Supporting your Teachers through Current Events

 So much took place on yesterday Wednesday, January 20, 2021. And as you might be at a stand still with distance learning, no staff on campus, and closed schools. You might be trying to figure out what role does the school library play in all of this? 

Well PBS put together a wonderful lesson plan centered around the young Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem. This is a great resource to share with your English and Social Science/Studies teachers. One way to show the importance of the school library during this time of distance learning, is to share and showcase tech tools, resources and programs. The school library has always been more than just books on the shelf, and during this time of distance learning as school librarians, techs, media specialist we have an opportunity to show that. 

PBS Lesson Plan: Discuss 22 year old Amanda Gorman’s Inaugural Poem “The Hill We Climb”

Letters about Literature

Letters About Literature is a reflective writing competition sponsored by the Library of Congress Center for the Book and presented in association with state organizations.  This year, for the first time, California School Library Association is the organization in charge of promoting and coordinating the program in our state.

LAL is designed to promote reading and thoughtful writing by encouraging readers to write a letter to an author, living or dead, explaining how his or her work changed their perspective on the world or themselves. Students may write about fiction or nonfiction. Letters should be personal and sincere, more like a private conversation than a book report or fan letter.

State judges will select the top letter writers in California, who then advance to the national competition. There is a cash prize for the state winner at each level, and nine letters from each level are selected for honorable mention.  

The deadline is January 12, 2018.  State winners and honorable mention recipients are announced in April.

Contest guidelines, entry coupon, teaching guide, letters by winners from past years, FAQs and a promotional video are available at http://read.gov/letters/

Here is a link to the entry coupon. Entries must be typewritten and mailed to the Library of Congress. Each letter must have its own entry coupon, but teachers and/or librarians may send letters with their entry forms in one envelop to the LOC. 

Fake News Resource

Teaching Tolerance has a plethora of resources that are great for educators and librarians alike. Recently there has been a shift in many of our library programs to integrate diversity as well as staying abreast of current trends such as "fake news." So here is an article that I thought was pretty neat that you might be able to expound upon with your students. If you serve in Middle or High School this is an opportunity to collaborate with your Social Studies teachers too. Check out the article Speaking of Digital Literacy and share how you could incorporate this into your library program. As Librarians we at times are the lone rangers on our school campuses so it is imperative to seek out professional development opportunities. Well I hope you find this article helpful and I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Star Wars Reads Day

So much fun and excitement will be happening tomorrow at the Star Wars Reads Day. I'll be running a 2k race and then the fun doesn't stop there........ I'll be having tons of Star Wars Fun at Barnes and Noble in the city of Rancho Cucamonga. So if you live in the Southern California area and you're looking for something fun to do with your family, then come on out to the Star Wars Reads Day!

Yessss! I got a copy before it is released

So super excited and stoked to read this book that I received today from one of my students. Although the book will not be released until October 24th, I was lucky enough to snag a copy because my student is super awesome and she happens to know the author personally (eeek) 🙌. If you are interested in finding out anymore information, then you can always follow this link to 7th Grade Revolution

Phenomenal Weekend at Festival of Books 2017

I had such a fabulous, phenomenal weekend at the Festival of Books. An opportunity to meet and listen to many talented authors, buy lots and lots of books, and enjoy so many people who have a love for literature. If you missed it, then there is always next year. #booksarelit #bookfest #usc #festivalofbooks #latimesfob #libraryqueene 

Festival of Books this Saturday

The Festival of Books will be happening this Saturday and Sunday on the beautiful campus of USC (University of Southern California) #gotrojans 😊 

Come out and enjoy the Festival:

Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. 

Sunday: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

I'm super excited because yours truly will be a #bookworm this year. I love all the festival has to offer for people of all ages but I especially enjoy volunteering. 😌 The Festival of Books is a great "free" event for you to enjoy by yourself or with your family.