Learning Express Library

This is the first time I've used Learning Express Library. It was fun to test my knowledge with different tests.

Because I work with children I wanted to see what the tests for elementary students looked like. I took the 4th grade Reading Test, and I am glad to say I passed it! I think this is a good resource for parents to use to give their children reading comprehension practice.

I also took the Citizenship Practice Test. I am ashamed to say I did not get all the answers correct. I need to brush up in the area of government. (I bet I can look it up in the World Book!)

In the area of Job Skills, I signed up for "Determining What You Want from Your Career." If a person is serious and puts some thought into completing the assignments, they will articulate Career Goals, compile an Action Plan, and even delineate education, experiences, and personality traits that will help them achieve their goals.

For my ebook challenge, I choose "Becoming a Culinary Arts Professional," which is actually pretty unbelievable since one rarely uses the words "cook" and "Nancy" in the same sentence. But if I ever want to become a culinary arts professional, I know where I can get the necessary information to begin.

So what have I learned? I learned that Learning Express Library is a good resource for people of all ages preparing for various exams. There is also a wealth of information for those looking to enter the work force, advance in their careers, or even to change careers. (And for all you trivia fans, the tests are a good way to test your knowledge!)

World Book 1c

Investigating the French and Spanish editions has been interesting and actually kind of fun. Trying to make my blog post interesting, however, is challenging!

In our community, I think the Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos will be more useful. I used it to look up my animal, the perrillo de las praderas (prairie dog). I don't speak Spanish, but by studying the text I was able to guess at some words. Listening to the article being read while I followed along enabled me to hear the correct pronunciation of the words. (Personally I thing prairie dogs sound cuter and less "rodenty" in Spanish than in English!) Then I switched over to the English version and compared the words. By doing this I hope to expand my Spanish vocabulary.

Having this edition of World Book available to our young Spanish speaking patrons will enable even non-readers to learn about almost anything. They'll be able to hear the text read aloud in the language they understand. They can then hear the article read in English - a great way to learn a new language! Spanish-speaking parents are able to take an active role in their children's education by using this version.

On the flip side, English speaking students learning Spanish can benefit from this edition. They can read and hear articles in Spanish and compare them to the English versions (as I did). It's a win-win situation for everyone!

World Book 1b

My choice for this search was the beaver. I need to be "busy as a beaver" to get caught up on my assignments!

The Kid's Edition has very limited information. It tells me that beavers live in North America, Asia, and Europe, but there is no direct information about the beaver's habitat. It does mention that beavers make dams across streams, eat tree bark and water plants, and have lodges with underwater entrances. I know that beavers live in rivers, streams, or lakes near woodlands, but I'm not so sure a first or second grader would figure that out from just reading the text.

The Info Finder has a wealth of beaver information. There is information about habitat, and also much more. It goes into great detail about the beaver's body, literally from head to toe and teeth to tail. We also learn about the beaver's busy life of cutting down trees, constructing dams, and building lodges.

I especially liked the video of the beaver pup trying to climb up on a dam. That little guy wouldn't give up!

I must say I did get distracted from my beaver search by the virtual tours on the Info Finder. I spent more time than I should have learning about pilgrims and romance!

I looked up Moldova in the Reference Center. Since I know very little about Moldova, I appreciated all the information about the land, people, products, and history. It's a very small country - South Dakota is larger in area than Moldova. I used the Read Aloud function to find out how to pronounce Chisinau, the capital city. The Facts in Brief Table is helpful for learning quick bits of information.

World Book 1a

I chose the alpaca for my mammal, mainly because I wanted to know the difference between and alpaca and a llama. The Kid's version did not even mention llamas - it said only that alpacas are related to camels.

Alpacas live in the Andes mountains, and have very soft wool. As a knitter, I have worked with alpaca yarn and it is wonderful.

World Book Student edition has a bit more information about alpacas. There is more detail about alpaca wool and its uses. It also mentions that they are related to domesticated llamas.

Links are provided for llamas, guanacos, and vicunas. I checked out the llama article and found that alpacas are smaller than llamas.

The country I investigated in World Book Advanced is Guatemala. I have traveled to Guatemala, and can identify personally with information presented in the articles. There is a lot of basic information about the country and its people, as well as separate articles about various cities, important people, and Mayan culture. The information in the right-hand column is mostly presidential papers, but they're interesting to read as well. A person could spend hours clicking from one article, map, or chart to another!

I used World Book Discover to check out Citizenship. Being able to read the article in another language would be very helpful to patrons who do not speak or read English fluently. Being able to listen to the article is also a useful feature. I can see that this could be a good resource for ESL learners.

On a pracitcal note: Two weeks ago (before I even started this Challenge) we had a class of 5th graders visit the library. They arrived with lists of books needed for their reports. To supplement their bibiographies, and provide even more current information, we showed them the World Book Student edition!

Here We Go Again!

The last time I wrote anything for this blog it was at the conclusion of the Library 2.0 Challenge. I vowed to keep posting to my blog. Yeah, right.... We can see how that turned out! But it's a new year, and a new Challenge, so I will try to faithfully complete my lessons and record my findings in a timely manner.

Seriously though, I'm glad for this push to investigate the different data bases. I have used some of them here at the library, but am woefully ignorant of others. This will give me an excuse to play with them.

I am a bit afraid that I will become addicted though. It's so fun to see where searches can take you, and I can see myself ignoring my other tasks in order to delve deeper and deeper into my queries.