The Recording and Slides Are Here For Our NEW Future Ready Schools Webinar, Empowering Students With Digital Citizenship Skills

 

This week we hosted a wonderful new Future Ready Schools webinar, Empowering Students with Digital Citizenship Skills: Your Digital Toolbox. 

We were joined by our friends at Cyber Civics, MediaSmarts and Common Sense Education, who are all part of The Achievery from AT&T Impact. 

The conversation was great and they all shared such valuable and important information and resources that support digital citizenship. You won't want to miss this one, friends. 

You can find the webinar recording here.

The slides and resources can be found here.

A Choice Board For My "Library Skills" Stories and Songs To Kick Off The Year!

 

I have the perfect series to share with our youngest learners as they learn about the library, books and even staying safe online.  

It is the Library Skills Set! 

I wrote this series with Cantata Learning and Capstone a few years ago and it is still one of my favorite ways to introduce my students to these skills all throughout the year.  The awesome thing about the Cantata Learning books are that they are all paired with music.  Emily Arrow created and sang the music and songs and Kathryn Durst illustrated them.  

I have each book in our library and...

...we also use them online as eBooks.  You can find the Capstone Interactive eBooks at capstonepub.com. 

The songs can also be found on YouTube, so today I took each video and created a choice board to share with our students in the library and in their classrooms. 

You can find this choice board here to share with your students.  If you would like to make any changes, you can make a copy of this choice board here too. 

I hope you and your students love singing along as they learn all about libraries this fall. 

FigJam...The Perfect Digital Tool & Resource For Teacher Librarians! Let Me Show You, Friends!

I am always on the search for the perfect digital tools and resources to add to my toolbox as a teacher librarian. I love finding these as I work with our students and teachers in the library, within the classrooms, and throughout the school community. 

At the top of my toolbox is FigJam! 

As shared on their site, FigJam is an online whiteboard where possibilities turn into plans. Educators can facilitate collaborative group learning while encouraging active participation from students.  It's great for classroom discussions, brainstorms, and group work. 

And it sure is perfect for teacher librarians! 

There are so many ways I use FigJam in the library, and as a librarian, to promote books, reading, special events and celebrations, book suggestions, and book clubs.  As I collaborate and co-teach with all of our teachers within the district, FigJam is one of the first things I suggest as we work on new ideas, lessons and projects. As a member of our school community, FigJam can be a great way to bring us together in our conversations, goals, and work. 

And so much more! 

As we kick off a new school, I am working on lots of new ways to use FigJam. I am also working with our students and teachers to get them up and running with FigJam.  

Let me share how you can get started too, friends. 

First, sign up for your Figma for Edu account here.  It is FREE for all teachers and students. 

These short video tutorials about Figma for Education will walk you through the steps in getting set up, and all kinds of other tasks within FigJam. 

I find this video tutorial from Pockful of Primary, FigJam with Students, super helpful too.

As you get your students and teachers all set up, check out the First Lesson: How To Use FigJam. 

You will find it here.

This will help you walk your students (and teachers) through the basic steps in using FigJam.  

I love how it teaches users how to do so many of the basic functions within FigJam. It will be a whole lot of fun for them as they learn too. 

This is the perfect place to start this week, friends. In my next post, I will share a few of my favorite ways to use FigJam as a teacher librarian to promote books and reading. I hope you will follow along and share how you are using this amazing digital tool within your library and community too. 

As you get started, join the Figma for Edu Educator Community on Facebook.  I love the ideas and resources being shared here, plus I can share and learn within the group too. 

Figma for Edu believes that nothing great is made alone. They would love to work with you to bring FigJam into your schools and classrooms. 

Here’s how:

Join a livestream: Every Tuesday during the back-to-school season Figma hosts 1-hour introductory livestreams that overview FigJam basics and the Jamboard transition. Register here. 

Lead the charge: Volunteer to host a FigJam training for teachers in your community! 

Check out these pre-created materials and a PD plan.

Oh, and don't forget, with Google Jamboard closing down, don't forget to import your Jamboards to FigJam. Watch this video to find out how to do this today. 

Okay friends, get set up in FigJam and jump right in with your students and teachers. I can't wait to hear how excited they are to get started. 

I will post the next blog post soon.

A New Capstone Book Perfect For Fall...A Bold Pumpkin Plan By Katy Hudson! Find The NEW Activities Guide & Interactive Choice Board Here Too!

 

I have a favorite new book for fall.  It's called A Bold Pumpkin Plan by the amazing Katy Hudson. 

Katy has written and illustrated so many wonderful books with Capstone.  We love them all in our library and classrooms. 

A Bold Pumpkin Plan...

...is about the sweetest character, Hedgehog. 

A plan to build a unique home takes a timid Hedgehog on an incredible journey of self-discovery. From meeting new friends to conquering countless obstacles, Hedgehog tackles his house plan with a newfound confidence. Best-selling creator Katy Hudson (Too Many Carrots and Mindful Mr. Sloth) combines her stunning, detailed artwork with themes of friendship, problem solving, and self-awareness in this empowering picture book.

As I read A Bold Pumpkin Plan, so many ideas popped in my head on how we can use this book.  

I love all of the research and STEM opportunities and projects we can create.  

In the A Bold Pumpkin Plan Activities Guide, there are several activities and one is...

...Design Your Perfect Pumpkin House. After students plan out their house, they could create it from a real pumpkin. How fun would that be! 

I also thought about how our students learn about fall and pumpkins in the fall every year. We use PebbleGo to research and learn about the Pumpkin Harvest and other fall topics. 

We also use our Capstone Interactive eBooks to learn about pumpkins and fall. In fact, we even have A Bold Pumpkin Plan in our CI eBooks...

...and this great informational nonfiction book, Pumpkins. 

I put all of these together in an interactive choice boards to bring this special new book and idea to my teachers and students this fall.  

In the choice board, after they read, research and design their perfect pumpkin house, they can....

...click on New Project at the bottom of the PebbleGo Pumpkin Harvest article, 

go to our PebbleGo Create, and...

...create their Perfect Pumpkin with stickers, animations, drawings and text. 

PebbleGo Create is an engaging digital tool for students to show what they know in meaningful and exciting ways. Our kids LOVE PebbleGo Create, and will love creating their perfect pumpkin! 

I made a copy of the choice board for all of you.  Go here to make a copy. 

After you have added all of your links and resources, click on File, to Share, and Publish to the Web. That link is what you share with your students. 

On the Capstone Fall 2024 Preview page here, you will find....

....the A Bold Pumpkin Plan Preview and Activity Kit, plus a lot of other amazing new Capstone books. 

And you will find A Bold Pumpkin Plan hardcover and Capstone Interactive eBooks at capstonepub.com here.

Have a fun time reading and sharing A Bold Pumpkin Plan this fall with your students too, friends. 

Check Out The NEW Follett Content Makerspace and Hands-On Learning Pages!

Friends, check out the NEW Follett Content Makerspace and Hands-On Learning pages! 

This amazing resource let us browse books and hands-on learning lists for PreK-12 education. 

As shared on the page, 

We understand you have no time to waste. That's why we want to help!

As a distribution leader of book and hands-on learning for PreK-12 schools, Follett Content offers tools to compile free and easy-to-use lists of recommended products by relevant and trending topics in education. Educators and administrators can find:

• Books: New, popular, and quality books supplemented with strategies, free guides, and teaching downloads backed by third party reviews, and detailed product information.

• Hands-On: Browse by popular product lines and subjects. Find storage solutions to outfit your Makerspaces, STEM labs, media centers, and library with products for arts and crafts projects, robotics, 3-D printing, prototyping, and more.

These lists will empower you to advocate for the books and hands-on learning materials you need to help students succeed!

From the Books and Hands-On Learning home page here, you can click on any of the three main categories including...

When you click on a category, like I clicked on Support STEAM and Core Subjects with Makerspace and Hands-On Learning Resources, it will open up onto a page that describes what is available and gives a...

...visual list of these materials too.  

I clicked on Art Products and Grades 6-12. It gave me a great list of products. 

In the upper right corner, you will see a little tile that says 6 our of 400 from the list I picked. I can click on the green button that says Shop Full List and it opens up into...

...Follett Titlewave.  I love this feature because it will allow me to add products to the lists I create and order within my Titlewave account. 

In our library, we have a STEM program and STEM teacher.  We share materials and talk about new things we want to bring to our school community. Using Titlewave to research products and organize orders will be the perfect place for us to collaborate on new books for STEM and makerspace,  and hands-on learning materials together. 

This will be such an amazing place for us as the librarian and STEM teacher, but also all of our teachers too. 

You can check it out here, friends. 

Fall Is Back and So Is Capstone With So Many NEW Books! Join This Webinar To Hear About The Fall '24 Hot Picks!

 

Fall is back and so is Capstone!

Discover our newest brands, characters and curriculum solutions for your students. And don't forget, Learning Is For Everyone! Join us on Thursday, September 12th from 4p.m. -4:30 pm CST for an exclusive sneak peek at Capstone’s newest titles! • Introducing Tana Cooks, Bo Keeps the Beat and Nhia Normal! • Exciting spooky reads for Fall! • New titles and series from #AuthenticVoices authors • Engaging nonfiction for all ages • High Interest topics to get kids excited to learn • Vivid graphic novels • And so much more! A lot is changing for back-to-school 2024, but you can always count on is a new crop of fantastic books from Capstone!

You can register for this wonderful new Capstone webinar here, friends.