Today's digital natives are primarily "tech comfy." Teens may need to show adults how to use SnapChat, but age and experience help adults know more about how to evaluate the content on this platform and other digital spaces.

In order to create critical thinkers who are able to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate digital content, educators must be intentional in preparing  students for 21st century learning. That includes reading content on the screen from a variety of sources—blogs, social media posts, databases, articles, and forums.

The BLUEcloud Course Lists class, worth 2 contact hours, is a class to learn more about this resource list management tool that enables librarians and teachers to work together to build lists of library and online resources relevant to what students are studying. 

To learn even more about BLUEcloud Course Lists, a Learn With INFOhio webinar was recorded on Thursday, October 21. 

Check out INFOhio's Monday Mini Lessons to support educators in integrating digital content into instruction and remote teaching. INFOhio will be featuring a series of videos that showcase best practices for remote teaching using INFOhio's high-quality digital content. Learn more about this series and how to stay informed. 

A professional development learning pathway has been developed to learn more about BLUEcloud, SirsiDynix's next-generation library services platform. Complete this pathway and earn up to 16.5 contact hours.

Classic childhood books capture the joy and freedom of play and imagination. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is one of those. This award-winning book tells the story of Peter and the adventures he has on a snowy day. Readers young and old can imagine the red snow-suited figure of a young boy playing in the wintry city. Many will also remember that Peter is an African-American child, and recognize that childhood delights are not determined by race, location, or gender. Everyone has fun in the snow.

Did you know that INFOhio has purchased a Premium Membership on behalf of all Ohio PreK-12 schools to OhioNet? That membership has benefits!

Whether you need printed packets for learning activities or plan to make the learning happen digitally, World Book webquests are a great way to help students build foundational knowledge on a topic.

It's autumn—cooler temperatures, shorter days, crisper air, and yes, runnier noses. It's a great time to teach your little learners about the change of seasons and how they affect the world around them. Check out these resources and tips from INFOhio to help teach your PreK-3 students about autumn.

Using digital text and tools is a way to engage readers in text, as well as empower them with one of the most critical needs for their future—digital literacy. INFOhio is dedicated to providing high-quality digital content, resources, and tools for students and teachers in Ohio that will develop the necessary skills for early literacy, inquiry, and college and career readiness. 

Using graphics to support learning is a strategy proven to have maximum results for student learning in classrooms. According to the National Council for Teacher Quality in a recent study, Learning about Learning, "Young or old, all of us receive information through two primary pathways - auditory (for the spoken word) and visual (for the written and graphic or pictorial representation). Student learning increases when teachers convey new material through both." Not only should teachers pair words with graphics, they should also provide concrete and tangible examples for abstract ideas. These are two strategies identified as, "proven practices that improve learning for all students." Using PDFs from INFOhio's Explora database is one way to integrate images and concrete examples into your classroom.

Ohio's Anchor Standards for College and Career Readiness require students to 

• Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
• Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
• Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

Close reading and analysis of text require higher level thinking, patience and focus.