Library & Digital Resources

• Iowa Legislature Resources
• New Ebooks
• Free Invention Platform for K-12 Teachers and Students
• January 6 Primary Source Documents
• Computer Science and Teacher Librarians
• Iowa Childrens Lit Illustrators
• Another Quiet Celebration
• New Videos in Learn 360
• Professional Learning: Readings

Direct link to the newsletter: https://www.smore.com/q5h1uw

Here are resources that you and your students can access during the 2023 legislative session.

• Daily agendas of committees and subcommittees
• Track bills
• Stream floor debates online
• Find your legislators

Photo source: Cartoon gavel. Clip Art. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/search/186_1622384/1/186_1622384/cite. Accessed 11 Jan 2023.

One of the districts suggested these titles for purchase to support teaching and learning. Titles were added to the elementary Mackin VIA collections. Titles with an * were also added to the middle school VIA collections. Remember, each school has the final choice and titles can be deactivated.

Carrie and the great storm: Galveston hurricane / Gunderson, J.

Daisy and the deadly flu: a 1918 influenza survival story / Gilbert, J.

Dictionary for a better world: poems, quotes, and anecdotes from A to Z / Latham, I. *

Dream builder: the story of architect Philip Freelon / Lyons, K.

Finding Langston / Cline-Ransome *

I am courageous / Schuette, S.

I am one: a book of action / Verde, S.

Molly and the twin towers: a 9/11 survival story / Fleck, J.

Noelle at sea: a Titanic survival story / Smith, N.

One little lot: the 1-2-3s of an urban garden / Mullen, D.

Pigskins to paintbrushes: the story of football-playing artist Ernie Barnes / Tate, D.

Pura's cuentos: how Pura Belpre reshaped libraries with her stories / Mentel, A.

Rabbi and the reverend: Joachim Prinz, Martin Luther King Jr, and their fight against silence / Ades, A.

Red and green and blue and white: inspired by a true story / Wind, L.

Sarah journeys west: an Oregon Trail survival story / Smith, N.

Saturday at the food pantry / O'Neill, D.

Scrap metal swan: a river clean-up story / Linden, J.

Some places more than others / Watson, R.

Tristan Strong destroys the world / Mbalia, K. *

Tristan Strong keeps punching / Mbalia, K. *

Tristan Strong punches a hole in the sky / Mbalia, K. *

Ways to grow love / Watson, R.

Ways to share joy / Watson, R.

We have a dream / Craig, M.

Yasmin the recycler / Faruqi, S.

You are my friend: the story of Mister Rogers and his neighborhood / Reid, A.

Your legacy: a bold reclaiming of our enslaved history / Williams. S.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has contracted with Second Avenue Learning to launch EquIP HQ, a free K–12 platform for teachers and students to learn how to invent solutions to real-world problems using STEM and STEAM skills. The grade-level, standards-based program takes learners through design, prototypes, tests, improvements, and the intellectual property rights patent process.

EquIP HQ is divided into four grade-specific content portals: K–2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, and includes teacher and family guides for helping students with lesson plans and activities. Each portal has explore and learn panels; videos, such as types of patents and student inventions; a timeline; match game; promotion and trademark zones; and activities to brainstorm and design an invention. Lesson plans encourage students to think about problems and challenges in a new way and what they can invent to address them. Free tryouts of the program are available on the site.

More information is here.

Your social studies department may be interested in this resource.

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) publishes free, easy-to-read ebooks from public documents—no library card or sign-in required. It uses the Palace app for iOS or Android or epub format at palacebookshelf.dp.la.

The January 6th on the Record: The Investigation into the Attack on the U.S. Capitol is an ebook compendium with transcripts of the televised hearings, links to videotaped versions of those hearings and to scores of federal documents, videos, and reports.

Ebook features: keyword search, highlight, translate, note taking, bookmark, change font and size

Click here to download.

Image is from the compendium link.

Here are some resources to share in conversations in your district about the school library and computer science--particularly elementary. You might be surprised how many of the standards may already be addressed.

• Libraries Ready to Code: An Initiative of the American Library Association
• AASL Standards Crosswalks
• Crosswalk with Iowa TL and CS Standards
• Computational Thinking and Children's Literature and Ebooks

Infographic source: https://www.ala.org/tools/readytocode/

How many Iowa illustrators of children's literature can you name?

Image source: Map of USA. Photograph. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/search/118_820727/1/118_820727/cite. Accessed 18 Jan 2023.

Usage statistics aren't very exciting and you can look at the numbers in different ways, Students read 132,156 PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next ebooks in December. That's worth a shout out! That's got to make an impact on literacy! Here are some of the highest users last month.

• Van Meter
• Prairie Trail Elementary (Ankeny)
• Northwest Elementary (Ankeny)
• Urbandale HS
• Edwards Elementary (Ames)
• Don Oviatt Elementary (Norwalk)
• Garton Elementary (Des Moines)

There are 142 new videos in Learn 360. Access through AEA Scout or Learn 360 in OneClick. This link takes you to a sub-set of Learn 360 with just the new titles. New materials are for our youngest learners to high school students. Sample titles/series:

• Six Queens of Henry VIII
• Makematic series (lots of info on computer science and computational thinking)
• Manners Manor is a new series from Baby Einstein
• Elephant Nature Park (Sanctuary)
• Combat Poaching in Southern Africa
• On Safari with Nala series
• Elephant Biologist & Elephant Communication (ChangeMakers)

Here are six illustrators according to the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators.

https://www.teachingbooks.net/ql5bp6h

Knowledge Quest current issue

https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/

IASL Resources

https://www.iasl-ia.org/advocacy/resources

Literacy Focus: Welcoming Places, Safe Spaces

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/91249-literacy-focus-welcoming-places-safe-spaces.html

Click here for the index to earlier issues.