SIRS Discoverer and Issues Researcher have been challenging. I have had some trouble finding what I am looking for and also interpreting the results.
SIRS Discoverer:
1. The third grader may have trouble reading many of the articles I found about the solar system. I did an advanced search and limited the results to Easy articles. The results listed 44 "all articles." [Okay, here's my question: there are 4 newspapers, 28 magazines, and 7 reference sources listed. I'm no math whiz, but I am sure that those numbers add up to 39, not 44. So what are they counting??]
I do not know the specific lexile range for students in third grade, but I notice that the lexiles for these articles (all rated as Easy) are all over the place! I went to the Lexile website for clarification, and it seems to me that most of the articles will be too difficult for a student reading below a 3rd grade level. A read-aloud feature would be useful here, so more information could be accessible to this student.... [I did not find an option for an article to be read aloud. Is there one and I just missed it??]
2. There are several ways to find pictures and maps of volcanoes. They all give different results. The first way is to choose the "pictures" option in the box under "Database Features" on the lower right side of the screen. Then type in "volcanoes" - this results in 105 graphics. Another way is to type in "volcanoes" in the search box at the top of the home page. This results in 933 articles, with 137 graphics. The third way I found volcano pictures, maps, and diagrams was to click on the science icon on the home page. I chose "Weather, Climate, & Natural Disasters" (from the topics box on the right). I then chose "Volcanic Eruptions" (also from the topics box). This resulted in 130 articles, with 156 graphics. This last search resulted in the highest number of graphics, but it was such a round-about way to get there. [Once again, the number of "all articles" does not equal the sum of the other types....]
SIRS Issues Researcher
1. To assist the teachers needing websites on suicide prevention, I typed in the topic (suicide prevention) in the search box, then narrowed the results to "WebSelect Sites" from the Narrow Your Results box on the left side of the screen. This resulted in seven sites. As to why this is better than Google, check out the article under Educators' Resources (top right, near the Help button) about SIRS vs. Google. The major advantages of SIRS are that the sites listed are age-appropriate, curriculum-relevant, and editorially selected. Google is consumer oriented, with many questionable sites. It would take a lot of time researching to find the best sites using Google, and time is something most teachers and librarians do not have an abundance of!
2. Pros and Cons of Water Restriction can be found by searching the topics box on the left side of the home page under Leading Issues. Click on "Water Use" to get 98 results. The Pro/Con Issues box at the top has opposing views as well. This would be a great place to start researching the issue of water restriction.
I had some issues with SIRS, but it does have good information about current issues. Discoverer also has a variety of kid-friendly of activities! The Chinese New Year Snake looks like a fun project!
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
Challenge 2 - Learning Express
Confession time: It's been awhile since I accessed Learning Express and I couldn't remember my password (or user name, for that matter!). I had to get help to get started on this assignment. But now I have all the pertinent information safely stored where I can find it easily, and I am ready to report on my findings.
1. For the 4th grader needing help with reading comprehension, I would suggest one or more of the many practice tests available under the Elementary School section. Under Reading Skills, there are several options: 4th Grade Reading Practice, FCAT 4th Grade Reading Practice, and California 4th Grade Reading Practice. The first option (4th Grade Reading Practice) has practice tests on Reading Comprehension, Informational Reading, and Poetry. Any or all of these will help this student improve reading comprehension.
2. The recent high school graduate may want to check out the Job Search and Workplace Skills section. I found e-courses and e-books on Job Searching, Resumes, and Interviewing Skills. There are also e-books dealing with Success on the Job. If this patron needs to improve basic skills, she should search the Skill Building for Adults section for courses on Writing and Math skills. Another option is the High School section, where she will find books, courses, and tests on math, reading, vocabulary, and spelling. Making use of these resources should help this patron land the job.
3. The Jobs and Careers section is where I would point the high schooler interested in careers in nursing or pharmacy. Under the Nursing and Allied Health tab there is an option called Career Guidance that lists e-books such as Becoming a Health Care Professional. Another option is Entrance Test Preparation, that has practice tests for getting into nursing school. More advanced practice tests are available in the Licensure and Certification Test Preparation option (so this student can get an idea of what will be required). If this student needs even more basic information on college entrance, they can search the College Preparation section as well.
With Learning Express, there is no reason to be unprepared!
1. For the 4th grader needing help with reading comprehension, I would suggest one or more of the many practice tests available under the Elementary School section. Under Reading Skills, there are several options: 4th Grade Reading Practice, FCAT 4th Grade Reading Practice, and California 4th Grade Reading Practice. The first option (4th Grade Reading Practice) has practice tests on Reading Comprehension, Informational Reading, and Poetry. Any or all of these will help this student improve reading comprehension.
2. The recent high school graduate may want to check out the Job Search and Workplace Skills section. I found e-courses and e-books on Job Searching, Resumes, and Interviewing Skills. There are also e-books dealing with Success on the Job. If this patron needs to improve basic skills, she should search the Skill Building for Adults section for courses on Writing and Math skills. Another option is the High School section, where she will find books, courses, and tests on math, reading, vocabulary, and spelling. Making use of these resources should help this patron land the job.
3. The Jobs and Careers section is where I would point the high schooler interested in careers in nursing or pharmacy. Under the Nursing and Allied Health tab there is an option called Career Guidance that lists e-books such as Becoming a Health Care Professional. Another option is Entrance Test Preparation, that has practice tests for getting into nursing school. More advanced practice tests are available in the Licensure and Certification Test Preparation option (so this student can get an idea of what will be required). If this student needs even more basic information on college entrance, they can search the College Preparation section as well.
With Learning Express, there is no reason to be unprepared!
Challenge 1c - World Book Foreign Language Edition
I'm trying to catch up, but in the words of my mother, "the hurrier I go, the behinder I get!"
I've been looking at the Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos, but since I don't know Spanish, I am not learning too much. I typed the word "house" in the search box and got eight results which are biographical in nature. To get similar results in the browse feature, I clicked on the picture of people (gente). On the next page I had choose one of the many options in the sidebars. I clicked on "biografias" and was rewarded with short articles of many famous people. I could also use the sidebars to refine my search further by selecting a specific type of biography I wanted (artist, educator, historical figure, etc.).
However, none of this is helpful if a want information on houses. To get useful results, I need to use Spanish terms when searching.
If I have a patron who needs information in Spanish, they will either need to provide the appropriate Spanish terms for searching, or perhaps I could find the information by using the browse feature if I know the correct category. Or I could use another English edition of World Book (such as the Online Reference Center), look of the information, and click the option to translate the article into Spanish.
I like having options!
I've been looking at the Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos, but since I don't know Spanish, I am not learning too much. I typed the word "house" in the search box and got eight results which are biographical in nature. To get similar results in the browse feature, I clicked on the picture of people (gente). On the next page I had choose one of the many options in the sidebars. I clicked on "biografias" and was rewarded with short articles of many famous people. I could also use the sidebars to refine my search further by selecting a specific type of biography I wanted (artist, educator, historical figure, etc.).
However, none of this is helpful if a want information on houses. To get useful results, I need to use Spanish terms when searching.
If I have a patron who needs information in Spanish, they will either need to provide the appropriate Spanish terms for searching, or perhaps I could find the information by using the browse feature if I know the correct category. Or I could use another English edition of World Book (such as the Online Reference Center), look of the information, and click the option to translate the article into Spanish.
I like having options!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Challenge 1b - World Book Public Library
My initial opinion of the World Book Public Library Edition is that is it very similar to the School Edition. The information in the Online Kids Special Features is virtually identical. The crafts, science projects, maps, and animals are the same in both editions.
One difference I did note is that there are different games. I think I like the games in the Public Library edition best. The spelling and history mazes were fun! Most of my patrons are more interested in computer games than research, so I think I will show them these games: kids can have fun while reviewing what they have learned!
All the special features should be popular with our many home-school patrons. They can be used to supplement lessons and provide information for various projects.
In the Info Finder, I checked out the Virtual Tours. I liked them! These are similar to the World Book Explains videos in the World Book Discover, although there are more videos on a wider range of topics in Discover. Visual learners will appreciate these short videos. One of my teacher friends does a Titanic unit with her students. I'll make sure she knows about the Titanic Virtual Tours.
The E-Book Center in the Online Reference Center is the same (or nearly the same) as in World Book Advanced. I looked at several books in the "juvenile literature" genre. I recognized some that I borrowed from my local library when I was little (like the "Twins" series by Perkins)! They were old then, so by today's standards they are practically ancient classics! Having access to classic titles could be helpful to a student who has a report due tomorrow and the library is closed! I did look up Emma by Jane Austen. I followed a trail of articles and ended up looking at a slide show of her home in England! How cool is that!?!
One difference I did note is that there are different games. I think I like the games in the Public Library edition best. The spelling and history mazes were fun! Most of my patrons are more interested in computer games than research, so I think I will show them these games: kids can have fun while reviewing what they have learned!
All the special features should be popular with our many home-school patrons. They can be used to supplement lessons and provide information for various projects.
In the Info Finder, I checked out the Virtual Tours. I liked them! These are similar to the World Book Explains videos in the World Book Discover, although there are more videos on a wider range of topics in Discover. Visual learners will appreciate these short videos. One of my teacher friends does a Titanic unit with her students. I'll make sure she knows about the Titanic Virtual Tours.
The E-Book Center in the Online Reference Center is the same (or nearly the same) as in World Book Advanced. I looked at several books in the "juvenile literature" genre. I recognized some that I borrowed from my local library when I was little (like the "Twins" series by Perkins)! They were old then, so by today's standards they are practically ancient classics! Having access to classic titles could be helpful to a student who has a report due tomorrow and the library is closed! I did look up Emma by Jane Austen. I followed a trail of articles and ended up looking at a slide show of her home in England! How cool is that!?!
Monday, January 28, 2013
Here We Go Again... Challenge 1a World Book School Edition
The Electronic Resources Challenge is up and running again, and I am behind already! Maybe it's because I've been spending too much time playing with my new iPhone! I went from sharing a "dumb" phone with my husband (he usually carried it...) to my own iPhone! There's something new to learn every day!
But back to the business at hand: World Book Student Edition.
After exploring most of the special features in World Book Kids (looking at different animals, comparing states, playing several games, putting puzzles together), I have decided that using these features is more like play than work. You can learn all sorts of things painlessly!
Our Story Time theme this session is wild animals. So I will be using the "World of Animals" feature to learn quick facts about the animal of the week. If our Children's Room was open, I would also have this feature open on the computers for the kids to explore before and after Story Time. One of these weeks I hope to do a demo for the Story Time parents and show them this site. I know the kids would enjoy looking at the pictures and videos.
When we have school classes visit the library, I show them the World Book Student. We look up topics that they are currently researching. I usually don't use the Special Features, but after exploring them today, I will remember to point them out to the kids. I had fun taking several trivia quizzes in the "Quizzes and Activities" section. I confess I did not do too well. Guess I don't know as much trivia as I thought! "Surf the Ages" was fun as well. The brief bits of information are a jumping off point for kids wanting to learn more about periods of history.
In the "E-Book Center" of World Book Advanced I looked up both of the assigned texts. I know ebooks are the wave of the future, but I prefer my fairy tales to have beautiful illustrations, which this ebook edition of Andersen's Fairy Tales did not have. I did like the fact that I could click right over to an article about Andersen and then go even further with articles about Denmark and Copenhagen.
For fun I perused some of the other titles available and found a book from my youth: The Adventures of Reddy Fox. My dad had a copy of this book when he was young, along with other Thornton W. Burgess titles. When my siblings and I learned to read, dad's old books were always available to us. So this blast from the past was a fun diversion. Unfortunately, the related article was less than helpful. It was a "back in time" article which was a list of children's books from 1960. Old Mother West Wind, by Burgess was listed way down in the article under New Editions of Old Favorites." That's all there was - no other information about the book or author. I actually went to WorldCat to see when Reddy Fox was first published (1913).
I'm not sure how I will use this with my patrons, but it's a feature I was unaware of previously. So I did learn something new today.
I wasn't sure I would enjoy World Book Discover "Reference Tools," but then I found the World Book Explains Videos. I spent quite a bit of time looking at different videos that answer all sorts of questions. (Can penguins fly? Who was the messiest president? Was there a point where the south could have won the American Civil War?....) I can see students using this feature to get answers to their questions - and maybe even answers to questions they didn't know they had!
So this is all for today. Tomorrow I will try to tackle World Book Public Library (in between sessions of Story Time).
But back to the business at hand: World Book Student Edition.
After exploring most of the special features in World Book Kids (looking at different animals, comparing states, playing several games, putting puzzles together), I have decided that using these features is more like play than work. You can learn all sorts of things painlessly!
Our Story Time theme this session is wild animals. So I will be using the "World of Animals" feature to learn quick facts about the animal of the week. If our Children's Room was open, I would also have this feature open on the computers for the kids to explore before and after Story Time. One of these weeks I hope to do a demo for the Story Time parents and show them this site. I know the kids would enjoy looking at the pictures and videos.
When we have school classes visit the library, I show them the World Book Student. We look up topics that they are currently researching. I usually don't use the Special Features, but after exploring them today, I will remember to point them out to the kids. I had fun taking several trivia quizzes in the "Quizzes and Activities" section. I confess I did not do too well. Guess I don't know as much trivia as I thought! "Surf the Ages" was fun as well. The brief bits of information are a jumping off point for kids wanting to learn more about periods of history.
In the "E-Book Center" of World Book Advanced I looked up both of the assigned texts. I know ebooks are the wave of the future, but I prefer my fairy tales to have beautiful illustrations, which this ebook edition of Andersen's Fairy Tales did not have. I did like the fact that I could click right over to an article about Andersen and then go even further with articles about Denmark and Copenhagen.
For fun I perused some of the other titles available and found a book from my youth: The Adventures of Reddy Fox. My dad had a copy of this book when he was young, along with other Thornton W. Burgess titles. When my siblings and I learned to read, dad's old books were always available to us. So this blast from the past was a fun diversion. Unfortunately, the related article was less than helpful. It was a "back in time" article which was a list of children's books from 1960. Old Mother West Wind, by Burgess was listed way down in the article under New Editions of Old Favorites." That's all there was - no other information about the book or author. I actually went to WorldCat to see when Reddy Fox was first published (1913).
I'm not sure how I will use this with my patrons, but it's a feature I was unaware of previously. So I did learn something new today.
I wasn't sure I would enjoy World Book Discover "Reference Tools," but then I found the World Book Explains Videos. I spent quite a bit of time looking at different videos that answer all sorts of questions. (Can penguins fly? Who was the messiest president? Was there a point where the south could have won the American Civil War?....) I can see students using this feature to get answers to their questions - and maybe even answers to questions they didn't know they had!
So this is all for today. Tomorrow I will try to tackle World Book Public Library (in between sessions of Story Time).
Monday, March 19, 2012
Wrap Up
When I first started this challenge it was almost overwhelming. I was a bit late signing up, so I was behind when I began. I didn't see how I would ever catch up and complete all the assignments! But here we are, at the end already! There were a few frustrations, but on the whole, exploring the databases was fun!
Perhaps the biggest discovery for me was the variety of information available. It was so easy to get distracted from my assignment and go looking at other things! I am reminded of the Family Circus cartoon where the little boy has to go from point A to point B. Instead of going in a straight line, you see his footprints going in a circuitous route all over the page. That's me with these databases! I kept forgetting my mission and going off on other tangents!
I have used World Book with students who have come for library tours. I will continue to do that, but will also make it a point to show them other databases as well. World Book and SIRS Discoverer have some features I can use with library programs.
I will also these databases myself when I need information. I don't how it is with other families, but my relatives regard me as their personal reference librarian and frequently call with questions. Now I have a new source for answers!
This Challenge has been a challenge! But it's been a lot of fun too. Thank You!
Perhaps the biggest discovery for me was the variety of information available. It was so easy to get distracted from my assignment and go looking at other things! I am reminded of the Family Circus cartoon where the little boy has to go from point A to point B. Instead of going in a straight line, you see his footprints going in a circuitous route all over the page. That's me with these databases! I kept forgetting my mission and going off on other tangents!
I have used World Book with students who have come for library tours. I will continue to do that, but will also make it a point to show them other databases as well. World Book and SIRS Discoverer have some features I can use with library programs.
I will also these databases myself when I need information. I don't how it is with other families, but my relatives regard me as their personal reference librarian and frequently call with questions. Now I have a new source for answers!
This Challenge has been a challenge! But it's been a lot of fun too. Thank You!
Friday, March 9, 2012
Sanborn Maps
I love maps! When we travel, I usually have a map open on my lap so I can see where we are and where we are going. My techie husband loves his GPS, but I maintain that a map is less expensive and has no annoying beeps! And you nver have to replace the batteries!
Looking at the January 1917 and November 1923 maps of Aberdeen was a mini local history lesson. I found the Alexander Mitchell Public Library at it's original location on the corner of 6th Avenue and South Lincoln Street. The library had steam heat and electric lights! Although the library is no longer there, the Methodist Church and Masonic Temple, also shown on the maps, are still in use today.
I know at least one third grade class that does a unit on Aberdeen. I am going to show their teacher this site. I think the kids will have fun looking at the maps and seeing how the city has changed over the years.
Looking at the January 1917 and November 1923 maps of Aberdeen was a mini local history lesson. I found the Alexander Mitchell Public Library at it's original location on the corner of 6th Avenue and South Lincoln Street. The library had steam heat and electric lights! Although the library is no longer there, the Methodist Church and Masonic Temple, also shown on the maps, are still in use today.
I know at least one third grade class that does a unit on Aberdeen. I am going to show their teacher this site. I think the kids will have fun looking at the maps and seeing how the city has changed over the years.
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