The Helen Jenkins Davis Award is presented by the Columbus Education Association and named in honor of the first Black teacher hired by the Columbus City Schools. The award will be presented to a Columbus teacher who has worked to promote social justice, diversity and human and civil rights. Helen Jenkins Davis was the first African-American educator hired by the Columbus City Schools District (1918). Helen Jenkins Davis, the daughter of a freed slave from Kentucky, resisted discrimination many times and served to promote human rights and equality until her death in 1987 at the age of 92.
The American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, video and audio books for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Below are three of the award winners.
"New Kid" John Newbery Medal - Writer and illustrator Jerry Craft won this award as the first graphic novel to receive the prize for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature.
“The Undefeated” Randolph Caldecott Medal - Illustrated by Kadir Nelson and written by Kwame Alexander, The Undefeated won for the most distinguished American picture book for children.
“Dig" Michael L. Printz Award - A.S. King delves into the tragic lives of a wealthy white family in suburban Pennsylvania and how the family’s children are affected by the neglect, substance abuse and racism of their elders. Dig won the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature for young adults.
Click here for the full list of all the ALA 2020 Award Winners.
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Submitted by Jo Ann Smith (Northland)
In the fall, every CCS Middle School and High School Library Media Specialist received a copy of Fact vs. Fiction: Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in the Age of Fake News. This book is a "must have" for any librarian. It is full of real-world examples, frameworks for teaching credibility, sample lessons, and resources. It is a necessary to help learners of all ages navigate today’s media.A recent article in the School Library journal contained insight from coauthor Jennifer La Garde. See below a blurb from author Jennifer LaGarde plus a link to the article Educators Face Challenges Teaching Media Literacy to Immigrant Students.
"News tends to filter through a lens that confirms our own biases,” says Jennifer LaGarde, a digital literacy consultant and coauthor of Fact vs. Fiction: Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in the Age of Fake News. LaGarde, who retired in 2018 after 20 years in education, 10 as a school librarian, says that emotion can be a powerful distorting force, and any media literacy effort needs to account for it..."
We want you to join us in celebrating the Fourth Annual Columbus City Schools Relationship Week by taking part in activities each day that reaffirm our compassion, respect, trust, and love for one another, and our community by building social and emotional supports.
It is very important to have conversations with our students about topics like empathy, compassion, kindness, and inclusion. However, these topics can be very hard to teach. Nevertheless, there are some ways to inspire. One way is to read books that touch on these subjects and can spark conversations.
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Submitted by Gary Metzenbacher (East)
Believing that books offer opportunities to see different vistas, learn different perspectives, and develop different experiences, Museum Services at Miami University [Ohio] has created a travelling exhibition of 12 panels with children’s picture books drawn from African-American authors and/or illustrators. The exhibition’s purpose is to focus on topics of diversity, feature elements of social justice, and introduce books by and about African-Americans.
The pictures in the panels tell African-American history using illustrations from children’s picture books created by African-American authors and/or illustrators. Copies of some of the books used travel with the panels offering the viewer an opportunity to further explore the African-American perspective.
The traveling exhibit will be at the Upper Arlington Public Library from January 2 through February 29, 2020. Our district Librarians’ PLC plans to visit the exhibit on January 16, 2020 in place of our regular PLC meeting.
Some of the featured illustrators include: Nneka Bennett, Rod Brown, Ashley Bryan, R. Gregory Christie, Bryan Collier, Floyd Cooper, Michael Cummings, Leo and Diane Dillon, Tom Feelings, Brian Pinkney, Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, Javaka Steptoe, John Steptoe, & Eric Velasquez.
Educator Tools contains over 75,000 lesson plans, printables, videos, teaching strategies, and other instructional resources all available at no cost to Ohio teachers! INFOhio’s tool, powered by Knovation, is a great place to find resources to support Ohio’s Social Emotional Learning Standards.
There are several ways to find the content you need to integrate SEL into your classroom. Choose “Social Emotional Learning” under the subject heading or type in a keyword or phrase from the standards such as “setting goals”, “perseverance”, or “conflict resolution.” You can also search using Ohio SEL standards language. There are several INFOhio resources, such as BookFlix title pairs and magazine articles, that are directly aligned to the SEL Standards and can be found in Educator Tools.
Need contact hours to renew your teaching license? Take the Educator Tools class in the Building Your Digital Curriculum Pathway. Earn contact hours and learn how to integrate digital tools and resources into your instruction.
If you have questions about Educator Tools or INFOhio’s resources for SEL, please visit support.infohio.org.
INFOhio, in partnership with the Broadcast Educational Media Commission, has added 40 videos to the Careers Playlist in the Digital Video Collection. Students can learn about a variety of careers that range from food scientist to supply chain manager to phlebotomist. These short videos support career connections and give career exploration opportunities for students to discover work environments and understand today’s workplace. Each video also provides materials to support continued learning about careers.
Looking for more information about INFOhio’s Digital Video Collection? Contact support.infohio.org.
Destiny is the library catalog for all school libraries in Columbus City School District. Students and teachers can access Destiny from any computer or mobile device to search for books and resources available in their school’s library.
There are multiple ways to access the Destiny site for your school library:
- From any computer or device by visiting https://ccsoh.follettdestiny.com and choosing your school from the list. Student username is ID Number and password is birthday with slashes (MM/DD/YYYY). Teacher username is first part of email and password is same as email password.
- From Clever by selecting Library Media Technology and clicking on Destiny Library. Choose your school from the list. Student username is ID Number and password is birthday with slashes (MM/DD/YYYY). Teacher username is first part of email and password is same as email password.
- From the Destiny Discover Website by visiting https://www.gofollett.com and choosing your school from the list. Student username is ID Number and password is birthday with slashes (MM/DD/YYYY). Teacher username is first part of email and password is same as email password.
- From the Destiny Read for iOS and Android devices (download the app from the store and choose your location from the list)
You do not need to log in to Destiny to search your library’s catalog. However, when students or teachers log in to Destiny with their CCS Credentials they have access to numerous additional features.
