Wide Open School

 https://wideopenschool.org/  ( Wide Open School) is a new resource provided  by Common Sense Media. It looks to me to be a wonderful site for students, teachers , and parents ,to assist students in learning and growing and furthering their education.

    There are a multitude of learning activities that will work for students.  There is of course, Math, Science, and core school subjects with activity  links- there are also off line activities,  arts and crafts, digital activities,physical fitness,  emotional well being,life skills and virtual field trips. 

     The neat thing is also a  a daily  planning page where a day of activities / lessons are laid out.  They  also provide planning sheets for teachers/ parents/ caregivers to plan their own depending on the student. The plans are based on grade levels so students just pick their grade levels and complete the activities.

   The activities ( games, lessons, ect) are shareable with Google  Classroom , so if you are a teacher you can send specific activities to your student. The plan lays out each day of the week and activities to go with them, The students are even given a screen break and ideas on what to do! 

   I think this site will be invaluable to teachers and parents  working on virtual learning . The activities would also  be doable in the school setting. 

 

Library ideas for back to school!

   How can we help students this fall in the library? What if the library is not accessible?  

First of all Encourgare reading and learning

1. If students can not come to the library for books that consider "curbside Pickup" or "Delivery".

     Do a video / zoom ( YouTube or something your school uses)  and explain to student how to do holds on your computer system. Then staff can handle materials  , get them delivered or have them picked up bu the students. 

    Develop a system also ( and explain it ) on how to do returns  to make sure the student knows what to do, 

  ( Make sure teachers and staff also know how to request materials) Do this even if you  open so that if students are really busy they can still get books and resources)

2. Do read alouds. Again if you cant do this in person, set up a video / zoom/ google meet or whatever works . Take time at the end of discuss the book  Set up a program where students can  answer questions or further discuss the book.

3, Promote digital books that you have in the library system. Promote Digital book sites  that have free online reading,   Promote digital resources that you have for classroom use.  Put it on your website, and promote with flyers or anyway you can. 

Getting your teachers to buy into this will help  and give you time to advance the library!

Why students need a librarian

   If you need to defend your position there are lots of resources that you will find. But much of why students need librarians is basic , so here a few to think about and add to your list.
   1) Librarians provide materials matched to student learning styles and abilities.  There are print, on line and audio resources. Many of the online and audio can be adapted to student levels. Some can provide sources that can be read aloud to students,

  2) The library website  ( provided & maintained by librarians) offers 24/7 access to the online catalog and electronic resources, databases and lists of curated sites  for specific projects.

 3) The Librarian and the library provides information that is carefully selected and  appropriate for students learning needs and projects.

  Use these as needed. In future posts , I 'll add a few more reasons why students need a library and a librarian.

Noodle tools / citation builder

      If you have an active library page and a citation program, make sure to put a link to it on your page. Then be sure the link works.
     Your next goal is to provide instruction the use of your citation program. Connect with your staff and students to show them where the link is. Offer to teach the students how to use the program. Every time you get in front of a group of students and staff, remind them of the link to the builder that is on the library page.
    We use Noodletools so I developed a mini lesson to instruct the students and staff . I also devised a cheat sheet to back up my instructions. This sheet is a hand out for students, which they can refer to for help after the lesson is over,
  

littlebits- demo

      Yesterday the librarians in my district were invited to an administrators meeting , as they were presenting littlebits.   Littlebits is a company that provides kits with colored coded  electronic building blocks for students to use in classes and in maker spaces,  The emphasis is on the STEAM areas for school use but they say it can be used in all areas.
      I had seen them before- I am thinking it was last year at our SSL conference in August. The presenters did a good job of showing how they could be used.
     There was a group of students who tried out the littlebits, and built cars that they controlled. I wish I would have taken photos-They had a grand time, and at the end they competed in a race. It was fun. 
        Our new assistant superintendent talked about implementing  them in out schools. they also discussed going to several schools to see how they used the littlebits.  It should be interesting!\
       Do any of you have littlebits in your school or library? How are they used ? Are they used in  your maker-spaces? Please comment below- our administration wants input from us regarding ideas.

littlebits.com/