Integrating Children's Literature

Wadham, Rachel L., and Terrell A. Young. Integrating Children's Literature through the Common Core State Standards. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-61069-608-1

Note: The Oregon State Library also has the related book, Integrating Young Adult Literature through the Common Core State Standards.

Publisher's Description
Implementation of the Common Core State Standards with the integration of children's literature can transform teaching and learning into a holistic and engaging experience.

Tackling nearly every aspect of the English Language Arts Standards and the measures they employ, it offers a thorough plan for engaging elementary school students with literature. It explores the benefits and teaching principles behind CCSS, and explains how to apply them to literature. Along with the strengths it has in connection to CCSS, you will learn about the history of children's literature and what both fiction and nonfiction bring to the classroom.

You will find plenty of practical applications of the CCSS, including book lists and lesson ideas, along with thorough examples. There is also a wealth of information on the kinds of readers you will encounter and explanations of how to meet their needs. A final section focuses on creating a curriculum, connecting the theory throughout the book with concrete lessons plans and units that cover the main CCSS skill sets.

Features

• Offers an easy-to-understand explanation of the CCSS
• Defines and explains the CCSS three-prong approach to text complexity
• Provides usable lesson and unit plans
• Explains how to use children's literature as a primary tool for implementing the CCSS

Collaborating for Real Literacy

Pitcher, Sharon M., and Bonnie W. Mackey. Collaborating for Real Literacy: Librarian, Teacher, Literary Coach, and Principal. 2nd ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Linworth, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-61069-241-0

Publisher's Description
Advances in literacy require collaboration between all of a school's stakeholders. This book harnesses the latest research and takes into consideration CCSS to show how to make that collaboration a reality.

Authentic literacy practice is crucial to preparing all students to be successful both in the workplace and college in the 21st century. Insisting that this literacy achievement will only happen when librarians, teachers, literacy coaches, and administrators work together in their schools, Collaborating for Real Literacy addresses the role of each instructional leader individually and examines the importance of the group collectively in bolstering the literacy of all students. Practical ways to support the teaching of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are infused throughout every chapter.

In this second edition of the book, core chapters on scaffolding, literacy centers, family literacy, English-language learners, comprehension, assessment, writing, and discussion have been updated based on current research and CCSS. Each of these chapters now offers suggestions for literacy coaches. Also new are recommendations for grades K–5 and 6–12, demonstrating specific ways to apply instructional ideas to different age levels and providing materials that can be used for the instruction. Additionally, three new chapters have been added with real literacy instructional ideas for content area reading and Response to Intervention (support for struggling readers).

Features

• Emphasizes adolescent literacy and literacy coaching, currently the two most significant topics in literacy instruction
• Summarizes current literacy research, including research and practices for adolescent literacy
• Provides detailed examples and applications of theoretical principles of reading instruction
• Presents practical information on infusing technology throughout literacy instruction
• Encourages utilizing conversations in the classroom and describes methods for implementation

The Library Collaboration and Flexible Scheduling Toolkit

Donnelly, Andria C. The Library Collaboration and Flexible Scheduling Toolkit: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2015.
ISBN: 978-1-4408-3684-8

Publisher's Description

Appropriate for experienced elementary librarians as well as students in school library preparation programs, this powerful book explains the advantages of utilizing a flexible schedule with collaboration as compared to a fixed schedule without collaboration.

[This book] takes readers step by step through the process of considering collaboration as a method to deliver library services. Authored by an experienced elementary librarian and author for School Library Monthly, the text begins by explaining the relevant research and underscoring the importance of being able to articulate the meaning of the research to library stakeholders. Next, readers learn how to gain support from administration and to train the staff in effective collaboration to impact student achievement.

The book provides a complete answer to the complex question that many librarians and librarians in training have: "How do I go about putting collaboration and a flexible library schedule into place in my library?" Specific methods and solutions for handling problems that may come up—such as ways to win over a reluctant staff, or what to do in situations where a library assistant is not available—are provided to lend the author's real-world experience to the challenges that the librarian might encounter in undertaking collaboration.
   
Features

• Provides a succinct and accessible yet complete explanation of research about collaboration
• Supplies practical guidance for moving towards a collaborative methodology, including methods to approach the administration to win support, a training plan for staff, and team planning strategies
• Explains the many side benefits of collaboration, including lowered student-to-teacher ratios, better accommodation of individual student differences, more physical and personnel resources, and higher student achievement
• Addresses how to incorporate the library assistant into collaboration as well as what to do if there is no assistant
• Identifies methods for handling a variety of personalities and common situational issues or difficulties

Multimedia Learning Stations

Spisak, Jen. Multimedia Learning Stations: Facilitating Instruction, Strengthening the Research Process, Building Collaborative Partnerships. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2015.
ISBN: 978-1-4408-3517-9

Publisher's Description
Learn how to use rotating multimedia learning stations, employing databases, websites, education apps, videos, audio podcasts, online games, books, and more to build a strong, collaborative library program that helps you strengthen student understanding of the research process.

Libraries across America are losing funding and suffering from cuts in positions and programs. The process presented here will help you increase library use and prove that school libraries—and librarians—are a necessity. Written for middle and secondary school librarians, the book provides a guide to using standards-based and content-focused learning stations in the library to facilitate instruction and strengthen student's research skills. You'll learn what multimedia stations are, why they should be used, and how to use them to enhance and extend direct instruction. Plus, the book breaks down the steps for building sets of stations and shows you how to organize and implement them for maximum impact.

In addition to describing the "hows," the book provides sound arguments for why multimedia learning stations work. The method ensures that students gain continued practice with resources and build the skills and dispositions you want them to have. It also increases the amount of collaboration you'll have with teachers and enhances your interactions with and influence on your students. Teacher and student testimonials are interspersed throughout the book, and appendices offer you specific examples from which to draw.

Features

• Details what multimedia learning stations are and the reasons they should be used in the middle and secondary school library
• Features unique content designed for use in middle and high school libraries
• Shares detailed, step-by-step instructions on how you can design, develop, and implement multimedia learning stations and keep them organized and current
• States the applicable AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner for each set of multimedia learning stations
• Includes detailed appendices of multiple sets of multimedia learning stations that are ready to be used in collaboration with English, history, math, and science classes in the library

Guided Inquiry Approach to Teaching the Humanities

Schmidt, Randell K., Emilia N. Giordano, and Geoffrey M. Schmidt. A Guided Inquiry Approach to Teaching the Humanities Research Project. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2015.
ISBN: 978-1-4408-3438-7

Publisher's Description
Aligned with the Common Core, this book enables teachers and librarians to develop lessons and workshops as well as to teach high school students how to research and write a humanities paper using a guided inquiry approach.

Being able to use the inquiry process to successfully research, write, and prepare papers and others types of presentations is not only necessary for a student's preparation for collegiate work, but is truly a requisite life skill. This book provides a solid guided inquiry curriculum for cultivating the skills needed to properly investigate a subject in the humanities, interrogate both textual and non-textual sources, interpret the information, develop an understanding of the topic, and effectively communicate one's findings. It is a powerful and practical guide for high school humanities teachers, school librarians, community college humanities teachers and librarians, and early college-level humanities instructors as well as for high school and college students who want to learn how to conduct and write up humanities research.

Part one comprises a teacher's practicum that explains the power of guided inquiry. Part two contains student's workshops with instructions and materials to conduct a guided humanities project and paper on the high school level. The third part provides materials for a professional development session for this assignment as well as assessment tools and other supplementary materials such as student handouts. Based on the authors' 15 years' experience in teaching guided inquiry, the 20 workshops in the book use a step-by-step, constructivist strategy for teaching a sophisticated humanities project that enables college readiness.

Features

• Presents 20 workshops that provide deep detail in humanities study, interrogation of sources, note taking, and developing the research question
• Includes teachers' practicums that explain guided inquiry and humanities study
• Explains methods that will enable students to learn how to interrogate drama, photos, art, artifacts, garments, music, political cartoons, speech, fiction, and nonfiction
• Describes the Information Search Process within the structures of a step-by-step workshop environment that serves both research and writing

Guided Inquiry

Kuhlthau, Carol C., Leslie K. Maniotes, and Ann K. Caspari. Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century. 2nd ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-4408-3381-6

Publisher's Description

This dynamic approach to an exciting form of teaching and learning will inspire students to gain insights and complex thinking skills from the school library, their community, and the wider world.

Guided inquiry is a way of thinking, learning, and teaching that changes the culture of a school into a collaborative inquiry community. Global interconnectedness calls for new skills, new knowledge, and new ways of learning to prepare students with abilities and competencies that rise to meet the challenges of a changing world. The challenge for the information-age school is to educate students for living and working in this information-rich technological environment.

At the core of being educated today is knowing how to learn and innovate from a variety of sources. Through guided inquiry, students see school learning and real life meshed in meaningful ways. They develop higher order thinking and strategies for seeking meaning, creating, and innovating. Today's schools are challenged to develop student talent, coupling the rich resources of the school library with those of the community and wider world. How well are you preparing your students to draw on the knowledge and wisdom of the past while using today's technology to advance new discoveries in the future? This book is the introduction to guided inquiry. It is the place to begin to consider and plan how to develop an inquiry learning program for your students.

Features

• Identifies and explains the five kinds of learning accomplished through guided inquiry
• Includes a new chapter on how to meet current curricular standards throughout inquiry learning
• Introduces the Guided Inquiry Design framework
• Describes guided inquiry's unique approach to transforming learning in today's schools
• Discusses how to embed student research in the inquiry process at all grade levels

3D Printing

Cano, Lesley M. 3D Printing: A Powerful New Tool for Your School Library. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2015.

ISBN: 978-1-61069-977-8

Publisher's Description

This beginner's guide to 3D design and printing provides librarians with lessons, tips, and instructions for integrating these technologies into the K–12 standards-based curriculum.

This fascinating primer illustrates how 3D printing can be used in different curriculum areas to engage and inspire your K–12 students. You'll gain insight into the printing process and learn how to best utilize multi-dimensional equipment in your library. Written in non-technical language, the book introduces the technology, shows how to get started, and offers ideas for creating project-based learning models.

Author Lesley M. Cano, a school librarian with considerable experience integrating 3D printing into the school curriculum, discusses how to implement this technology in projects across disciplines ranging from math to fine arts and grade levels K through 12. She offers concrete examples that can be easily adjusted to fit subject areas and developmental needs. The title also includes step-by-step instructions for using freely available software tools along with practical tips and strategies to manage implementation of this innovative new technology.

Features

• Includes an appendix of resources for school librarians to get the most out of three-dimensional design and printing
• Suggests practical lesson ideas for integrating 3D printing into language arts, math, science, and social studies
• Focuses on 3D printing as a tool to engage students in curriculum content and promote hands-on, problem-based learning with a focus on authentic, practical application
• Offers suggestions for policy development and guidelines for managing and implementing this powerful technology

Using Images to Teach Critical Thinking

Cordell, Diane M. Using Images to Teach Critical Thinking Skills: Visual Literacy and Digital Photography. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2016. ISBN: 978-1-4408-3515-5

Publisher's Description

Learn how to teach visual literacy through photography—an easy way for you to combine student interest with resources at hand to enhance a key learning skill.

Research indicates that 75 to 90 percent of classroom learning occurs through the visual system, making visual literacy a key component of information literacy and of critical thinking—a requirement throughout the Common Core standards. It's no surprise then that visual literacy is increasingly recognized as a competency that should be part of every student's skill set. Fortunately, this critical skill can be incorporated into existing curriculum, and this book shows you how to do just that.

Written for K–12 classroom teachers and librarians, this all-you-need-to-know volume discusses the importance of visual literacy in education and examines how it helps address current learning standards. The book shows you how to use photography and digital images to cultivate critical thinking, inquiry, and information literacy; provides examples of the use of photographic images in the classroom and in "real life"; and addresses how students can be ethical practitioners in a digital world. In addition, the book includes sample lessons you can easily implement, regardless of your level of technical and photographic expertise. A resource list of photo editing, curation, and museum sites is included.

Features

• Discusses visual literacy, critical thinking, and photography
• Shows that librarians are often key to teaching and supporting visual literacy
• Provides a nontechnical approach anyone can use
• Fits with the popular makerspace movement
• Offers activities with standards and essential questions to help teachers insert these suggested activities into their lesson plans

Coteaching and Collaboration

 

Loertscher, David V., and Carol Koechlin, eds. Coteaching and Collaboration: How and Why Two Heads are Better Than One. Salt Lake City: Teacher Librarian Press, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-61751-032-8

Publisher's Description

From both a theoretical and research perspective, coteaching is simply the most powerful foundational program element a teacher librarian can have to make a difference in teaching and learning. This collection of articles from Teacher Librarian magazine brings together the power of coteaching between classroom teachers and teacher librarians. Thus, this collection can serve as a conversational piece of professional development or the basis of explaining and working with a school faculty on this powerful tool and strategy. The collection begins with the eloquent theoretical background of coteaching by Dr. Ross Todd and others, followed by a new and simple building level measure of coteaching impact by David V. Loertscher, Keith Curry Lance, and others who have successfully measured the impact of coteaching. In another section, various authors outline exemplary practices used by teacher librarians as they embed themselves in various aspects of learning experiences. Finally, there are a number of articles by teacher librarians reporting and showcasing their success in their schools and how they went about building their own track records. This essential collection, all in one handy volume, is a treasury of the best thinking and practices as teacher librarians build a learning commons program and demonstrate their indispensability.

Crash Course in Weeding Library Collections

Goldsmith, Francisca. Crash Course in Weeding Library Collections. Libraries Unlimited, 2016. ISBN: 978-1-4408-3688-6

Description
Although difficult for some librarians, weeding is essential to keeping your collection healthy and relevant. Perfect for all types of libraries and for both paraprofessionals and librarians unfamiliar with modern weeding methods, this practical guide offers clear guidance that can help you cope with the sometimes-paralytic fear and distaste that can accompany a must-do task. 

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Introduction to Weed Identification

Chapter 2 - The Weeding Process

Chapter 3 - Library Staff Weeding Responsibilities

Chapter 4 - Determining Datedness

Chapter 5 - Creating a Weeding Plan

Chapter 6 - Weeding as Library Policy

Chapter 7 - Communication and Publicity about Weeding

Chapter 8 - Models and Tips for Library Administrators

Apps for Librarians

Apps for Librarians: Using the Best Mobile Technology to Educate, Create, and Engage by Nicole Hennig. Libraries Unlimited, 2014. 978-1-61069-530-5.

Mobile apps are empowering for people of all ages and abilities
As librarians and educators, we are passionate about learning and access to information for all. Contrary to the popular idea that apps are only useful for “consumption,” the best mobile apps are being used effectively as tools to enable learning and knowledge creation.

Got tablets in your library, but no time to find the best apps?
Apps are everywhere these days and it can be overwhelming to know where to start. You probably have questions like these:

• How do I find and use the best quality apps?
• Which apps will help me in my professional work?
• Which apps should libraries recommend to their communities?

This book will give you a solid foundation, along with inspiration. You’ll learn:

• which quality apps have become “core” and how to use them
• how mobile devices are enabling better learning
• how mobile apps are improving life for those with special needs
• how to keep up with new apps and find quality reviews
• how to review an app, including a checklist of what to include
• inspiring examples of how libraries are using apps in creative ways.

An opportunity for librarians
When you become an app expert, you become the go-to person for your community—evaluating, reviewing and recommending the very best apps for knowledge creation and active learning.

See the book's website for Table of Contents, author information, and updates on information that has changed since the printing of the book.

Library Robotics

Library Robotics: Technology and English Language Arts Activities for Ages 8-24 by Sarah Kepple. Libraries Unlimited, 2015. 978-1-4408-3558-2.

Publisher's Description

A dive-right-in, quick-start guide for busy library professionals who want to build literacy, STEAM, and other 21st-century skills using simple robots in a fun, collaborative environment.

Robotics in the library? Absolutely. Robotics can add a new dimension to library programming—one that can help America's youth build the Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) and 21st-century learning skills they will need to be successful in an international, technology-infused workforce. This book provides a complete guide for launching a robotics program in the library and demonstrates the links between robotics programming and learning. It also includes complete instructions for various program models that employ robotics.

Robotics programs are an ideal way for public and school libraries to demonstrate their vital roles as the hubs of community learning, and the subject is universally popular with students as well as parents and industrial funders. The book's clearly and succinctly written chapters begin by providing the information that librarians will need for stakeholders and to select equipment, then move logically into addressing guided activities and expansion ideas. Children's librarians, teen librarians, school media specialists (particularly those focused on middle school students), and adult and technology librarians looking to connect with "new adults" will find this book useful and appealing.

Features

• Provides the only guidebook currently available about robotics written by a librarian, for librarians—a simple, practical guide that virtually any librarian can use, no prior tech experience necessary
• Guides librarians in using their knowledge of literacy, youth development, and guided-inquiry methodology to gain an accessible entry point to grow their technological skills alongside the youth they serve
• Includes lesson plans and activity guides to help you start a simple robotics curriculum as quickly as possible
• Supplies outcome measurement tools
• Discusses funding ideas and sample budgets

See the publisher's website for Table of Contents, author information, and a look inside the book.  

Introduction to Cataloging and Classification, 11th Edition.

Joudrey, Daniel N., Arlene G. Taylor, David P. Miller. Introduction to Cataloging and Classification. 11th Edition. Libraries Unlimited, 2015. ISBN: 978-59884-856-4


Description
This new edition of the classic cataloging textbook provides an introduction to descriptive cataloging based on contemporary standards, explaining the basic tenets to readers without previous experience, as well as to those who merely want a better understanding of the process as it exists today. The text opens with the foundations of cataloging, then moves to specific details and subject matter such as Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR), Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD), the International Cataloging Principles (ICP), and RDA.  The book introduces MARC, BIBFRAME, and other approaches used to communicate and display bibliographic data. Discussions of formatting, presentation, and administrative issues complete the book; questions useful for review and study appear at the end of each chapter.

Table of Contents
PART I: INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1: Cataloging in Context
Chapter 2: Development of Catalogs and Cataloging Codes

PART II: DESCRIPTION AND ACCESS
Chapter 3: Underlying Principles and Conceptual Models
Chapter 4: RDA Basics
Chapter 5: Manifestations and Items
Chapter 6: Works and Expressions
Chapter 7: Persons, Families, Places, and Corporate Bodies
Chapter 8: Relationships and the Use of Access Points
Chapter 9: RDA Metadata in the MARC Format

PART III: AUTHORITY CONTROL
Chapter 10: Authority Control

PART IV: SUBJECT ACCESS
Chapter 11: Subject Access
Chapter 12: Verbal Subject Access
Chapter 13: Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)
Chapter 14: Sears List of Subject Headings (SEARS)
Chapter 15: Other Verbal Access Systems
Chapter 16: Classification
Chapter 17: Decimal Classification
Chapter 18: Library of Congress Classification (LCC)
Chapter 19: Creation of Complete Call Numbers
Chapter 20: Other Classification Systems

PART V: FORMATTING AND PRESENTATION
Chapter 21: MARC Encoding
Chapter 22: Alternative Containers for Metadata
Chapter 23: International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD)

PART VI: ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES
Chapter 24: Cataloging Management and Support
Appendix A: RDA Outline
Appendix B: ICC11 RDA Book Template
Glossary of Selected Terms and Abbreviations
Selected Bibliography
Index

Marketing Moxie for Librarians

Marketing Moxie for Librarians: Fresh Ideas, Proven Techniques, and Innovative Approaches by Paula Watson-Lakamp. Libraries Unlimited, 2015. 978-1-61069-893-1.

Publisher's Description

Fun and easy to read, this marketing and promotion guide offers you the "big picture" of how best to spend your limited funds and energy to create a successful marketing strategy—from traditional promotions such as advertising and posters to social media marketing.

Robust, resilient, and flexible marketing is an absolute necessity for today's libraries. Fortunately, marketing can be fun. Through this savvy guide, you'll discover a wealth of fresh, actionable ideas and approaches that can be combined with tried-and-true marketing techniques to serve any library. Focusing on building platforms rather than chasing trends, the book offers low- and no-budget ideas for those in small libraries as well as information that can be used by libraries that have a staff of professionals.

The guide opens with an overview of the basics of marketing and continues through the numerous channels that should be incorporated into a modern-day marketing strategy mix. Branding, merchandising, and media relations are covered, as are social media, new technologies, fundraising, and advocacy. You'll also learn how to use tools such as data-driven information gathering and email segmentation to help your library compete and stay relevant. Perfect for beginners, the book will be equally useful to seasoned communicators who are looking for creative ideas, new techniques, and innovative approaches to boost the effectiveness of their existing marketing efforts.

Features

• Takes you through a step-by-step process of creating a marketing campaign that meets the needs of your patrons and your library
• Covers conventional marketing strategies such as print and broadcast media along with new social media venues
• Includes a guide to marketing plans and content calendars
• Offers chapter-by-chapter "Moxie Tips and Tricks" to help you get started and succeed in marketing your library
• Presents ways to bolster your creativity toolkit when the ideas just won't come

See the publisher's website for Table of Contents and author information.

Public Library Buildings

Public Library Buildings: The Librarian's Go-To Guide for Construction, Expansion, and Renovation Projects by Lisa Charbonnet. Libraries Unlimited, 2015. 978-1-4408-3858-3.

Publisher's Description
This go-to guide covers the entire process of building or renovating a public library—from initial planning, to maintaining the completed space, to measuring success.

In light of current social and technological shifts, libraries are reinventing themselves. Meeting place, makerspace, community center, cultural hub, multimedia lender—today's public library is all of these and more. Whether your library is undertaking a simple renovation or redesign or looking at a full-blown building project, the voice of the librarian is important to the project, and you need to understand both the processes involved and the questions to ask.

Beginning with the development of a pre-construction vision, the book guides you through the entire process. It covers everything from making a case for the project to the authorities and the community through fundraising, budgeting, and site and team selection. You'll read about space programming, the design phase, pre-construction preparation, staff management, and moving the library, as well as about post-construction management and maintenance. Measures of success are included, as are helpful forms and an invaluable glossary of relevant construction terms. With this guide in hand, you and your team can plan efficiently, avoid common pitfalls, and create a library you and your community will love for many years to come.

Features

• Provides you with an informal, easy-to-read, practical guide that addresses the specific needs of public librarians looking to reimagine their library space
• Takes a holistic approach that covers every step from initial vision to evaluating success
• Offers practical, nuts-and-bolts advice from an experienced veteran of the process
• Helps you to claim a seat at the table—and shows you why the input of librarians is so important

See the publisher's website for Table of Contents, author information, and a look inside the book.

Engaging Young Engineers

Engaging Young Engineers: Teaching Problem-Solving Skills Through STEM by Angi Stone-MacDonald, Kristen Wendell, Anned Douglass, and Mary LuLove. (2015).Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. 978-1-59857-653-5.

Help young children develop problem-solving skills, and you'll boost their kindergarten readiness and set them up for long-term success in STEM subjects. In this timely and practical book, you'll discover how to support the problem-solving skills of all young children by teaching them basic practices of engineering and five types of critical thinking skills (Curiosity, Persistence, Flexibility, Reflection, and Collaboration)— AND discover how to sharpen all these skills as a teacher! Using a clear instructional framework and fun activities tailored for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, you'll help children birth to 5 explore big ideas and develop new ways of thinking through engaging and challenging learning experiences.

THE BOOK YOU NEED TO

• Support school readiness. The problem-solving framework in this book helps children work toward kindergarten Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Outcomes Framework.
• Demystify key engineering practices. Prepare kids for success in all STEM areas by teaching four essential engineering principles: think about it, try it, fix it, and share it.
• Boost problem-solving skills with proven activities. All the suggested activities have been piloted and tested in classrooms and incorporate teacher feedback.
• Encourage language and literacy development. Get suggestions for weaving reading into problem-solving experiences, and discover how your use of language can prompt children's thinking skills.
• Promote other skills needed for school success. With the framework and activities in this book, you'll also support development of social-emotional skills, self-regulation, and executive functioning.

PRACTICAL MATERIALS: Classroom activities that incorporate children's books, self-reflection checklists, practical strategies and modifications, Early Childhood UDL Planning Sheets, and blank Experience Planning Templates for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

(book description)

Teaching STEM in the Early Years

Teaching STEM in the Early Years: Activities for Integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics by Sally Moomaw. (2013). St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. 978-1-60554-121-1.


Stimulate and engage children's thinking as you integrate STEM experiences throughout your classroom. These engaging, developmentally appropriate activities maximize children's learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Each experience combines at least two STEM disciplines and incorporates materials and situations that are interesting and meaningful to children. Use this book to discover the many possibilities for teaching STEM to young children, including ideas for

• Learning centers
• Cooking, art, music, block play, and sensory table activities
• Outdoor time
• A project-centered curriculum
• Quick activities that require minimal preparation
• Field trips

With the growing focus on early childhood mathematics and science, this book is a much-needed resource for every early childhood classroom. It will encourage you to think differently about STEM education, and you will see how easy it is to accommodate curriculum goals and learning standards in math and science activities. 

(book description)

Mathematizing: An Emergent Math Curriculum

Mathematizing: An Emergent Math Curriculum Approach for Young Children by Allen C. Rosales. (2015). St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. 978-1-60554-395-6.

Based on years of research with early childhood teachers, author Allen Rosales provides an approach to create an emergent math curriculum that integrates children's interests with math concepts. The mathematizing approach is different from traditional math curriculums, as it immerses children in a process that is designed to develop their understanding of math concepts in real life contexts. This approach has helped hundreds of teachers engage children in meaningful and purposeful interactions that have led to increased math, language, and inquiry skills. Mathematizing makes learning math seem like child's play. . . . and it is! 

(book description)

Tap, Click, Read

Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens by Lisa Guernsey and Michael H. Levine. (2015). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint. 978-1-119-09189-9.

In Tap, Click, Read authors Lisa Guernsey and Michael H. Levine envision a future that is human-centered first and tech-assisted second. They document how educators and parents can lead a new path to a place they call 'Readialand'—a literacy-rich world that marries reading and digital media to bring knowledge, skills, and critical thinking to all of our children. This approach is driven by the urgent need for low-income children and parents to have access to the same 21st-century literacy opportunities already at the fingertips of today's affluent families.With stories from homes, classrooms and cutting edge tech labs, plus accessible translation of new research and compelling videos, Guernsey and Levine help educators, parents, and America's leaders tackle the questions that arise as digital media plays a larger and larger role in children's lives, starting in their very first years of life.

Tap, Click, Read includes an analysis of the exploding app marketplace and provides useful information on new review sites and valuable curation tools. It shows what to avoid and what to demand in today's apps and e-books—as well as what to seek in community preschools, elementary schools and libraries. Peppered with the latest research from fields as diverse as neuroscience and behavioral economics and richly documented examples of best practices from schools and early childhood programs around the country, Tap, Click, Read will show you how to:

• Promote the adult-child interactions that help kids grow into strong readers
• Learn how to use digital media to build a foundation for reading and success
• Discover new tools that open up avenues for creativity, critical thinking, and knowledge-building that today's children need

The book's accompanying website, TapClickRead.org, keeps you updated on new research and provides vital resources to help parents, schools and community organizations.

(book description)