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.

When INFOhio licensed the quality eBooks from Scholastic's BookFlix for all Ohio students, parents and teachers five years ago, we knew we were into something good. With over 130 fiction and nonfiction pairs of popular titles, BookFlix is a resource that engages students, even reluctant readers, and brings them back again and again to read, listen to, and learn from digital text. With a new interface and helpful features, BookFlix is now more user friendly than ever! And INFOhio users sure love the new interface. October 2018 was one of the highest use months BookFlix has had, and Ohio students, teachers, and parents make it our most used resource overall.

Are you feeling excited by the idea of this great digital content available to you at no cost? Intrigued by integrating technology into your reading time, but still not sure how to start? Make sure you make the most of BookFlix by taking training designed just for busy teachers and resource-strapped schools and districts. INFOhio has created the BookFlix Class in the INFOhio K-5 Digital Content Learning Pathway to accommodate both individual teachers and groups of staff members who want to learn BookFlix basics and design instruction around digital content. 

Are your young readers getting the most out of the digital era? Watch the recording of this School Library Journal webinar to hear about best reading practices for early literacy and strategies for teaching PreK-Grade 3 students.

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. 

The Summer Slide sounds like a fun piece of playground equipment, but it’s something to avoid: “Students in lower-income families who don't read over the summer lose two to three months of learning, according to the National Summer Learning Association, a Baltimore group with ties to Johns Hopkins University” (Wisconsin State Journal). To learn more about the Summer Slide, try a search for “summer slide” or “summer learning loss” in ISearch (use your school or district's INFOhio username and password if prompted).

Do you use Scholastic News in your classroom? What about Scholastic Scope or Scholastic Science? These subscriptions are a popular teaching tool in many schools. Full of informational text and critical thinking activities, Scholastic's classroom magazines offer teachers a wealth of resources that feature popular topics and engaging graphics. You can learn more about these resources, their grade levels, and content at Scholastic's Classroom Magazines site. Additional features are available through a Scholastic school subscription.

Dear Teachers,

It’s August – let’s do this!