SLS Weekly Update

June 7, 2024

Thank you all so much!!

Thanks Claire for taking the picture!

Also from Claire

Here are the photos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/EX1pUnb9G1qLWMdN6

(I'll send one to Jessica for the next SCRLC news)

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Then I'd mentioned the Sold a Story podcast, which was really informative for people like me and influential for a lot of school districts lately:

Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong | Podcast (apmreports.org)

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If someone's interested in the New York History Conference or forwarding to teachers:

New York History Conference | The New York State Museum (nysed.gov)

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Also- I have some suggestions for newspaper database replacements!

Primarily the one our colleagues manage: The NYS Historic Newspapers

Beyond that, it kind of depends how the teachers are using Newsbank (local? year range?) but I bet we can find something free/affordable beyond Newsbanks.

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OPALS Users' Group 2024 - CDLC Events - CDLC Home (libcal.com)

Thursday, August 8, 2024, 10 am to 12 pm

with John Schuster of Media Flex

if you have created an End of Year report, please share!

All ILLS need to be returned!!!

Trans Children in Today's Schools

Schools across the nation are seeing an increasing presence of transgender students and many school leaders, teachers, and community stakeholders feel they have nowhere to turn for...

nyslibrary.libcal.com

Join us for this free webinar!

Trans Children in Today's Schools

Speaker: Aidan Key

Tuesday, June 11

1:00pm - 2:00pm EST

Join author Aidan Key as he explores the barriers encountered by schools as they attempt to create gender-inclusive environments, including the resistance of a society whose only framework of gender is rigidly set. The result is ensuring all children can count on a safe and welcoming learning environment. Speaker, author, and educator Aidan Key’s work centers on gender-diverse children. Key, founder of Gender Diversity, works nationally with hundreds of K-12 schools and youth-based agencies, providing professional development, strategic planning, policy development, athletics guidance, and education for parents and students. TransFamilies.org, also founded by Key, is a national organization providing support and resources for families of gender-diverse children.

Register for Trans Children in Today's Schools

open_in_new

Class sets of books give-away

We have remaining class sets of

Lon Po Po (Ed Young)

A River of Words (Jen Bryant)

The Scoop on Clothes, Homes and Daily Life In Colonial America

The Iroquois (Mary Englar)

The Hope Chest (Karen Schwabach)

Face to Face with Wolves (Jim and Judy Brandenburg)

IF you want them, please claim them. Since I put them into the lending library, no one has used them so I think it is time to weed.

Battle of the Books

Hello Everyone,

Here is the new BOB website. Please be sure to share with anyone who might be interested in the program. In addition, I will be having a Webinar this summer on July 10th from 1-3pm for anyone who wants to learn more.

Webinar: https://www.mylearningplan.com/WebReg/ActivityProfile.asp?I=4769341&D=15882

Website: https://sites.google.com/ocmboces.org/cny-bob/home

Sign Up Form:

Thanks,

Heather

TeachingBook Resources from Crytal's presentation

Here are links to resources we discussed during the webinar:

All of these resources are located under Book Guides, Activities, & Lessons once you select a title from the collection.

Early Childhood Section
Advanced Search
Video Tutorials
Author & Illustrator Name Pronunciations

LIRA (Library Interactive Read Aloud) Curriculum Free Trial

LIRA Learning emerged to tackle the pressing requirements of the 21st century, marked by ongoing challenges such as high-stakes assessments, conventional teaching methods, and state regulations that impede the successful readiness of students for the complexities of today’s interconnected and digitally-driven society. Often, school libraries remain overlooked, presenting an untapped potential. To maximize the advantages for schools, it is imperative to optimize the use of library resources. This improvement is vital in navigating students through a constantly changing world, where skills like critical thinking, media assessment, and empathy take on unprecedented significance. Our mission is to enhance school libraries, equipping students for the future while recognizing and celebrating the pivotal and indispensable role of the school library.

Trial info:

username: coboces

password: coboces

Here is the link to our blog: https://liralearning.com/lira-blog-posts/

Here is the link to our latest newsletter: https://us18.admin.mailchimp.com/campaigns/show?id=11345567

Here is the link to our podcast: https://liralearning.com/lira-podcast/

The blog, podcast, and newsletter are free to access from our homepage. The educator community is also free to registered members: https://liralearning.com/lira-educator-community-registration-form/

To access the curriculum and limelight lessons, a subscription is required. We are currently offering a 20% discount if you sign up for an annual membership before July 1st. After that, we will offer you a 10% district discount.

Sooth Trial

Everyone who signs up before we launch our paid subscription plans (mid-June) gets free access to 1 Oct. Here is the sign-up link (it takes seconds); below are a few other helpful links. Please note that the tutorial / highlight videos below have not yet been updated with our newest designs & features! These should be updated by early next week (links will stay same.)

Please feel free to share all this info with your colleagues and let them know they can get full / free access to Oct 1. However, once we launch our paid subscription plans, all new users who sign up after that point will only receive 30 days free access…so tell everyone to sign up before mid-June!

We are happy to schedule live demos / tutorials for you and your colleagues anytime this summer. And we can discuss a potential extended free trial period. But we will need to adhere to our DREAM Consortium contract (still pending June board approval), for example, anything we offer your BOCES would need to be offered to all consortium members, etc.

Thanks again and please shout if you have any questions or want a live demo!

Jeff

Highlights:

Search thousands of the web’s most reliable and diverse sources of news, research, and insights
No ads, no dubious content, no chatbots, no commercial content, no echo chambers
Intuitive layout with features that drive productivity and collaboration
Source ratings from NewsGuard, AllSides, and Charity Navigator so users are confident in the quality of their sources
Read paywall-free MIT Tech Review and Project Syndicate premium articles (more premium sources in summer 2024)
Selected as a 2024 Top Edtech Product Finalist by District Administration

Additional resources:

Website: https://sooth.fyi
30 sec demo video
2 min highlights video
FAQ: https://sooth.fyi/faq
Sign up: https://app.sooth.fyi/signup
Privacy Policy: https://sooth.fyi/privacy
Pricing: https://sooth.fyi/subscriptions/groups/ (note: discounted DREAM pricing will be available!)

Check us out on social: : LinkedIn FB IG X

Thanks again

Jeff

Jeff Walsh

CEO/Founder, Sooth.fyi

w: https://sooth.fyi

e: jeff.walsh@sooth.fyi

m: 316.253.2791

Sora Sweet Reads

Sora Sweet Reads is now live on Sora!

You can kick off the program with this year’s selection of more than 100 age-appropriate ebooks and select audiobooks for students across all grade levels. These simultaneous-use titles are all available for free now through August 26.

All titles will be displayed on Sora in a special Sweet Reads curation on your Explore tab, with the option to weed specific titles from the collection as needed. If you have questions about this, please reach out to your Sora team.

Take Sora Sweet Reads to the next level...

NEW: This year, we’ve partnered with Book Creator to give your students a new, engaging way to document their Sora Sweet Reads reading experience. Using a special template, students can complete a series of fun enrichment activities to create their custom book report. Check out our instructional video to get started, then download the instruction sheet for your school community.
Take advantage of hundreds of free supplemental materials available from our sister company, TeachingBooks.
We’ve put together a collection of marketing materials to help you spread the word about Sora Sweet Reads, including graphics, a letter to parents, flyers, and more!
Students can earn a Sora Sweet Reads badge in Sora for checking out a program title.