Classroom & Curricula

If the "Harry Potter" books opened up fantasy for generations of readers, what will be the "gateway drug" for nonfiction readers? The author considers Jonathan Hunt's question.

Make It @ Your Library, in collaboration with Instructables.com and the American Library Association, has finally launched its searchable website, makeitatyourlibrary.org, for librarians seeking maker space ideas and projects. Make It @ Your Library—an initiative developed through the ILEAD USA program over the past year—aims to help librarians realize maker projects in their own communities at low cost.

Learning history is learning about the rise and fall of empires. And what type of stories are our students pursuing in their leisure reading? Could it be the rise and fall of empires? This author has some theories.

In SLJ's recent “Common Core and the Public Librarian” one-hour live webcast, Olga Nesi, regional coordinator for the New York City Department of Education, Division of Library Services, and Nina Lindsay, the children’s services coordinator for Oakland (CA) Public Library, discussed the national initiative and, in particular, what it means for public librarians.

Using Pinterest, online students at Rutgers have been curating boards for students on civil rights and robotics with the Common Core State Standards in mind. Take a peek at their efforts.

Christopher Harris believes that board gaming is a strong contender to become the “Next Big Thing” in schools. Yet no sector of education has laid claim to it. Could libraries be the place where gaming flourishes?

Librarian Jennifer Prince reviews BiblioBoard, a database offering ebooks, primary sources, and that can store locally created materials.

While studying, implementing, and assessing the Common Core standards, let's not lose sight of the importance of passion, commitment, and creativity. The students at J.H.S. 52 in Manhattan and their teacher, Dr. Salvador Fernandez, haven’t. Fernandez shares his vision for how everyone in a school can work to meet the challenge of the Common Core.

These first-person narratives introduce readers to the subjects' lives and experiences and help to preserve history through the eyes of someone who was there. They make for compelling reading—and are great choices for meeting the Common Core requirements for nonfiction.