KASL

School Libraries Matter YouTube Playlist

District IV

To download a .pdf of the registration brochure go to the Workshops page.

District V

To download a .pdf of the registration brochure go to the Workshops page.

Book Study Dissertation

One of our English teachers found a good book report alternative for high school level students. The expectations are specific, and it works well for her.

Download Book Study Dissertation

Download Book Dissertation Rubric

Leaders in the Digital Transition

I was going through my eSchool News journal today and came across a great
article on school librarians being leaders in the digital transition.  

Download School librarians rising leaders

Gwen Lehman
Tech Integration Specialist
Fort Larned USD 495
120 East Sixth Street
Larned, KS 67550

Tech Tidbits blog 

AASL Presenters and Authors

By Carmaine Ternes

Newsela

I'm always searching for free resources for our teachers as we
transition to the Common Core.  Newsela is my favorite find of 2013!

Here's their blurb:

Read closely.
Think critically.
Be worldly.

Newsela takes articles from various news feeds, adapts them with
multiple lexile levels, and provides quizzes.  Teachers need to
register, and can create binders for classes.  They provide students
with access codes, so students don't need to provide email addresses to
participate.  The subject areas right now include War and Peace, Money,
Kids, Science and Law.

My teachers' biggest concern about the Common Core has been finding
informational text.  They often assign one article found on the Internet
for class reading. The results? Students who are bored by the topic,
students who can't comprehend the text, etc.  With Newsela, teachers
could allow students to choose the articles they want to read.  Newsela
tracks what the student read and their quiz scores.  To me, the quiz is
a jumping off point, and teachers can certainly create other, higher
level assignments.  For the teacher who wants everyone to read the same
article, the multiple lexile levels allow differentiation without
stigmatizing a student who may read below grade level.

Can you tell I'm excited about this?  I can't wait until our teachers
return next week so I can share this with them!  Newsela may be the
first resource I share at my new Tech and Chocolate lunch sessions!

When I tweeted about this yesterday, Newsela messaged me that they'd
love librarians' input.  So please, take a look around their site, and
tweet or email them your feedback.  It's a beta site, so now is the
time!

Sharon Koontz, K-12 Librarian - Sedan KS
620-725-3186 or 620-725-5611
[email protected]

Technology Skills for Students

Good morning!  I wanted to share an article that our tech coordinator forwarded to our staff.  This great article talks about 21st century skills needed in the workplace.  It would be a great opportunity to share with your stakeholders and highlight how your library program teaches and supports these skills.

http://www.emergingedtech.com/2013/11/21st-century-technology-skills-are-a-core-competency-for-todays-graduates/

Download the pdf.


Amy Brownlee

K-12 Library Media Specialist
6th Grade Reading Teacher
Sterling USD #376

Audioboo

Library friends,

I just had a wonderful time collaborating with the 3rd grade teachers at my school using the Audioboo app. I had heard of the app but never tried it, and I attended a wonderful session by Jenny Gorup at this year's state conference that made me determined to use it.

The 3rd grade teachers gave each of their students a mini-pumpkin and asked them to decorate it to look like a book character.  Their pumpkins were displayed on top of the lockers in the hallway, and the teachers jumped on board when I suggested we could add a technology piece by having kids create a script describing the book, kids could practice their reading fluency, and then use iPads to take photos of their projects and use Audioboo to record them reading the script.  I thought they turned out great and wanted to share.

You have to be sure to see these two:
https://audioboo.fm/boos/1715624-john
https://audioboo.fm/boos/1715604-dalton


Amy Brownlee

K-12 Library Media Specialist
6th Grade Reading Teacher
Sterling USD #376