SDSL School Services is pleased to announce that it is offering a Textual Literacy Course this winter! Join us in February for a fully on-line course focusing on this first strand of the SD School Library Standards.

For more information, click the graphic below. This week's School Library Scoop with Scottie also shows how the course is set up. And the 1-2-3 Resources at the bottom of this newsletter are examples of the types of resources that will be offered in the course.

Episode 12: Textual Literacy Course

I hope you're enjoying this new platform for short tutorials on school library services, technology tips and trends, and so much more. If you have suggestions or requests for future topics, please click the "Topic Suggestions" button below. Past episodes can be viewed on SDSL's YouTube Channel.

Textual Literacy is the first strand of the SD School Library Standards that were adopted in 2019. The standards are based on the best practices from professional research available to date. The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and the Future Ready Librarian model were consulted in addition to the South Dakota Technology Standards and the South Dakota English Language Arts standards. The workgroup also reviewed relevant content standards from other states as well as various research processes and literacy models.

Content standards provide educators a road roadmap for what their students should know and be able to do. Standards are not curriculum and are not intended to be taught in isolation. The SD School Library Standards are designed to be age-appropriate guides for successful student learning - learning which is differentiated, collaborative, and integrated across all content areas.

To learn more and to view all of the strands, click the chart below.

(Click to open fully)

Using Read-Alouds to Improve Older Elementary Students’ Literacy Skills

https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-read-alouds-improve-older-elementary-students-literacy-skills

Reading Aloud to Middle School Students

https://www.edutopia.org/article/reading-aloud-middle-school-students

Book talks are short (think even as short as 30-seconds!) presentations about books with the goal of convincing others to read them. They are usually prepared in advance and can be given in-person or even pre-recorded.

Think about these 3 tips when doing your own book talks. These help promote books instead of re-telling the plot.

Why I picked it up — why I chose it, what appealed — cover, author, recommendation, genre etc.

Why I finished it —what kept me reading — characters, plot, language, humour, setting etc.

Who I would give it to — what sort of reader might like this book, what are this title’s 'read-alikes'.

This summer's theme is Information Literacy.

Registration will open this spring.

Click the pic below for more details!