General K-12 Resources

How to make your virtual school library a place for students, teachers, and parents to find and share resources.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11KPLRHxfv6eO7DCrXj68WplCA8T3bfeL1XGGjq7gW5I/edit?usp=sharing

Destiny Tips and Tricks (Padlet)

This is an interactive padlet (Q&A) for school librarians using Destiny system

https://padlet.com/shannonmmiller/destinytipsandtricks

“Talking Equity and Social Justice Online: Booktalks for Educators and Parents” Looking for a new read for the student in your life? Cathy Camper of Multnomah County School Corps shares booktalks on titles that address subjects including diversity, equity, and social responsibility, for grades K-5 and 6-12.

K-5 https://youtu.be/fFlmYJ15RCg

6-12 https://youtu.be/ehdIFyrQcC8

"Created by experts, Khan Academy’s library of trusted, standards-aligned practice and lessons covers math K-12 through early college, grammar, science, history, AP®, SAT®, and more. It’s all free for learners and teachers." ~Khan Academy

https://www.khanacademy.org/

As school librarians, one of our objectives is to facilitate collaboration among the school community. One way of approaching that mission if by creating a “tech sherpa” program, that involves training responsible students in a new technology, and asking them to come up with creative ways teachers might use them in the classroom.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1caCmnosnNtt1QiM02lBHtuC0yrn89vn1O8BFq-sTcgE/edit?usp=sharing

Teaching books is a website database and contains resources for various books, including vocabulary, book trailers, author interviews, and worksheets. You simply look up a book title and you can access all the resources available. It is currently free and can be accessed by a variety of educators. Teachers and librarians can use this source as a way to build lessons around teaching a variety of novels. There are resources for many books on this site, including contemporary and modern fiction. There are also book trailers that have been vetted by educators so as to ensure they are appropriate for student viewing. There are many ways this can be used, from lesson planning to encouraging a love of reading for pleasure for students.

https://www.teachingbooks.net/

Sora Overdrive enables libraries to purchase ebook and audiobook titles for the patrons of their library. Students and patrons can "check out" books by selecting the title, and can also put holds on books. This is a paid resource (libraries must purchase the book titles for their own collections and is often purchased by amount of items used). This is a great tool for anyone looking to expand their ebook and audiobook collections, as it is very user friendly and easy to navigate.

Sora Link

Overdrive Link

Contributed by: Bethany Brendon

Citation: Sora, by OverDrive - The student reading app from OverDrive Education. (n.d.). Www.overdrive.com. https://www.overdrive.com/apps/sora/

This article explores the idea of using Digital Natural History Collections in K-12 education to increase engagement, foster connections to content, and expand accessibility for students. iDigPaleo brings collections of fossils to students wherever they are which can be utilized to support the Next Generation Science Standards in the classroom. For example, students can explore and access collections of insect fossils, fossils from the cretaceous period, and fossils from the Florissant Fossil beds. By creating a free account, educators can gain access to lesson plans and functionality of a learning management system for their students through the site. This gives students the ability to measure fossils, explore their backgrounds, and even annotate pictures.

Link to Collection: https://idigpaleo.org/

This blog, School Library Connection, features short videos & screencasts discussing the innovative ways I am learning to connect with my middle school patrons. School and public librarians may find this blog unique and valuable, with many insights for developing new communication techniques.

https://teacherlibrarianka.wixsite.com/website

California Native American Resources Website!

To inform both non-native and native teachers and librarians of digital resources rather than relying on outdated textbooks and curriculum where we all to study WITH and FROM Native Americans NOT OF Native Americans.

2022 Spring 266

Most school districts are providing their students with chromebooks for their online learning. Here’s a google slide by Kimberly Mattina that provides students with easy-to-understand information about how their chromebooks work:

Let's Explore Your Chromebook!

This Learning Lab is a collection of resources about scientific topics. The site includes tabs to discover, create, share, and learn. Within this website there are a number of more specific collections that cover a range of topics such as: social studies, language arts, science, and arts. This website could be used as a learning tool for students or as a way to supplement lessons and instruction for teachers and teacher librarians.

https://learninglab.si.edu/

The ultimate STEM guide for kids: 239 cool sites about science, technology, engineering and math.

Science Snacks are hands-on, teacher-tested activities that bring explorations of natural phenomena into the classroom and home. Each activity uses inexpensive, easily-available materials, offers detailed instructions and images, provides a clear explanation of what's going on, and is adaptable to a wide range of curricula, content areas, grade levels, and settings.

Collection of resources, including lesson plans, from the USGS for teachers and school librarians working in K-12 classrooms as well as those seeking informal educational activities related to geology and ecology. The Teacher Resources page links to a weekly "Learn from Home" project as well as maps, learning activities, and multimedia resources organized by grade range.

A proposed Global Literacy Project incorporating student writing, reading, mobile phones and other digital devices.

https://sites.google.com/site/wikiscribi/home

Virtual Makerspaces

This website can be used as a template for K-12 librarians to share virtual makerspace apps, websites, and other resources with their students. The resources are shared in a Google Sites format that can be copied and customized, and are organized in four grade-level bands: K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Additional resources in the form of tutorials on a variety of related issues and an annotated bibliography of research from the Library and Information Science literature are included.

https://sites.google.com/view/virtualmakerspaces/

Edited and expanded by Louise Chambers, Corrinne Abbott, Sienna Crespin, Morgan Gilley, Lisa Johnson, and Laura Maw, November 2020

Welcome to the Collaborative Curation of tools for Virtual Escape Rooms! Here you will find a collection of tools, resources, and research designed to facilitate your use of interactive tools in your classroom or library. Some are appropriate for ages 9-99!

https://sites.google.com/sjsu.edu/info266-virtualescaperooms/home

Citation:

Creating a Virtual Classroom or Library Using Bitmoji

This is helpful for educators and librarians alike. This video tutorial will show you step by step how to create a virtual classroom/ virtual library using Google Slides and the Bitmoji app. This video serves as a great tool when trying to get students to read books for assignments.

Virtual Classroom/Virtual Library

Contributed by: Unknown

Citation:

Teacher Tutorial: Virtual Classroom / Virtual Library. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAyQZlMcl8k

Creating your Virtual Library Using Slides and Bitmoji

This is a blog post with tips on how to create a virtual library. The author includes examples of how they have implemented a virtual library, links to other blogs for inspiration and a YouTube video tutorial on creating a bitmoji scene. This blog post also details numerous benefits of creating digital libraries, and the rational behind going virtual.

https://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2020/05/14/creating-your-virtual-library-quickly-using-slides-and-bitmojis/#comments

Contributed by: Jennifer Duarte

Citation:

Valenza, J. (2020, May 14). Creating your virtual library (quickly) using Slides and Bitmojis as Hyperdocs. https://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2020/05/14/creating-your-virtual-library-quickly-using-slides-and-bitmojis/

Creating your Virtual Library Using Hyperdocs

Whether or not educators are planning for a physical or a virtual school experience, it is clear that the practice needs to be translated. Educators need strategies for personalizing and enriching the remote learning experience. And it is clear that the library must be the center of that experience.Currently, one very popular strategy is the creation of classroom scenes using Google Slides populated with their flexible Bitmojis.

https://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2020/05/14/creating-your-virtual-library-quickly-using-slides-and-bitmojis/

Contributed by: Jennifer Duarte

Citation:

Valenza, J. (2020, May 14). Creating your virtual library (quickly) using Slides and Bitmojis as Hyperdocs. https://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2020/05/14/creating-your-virtual-library-quickly-using-slides-and-bitmojis/

Creating your Virtual Library Using Second Life

This website provides examples and resources on building a virtual library for your students to explore using the Second Life Platform.

https://communityvirtuallibrary.org

This link provided below takes you to the actual Community Virtual Library built in Second Life.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cookie/191/210/21

Contributed by: Mary Ann McCoy

Citation:

CVL. (n.d.). Community Virtual Library: Real librarianship in virtual worlds. https://communityvirtuallibrary.org

Google Lit Trips

This website provides virtual Google Lit Trips on a majority of novels that are used in many English classes today. The trips follow the characters' movement through out a story. For example, if a class is reading Romeo & Juliet, then the Google Lit Trip would take the students to Verona, Italy and follow the movents of the characters. It might show a corner where a major scene took place. Of course, it would reflect modern day buildings, but there would be information about the Historical aspect of that corner during the time period the story takes place. It's a way to engage the students with novels.

Welcome to GLT (googlelittrips.org)

Contributed by: Mary Ann McCoy

This book is a companion to and an extension of, The New Learning Commons Where Learners Win 2nd edition, published in 2011. In that volume, we presented the idea that the school library and computer lab be merged into a single entity in the school, and that this new place be reinvented from the ground up in order to become a giant collaborative. In the past year, as we have watched Learning Commons develop around North America, we have discerned the need to elaborate on the virtual part of the the Learning Commons that would replace the often bypassed school library website. You can read the entire book by clicking below.

PDF available from https://www.davidloertscherlibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Virtual-Learning-Commons-3.pdf

This article is about the new daily norm school librarians are facing during COVID. Since many schools have been closed for in person instruction, the school librarian is faced with trying to support teachers and promote their library's collection in a virtual environment. The author provides insight into what her daily life is like during these unprecedented times. In addition she also provides ready to use ideas and lessons on how to promote your current library collection in a virtual setting.

https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2020.1853474

Ahlfeld, Kelly. (2021). COVID Diary Fall 2020: A Day in the Life of a Hybrid School Librarian. Journal of Library Administration, 61(2), 244–251.

Virtual Storytime Services Guide

The ALSC began this guide in the beginning of the closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a regularly updated guide with submissions from librarians in the ALSC to create resources and ideas for librarians to make storytimes work digitally with innovation.

www.ala.org/alsc/virtual-storytime-services-resource-guide

This article provides a step by step guide on how to turn your physical library into an online virtual library which will provide continued access to the library’s collection. There are links addressing each step that is required with examples of how other libraries have converted their libraries to an online platform. The site provides examples of each level of school libraries so readers can see what is currently working in the online library world.

Creating a virtual school library | Services to Schools (natlib.govt.nz)

...Not only is it a podcast, but many of the shows include pdf documents, shareable web tools (google sheets, slides, etc.). I have found this to be one of the most useful tools I have discovered, even before the pandemic hit.

https://schoollibrariansunited.libsyn.com/website/tech-tools-for-us

This site is designed to provide a collaborative space for collecting tools that anyone can use to improve their own experiences online. The links provided will include everything from how to set up your Gmail account for maximum efficiency to links for online learning sources in any subject matter.

https://sites.google.com/sjsu.edu/info266-individualproject/home

Dr. Laura Sheneman (EdD, MLS) is a lecturer with the University of West Georgia’s Educational Technology and Foundations department. She has taught for multiple higher institutions and specializes in working with K-12 librarians. Dr. Sheneman hosts the free Librarian Influencers podcast with the mission of assisting school librarians to build connections with others in the profession, as well as to support self-directed professional development, through what she calls a personal learning network (PLN). This podcast features interviews with librarians from around the country sharing their journeys as school librarians, with an emphasis on the librarian as a Digital Learning Leader integral to cultivating connection, community, equity, and purposeful technology integration with schools. Each podcast episode includes show notes that allow for the featured librarian to share resources and social media handles.

https://www.laurasheneman.com/podcast

The Huntington Library has curated a variety of resources specifically to help support teachers in their work. The tools provided are all freely available and are standards-aligned so that teachers can feel comfortable using the materials. There is an entire section for resources to support learning at home, a particularly relevant topic as we are still in the middle of the pandemic. Also available are lesson plans and activity guides created by other teachers, featuring many items from the Huntington Library's collections.

https://www.huntington.org/teacher-resources

https://sites.google.com/computechstaff.com/computech-library/home

https://www.edtx.org/txlx/resources/oer-resources

https://www.niesl.org/

Contributed by: Jennifer Norton

The American Library Association website provides many resource for any librarian. It also provides membership benefits as well.

https://www.ala.org

The CLA provides programs and resources for librarians working in California. The entire website provides resourse that can be implemented as well. A school librarian could also become a member with the CLA.

https://www.cla-net.org

The CSLA publishes the Journal twice a year. It provides articles based on issues and topics related to building a school library and building a school library staff. It provides support and relevent topics for the school librarian. The entire website provides resourse that can be implemented as well. A school librarian could also become a member with the CSLA.

http://csla.net/publications/journal/

This document provides all the information about the California Teacher Librarian Professional Standards. These are the standards that each Teacher Librarian is held to achieve in each school library in California.

pdf available at: https://www.ctc.ca.gov/docs/default-source/educator-prep/standards/teacher-librarian-service-credential-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=a977ab77_4

School Library Journal is the premiere publication for librarians and information specialists who work with children and teens. A source of quality journalism and reviews for more than 60 years, SLJ produces award-winning features and news coverage on: literacy, best practices, technology, education policy and other issues of interest to the school library and greater educator community. We evaluate a broad range of resources, from books and digital content to databases, in 6000+ reviews published annually.

https://www.slj.com/

CUE, Computer-Using Educators, is a nonprofit educational corporation founded in 1978. CUE’s goal is to inspire innovative learners in all disciplines from preschool through college. With an active current membership of thousands of educational professionals, CUE supports 22 regional affiliates and 8 Learning Networks. CUE Conferences are California’s premier educational technology events drawing educators from all over the world. CUE is the largest organization of its type in the west and one of the largest in the United States.

https://cue.org/

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), home to a passionate community of global educators who believe in the power of technology to transform teaching and learning, accelerate innovation and solve tough problems in education. ISTE inspires the creation of solutions and connections that improve opportunities for all learners by delivering: practical guidance, evidence-based professional learning, virtual networks, thought-provoking events and the ISTE Standards.

https://www.iste.org/

This video from the Library 2.0 Virtual Reality Leading the Way Conference 2022 discusses creating student profolios or exhibits, and it provides past student examples. This is a creative way for students to showcase their creations in a virual way and space that people can visit and experience.

Contributed by: Mary Ann McCoy

Worldcat

This link provides materials and resources in Worldcat to different virtual reality content for STEM Education. There are different lessons that could enhance a student's learning and understanding of the content.

https://www.worldcat.org

*Complete a search for Lifeliqe (don't add "book" or "title" after Lifeliqe), and then, filter the content for Visual Materials. This will provide a list of virtual reality lessons.

Example

This lesson is on Green sea turtles: hatching

https://www.worldcat.org/title/1104497569

Lifeliqe

This website provides information on different VR resources that can be utalized in K-12 classrooms.

https://www.lifeliqe.com/solutions/k-12-education

Contributed by: Mary Ann McCoy

Virtual Reality for STEM Education

This link provides materials and resources to different virtual reality content for STEM Education. There are different lessons that could enhance a student's learning and understanding of the content.

https://sites.google.com/sjsu.edu/virtual-reality-guide/home

Contributed by: Mary Ann McCoy