MBAEA Media Newsletter

Last week, we had our last Media Academy session of the year. Undoubtedly, it is my favorite part of working at the AEA! I love to listen and learn from teacher-librarians (TLs), and the collaboration is top-notch.

The Iowa School Library Standards summarize the impact TLs can have on teaching and learning.

• The K-12 Library curriculum supports the reading life of students and addresses inquiry, information literacy, and digital literacy.
• The TL is the catalyst for igniting a passion for reading in every student and creating a literacy culture in the school.
• The TL teaches a systematic approach to inquiry and the skills that support information literacy.
• The TL teaches the skills and understandings required for digital literacy and the safe, legal, and ethical use of digital resources.
• The TL leads, networks, and communicates effective, research-based technology integration to enhance learning across the curriculum.
• The TL collaborates with teachers to design and teach engaging learning experiences.

I encourage you to celebrate teacher-librarians and others who support the library, as they are invaluable. Rita Dove said it best, "Libraries are where it all begins."

The annual Iowa School Library Survey is open through Friday, April 21, 2023. The information captured in the survey provides important information about the status of school library programs and their impact on teaching and learning. In turn, the final survey metrics can support teacher librarians to continue conversations with administrators, staff, and stakeholders about the importance of a school library and its programs and services. For more information, please review the Iowa Department of Education’s School Library Annual Report guidance.

This Downloadable Planning Worksheet can gather statistical information (school size, collection size, age, etc.). There will be other questions in the survey, so allow about 15 minutes to complete the entire survey. You will be able to stop and start it at any time. There is an option at the end of the survey to print your responses.

Survey results should be available in early fall so you may use them to plan for the 2023-24 school year. Please see https://www.iowaaea.org/how-we-can-help/iowa-school-library-survey/ for more information.

Although we've wrapped up Media Academy for the 22-23 school year, planning has begun for next year. Please complete the feedback survey by Apr. 17 so that I can better tailor content to professional needs.

Media Academy dates for the 23-24 school year:

• Oct. 24, 2023
• Dec. 5, 2023
• Jan. 30, 2024
• Apr. 2, 2024

Are you interested in scaffolding your lessons in a new way? Utilize the audio feature of Pear Deck and record your think-aloud or give directions in a different language. When working independently, students can listen as many times as needed. Learn how to add audio to Pear Deck in less than four minutes.

NASA STEM Engagement strives to connect K-12 student participation in NASA projects. Pear Deck partnered with NASA to create templates for NASA-inspired lessons designed to create unique opportunities to engage students in authentic learning experiences. Explore them today.

Having a relevant library collection is no small feat. Karen Lowe's Resource Alignment is a go-to book to help develop short and long-term plans. This library collection development roadmap provides organization tips to support the process.

Add your name to this resource alignment document for those who own a copy of the book and want the updated 2023 Dewey categories aligned with most curriculum topics, copyright guidelines, and the 2023-28 resource development plans.

To purchase the book, send a check or purchase order for $18.00 ($15.00 for the book and $3.00) shipping to the address below. The files, formerly a cd, are now emailed after the book is purchased. Credit card orders must be placed by phone at 336-667-1754.

Karen Lowe

808 Green Acres Myers St.

Millers Creek, NC 28651

Lowe will evaluate nonfiction and reference library collections for a fee to determine the collection's strengths and weaknesses. For her to assess 5000 titles, the cost would be $400. She charges .07 per title and a $50 preparation fee that includes the reports and a cover letter.

Mail her the paper copy of the collection shelf list; if shared electronically, she charges an additional printing fee. In addition, Lowe requests the following information.

• Teacher-librarian's name
• Name of the school
• Average number of students enrolled
• Current budget (total from all sources)
• Principal's name
• Name of a district-level supervisor of the library media program
• Critical- a collection of average age report by 10s
• Critical- the total age for the entire collection

For further information, contact Karen Lowe at lowekr@charter.net or 336-667-1754.

Gale and Britannica offer tools to support the research and writing processes. Log in to either database on MBAEA OneClick or AEA Digital Resources.

Britannica

After logging in, select educators > lesson plans > create or login to the "My Britannica" account. Educators can utilize lesson plans and save them for future reference.

Middle and high school students can access support with the research process, writing literary criticisms, and science reports.

Gale

Select elementary, middle, or high school In-Context resources to access educator resources. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select educator resources.

• Elementary lessons and activities include text structure, developing early research skills, constructing arguments, and more.
• Middle and high school research kit lessons include selecting a topic, organizing a report, reading and understanding graphs, building an argument, and more.

The Iowa Clearinghouse for Work-Based Learning connects K-12 students and employers with shared projects that give students professional experience. This can include virtual projects, internships, and apprenticeships.

Districts have the opportunity to create district-level project boards. For some districts, the teacher-librarian may be a perfect candidate to support the process as they often collaborate with educators in designing projects and supporting the inquiry process. Contact Laura Williams at lwillliams@aealearningonline.org for further information.

Teacher-librarians could meet various Iowa School Library Standards throughout the process by taking on this role.

Teaching and Learning

• The K-12 Library Curriculum supports the reading life of students and addresses inquiry, information literacy, and digital literacy.
• The TL collaborates with teachers to design and teach engaging learning experiences.
• The TL teaches a systematic approach to inquiry and the skills that support information literacy.
• The TL teaches the skills and understandings required for digital literacy and the safe, legal, and ethical use of digital resources.
• The TL serves on decision-making teams in the school and participates in school improvement and accreditation activities.

Library Management:

• The library program provides a facility and environment where collaboration, innovation, and creative problem-solving thrive.
• A communication plan concerning the library program is implemented that identifies multiple methods and connections with the school community and beyond.

K-5 Financial Literacy Kits

The curriculum and book sets support K-5 educators in teaching financial literacy in ways that are both developmentally appropriate and engaging for elementary students. Lessons are designed, under 30 minutes in most cases, with suggestions for extending learning, if desired. The lessons can be taught sequentially or stand-alone without the need to teach any one lesson before teaching another lesson at any grade level.

AEA Digital Library

• Gr. 5-12 Bulls, Bears & Financial Markets
• Gr. 4-12 Are you Financially Literate
• Gr. 4-12 Where's my Allowance- Financial Literacy

MackinVIA

• Gr. 9-12 Smart Spending: The Teen's Guide to Cash, Credit, and Life's Costs offers teens practical financial advice, describing how to shop smart, create a budget, and build and manage a credit rating. It also discusses credit cards, debt, and paying for college.

• Gr. 7-12 Financial Aid Smarts: Getting Money for School provides resources for students on where to find financial aid, how to apply, and how to protect their financial future.

• Gr. 5-8 Savvy Saving describes the benefits and methods of saving money. It also discusses fighting temptation and opening a savings account.

PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next

Gr. 3-6 PebbleGo Next:

• Earning Money
• Saving Money
• Spending Money

Gr. K-3 PebbleGo

• All About Money

Teen Health and Wellness

• Gr. 7-12 Budgeting and Money Management

We offer various media kits, assistive technology, set books, robotics, and much more. Log in to our media catalog today!

You can self-renew most items once as long as they are not booked by another patron. Please do not hesitate to contact us to renew items or with any issues logging in for the first time or booking an item.

Media Center Support

media-center-staff@aea9.k12.ia.us

563-344-6231

Jenahlee Chamberlain is the Innovation Coach and K-6 teacher librarian for Iowa City Community Schools. She crafted a clean, concise, and well-organized system to teach computer science in the elementary environment. The teacher-librarians raved about it at the January media academy session and looked forward to customizing it to meet their needs.

Join us for the following webinars to learn more about TeachingBooks! District and AEA staff are invited to join the webinars to learn more about these resources for K-12 students. Both sessions will be recorded, so please register even if you cannot attend in real-time to access the recorded sessions!

Do you wonder what Iowa educators say about utilizing Teachingbooks and other digital resources? Read more about them here.

TEACHINGBOOKS

Discover resources that expand the experience readers have with books being read both in the classroom and independently. Explore author videos, recordings, book guides, activities and lessons, book trailers, vocabulary lists, and more! Leave this session with tools to increase student engagement and differentiate instruction. Wonder what educators are saying about how they utilize this resource?

TeachingBooks Enhance & Differentiate Instruction (Elementary)

April 5, 2023

3:15 - 4:00 p.m.

REGISTER NOW!

TeachingBooks Enhance & Differentiate Instruction (Secondary)

April 12, 2023

3:15 - 4:00 p.m.

REGISTER NOW!

If you have any questions, contact:

Tracie Marshall, Media/Technology Project & Purchasing Coordinator

tmarshall@iowaaea.org

Help your students share their voices! Voting is open for Iowa Award Books through Friday, April 21, 2023! Winners will be announced on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at IASL Teacher Librarian EdCamp in Ames!

It's not too late for students to get involved! Ebook and audiobook versions for many titles are also available through MackinVIA.

2023-2024 award book sets are now available (select your AEA). More information is available at www.iasl-ia.org/awards.

Capstone Connect was created because educators loved the standard connections available in PebbleGo, and Capstone wanted to improve the opportunities at a deeper level. Capstone Connect provides standards correlations to PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next articles over 5000+ eBooks, teacher resources, and activity bundles. Activity bundles are flexible, standards-aligned, theme-based activity plans and projects to support the core curriculum and extend research projects.

The annual platform fee for Connect is $750 per building. Currently, with the purchase of Connect, schools will get 140 free pre-selected ebooks ($5,598 value) that align with the activity bundles. Purchasing the Connect platform allows schools to add ebooks at the lowest price of $8-$11 per ebook (a regular price of $39.99 each). If schools consider this future purchase, Capstone will turn on Connect now.

Capstone Connect Trial Information

PebbleGo

• Username: ccorange
• Password: lovetoread

School Library Month

Financial Literacy Month

National Assistant Principals Week (April 2-8)

National Student Leadership Week (April 6-22)

Volunteer Appreciation Week (April 6-22)

Every Kid Healthy Week (April 23-29)

April 2: World Autism Day

April 4: School Librarian Appreciation Day

April 6: National Student Athlete Day

April 22: Earth Day

Mississippi Bend AEA provides various instructional tools and resources for teachers and students supporting teaching and learning.

Email media-center-staff@aea9.k12.ia.us or call us at 563-344-6231 anytime for assistance with login credentials or other media-related questions.

Check out all our services! We are here to support you!

Email: hwhitman@mbaea.org
Website: https://mbaea.org/media-library/
Location: 729 21st Street, Bettendorf, IA, USA
Phone: 563-344-6256
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/missbend9/
Twitter: @MBAEA

The Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, gender identity, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, socioeconomic status, or disability in its educational programs, services or employment practices. Inquiries concerning this statement should be addressed to Kim Hofmann, Equity Coordinator, at 563-344-6415.