SLS 4/12 - Bookish Byte from O²CM

📚 Sora Update: Read to Me

We are very excited to announce a new feature releasing in Sora today called Read to Me! With this feature, students can select a word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph to be read aloud to them. When students open their next ebook in Sora, the message below will appear for them:

Once text is highlighted, students will find the Read to Me feature in the definition and annotation section. Students are able to customize playback speed and volume to fit their unique needs. Additionally, students can have their defined words read aloud to them on their Sora home page.

Read to Me is a free, safe, and built-in Sora feature that is available to all students at your schools. Share this how-to video and this Sora Help article with your fellow educators to help spread the word.

Gmail to launch email summary AI feature

Google is about to launch a new “summarize this email” feature that will allow Gmail users to get summaries of individual, lengthy, and information-dense emails.
Google already offers a similar feature for paying Gemini Workspace users, but it's only available on desktop and it can’t summarize a single email, only email threads.
The new ‘’summarize this email” feature will appear as a button under the subject line, and will complement its “reply suggestions” feature, which is available on Gmail for Android.

Layouts Update in Gmail

zoom_out_map

Have you seen the Layouts in Gmail? They are pretty sweet. If you are like me you send out information and reminders. Level of up your email game with layouts. If you district has turned them on they are located in the compose window of Gmail.

What is unique about these layouts is that they can be shared via Google Drive! Maybe you want to add a district header or other items. Once you have selected a template the functionality is close to that of Google Sites.

zoom_out_map

Default Layouts

Default layouts

zoom_out_map

My Layouts

All modified templates are listed under My Layouts

zoom_out_map

Within Drive

Name each template and you can search for it within Google Drive

💬 Communities of Practice

April 16th @ 3pm (Sign Up Here)

Topic: School Library Month Ideas

May 2nd @ 8:30am (Sign Up Here)

Topic: Collaborating with Every Stakeholder
Parents, Students, Staff, and Admins

May 21st @ 3pm (Sign Up Here)

Topic: End of Year Reports

June 6th @ 8:30am & 3pm (AM Sign Up Here) (PM Sign Up Here)

Topic: Book Celebrations & Summer Reading Ideas

Regional Battle of the Books Competitions

zoom_out_map

Winners

1/2 Grade Band

1st Place: ESM
2nd Place: McGraw

3rd Place: APW, DeRuyter, Fulton, and LaFayette

3/4 Grade Band

1st Place: West Genesee

2nd Place: Cazenovia
3rd Place: Phoenix

7/8 Grade Band

1st - Fayetteville-Manlius

2nd - Liverpool

2nd - Westhill

2nd - West Genesee

5/6 Grade Band

1st - Oswego, Westhill

2nd - Cazenovia

3rd - Baldwinville, LaFayette

9-12 Grade Band

1st - Phoenix

2nd - Fabius-Pompey

3rd - Mexico, Sandy Creek, Westhill

OpenAI launches new DALL-E editing features

OpenAI has announced that its text-to-image model—DALL-E—has two new features that will allow users to edit images and access editing prompt suggestions.
An editing icon will appear when DALL-E generates an image, so users can highlight an area and type a prompt—like “make this red”, or “add glasses”—to refine it.
It will also help users type better prompts and edit their images by providing preset-style prompt suggestions—like “re-generate a new image in a sci-fi style”.