KASL

Introduction to Resource Sets

"Introduction to Resource Sets", a two day presentation by Kris Shaw and Suzy Oertel, Kansas State Department of Education, was hosted by the ESU School of Library & Information Management on the campus of Emporia State University. Resource Sets expand on the idea of developing text sets for curriculum units in the classroom. Resource Sets focus on the process of building a set of materials, texts, audio and video clips, art, science hypotheses, or social studies essential questions into a unit. The step-by-step process is clarified by the use of an easy-to-read game board.

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]

Student Achievement and School Improvement in Kansas

Kansas Association of School Boards has "published" Student Achievement and School Improvement in Kansas. The publication shares  current information on test scores, high school completion, preparation for college, adult educational attainment and more.


Diane Leupold
Coordinator of Media Services
Topeka Public Schools

Pretty AND Smart

I am not easily impressed by web sites because normally they are glitzy and shallow, or worse, shallow and ugly.  I just hate the ugly ones.

Shmoop is worth checking out, though.  It covers Literature, US History and Poetry right now with more coming, complete with headings like, "In a Nutshell" and "Why Should I Care?" Any website that includes Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" in their Poetry section and proceeds to discuss it in an engaging, intelligent way makes me sit up and take notice.