Happy Tuesday!
Member Idea Exchange: What Are Your Plans and/or Hopes for Sora Over the Upcoming Holiday Breaks?
Once every quarter or so, we turn discussions over to you, the WSDLC members! With a number of holiday/seasonal breaks just around the corner, we are excited to hear about your plans and hopes for Sora over the next several weeks: What plans do you have to keep Sora on students’ minds? What are some ideas that you’ve been kicking around but haven’t had time to think through or put into action?
Or, do you have any particular hopes for Sora over Winter break? Maybe you’re trying something new this year that you’re hopeful would get your school’s usage stats to remain steady? Perhaps there is a particular student that is excited about a title they have on hold that your fingers are crossed they’re able to get in the next few weeks? Is there anything you are hoping to accomplish if you can find the time, resources, etc?
This is your chance to share and learn about ways school library staff across Wisconsin keep their students connected and using Sora while they are away, and what you’re hoping to do and/or see!
Start sharing in the Google Doc here: Member Exchange: Winter Break Plans & Hopes
⸻ ● ● ● ⸻
OverDrive’s End of Year Sale is Happening Now!
If you purchase for your school or district’s Advantage account, you will want to take “advantage” of OverDrive’s biggest sale of the year with up to 50% off on over 150,000 titles through December 31st.
Sale titles include both eBooks and Audiobooks, and you can browse sale titles through several different collections put together by experts at OverDrive, such as 2022 Releases, Audiobooks under $30, Fixed Layout & Read-Alongs, and more! You can also search for titles by access level, format, and/or by genre!
Log in to your Marketplace Account for more information, to view sale titles, and to expand your local collections with titles only your students will be able to access.
⸻ ● ● ● ⸻
In Case You Missed It: Sora Is Now Available as a Google Classroom Add-On
Last week, OverDrive sent out an announcement that the Sora student reading app now has a Google Classroom add-on. And since so many of our members utilize Google Classroom, we want to make sure no one misses this news.
From OverDrive, “This powerful new integration enhances equity of access, drives awareness and usage of the school’s digital book collection and allows educators to personalize learning for each student.”
You can find out more about the Sora Google Classroom Add-On here.
⸻ ● ● ● ⸻
WSDLC Annual Membership Meeting: Topic Suggestions
We want to hear from the WSDLC members on what topics or themes you would be most interested in hearing about at the next Annual Membership Meeting being held in May 2023. This meeting is an opportunity for the Project Managers to get feedback from members, to highlight the achievements and updates from the year, and to share what changes and updates may be coming soon. This meeting kicks off with a guest speaker or a panel of participants, all centered around a certain theme.
You can share your thoughts and ideas for 2023’s meeting in this Padlet: WSDLC Annual Membership Meeting Topic Suggestions
Note about using Padlet: Padlet is completely free to use, but you do not need to create an account to submit your ideas or to comment on / show your support for others’ ideas. Any comments or suggestions made in our Padlet from users without an account will appear anonymously. If you want to avoid creating a Padlet account but wouldn’t like to be anonymous, go ahead and sign your name to your idea.
If you have an idea but want to use something other than Padlet, go ahead and email us your idea at wsdlc-info@wils.org.
Thank you very much!
⸻ ● ● ● ⸻
Flipped Classrooms: Advantage Accounts & Marketplace
November is Advantage Accounts & Marketplace month for the WSDLC’s Flipped Classroom training series! This flipped classroom introduces the Advantage program and shows how users how they can use Marketplace to make the most of their Advantage accounts.
What are the WSDLC’s Flipped Classrooms?
The WSDLC offers a self-paced training series to help new members get oriented (and as a refresher for returning members) with their membership and the Sora collections. Every month, a different topic and set of materials are highlighted to help guide members throughout the school year. The content of these Flipped Classrooms is intended for Library Media Specialists and anyone else that may help to manage school/district library resources, OverDrive Advantage purchasing, and digital classroom materials. Materials are available for members to review independently, and OverDrive staff are ready to schedule one-on-one 20-minute sessions to answer members’ questions.
You can find more information on WSDLC Training opportunities and materials here: https://wsdlc.org/training/
Find the full calendar of self-paced training topics here: https://wsdlc.org/training/wsdlc-training-schedule/
⸻ ● ● ● ⸻
Tiny Case Studies: Graphic Novel Genre Study During Schoolwide Literacy Period
We have another Tiny Case Study to share with you all this month: Graphic Novel Genre Study During Schoolwide Literacy Period, submitted by WSDLC Board Member, Stephanie Judge!
Description: “The Sauk Prairie Middle School has a 35 minute period each day called Schoolwide Literacy. We drop everything and each teacher reads to class for 20 minutes and then students read to self for 15 minutes. In January, we establish genre groups and students select their preferred genre focus. As I teacher, I selected to lead the graphic novel genre group. The problem: How do you display a graphic novel and read it out loud to 20-25 students at the same time?”
What Are Tiny Case Studies?
WSDLC’s Tiny Case Studies are brief, practical summaries of outstanding things that some WSDLC members are doing that involve Sora and serve as an opportunity for members to share a WSDLC-related problem they had and how they solved it.
If you’ve done something lately that you’d like to share with the WSDLC Community, let us know! Maybe you’ve put together some creative marketing, started a student reading book club, engaged your school’s teachers on how they can utilize these resources in their classroom, or made a successful case for funding. No idea or accomplishment is too small! You can submit your tiny case study idea by email at wsdlc-info@wils.org or complete the idea form, and we will reach out to you with the next steps!
You can view all of the WSDLC’s Tiny Case Studies here.
⸻ ● ● ● ⸻
The WSDLC project managers and the team at OverDrive are always available if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.
Not sure who to contact? Check out this handy guide on the WSDLC website: https://wsdlc.org/who-to-contact-with-questions/.
