Classroom & Curricula

School librarians across the country have been actively engaged in implementing the Common Core State Standards. More recently public librarians have joined the conversation, asking their colleagues what they need to know about the initiative and how it will affect collection development, homework help, and reference service. Join us for a chat with Olga M. Nesi, a regional coordinator with the New York City Department of Education, Division of Library Services, and Nina Lindsay, Children's Services Coordinator at the Oakland Public Library, Oakland, CA as they explore the ways in which today's professionals in public libraries are being called on to serve students in their libraries in light of the Common Core. Archive now available!

Common Core’s “Next Generation Science Standards” will be released this month, and although critics say the new guidelines still need work, they're a step in the right direction.

The Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies has introduced a program to encourage research, discovery and creative collaboration with project-based learning. Smithsonian Quests awards online digital badges to students (and teachers!) upon completion of their activities. The projects are aimed at students of various grade levels, and can be done as part of classroom lessons or independently.

It may start this way: you’ve just finished the first lunch period, and because of today's snow, there are massive amounts of students in your library—and a surprising number of them are on task. You’re just now welcoming a social studies class that's here to work on a research project and use the laptop cart and many of your book club students are bursting through the door excitedly.

What's publishing this month? Biographies, poetry, and more!

Michaela MacColl is a history scholar drawn to strong female characters, both historical and literary. Her latest novel, Nobody's Secret, features the poet Emily Dickinson, on the trail of a murderer.

Tackling the subject of refugees from war-ravaged nations who find an outlet in playing soccer, Maria Padian's Out of Nowhere and Warren St. John's Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town explore the devastating pasts and impoverished situations of these athletes, as well as the bigotry they encounter in their new homes.

Vibrant illustrations, illuminating representations of basic math concepts, and dynamic storytelling add up to offerings that entertain as they educate.

Inquiry and nonfiction are closely related and books that explore the work of scientists can be ideal mentor texts as students develop skills that are essential for learning.