Library & Digital Resources

• New Federal School Library Legislation Introduced
• Misinformation Resources
• Where are the spooky books?
• Core Content and Second Language Learners
• OneClick Update

Direct link to the newsletter: https://www.smore.com/gyjrn

Here's news from Publishers Weekly. Read more.

Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Arizona Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) this week introduced the bicameral Right to Read Act (S. 5064 and H.R. 9056), legislation that would ensure all U.S. students have access to a school library staffed by a certified school librarian.

Image source.

The University of Washington Center for an Informed Public, in partnership with the Washington State University Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, sponsors a Misinformation Day annually for high school students.

Here are a few resources from their 2022 library of content to help students dive into building their resilience to misinformation.

How to Talk With Friends or Family Who Believe Misinformation

How can we help friends and family who have fallen for harmful misinformation? CIP co-founders Kate Starbird and Jevin West and CIP postdoctoral scholar Maddy Jalbert will share advice based on research and their own personal experiences on how to navigate these difficult conversations. Hanson Hosein, co-founder of the UW Communication Leadership program, will moderate.

Video (23 mins) | Slides with video + discussion questions

Why We Fall For Misinformation

We’re all vulnerable to misinformation. Why can it be so tricky to sort fact from fiction? Why is it sometimes difficult to believe verified facts? CIP co-founder Kate Starbird and CIP postdoctoral scholar Maddy Jalbert will help you answer those questions.

Video (22 mins) | Slides with video + classroom activity

How to Tell If What You Saw Online Is True: Sourcing Quotes

What should we do if we see something online that we’re not sure is true? What about if we see a source we’ve never heard of? CIP research scientist Mike Caulfield will walk through a few examples of how to use his SIFT method to quickly decide if something is credible enough to share.

Video (21 mins) | Slides with video + classroom activity

How to Debunk Deceptive Data

Numbers can be very persuasive – but, just like other information, they can be used in misleading ways. How do we know if we can believe the statistics and data graphics we see in headlines and social media posts? CIP co-founder Jevin West, co-creator of the popular UW course Calling Bull, will walk through a few examples of how to recognize misleading uses of data.

Video (25 mins) | Slides with video + classroom activity

How Journalists Find the Truth

How do journalists track down all the details of a story and ensure they’re reporting the truth? What rules do they follow to minimize mistakes and make sure you have all the info you need to make good decisions? Northwest Public Broadcasting journalist Johanna Bejarano will walk through the behind-the-scenes steps of reporting a recent story and Jennifer Henrichsen, Assistant Professor at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at WSU, will share how college students prepare for a career in journalism.

Johanna’s Video (14 mins) | Jennifer’s Video (9 mins) | Slides with video + classroom activity

Misinformation During a Global Pandemic: Lessons Learned. Justin Gill, health policy lecturer at UW Bothell’s School of Nursing & Health Studies and urgent care nurse practitioner in Everett, Washington, will discuss why the coronavirus pandemic led to an “infodemic” and share quick tips on cutting out misinformation.

Video (21 mins) | Slides with video + classroom activity

Making Smart Decisions About Health Information. Erica Weintraub Austin, Director of the Edward R. Murrow Center for Media and Health Promotion Research at WSU, will discuss how our decisions around health are guided by both logic and emotions such as fear, anger and wishful thinking and share how media literacy can help us make our emotions work for us instead of against us, to help protect us from mis- and disinformation.

Video (9 mins) | Slides with video + classroom activity

A district asked for additional ebooks to support our elementary readers. We added about 45 ebooks. Not all of the titles are Halloween-themed so you can use them all year.

Titles/authors and annotations are on the first tab starting on line 202. We added columns K and L with information about the type of license.

Just a reminder that as part of your selection process the teacher librarian can de-activate specific titles in the Mackin VIA admin for their school.

Below are the Mackin VIA ebooks students the Heartland AEA service area read in September in order of popularity. Each title had over 100 reads each.

1. Wonder / Palacio
2. Odyssey of Homer
3. Native Americans in Early America
4. 13th Floor / Welvaert
5. Amulet. Escape from Lucien, book 6 / Kibuish
6. Becoming Kareem: growing up on and off the court
7. Amulet. The stonekeeper, book 1 / Kibuish
8. 101 hidden animals / Berger
   

We are receiving a new report from Mackin and wanted to share some of the numbers.

• 52% of the total titles in Mackin VIA were viewed at least once last month.
• The total of number of reads was 16,531.
• The highest number of reads were the ebooks added in 2021 and 2022. Those numbers might mean: 1). Heartland AEA is purchasing titles students want based partly on teacher recommendations 2). the spreadsheet of new ebooks added that is shared in these newsletters is working as a reader's advisory tool.

This information is provided by Janel Eichenberger Hiatt and Cindra Porter from Heartland AEA.

EXAMPLE:

In addition to using the home language (an excellent, assets-based approach), the teacher will want to consider using additional strategies that promote access to core content.

• A good starting point is to know the student's background and then incorporate that background into lessons.

• Home country: Afghan Backgrounder

• Home language(s):

• Ethnologue: Languages of the World

• Phonemic inventories and cultural and linguistic information across languages

• Home Language literacy level

• Educational background

• Life experiences/interests

• Gifts and talents

• Life goals

• Social emotional information

• Family Information

• Here are a few sample templates to gather this information:

Know Your English Learner's Student and Family Background
What I Know About My English Learner - free tool from SupportEd.

Or design your own

• For a quick look at several strategies, take a look at Colorín on the Go, a new, free web app from Colorín Colorado and the American Federation of Teachers, offering more than 100 strategies for educators of English Learners, as well as multilingual resources to share with families! Topics include ideas for new teachers of English Learners, ESOL instruction, multilingual family outreach, and social and emotional support.

• Additional Information

• Printable flyer

• Intro video

• To access Colorín on the Go from your device, visit https://go.colorincolorado.org.

• Many teachers use the Differentiating for English Learners Poster that supports differentiation of instruction and assessment at five language proficiency levels in four language domains (listening, reading, speaking, and writing).

We have a short, fast-paced video that demonstrates how to change the appearance of the OneClick launchpad and organize apps.

Teachers can learn more about OneClick in this SoftChalk presentation. The August newsletter has more info.

If you have questions about the status of your district in the OneClick roll-out process, please contact Susan Schrader.

Click here for the index to earlier issues.