SLS 6/5/26 - O²CM Bookish Bytes

Substack: From Book Jars to Rubber Ducks: Passive Programming to Transform the School Library

Academic Paper: Thinking—Fast, Slow, and Artificial: How AI is Reshaping Human Reasoning and the Rise of Cognitive Surrender

Academic Paper: Literacy in the Time of Artificial Intelligence

Article: Advocacy: It’s What You Do Every Day (Literally)

Article: DC’s 2026 Books for Young Readers

Article: ‘InvestiGators: Weather or Not’ by John Patrick Green Tops Holds List | SLJ Book Pulse

Article: Classic Literature Has Value in English Classes

Article: Not All Students Are College-Bound. More Schools Are Paying Attention

Blog: To Understand the World They Live in, Kids Need to Learn Geography

Blog: 3 Visual Thinking Exercises to Try in English Class

Blog: Why Writing by Hand Beats Typing (in 6 Charts)

Blog: Using Radio Theater as a Teaching Tool

EdWeek is provided to every educator in O²CM

School Library Journal is provided to each O²CM School Librarian

Please Contact SLS if You Need Access with SLJ Access in the Subject Line

Before you close the library for summer, take time to capture the year. An end-of-year report celebrates successes, identifies needs, supports advocacy, and provides evidence of the library's contribution to student achievement. Your future self will thank you.

Want students to move beyond basic character descriptions and into deeper thinking? Try Doodle Code a Character, a simple yet powerful literacy protocol that combines reading comprehension, evidence gathering, and visual thinking. Students begin by selecting a key moment from the text and sketching the character in that scene. Then, they add text-based evidence labels, complete with page numbers, directly onto their drawing. Finally, they connect those pieces of evidence and answer a higher-order thinking question: How are these character traits connected?

This strategy encourages students to:
✅ Cite and analyze textual evidence
✅ Visualize and interpret character actions
✅ Make meaningful connections between traits and events
✅ Engage in deeper discussion about character development

As an added challenge, students can analyze the character's body language and consider what it reveals beyond the author's words. Rooted in dual coding research, this protocol helps students strengthen comprehension and retention by combining words and images. Best of all, it works across grade levels and with any text featuring rich, complex characters. A simple sketch can unlock powerful thinking!

In Person Professional Learning

• Jun 12 - SuperLibrarian Banquet with Dan Santat

Virtual/Asynch Professional Learning

• Jun 9 - VIRTUAL Rekindling Hope: Healing-Centered Education for Empowered Teaching and Learning (Teacher Center)

• Jun 9 - WEBINAR: The Ancient House: Constructing Community in the Seventeenth-Century New York Borderlands (New York State Library)

• Jun 12 - WEBINAR: Universal Design - It's Not Only About Accessibility (New York State Library)

• Jun 12 - WEBINAR: Minimum Standards for Libraries - Selection and Reconsideration Policies (New York State Library)

• Jun 17 - WEBINAR: The Home Front: Revolutionary Households, Military Occupation, and the Making of American Independence (New York State Library)

• Jun 17 - WEBINAR 4 Mindshifts for Teaching AI Agency (edWeb)

• Jul 8 - WEBINAR Science of Reading Coaching Strategies: Bridging the Gap (edWeb)

• Jul 21 - WEBINAR: Teaching the Constitution? Explore Podcasting to Connect Past and Present! (edWeb)

• Jun 23 - WEBINAR: Grant Resources Using Candid Search (New York State Library)

• June 24 - WEBINAR: Scattered and Fugitive Things: How Black Collectors Created Archives and Remade History, Author talk with Laura E. Helton (New York State Library)

Summer Teacher Center FREE PD Opportunities

• Jul 6 - Portrait of a Graduate Matters: BRIGHT Instructional Strategies to Bring the Portrait of a Graduate to Life
• Jul 13 - BOOK STUDY: Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes by Alfie Kohn
• Jul 13 - Painting the Portrait of a Graduate
• Jul 15 - BOOK STUDY: Teaching With Empathy by Lisa Westman
• Jul 28 - Regulation By Design: The Calm Classroom Myth Dispelled
• Jul 29 - BRIGHT Summer Learning: Pack Your Instructional Beach Bag for Culturally Responsive Teaching
• Aug 3 - Designing Student-Led, Inquiry-Based Projects
• Aug 4 - Move to Learn
• Aug 4 - AI for Differentiation
• Aug 20 - Behavior Burnout: Practical Strategies for Educators Who Are Running on Empty

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