I am partnering with Hero Nation Ypsilanti (based out of the Ypsilanti District Library) on bringing a rotating library of age-appropriate comics and graphic novels to your classrooms for students to read in class.
 
Participating teachers get a new box of various graphic novels about once a month or so dropped off directly to their room for their students to borrow and enjoy. 
 This is a fairly easy and no-strings-attached type of program to promote literacy through the enjoyment of modern graphic novels. All you have to do is just manage a stack of books.  
This might be particularly useful for your reluctant readers or the ones that simply like the "hi-lo" type of reading. 

More information on the Hero Nation Program can be found here: www.heronationypsi.com 

Learn more about the Comic Book Libraries program at www.comicbooklibaries.com 


How Comics Help

As referenced in Black Comics: Politics, Race and Representation , according to American psychologists Richard Koestner, Joel Weinberger, and David C. McClelland, superheroes can have a significant impact on the young developing mind for both personality and identity development; specifically through the process of self-identification and cultural association with the fictional heroes. Simply put, comics can help us discover the hero within.

We’ve provided some links below to a few amazing TED talks delivered by educators and professionals who we really admire, that support utilizing comic books as literature:

Gene Luen Yang - Comics Belong In The Classroom 

Illya Kowalchuk - How Comic Books Can Transform Student Learning 

Michael Uslan - The Boy Who Loved Batman 


About Hero Nation

Hero Nation is an organization in Ypsilanti, Michigan with the mission to help everyone discover the hero within through events and programs based in nerd culture that foster empowering, creative, and educational experiences for underrepresented and marginalized communities  — including youth, people of color, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, women, and people with low socioeconomic status.



And more information on their book drive can be found here: 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/comic-book-libraries?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet

From: 
https://www.bigdealbook.com/newsletters/k-12_technology/?show=open-source_science_materials_aligned_to_college___career_standards/b5b8d7651-5d97-4ff7-a0ad-c10a2f1bb28c

Sep 16, 2019
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STEM • STEAM • STREAM
Open-Source Science Materials Aligned to College & Career StandardsIn 2017 philanthropists, state leaders, and curriculum writers formed OpenSciEd to get materials to teachers implementing the Next Generation Science Standards, which emphasize hands-on projects and integrate several scientific disciplines. This past summer, OpenSciEd released its first set of materials, in the form of freely downloadable PDFs and Google Docs, for grades 6, 7, and 8. The release includes the first of six instructional units for these grade levels. Each unit includes videos, slide decks, student handouts, and assessments, as well as instructions for hands-on activities. The first set of units covers thermal energy (grade 6), metabolic reactions (grade 7), and sound waves (grade 8). A key feature of OpenSciEd’s instructional model is that students’ questions about scientific phenomena guide the lesson and activities. The plan is to release more units every six months until a three-year middle school curriculum is available by the winter of 2022. The consortium working on OpenSciEd includes developers from BSCS Science Learning, a nonprofit organization that creates curriculum materials and conducts research; Boston College; Northwestern University; The University of Texas at Austin; and Digital Promise, a nonprofit organization authorized by Congress to promote innovation in education.

Science STEM • STEAM • STREAM 
Open Educational Resources College and Career Readiness

Jennifer Nielsen, popular young adult author of A Night Divided and Resistance, will be our guest speaker on Thursday, September 26 in the Tappan Auditorium.  She has written numerous books, many of which are popular historical fiction or fantasy novels that the Tappan Media Center has on its shelves.

Nielsen will discuss her books, writing process, what it is like to be an author, and also conduct a Q & A at the end of the presentation as well as a book signing where students can meet the author. 

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Students can pre-order books for Nielsen to sign (see the attached form).

For more information on the author, see the links below:

About the author:
New York Times best-selling author
Jennifer A. Nielsen was raised in
northern Utah, where she lives today
with her husband, three children, and
a dog that won’t fetch. At the age of
11, Jennifer wrote her first novel, but
she abandoned it when a local
locksmith halted her research on
picking locks! She is the author of the
recent stand-alone novel Words of
Fire, which is her next foray into
historical fiction, similar to A Night
Divided and Resistance. Jennifer is
also writing The Traitor’s Game trilogy
for young adults, akin to her work in
the False Prince series. She loves
chocolate, old books, and lazy days in
the mountains.​

Books by Jennifer A. Nielsen:

• Book trailer for the new Words on Fire book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umbD-2oB6n0
• Written book talk for Resistance:
  http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/sites/default/files/pdfs/400070_Booktalk_Resistance.pdf
• Book Trailer for Resistance: https://jennielsen.com/archives/2565

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