help you prepare for activities and events you may want to plan to take place during this exciting week! Check out their library week fact sheet or watch this video from the 2016 National Library Week Video Challenge

For some great suggestions on how to celebrate National Library Week, check out this post from I Love Libraries.

We’d love to hear about your plans for National Library Week! Share with us in the comments!

Top Five Resources from February – Teaching4Tomorrow

It’s always helpful to have new and useful resources if you are an educator working with technology! Big Deal Media has started a blog called “Teaching 4 Tomorrow: Ed Tech Ideas and Strategies Worth Sharing” to discover new platforms and resources for tech educators.

This article shares the top five resources that educators used the most in the month of February. Some of these resources include:

Siemens STEM DayFor students grades K – 12, “STEM Day offers a variety of tools and resources that will help you reinvent your STEM curriculum. You’ll find new, original hands-on activities, a teacher support center, and our Possibility Grant Sweepstakes”

RobotBASICThis platform incorporates programming language with a robot simulator. The program “enables users to simulate a robot with many types of sensors, control a real robot using the wireless protocol, create animated simulations and video games, handle complex engineering problems, motivate students to learn, and create contests for robotics clubs.”

“Oversharing” Rap VideoThis video is all about social media, and about responsibly posting and sharing content. The site has quizzes and activities to help students learn about appropriate social media behavior.

 

Have some spare time this summer? Kansas wants you!

CMLE members, and other library fans:

  1. Do you have spare time on your hands this summer?
  2. Do you have good skills for summer reading planning??
  3. Would you like to hang around Kansas for a while???

I can’t imagine the answer to all of these questions would not be yes!

If your answers are yes, the State of Kansas is looking for someone to be their Summer Reading Regional Prsenter – and it might be  you! Check out all the details here: Continue reading Have some spare time this summer? Kansas wants you!

AASL Recommended App: Books: Metamorphabet

metamorphabetIn June 2016, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their 25 Best Apps for Teaching and Learning. The apps encourage qualities such as innovation and active participation, and are user-friendly.

Metamorphabet is an app that makes the alphabet come to life! Using animation, letters are able to morph into images that portray vocabulary words. This engaging alphabet book could also be used with ELL to build and develop vocabulary.

Check out reviews of the app from Common Sense Education here. School Library Journal shares their thoughts and examples from the app in this article.

Cost: $3.99

Level: Elementary
Platforms: iOS and Android

Watch the trailer here: