This list of tools and resources from SLJ staff, bloggers, and contributors will enrich your understanding of the national initiative to implement new standards of language arts, information literacy, and mathematics for grades K–12.

SLJ 3-Part Webcast Series: On Common Core

We kicked off a 3-part free webcast series last week on the on how the new Common Core education standards are impacting your library, your school, and your students. You still have time to register for the next session, Librarians, the Secret Weapon, being held on November 20. In these three (3) one-hour webcasts, library, literacy, and education experts from across the country will explore how to effectively implement this nationwide initiative.

All Aboard!: Implementing Common Core offers school librarians an opportunity to take the lead.
By Rebecca Hill

Understanding the Common Core State Standards : A review of John Kendall’s book, a primer on CCSS
By Alicia Eames

CCSS and us: a video Q&A with John Kendall
By Joyce Valenza

Librarian Creates Guide to the Common Core Standards 
By SLJ Staff

Editorials by SLJ  Editor-in-Chief, Rebecca T. Miller on Librarians and the Common Core

‘I Can Help You With That’: Providing solutions puts librarians at the center of Common Core | SLJ June 2012 Editorial

What Creativity Looks Like: Put a Bunch of Librarians in a Room, and Great Ideas Fly | Editorial
Entries from SLJ’s “On Common Core” column by various experts in the education and library fields

By Olga Nesi
The New Standards Dovetail Elegantly with Inquiry, and We Know Inquiry
The Question of Text Complexity: Reader and task trump traditional measures

By Paige Jaeger
Is a Picture Worth $2,500?: Understanding Facts Visually

By Melissa Jacobs-Israel
A Sticker Won’t Do the Job: We need appealing nonfiction that will engage students and build rigor
Making the Parent Connection

By Mary Ann Cappiello, Myra Zarnowski, and Marc Aronson
Cultivating Collaboration
Creating Community

Installments from Christopher Harris’s “The Next Big Thing” column

The End of Nonfiction: Common Core standards force us to rethink categorization
A Librarian’s Tricks for Finding Those ‘Complex Texts’ Cited in the Common Core
We Could Be Heroes: Research plus tech skills are a hot commodity
A Video Hosting Solution for Schools

Related entries from “Consider the Source” blog by author and educator Marc Aronson

The Problem with Common Core’s ‘Appendix B’
The Reign in Spain
The issues and questions raised by Common Core come up abroad as well.
Convergence
Discusses a set of books that looks at one moment in history from three different angles.
Shuffling Off to Buffalo
The role of the librarian in teaching students about “guided inquiry.”

Tools profiled in Joyce Valenza’s column, “Neverending Search”

New from AASL: Best Websites for Teaching and Learning
New Google Education Search Hub
You’re gonna want to share ShareMyLesson

Informational texts, novels, ideas, and websites that align with the Common Core

The Wild World of Steve Jenkins | An Author Study
By Barbara Auerbach

On the Radar—Top Picks from the Editors at Junior Library Guild: New Science Nonfiction Supports Common Core
By Deborah B. Ford

To Infinity and Beyond | New Sci-Fi Titles for Teens
By Joyce Adams Burner

Underneath the glitz of spaceships, extraterrestrials, and techno bling, these young adult sci-fi novels feature complex characters exploring the question of what it means to be human. Incorporate them into social studies, technology, and literature classes, and blast off into discussions touching on politics, culture, science, the environment. The possibilities are limitless!

Afghan Days, Afghan Dreams
By Daryl Grabarek

The resources are ideal for teachers looking to educate students about Afghanistan while also embracing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

Kno Launches K–12 E-Textbooks, Geared Toward Parents, Home Use
By Kathy Ishizuka

Education software outfit Kno has partnered with publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to offer interactive textbooks for K–12 students. The digital titles, which align with Common Core subjects, are available for $9.99 or less for a one-year rental.

At the Core: Audiobooks Promote Critical Reading Habits | Listen In
By Sharon Grover and Lizette Hannegan

Finding a Voice | Writers’ Guides
By Vicki Reutter
These three guides make the often daunting task of writing a little easier by instructing students how to write in a variety of genres, including journalism, poetry, humor, and more.

Libraries, Ebooks and Beyond: Library “Makers” Share How It’s Done
By The Digital Shift

Searching for some great ways to get kids hooked on creating digital content? Attendees at the October 17 Digital Shift event got some great tips from Wes Fryer, Melissa Techman, Liz Castro and Erin Daly, all participants in a panel on “Makers in the Library.”

Get Kids Designing with Student-Created Games | The Gaming Life
By Brian Mayer
A program that gives students a new avenue to display mastery-level understanding of the curriculum while incorporating 21st-century skills as well as the Common Core Standards.

What Is the Future of Reference?
By Henrietta Thornton-Verma

Christopher Harris, of New York’s Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, and Wendy Stephens, of New Market, Alabama’s Buckhorn High School led a spirited discussion of the merits of print vs. digital learning, the impact of those Common Core guidelines on publishers’ plans, and other timely and vexing topics.

News Bites: Support Common Core with a New Nonfiction Program from Scholastic
By Phyllis Levy Mandell

Wii Learn: Surprise elementary grade students with a fun way to learn math
By Matthew C. Winner and Meghan Hearn

Viewing the video game console through the eyes of an educator opens up a world of mathematical applications through which students can master concepts, teachers can align with the Common Core Standards, and classrooms can reflect students’ experiences and interests.

Common Core in the news:

Romney Doesn’t Support Fed Dollars for Common Core
By Rocco Staino

Study: Teacher Support for Common Core Standards Growing; Public Awareness Still Lags
By Debra Lau Whelan

Kentucky First to Adopt Common Core State Standards Initiative
By Lauren Barack