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EMTA Media Literacy Project Grant

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The 2020 Media Literacy Project Grant Application is open!

The New York State Educational Media/Technology Association provides up to two annual Media Literacy Grants in the amount of $1,250 for certified educators in New York State who are working with Pre-K-12 students on the subject of media literacy. Eligible educators must work in a district that participates in the media service at a BOCES or Big 5 that is an EMTA member.

Media Literacy is defined as the ability to comprehend, design, and produce media. It includes critical thinking skills used to evaluate and analyze information in a variety of formats. Media Literacy is essential to be able to distinguish between fact and fiction.

The purposes of the grant are to:

Support educators who provide resources and services that correlate to state and national learning standards for instructional excellence promoting media literacy.

To provide funds for research projects or demonstration projects that can be replicated in other areas across the state and nation.

Examples include:

  • A film literacy course held after school
  • Learning about the effective creation and use of media in student work
  • Using video effectively in your lesson plans

Please see the EMTA website for the application and more information.

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Social Media for your School Library

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A few years ago I was able to attend the ISTE National Conference in Philadelphia. One thing I found impressive was that they included Twitter Handles on the name badges. National Conferences are largely valuable for the networking opportunities they provide. What a great way for educators to continue that networking and expand their current professional learning community!

It got me thinking about the librarians in our region, and how many of them have a Facebook page or Twitter handle for their school libraries. Educators are sometimes skeptical when it comes to social media, and I get it. You don’t really want your students to see what you get up to on the weekends. However, having a social media account is a really great idea for your school library, and yes, that even means elementary schools.

What better way to showcase the great programming happening in your library? Need more students to join library club? Tweet about it! If you have older students, you can use this as a platform for teaching them responsible ways to use social media. By having students help you create your library “brand”, they will understand how social media can affect their own digital identities.

In her Scholastic Edublog article, Tamiko Brown (2017 School Librarian of the Year by SLJ and Scholastic) lays out 5 Reasons School Librarians Should Use Social Media.

Laura Fleming for Edutopia writes about The Power of a School Library Hashtag.

This website from the New Zealand National Library, Social media and the school library, explains how social media can help you find new ways to support reading, inquiry and digital literacy. It will also show your school community that you welcome student involvement. This last link is a great resource because it includes guidelines and strategies for social media use, as well as a guide to different platforms, and examples of school libraries that use social media.

See you @M1Bsls

 

Lazy People Saving the World

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The UN has a series of Sustainable Development Goals for the health of our future. These include:

  1. No Poverty
  2. Zero Hunger
  3. Good Health and Well-Being
  4. Quality Education
  5. Gender Equality
  6. Clean Water and Sanitation
  7. Affordable and Clean Energy
  8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
  9. Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  10. Reduced Inequalities
  11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
  12. Responsible Consumption and Production
  13. Climate Action
  14. Life Below Water
  15. Life on Land
  16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  17. Partnerships

To meet these goals, they have developed a number of plans. These include the ActNow Campaign – supporting climate action, the Be the Change Initiative – which includes a Be the Change Challenge Toolkit, and, my personal favorite, the Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World. This guide lays out four different levels of action.

Level 1: Things you can do from your couch.

Level 2: Things you can do at home

Level 3: Things you can do outside your house

Level 4: Things you can do at work

To see details of what you can do at each of these levels, check out their website, or download and print out the .pdf.

Three Apples Bookmarks

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The Three Apples Book Awards were developed to encourage the joy of reading for pleasure, and to give the children and teens in New York State the opportunity to participate in honoring their favorite books. These awards, in the three categories for Young Readers, Children, and Teens, are sponsored by the School Library Media Section of the New York State Library Association, which represents the school libraries of the state.

The Three Apples Committee just released their three bookmarks (pictured below). Click on each one to open a printable copy.

Students have until April to read the titles, and voting takes place in April.

Any questions? Contact Liesl for who to contact. She doesn’t want to post that person’s email address here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information about 3 Apples, and other book awards, check out our LibGuide!

NPR Student Podcast Challenge

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Last spring, NPR’s education team held a student podcast challenge. 55,000 students entered, of which, they announced two winners. Well, they’re bringing the contest back!

NPR is launching the 2nd annual student podcast challenge.

Students are invited to create a podcast – with the help of a teacher – and enter for a chance to win a grand prize and have their work showcased on NPR’s Morning Edition or All Things Considered. The contest is for students between grades 5 and 12. Each podcast should be between 3 and 12 minutes long, and it can be about ANYTHING.

For complete information on the contest, how it works, the rules, FAQ’s, and submission info see: https://www.npr.org/2018/11/15/650500116/npr-student-podcast-challenge-home

Listen to last year’s winners:

Murderous Mary & The RISE Of Erwin by four high school students in Elizabethton, TN

Marshmallow – by 8th grade Bronx Prep Middle School students

After you’ve entered your podcast into the NPR Student Podcast Challenge, enter it into the Digies as well.

2020 School Librarian of the Year

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The search is on for the 2020 School Librarian of the Year!

This award honors a K-12 library professional for outstanding achievement in school library services. To be considered, applicants must be certified school librarians – as recognized by the state of NY – and be working in a public or private school. (Directors, supervisors and managers of library programs are not eligible).

Winners will receive a cash award of $2,500, plus $2,500 in-kind digital or print products for their library. The winner will also receive a bunch of books from John Schumacher, Ambassador of School Libraries, Scholastic. Travel to participate in a 2020 Scholastic Book Fairs Summer Reading Summit (airfare, one night hotel stay and registration) is also included.

Winners will be judged based on their service to fulfill the needs of students and the community, creativity in programming, integration of library services within the curricula, technology integration and other criteria.

Nominations close on December 2nd. Winners will be announced in March.

For more information on how to apply go to www.slj.com.

Children’s Book Festival – Author: Nikki Grimes

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Check out Nikki Grimes at the upcoming Children’s Book Festival held on November 2 at MCC in Henrietta.

 

 

 

 

(Click books above to link into SORA)

New York Times bestselling author Nikki Grimes is the recipient of the 2017 Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, the 2016 Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, and the 2006 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Her distinguished works include the much-honored books Garvey’s Choice, ALA Notable book What is Goodbye?, Coretta Scott King Award winner Bronx Masquerade, and Coretta Scott King Author Honor books Jazmin’s Notebook, Talkin’ About Bessie, Dark Sons, Words with Wings, and The Road to Paris. Creator of the popular Meet Danitra Brown, Ms. Grimes lives in Corona, California.

Our overdrive account has 8 of her ebooks and 2 of her audiobooks. You can find 29 author interviews with her on TeachingBooks.net (contact Liesl for login information).

 

Ada Lovelace Day

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Today is Ada Lovelace Day! Born in 1815, Ada was a gifted mathematician and wrote instructions for the first computer program in the mid-1800’s. She is remembered for her work with Charles Babbage on the analytical engine.

To celebrate, read one of the many books about Ada Lovelace – Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science by Diane Stanley (available in our Overdrive collection), Dreaming in Code by Emily Arnold McCully, Ada’s Ideas by Fiona Robinson or Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine by Laurie Wallmark.

Then try Ada’s Poetry Generator, which teaches students how to program a poetry generator in Scratch.