SPONSORED BY: ABDO Publishing and School Library Journal
EVENT DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET/12:00 – 1:00 PM PT

Archive is now available!

Learn about ABDO’s new “Comic Book Curriculum” and “Star Wars Literacy” programs for your library’s support of ELL, Special Education, and Classrooms, as well as for library events, creative writing and arts projects, and more!

This webcast will feature a report on the 10-school pilot program ABDO led with elementary students and staff in a California district, using their Marvel Age comic books and graphic novels, eBooks, and teachers guides in a weeks-long “comic con” with the kids creating their own superheroes and stories based on the books.

As part of the pilot program, staff from the SELLASP (Supporting English Language Learners in After School Programs) initiative from the California Department of Education, and the National City Public Library in San Diego helped create free video training and materials designed to help educators provide the program for a range of students, from ELL through on-level English-fluent readers.

Following the report will be information on how to transfer the techniques to support creative writing and learning for your classroom teachers, book clubs, special education programs, Title I initiatives, and all the other student populations that the research shows are aided by comic books & graphic novels. Guests include ELL leaders, 501st Legion Star Wars characters, & more.

Also included will be research from ABDO’s “Comic Books & Literacy” compilation, Common Core and graphic novels information, a look at the amount of vocabulary that’s in Marvel and Star Wars books, and related information.

Tune in and put on your superhero and superheroine masks and capes for this webcast – you’ll be ready to defeat reluctant readers, provide super-strength support to your schools, and promote the greatest superpower of them all – reading.

Panelists:

Helen Gonzales – Lead Coordinator, Region 9 Technical Assistance Center

Helen Gonzales is currently the Lead Coordinator for the Region 9 Technical Assistance Center, After School division providing technical assistance for over 600 after school programs at the San Diego County Office of Education. Ms. Gonzales is also statewide Project Lead for the Supporting English Language Learners through After School Programs (SELLASP) Project funded by the California Department of Education¹s After School Division.

In her career an educator for over 30 years Ms. Gonzales¹ experiences include serving students and families in both rural and urban school settings. As an Elementary and Middle School Principal, Vice Principal, Counselor, Teacher, Grant and College Outreach Coordinator she has served on numerous educational boards and committees including English Language Task Force, Puente Mentor Project, Association of California School Administrator, California Association of Latino Superintendents, San Diego County RTI (2) Task Force, Latino Advisory Board and the California After School Network¹s Rural and English Learner committees. The success and educational achievement of English Language Learners in both the regular day and afterschool continues to be her focus with Principals and district administrators throughout the state.

Tamarie Tigh - Writer and Trainer, ABDO Publishing

Tamarie Tigh began working in the Literacy Department of the National City Public Library in California in 1994. Specializing in interactive, multisensory teaching techniques. Tamarie created and/or coordinated several programs, including Adult Literacy for adults needing to improve their English language skills; Families for Literacy for preschool children with their caregivers; KidSounds and Building Blocks, phonics programs for elementary students and preschool children; and Family Study Teams, a literacy program conducted during the after school hours at the local elementary schools.  In 2003, when the National School District contracted the National City Public Library to provide the out of school time programs for their ten elementary schools, Ms. Tigh created

WINGS: Winners Growing Strong, which provides academic and recreational enrichment for K-6 students before school, after school, and during the summer. Tamarie has written curriculum and training materials for all of the programs that she has administrated. Ms. Tigh graduated from the University of Phoenix with her Bachelors¹ of Science in Business Management and Business Administration. She raised and homeschooled five children and has worked tirelessly in church – for which she has also written curriculum!

Moderator:
Dan Verdick – Vice President of Marketing & Communications, ABDO Publishing

Can’t make it on December 4? No problem! Register now and you will get an email reminder from School Library Journal post-live event when the webcast is archived and available for on-demand viewing at your convenience!

Follow us on Twitter! @SLJEvent  #sljabdo

By registering for this webcast, you are agreeing that School Library Journal may share your registration information with sponsors currently shown and future sponsors of this event. Click here to review the entire School Library Journal Privacy Policy.

Star Wars: National Star Wars Reads Day is October 6. The event is an initiative of Lucasfilm and its publishing partners, Abrams, Chronicle Books, Dark Horse, Del Rey, DK, Scholastic, Titan Magazines, and Workman. Although the sign-up period to receive a free Star Wars event kit from the sponsors (1000 libraries signed up) has ended, there is another option available for libraries that want to participate in the event. ABDO Publishing is offering a free Star Wars event guide containing teacher’s guides, promotional posters, interviews with celebrities connected to the franchise, a list of nearly 300 Star Wars universe terms, a video of the event that was held in the Hennepin County Library in Minneapolis, and an order form for the 68 ABDO/Spotlight Star Wars library editions. You can also follow Star Wars Reads Day on Facebook.

Game On

Free online game: Electronic Arts’s Star Wars: The Old Republic, previously a subscription only massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), will be available online for free starting this fall. The free version allows players “to play free to Level 50, with game play restrictions that limit game options and access to certain game content,” according to Jeff Hickman, the game’s executive producer. Those who continue to subscribe for $15 per month will have free unlimited access to all game features and game updates. The publisher will rely on players buying premium content and virtual items to make money.

Digitally Yours

Multimedia ebooks: eBoost is ABDO Digital’s new multimedia line of flip book ebooks that are combined with related media links. Among the multimedia features of ABDO’s flip books is the ability for readers to turn pages and make them larger. Each ebook in the new eBoost line also includes Web links; downloadable content; embedded videos; RSS and/or Twitter feeds; notes and custom links fields for teacher comments, posting messages, and student assignments; and more. The eBoost titles, featuring secure Web-based hosting by ABDO, are compatible with Macs, PCs, iPads, and Android-based tablets such as Kindle Fire or the Nook. The new line is being launched with 164 titles for elementary through middle grade students. Titles can be ordered individually or in bundles such as Animal Kingdom, Body Systems, The Civil War, Planet Earth, and more. eBoost is sold as a site license with simultaneous access for multiple users.

Granted

Public awareness campaign: The 2013 Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant is an annual $3000 award open to all libraries. To apply for the grant, libraries must come up with a public awareness campaign using the National Library Week Theme—“Communities matter @ your library—and involving at least one other community organization. An application form and guidelines are available on the Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant website. The application deadline is September 30. The winner will be announced after the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle in January 2013. The winner must provide documentation of their activities and submit a report to ALA’s Public Awareness Committee by May 20. The grant is sponsored by Scholastic Library Publishing and is administered by the Public awareness Committee of the American Library Association (ALA).

Read On

Literacy initiative: Author John Green, Michael L. Printz and Edgar Award winner, has been named the spokesperson for the 2012 Teen Read Week, a literacy initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). The theme of this year’s Teen Read Week—celebrated October 14-20—is “It Came from the Library!” “Getting more teens to pick up a book and make it a regular habit” is what Teen Read Week is all about says Jack Martin, YALSA president. Among his duties, Green will host a national event to kick off the celebration and will judge a contest in which teens are charged with creating a video about their favorite book.