Help! I lost my library/media specialist!

As you are teaching your students about research skills, digital citizenship, and content areas, we encourage you to leverage this collection of articles created by an experienced library/media specialist in your instruction. Many of the articles will help you to learn the information and be able to teach it yourself. Plus, discover ways to integrate these skills (research, information literacy, digital citizenship, and more) into what you are doing as you are teaching new skills and information.

New features appear about once per month and include background information, resource suggestions, activities, extension ideas, and correlations to standards. Check back often as we continue to build this collection, ideal for educators and elementary-aged students.

Read and review our newest additions:

Rock the Vote - Incorporating Local, State, and National Elections into the Classroom

If You Read It On The Internet, It Must Be True! - Media Literacy in the 21st Century

Hail to the Chief - Exploring American Presidents

Hey Siri…what is AI? - Introducing Students to Artificial Intelligence

Crowdsourcing Science - Using Citizen Science in the Classroom

America's Second Independence Day - Juneteenth

Who Runs the World? GIRLS - Women as Changemakers

Good as Gold - Figurative Language in the Elementary Classroom

The Story of My Life - Using Biographies to Enhance and Extend Instruction

Boys Will Be Boys - Keeping Boys Engaged in Reading

Learning from Experts - Author Studies in the Classroom

Whodunnit? - Bringing a Little Mystery into the Classroom

I Think That I Shall Never See - Using and Analyzing Poetry in the Classroom

I'm Trying to Love Math - Expanding Mathematics Across the Curriculum

If You Build It - Engineering in the Classroom

Cracking the Code - Coding in the Classroom

Music Speaks - Music Appreciation in Literature

You Can't Play a Symphony Alone - Instruments of the Orchestra

All that Jazz - Exploring Jazz Music

Everything to Learn - Diving Into the Life and Art of Edmonia Lewis

Life is a Blank Canvas - Exploring Painting and Painters

All the World's a Stage - Incorporating Dramatic Arts and Dance into the Classroom

It's a Big Blue World - Keeping Our Oceans Sustainable

There is No Planet B - Climate Change and its Impact on the Earth

Water, Water Everywhere - Looking at Clean, Accessible Water for All People

All Roads Lead to Rome - Engaging with Ancient Rome through Literature

It's All Greek to Me - Taking a closer look at Ancient Greece

Walk Like an Egyptian - Exploring Ancient Egypt Through Literature

Beyond Mulan - Using Literature to Learn about Ancient China

Tales from the Griots - The Mali Empire

Votes for Women - The 19th Amendment

War to End All Wars - Looking at World War I Through the Eyes of Literature

Change is Coming - Looking at the Progressive Era in Books

Picking Up The Pieces - Exploring Reconstruction through Literature

How the West Was Won - Using Literature to Enhance the Study of Westward Expansion

Extra, Extra, Read All About It - Looking at Current Events with an Analytical Eye

Generation to Generation - Preserving Our Past with Oral History

A Whole New World - Using books to help teach students about Colonial America

Brother Against Brother - Books to Help Teach Civil War

What a Character! - Using Fictional Characters to Help Students Fall in Love with Reading

The British are Coming! - Using Literature to Bring the American Revolution to Life

Hey! That's Mine! - Putting Ideas into Your Own Words and Avoiding Plagiarism

A Giant Step for Small Feet - Short, Focused Research Projects for the Primary Grades

Adult Summer Reading: Honing Your Craft During the Dog Days of Summer

"DEWEY" KNOW HOW TO FIND INFORMATION - Finding Nonfiction Resources in a Traditional Library Format

Embracing Research - Identifying Reference Resources

Flipping the Script: Providing Quality Literacy Instruction that Moves Between Online and In-Person Instruction

Work Smarter, Not Harder: Using Nonfiction Text Features to Find Information Efficiently

Dog Days of Summer - Keeping Students Engaged in Literacy During Summer Vacation

How Does Your Garden Grow? A Project-Based Approach to Learning

You Are What You Eat - Examining Nutrition through Literature


Read, Tell, and Sell: CCSS through student book promotions

Powerful Pairings: Read-Alouds for Working with the Common Core

Questions and Thinking in Common Core - Part 1

Questions and Thinking in Common Core - Part 2

Teachers' Common Core Planning Toolkit

Going Deep with Award Winning Books: Close reading and text-dependent questions

For the Sake of Argument: Another Common Core Shift

Common Core Part 2: Moving Forward with Informational Text

Common Core: The Fuss Over Non-Fiction

Back to School Read-alouds

Looking for more book lists and reading suggestions?  See TeachersFirst’s CurriConnects curriculum-related booklists, TogetheRead family literacy themes, and more in our Reading for All pages.