Your School Library Where Learning Never Ends - Celebrate School Library Month

April is School Library Month.  Libraries are central to strong schools, and learning. Remember to encourage students to check out what each building library offers at Marshall Public Schools.  Beyond the stacks of books are caring media specialists and media assistants who develop and encourage a love for reading, and are able to lead students to the "just right" book for them.  Students are also creating, tinkering, and exploring in the maker space areas of some of our libraries.  Visit your school library today!





Read here to find out what several great authors have to say about the importance of school libraries.

During this time of high stakes testing remember that "more than 60 studies have shown that strong school library programs led by certified school librarians are linked with higher student achievement levels", read about this and more in the article, Building Advocacy before a Crisis by Nancy Everhart and Marcia A. Mardis.


Copyright Morsel by Diane Konjura

April 20-24, 2015 is Turnitin-Plagiarism Education Week.  Turnitin offers several 45-minutes live webcasts available for free registration.  I plan to participate in the webcast titled: Decisions on a Deadline: A 21^st Century Gaming Approach to Teach Plagiarism and Ethics.  In addition, access is available to view webcasts from 2014 and 2013.   Another I find of interest is found in 2014 Webcasts On-Demand titled: Understanding Plagiarism With Help From Dr. Seuss.  This site also has excellent lesson plans and whitepapers regarding plagiarism and ethics.  

Free Reads Online, and the Copyright Morsel

I was browsing Pinterest and came across a fantastic, free website for educators that has many fiction and non-fiction e-books.  Check out Epic!  The website displays books in a reader-friendly format so that they can easily be displayed on your Smartboard for classroom use, or students can read books on a tablet.  Create your free educator account, and start reading now!

Another great site for free and/or reduced price books is Bookbub.  Set up your account and preferences to access books on your favorite e-reader.  You can also subscribe to Smashwords to read e-books online without a reader, and even publish your own books at this website.

Copyright Morsel by Diane Konjura

This link from Johns Hopkins University Sheridan Libraries - Copyright & Multimedia Resources provides an excellent list of resources for royalty free sounds and images.  This link also addresses Confu Guidelines pertaining to digital copyright and fair use to help educators and student understand suggested limits without needing copyright permission.  Consider these resources with any education projects.