Weekly Resource Highlights/Fall, 2021

A Welcome Message from Ms. Antoniou:

"Please help us welcome three new library media specialists to the Passaic family!

  • Natalie Elder - Passaic High School

  • Haley James - Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering & Passaic Preparatory Academy

  • Emily Griesbach - Daniel F. Ryan School No. 19 & Sonia Sotomayor School No. 21

These three dedicated staff members are here to help students and staff alike with library media services. They are a wealth of knowledge, from research methods to digital citizenship to understanding fair use for teachers. Through this newsletter, we hope to share resources, ideas, and important tidbits from the district that can serve all Passaic students and staff. Thank you and I hope everyone is doing well!"

-Joanna Antoniou, Supervisor of Educational Technology

Scroll down for this month's resource highlights, curated by our library staff!

Our Librarians

Ms. Elder

A Quote for Strength Shared by Ms. Elder:
What we all need to do is find the wellspring that keeps us going, that gives us the strength and patience to keep up this struggle for a long time. -
 Winona LaDuke

Ms. James

A Note from Ms. James: "During this time of uncertainty we must use every 'power' tool that we can utilize to improve and move forward with ours and our students learning. I hope we all use tools like the ones listed in this newsletter to motivate ourselves and grow during our time at home! Stay safe, happy, and healthy."

Ms. Griesbach

A Message from Ms. Griesbach: "'The mind is not a vessel that needs to be filled but a fire that needs to be kindled.' ~ Plutarch What education looks like may change (now more than ever), but the goal to light up the minds of our students remains constant. May the resources here help us spark curiosity and light the fire of learning."

This Month's Pre-K and K-6 Resource Highlights

Smithsonian for Kids

https://www.si.edu/kids

This Smithsonian website provides enjoyable activities for children from the great Smithsonian Museum located in Washington DC. Many of the resources on the Smithsonian kids collection website are connected with current exhibits at the museum so children are able to 'virtually visit' and learn information about the museum's exhibits online.

(Ms. Elder, Passaic High School)

#SAVEWITHSTORIES

In partnership with Save the Children and No Kid Hungry, #SAVEWITHSTORIES is offering stories on Instagram /Facebook to provide a little fun, a little education, and a little distraction for kids and parents. Actors, athletes, musicians, politicians, anyone sitting at home with a book, a phone and a little time on their hands is challenged to join them. Over 100 stories have been read, enabling Save the Children to give food and critical educational resources to nearly 90,000 children in 200 school communities across the country.

(Ms. McKnight, Schools #19/#21)

PBS Kids

https://pbskids.org/

PBSKids offers a curated collection of kid’s learning resources that are especially useful for students grades K-12. Free to access info on subjects such as English/Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. This resource can be used to promote better communication and collaboration. This is also a good tool for school staff to use for digital lesson planning.

(Ms. James, Academies)

This Month's 6-12 Resource Highlights

Xyza News for Kids

https://www.xyzanews.com/

Xyza news for kids offers three unique ways to help make distance learning a bit easier for teachers, students, and parents alike. This resource is offered for free until the end of the academic year. This is a children's news source that is current, relatable and easy to understand.

(Ms. Elder, Passaic High School)


MathGames

https://www.mathgames.com/

MathGames is a free game website that addresses practicing common core math skills. This awesome resource is great for building critical thinking skills and gives middle school students ways to practice these skills at home. Students can choose to practice math by grade level on the bottom of the website. There is also a way to search for particular skills to practice such as mixed equations, money math, fractions, or graphing.

(Ms. James, Academies)

21st Cen. Info Fluency

https://21cif.com/home

21st Century Information Fluency Project is a resource that challenges educators, students, trainers and employees to improve their ability to locate, evaluate and use digital information. This is a very interactive resource with levels for middle school, high school and adult. Parts of this resource are available for free until the end of this school year.

(Ms. McKnight, Schools #19 & #21)

This Month's Faculty Resource Highlights

Ask A Tech Teacher

https://askatechteacher.com/

This is a great site. It is maintained by a group of tech ed teachers who work together to offer you tech tips, advice, pedagogic discussion, lesson plans, and anything else we can think of to help you integrate tech into your classroom. (Ms. McKnight, Schools #19 & #21)

TED-Ed

https://ed.ted.com/educator?user_by_click=educator

An education initiative from TED to help teachers, educators, and students to access and create interactive video lessons. Browse hundreds of TED-Ed Animations and TED Talks designed to “spark educational curiosity”. Video lessons are available in a variety of subjects.

(Ms. James, Academies)

Digital Public Library

https://dp.la/

DPLA E-Learning Resources contains various primary sources, student activities, lesson plans, context, and discussion questions.

(Ms. Elder, Passaic High School)