Workshop Descriptions Session 3

Sheri McNair and Shannon Mersand

See how area libraries and classrooms have been rethinking their learning spaces to engage students and support 21st Century Learning. See concrete, money conscious strategies that you can implement in your spaces. This presentation will feature libraries and classrooms throughout the Hudson Valley.

Participant Takeaways

Participants will have a plethora of small and big ideas to transform their existing learning spaces.

Joanne Shawhan

The Social Studies Framework, adopted in 2014, is anchored in the New York State Common Core Standards for ELA & Literacy and the 1996 NYS Standards for Social Studies. It is composed of several different elements including an Inquiry Arc. My presentation will show how librarians can play an important role in the implementation of this new approach to Social Studies instruction.

Participant Takeaways

After this presentation, participants will be better equipped to participate effectively in the implementation of the new Social Studies Framework and its new approaches to Social Studies instruction. Participants will leave with a better understanding of the new Social Studies Framework, the supporting Field Guide, and the soon-to-be released Resource Toolkit, which will assist in the design of curriculum and instruction.

Paige Jaeger

Come and see how understanding questions can be a librarian superpower! If your students research...Or if you have "read alouds,"... Or, if you want to help your teachers understand how questions can lead to "short term research assignments"....Or, if your school is migrating to online education... then knowing how to use questions to get kids thinking is a great skill.

In this session we will model all types of questions, used critically, and create questions for compelling read alouds, research activities, and demonstrate how questioning is a key to success for: learning, textual understanding, research, using technology, being a "learning concierge" and more.

Layering technology for higher level thought will be discussed.

Essential Questions are imperative to understand for online learning--which is a big deal

Essential questions are a big deal for research - Questions should spawn research.

Participant Takeaways

Attendees will leave challenged to purposefully question. They will exit with a great understanding of Essential Questions, Text-Dependent Questions, Guiding Questions, and Inquiry Questions for research. Question recipes and templates will be shared. Questioning made simple! - Just like an Staples Easy Button!

Tata Cañuelas, Ellen Tannenbaum and Angela Caldarella

The Anne Izard Storyteller's Choice Awards are presented every 2 years to 13 books which show excellence in storytelling for both amateurs and professionals. These titles range from original stories, to classic retellings, to professional guides to teach or improve one's storytelling. We will explain why these books have been acknowledged for their quality. Explain the criteria they were judged on. Showcase the 2011-2012 winners and then tell some of the past award winning stories.

Participant Takeaways

Participants will have a list of all previous award winners. These books will be applicable to storytelling, literature and history classes. They will have a repertoire of books which they can use to either tell or read to their classes, as well as books which will teach them how to use storytelling as a mean to help students improve language skills.

Hilda Weisburg

Brand your program with a tag line and let stakeholders know what makes your program invaluable. Learn why logical messages are ignored Now more than ever, school librarians need to be viewed as indispensable members of the educational community. Instead of complaining that “No one knows what I do,” librarians must use the tools of the business world to get their message out –succinctly, and to targeted audiences. Tag lines or branding have long been recognized as vital in the business world as a means of imprinting a company’s prime purpose/goal in the minds of consumers. Librarians need to do the same. A basic tag line should be on everything from email to business cards. In special situations – e.g. giving a presentation to faculty – a new tag line might be created to emphasize a particular role. Participants will go home with at least one tag line for their program In addition, librarians need at least on core “elevator speech” to use when talking to almost anyone from a visitor to the library to someone on line in the supermarket. The basic components of an elevator speech will be presented, stressing the “Bold Opening Statement” that captures attention. Send a carefully crafted message showing why the library program is unique and indispensable.

Participant Takeaways

• How to promote their school library program and be heard
• How and why to frame their tag line from emotion rather than logic
• A working tag line and a draft elevator speech

Jennifer Palmentiero

This presentation will introduce you to several of New York's freely available digital libraries of primary sources that document the history of our state. These resources include photographs, maps, diaries, correspondence, oral histories, art, newspapers, online exhibits, and more! Attendees will learn how to effectively use these web sites to find resources for classroom and student use. The presenter will feature the following digital libraries: Hudson River Valley Heritage, NY Heritage, Long Island Memories, Digital METRO, and the NY Public Library Digital Collections.

Participant Takeaways

Participants will know where to find free primary sources. They will be able to efficiently search and browse online collections.