Schools in our region have been given a challenge:  read the most books over Winter Break to win a great prize!  What is the prize?  We would be able to choose the books that go into Sora (we'd have a lot of money to spend on books if we win!)  See details below! Also, if you'd like to participate, please contact Mrs. Szablewski (for the elementary students) or Mrs. Horwat.  We will tell you how to turn in your sheet!  Click on the documents below for more information. 

The Contest Details

Winter Break Sora Reading Challenge

Learn about various Winter Holidays with this new Choice Board!  Students (and teachers and parents) can learn all about the holidays here and abroad with crafts, videos, song, and interactive (and some MULTI-MEDIA) e-books!  

How it works:  Click on the holiday that interests you.  Click on the activities that interest you.  Click on the picture of the house to return to the first page (if you want to explore another holiday).  

If you choose a Brainpop video, be sure to "log in with Google".  

Winter Holiday Choice Boards (updated for HP!) 

If you have any trouble accessing any of the items, please email me at jhorwat@hpschools.org.   If you enjoyed any of it, please let me know in the comments!  

Credit:  This Choice Board is a modified version of Shannon McClintock Miller's Holiday Choice Board.  She is my librarian hero.  

Click on the links below to learn about Thanksgiving in a way (or ways) of your choosing!  There are ebooks (no password required if you are logged into your hpschools accounts!), videos, songs, arts and crafts, a virtual field trip, digital escape rooms, and more!  There is one for GWF students, and one for HPE & HPMS students.  Enjoy!  

GWF Thanksgiving Choice Board

HPE & HPMS Thanksgiving Choice Board (Grades 3-6)

Credit:  I modified this fabulous Choice Board that was originally created by my librarian hero, Shannon McClintock Miller.  

Students have digital access to databases loaded with educational texts, videos, interactive materials, and more!  Students will have a copy of the handout with all of the usernames and passwords and such sent home with them.  Here’s a link if you are looking at this digitally: Digital Library Resources Flyer  Because this has passwords on it, it can only be accessed by someone logged in with their hpschools gmail account. 

Monday and Tuesday, Week 1.  We can deliver library books along with the other student materials.  Please use Opals (Hpschools>Departments>Library>Click on the picture of the library) to find books in our library, and email jhorwat@hpschools.org with requests.  Mrs. Horwat will send the books along! (No limit at this time).  

In student email accounts, students can search for “Overdrive” for step-by-step instructions on how to access our e-books and audiobooks, readable/playable on any device!  Use this time to catch up on your reading!  

With Overdrive, the ebooks and audiobooks are available to one user at a time, so they're not always available.  If you're waiting on title, don't forget that we have access to some amazing e-books and audiobooks, for free, through our TumbleBooks (elementary) and TumbleBook Cloud subscriptions!  Access this via Search for Success through your school library's OPALS catalog or through SNAP directly.  The cool thing about TumbleBooks are that they can be accessed by an entire classroom at the same time (no need to wait!).  

What if we have an ebook version of a book, but your student needs to have it read aloud?  The student can use their device or the computer's text-to-speech functions.  This video here is my favorite source for how to get texts read aloud on your phones, and it works well with any e-books, websites, or even text messages, including TumbleBooks and Tumblebook Cloud.  Give it a try! 

I love this list of excellent poetry books for elementary school:  From "We Are Teachers"

And this list for HS and MS is worth considering:  from "We are Teachers": 24 Must-Share Poems from MS & HS

Warning:  "Deer Hit" made me cry and kind of ruined my day.

Ms. McNamara has a list of great picture books for teaching digital literacy in the classroom by way of shared picture books that she has shared with you already.  The list included:

• The Technology Tail
• Chicken Clicking
• But I read it on the internet! 
• Once Upon a Time Online
• Goodnight, iPad
  • And more

Today, I learned about 5 new digital citizenship picture books to share with the kiddos, and here they are:

• Blackout by John Rocco
  • Will ignite "discussions about balancing screen time and other activities" (School Library Journal) 
• Nerdy Birdy Tweets by Aaron Reynolds
  • Reminds students that while technology can connect us with people all around the world, the people in our real lives are also important
• Goodnight Selfie by Scott Menchin 
  • Helps children learn about the choices they need to make when developing their online persona--how to shape their digital footprint
• Webster's Manners by Hannah Whaley
  • School Library Journal says that this book is "an excellent choice to kick off conversations about classroom tech expectations"
• Troll Stinks by Jeanne Willis 
  • Shows the power of words to hurt, even through a screen.  

 Here is another resource on the topic:  https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2016/11/27/top-ten-picture-books-to-use-to-teach-digital-literacy-by-erin-marone/

Which books are you using with your children and students to talk about digital citizenship?  

Both the MS and HS Battle of the Books teams battled 7 regional school districts in the annual Regional Battle of the Books Competition held at Hamilton College March 19, 2019.  Congrats, HP! 

This article gives you an idea!  Don't Overlook Your School Librarian.  

For Buzz users:  Here is a quick (less than 2 minutes) demo on how to prompt your students to conduct their own research using our databases right from Buzz (easy access!  No passwords!):  Video Tutorial