Category Archives: School Media Specialist

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist

Winter Edition: What Are We Doing Today? Virtual Activity Ideas from CMLE

Since so many of us are once again learning and working from home, CMLE has decided to resume sharing weekly online activity ideas!

Back in the spring of 2020, we created pages full of STEAM projects, art, daily exercise routines, scavenger hunts inside and outside, history lessons, virtual visits to museums and national parks, and so much more.

And we’re at it again!
To keep up with our weekly virtual activity inspiration, you can follow us on social media, sign up for our newsletter, or just keep an eye on our blog.
We will once again provide links to all our featured activities on our page in one spot for easy access.

CMLE is here to support our library members, especially during this challenging time. Always feel free to contact us at admin (at) cmle.org.

Here are a few activity ideas to get us started:

To start the day, try one of these four activities to get students excited about the day ahead! A scavenger hunt, beat the teacher game, and work on language using questions and clues! Check it out here.

Get those STEAM skills to work and make your own frost! It’s an easy experiment that doesn’t require too many materials, and if you’re in Minnesota like us, you can compare your homemade frost to the stuff outside!

The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis has this great page with FREE virtual workshops, storytime, short films, and instructions to make art at your home! Check it out and create away!

We’ll have more posts like this next week, with lots of ideas to keep you busy and learning from home. In the meantime, stay safe and healthy!

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Best Digital Tools 2020: Masters of Tradition

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL)  has announced their top choices for “electronic resources that provide enhanced learning and curriculum development for school librarians and their educator collaborators.” These resources were formerly separated into the Best Apps and Best Websites for Teaching and Learning and are now combined into the Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning.

“This interactive story map allows students to explore the great diversity of cultures, communities, and artistic traditions that enrich the United States. Through abundant photographs, audio, video, short text, and first-person quotes, the story map addresses a variety of key themes, including immigration, migration, identity, heritage, and community.”

Shared foundations: Inquire, Include, Explore, Curate

A screenshot of the map that shows all the options across the country for learning more about a specific cultural heritage


This article from the Smithsonian site gives a brief overview of the tool and this page includes downloadable lesson plans and ideas for activities.

Check out the Masters of Tradition Video Gallery for a great variety of quick videos that feature music and interviews from the project.

CMLE, School Media Specialist

Join Our Extended Mini Grant Review Team!

We are very pleased to be able to offer an Extended Mini Grant Program to our members this year. If you missed our previous post, here are the basics:

For this school year only, through May, 2021, we will be soliciting minigrant applications from member libraries for funds up to $1,000. This is our Extended Minigrant program, as brought to you by the CMLE Board of Trustees.

Members are libraries in these counties: Aitkin, Benton, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd, and Wright. You do not need to apply to be a member. If your library is in one of these counties, it is one of our members. Preference in applications will be given to school libraries.

You can be pretty flexible in what you apply to use these grants to fund in the library. Programs, materials, services – the three hallmarks of a good library – are all accessible with this money.

Potential minigrant applications that would be relevant in this program include requests like:

  • filling in a hole in your collection budget
  • buying software that will let you do distance library service
  • bringing a virtual program, or program series, to your students

You can apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1eng1oti0BIBWjczPPDLBZW0wnluJ57aqlHAqqEY3BLA/edit.

And we are looking for individuals to help evaluate the applications we receive! We will provide evaluation rubrics and will communicate on a monthly basis to review applications. This will not require an extensive time commitment, and will be a great way to see what other schools in the area are working on. Email us at admin@cmle.org to indicate your interest and we will be in touch soon!

We look forward to hearing from you.

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Best Digital Tools 2020: TeachingBooks

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL)  has announced their top choices for “electronic resources that provide enhanced learning and curriculum development for school librarians and their educator collaborators.” These resources were formerly separated into the Best Apps and Best Websites for Teaching and Learning and are now combined into the Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning.

“TeachingBooks introduces students and teachers to authors and teaches them the correct pronunciation of their names. It also includes book guides, activities, lesson plans, and readings and is the perfect resource for teachers and librarians looking to bring authors and their work into classrooms and libraries.”

Shared foundations: Explore, Curate, Inquire

Read a review of TeachingBooks from Common Sense Media and the Mendocino County Library has this article about the app on their website.

Watch this four minute video to get an introduction to the TeachingBooks resource:

https://youtu.be/dWQm-C_m3pw
Check it Out:, School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Best Digital Tools 2020: KidLit TV

he American Association of School Librarians (AASL)  has announced their top choices for “electronic resources that provide enhanced learning and curriculum development for school librarians and their educator collaborators.” These resources were formerly separated into the Best Apps and Best Websites for Teaching and Learning and are now combined into the Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning.

“KidLitTV offers in depth interviews with authors and illustrators.  On this website you will find book trailers, how to draw videos and other literacy related activities.  This website offers curated resources for books geared toward PK-3rd grade.”

Shared foundations-: Curate, Explore, Engage, Include

The KidLitTV site is full of fantastic resources like this compiled list of the best kidlit videos from 2019! This article from Publisher’s Weekly describes the new initiative KidLit TV At Home, a free resource created specifically for this time of increased virtual learning. Read Across America has this great page with several videos from the program ready to watch! Finally, this page from the Children’s Book Council links to many other activities available from KidLit TV, like recipes, songs, and drawing instructions!

KitLit TV has an incredible YouTube page. Even grownups will find things to enjoy! Tutorials, interviews, music, and of course books being read aloud!

Here’s a quick video of Susan Verde reading her book I Am Peace (2 min video, very soothing!!)