Best Sora Updates of 2023

• Sora has published what they believe to be their six most impactful updates of 2023. They are: 
  1. Premium Reviews in Marketplace
  2. New Languages in Sora
  3. Student Dashboard Updates
  4. Shelf Talkers
  5. Metered Access Manager
  6. Sora Notifications
• Check out their recent blog post - Cheers to the 6 best product updates of 2023! - to learn more about these updates.

The monthly BrainPOP Bulletin is designed to provide inspiration for your classroom. Every month, their bulletin will have fresh instructional ideas, classroom swag, and community announcements for classroom teachers. 

This Month's Question - How can your Teacher Reports drive more targeted instruction?

Inform reteaching with data -

The teacher dashboard is the secret ingredient to your students’ success. Watch this month’s tip to learn how to use your data to pinpoint opportunities for more targeted, just-in-time instruction in one simple scan.

Try it today!

After assigning a Quiz, check the results in your Teacher Reports. You’ll be able to find trouble spots for students. Once you know those, finding which moments to reteach and return to in the Movie are a lot clearer. 

Also in this month's Bulletin...

Watch "Behind the BrainPOP Scenes" to meet the voice of Annie, and be sure to download free BrainPOP swag to have a big, orange robot to brighten up your classroom.

Here are some "Timely & Relevant" resources from Discovery Education for the month of December 2023. Use Discovery Education as your daily hub of resources for your classroom with digital media and ready-to-use learning activities. Be sure to log into your instance of Discovery Education before clicking on the links in this post.

Timely and Relevant Resources

• Check out the December 2023 DE Newsletter for a list of resources that supports student learning throughout the summer.  Click on the link above or the image to open and download this month's newsletter.

Explore the Ready-to-Use-Activities

• Explore DE's ready-to-use activities These time-saving activities can be used as-is or modified to meet the needs of their classroom! From Background Builders to Sentence Fix-Its to Choice Boards and more – teachers can find quick grab and go resources to use anytime in the Instructional Activities Channel.

• There you’ll find past month's Activity Calendars and this December's Activity Calendars for Grades K-2 and Grades 3-5 (coming soon, hopefully). Use them as they are or make your own copy to edit and share.

Monthly & Timely Celebrations

• Winter Holiday Celebrations - Celebrations include a Celebrations of Light Around the World Studio Board (Grades 3-8), Sentence Fix-It: December Holidays (Grades K-2) – capitalization rules for the beginning of sentences & proper nouns, and Grades K-12 DE Channels of resources for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. 

• Holiday Breaks - If you're looking for resources for your students to do at home over the holiday breaks. Share these activities with your families to keep learning alive over break.
• Pearl Harbor (12/7) - Explore the events surrounding the Battle of Pearl Harbor and the loss of more than 2,000 lives on December 7, 1941 and focuses on a select group of United States military personnel and civilians that countered the Japanese attack, such as Doris Miller, Donald Ross, and Julio De Castro.
• First Day of Winter (12/21) - Discover a collection of videos, images, songs, and writing prompts that explore the science behind the seasons and their environmental effects.

Celebrate December With Some of DE's Favorite Virtual Field Trips!

• Need easy-to-use learning resources to keep December busy and fun? Use these Virtual Field Trips to let students play with polar bears, visit a genomics lab, explore cutting-edge technology, and more—all without leaving the classroom! Virtual Field Trips are available on-demand and come with a companion guide packed with standards-aligned, hands-on learning activities that are ready to use!

Information compiled in this update was provided by our partners at Discovery Education

Here are some "Timely & Relevant" resources from Discovery Education for the month of November 2023. Use Discovery Education as your daily hub of resources for your classroom with digital media and ready-to-use learning activities. Be sure to log into your instance of Discovery Education before clicking on the links in this post.

Timely and Relevant Resources

• Check out the November 2023 DE Newsletter for a list of resources that supports student learning throughout the summer.  Click on the link above or the image to open and download this month's newsletter.

Explore the Ready-to-Use-Activities

• Explore DE's ready-to-use activities These time-saving activities can be used as-is or modified to meet the needs of their classroom! From Background Builders to Sentence Fix-Its to Choice Boards and more – teachers can find quick grab and go resources to use anytime in the Instructional Activities Channel.

• There you’ll find past month's Activity Calendars and this November's Activity Calendars for Grades K-2 and Grades 3-5. Use them as they are or make your own copy to edit and share.

Monthly & Timely Celebrations

• National Native American Heritage Month - Check out the Celebrating Native American Heritage Channel to "learn about Native American heritage all year long and experience the stories of modern-day activists, innovators, and leaders."
• Veteran's Day (11/11) - Check out the Veteran's Day Channel - "Let's salute all who served in the military! Veterans Day began as a commemoration for those who served in World War II, and the day has grown to pay tribute to anyone who has served in the armed forces. This federal holiday gives citizens a chance to reflect on how war has shaped the United States and a space honor those who have fought for freedom."
• Thanksgiving (11/23) - Check out the Thanksgiving Channel - "Let's give thanks for Thanksgiving! This annual holiday is based primarily in the United States and Canada, started as a day of gratitude for the harvest bounty. In this collection, consider the history and tradition of Thanksgiving. Additionally, browse through resources that highlight the evolving values, customs, and new interpretations of this holiday in modern times."

Upcoming Virtual Field Trip

• Arctic Adventures: Polar Bears at Play - November 2, 2023 | 1:00pm ET | Grades K–8
  • Do polar bears play? Join us LIVE as the LEGO Group’s sustainability team, Polar Bears International and Discovery Education travel to Churchill Manitoba and the Polar Frontier Exhibit at the Columbus Zoo in search of polar bears at play! Students will meet polar bear and play experts as we uncover how arctic animals use play to learn just like humans, while inspiring students to use their voice to change their planet for the better. ​Learn more and register! 

• Bridge to the Future: A Virtual Field Trip into Extended Reality - November 9, 2023 | 1:00pm ET | Grades 6–12
  • Transport students to the possibilities of the immersive world while they virtually visit the Verizon Innovation Lab in Boston, Massachusetts to discover how XR is connecting people and redefining the possibilities of how we interact. Students will explore the differences between Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR), and learn how XR is helping to revolutionize on-the-job training, gaming, entertainment, manufacturing and more. Learn more and register!

Information compiled in this update was provided by our partners at Discovery Education

The next Big Library Read kicks off on November 2 with a title you can really sink your teeth into!

The Sora Big Library Read is occurring again this year from November 2 - 16

• Have your students join and participate in a worldwide book club this November! Artie and the Wolf Moon by Olivia Stephens will become available to all IMS Sora Readers on November 2nd at no cost to your school library. This Big Library Read novel is available in more than 22,000 libraries around the world, including approximately 90 percent of public libraries in North America, and hundreds of thousands of readers are expected to participate.
• The title will automatically load into Sora at the top of the Explore tab for students and readers have unlimited access to the title until November 16 – with no waitlists or holds. It’s a great way to bring your school community together through reading and discussion.
• Artie and the Wolf Moon was published as an ebook and audiobook by Lerner Publishing Group. Big Library Read is an international reading program that connects readers around the world with an ebook through public libraries. Artie and the Wolf Moon is the 32nd selection of this program which began in 2013 and takes place three times per year. 
• The Content Access Level for this title is set at "Young Adult (YA)."

Summary

• "After sneaking out against her mother's wishes, Artie Irvin spots a massive wolf—then watches it don a bathrobe and transform into her mom. Thrilled to discover she comes from a line of werewolves, Artie asks her mom to share everything—including the story of Artie's late father. Her mom reluctantly agrees. And to help Artie figure out her own wolflike abilities, her mom recruits some old family friends. Artie thrives in her new community and even develops a crush on her new friend Maya. But as she learns the history of werewolves and her own parents' past, she'll find that wolves aren't the scariest thing in the woods—vampires are."

Promotional Materials

• Marketing materials, such as flyers, social media posts, and images to promote to students and teachers can be found here.