- I take our 8th graders and Seniors into World Book Encylopedia, ProQuest and SIRS Issues Researcher/Discoverer for research projects.
- I have mentioned Gale Virtual Reference Library in passing, but haven't been real impressed with it. Now I see that it's largely because I didn't know the "ins" and "outs" of it. I will definitely add it to my "tool bag".
- I'd never used NetLibrary before, and I can see that I also need to add it to my "tool bag".
- I've been directed to WorldCat on several occasions when seeking help from Brookings Public Library. I was glad for the "hands on". I need to continue to explore this one.
- I'm glad for the chance to reflect because it reminds me of my "to do" list. I want to share CAMIO with our art teachers because it is so user friendly. I was wowed by the slideshows that could be created comparing two works of art.
- Learning Express Library caught me by surprise. I didn't know that we had access to such things. I need to share this tool with staff at one of our next staff meetings.
- I told my Mom about finding her parents on Ancenstry Library. I told her how I found them in various censuses. She was fascinated and asked about using it. I haven't had a chance to try to get into it from home yet. Can a person use their library card and get in, or can Ancenstry Library only be accessed from a library?
- Wow! I can't thank you enough! Thank you so much for making this course available to us over summer. I was definitely more free to explore the different tools. I'd never blogged before, so that was uncomfortable at first. I had to call for help on several occasions and was glad for the feedback. Is there a chance you might offer another course next summer highlighting some of the other tools? If so, count me in!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Wrap up
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Week 9
Ancenstry Library
1. I typed in my married name, and found interesting results. It provided my nickname correctly in parantheses. However, my birthdate and birthyear were incorrect. (It showed me being born 40 years earlier than I was!) It provided me with both college addresses and phone numbers (1 on campus, 1 off campus), and the address and phone number I moved away from 9 years ago. It hasn't caught up with me yet!
Just for fun, I typed in my nickname and married name. It provided me with my maiden name and the motel address we stayed at for a month 18 years ago while we waited for our new house. It provided me with one of my college addresses and also the house address we moved into.
2. I searched for my sweet Grandpa, not knowing his middle name, and found him. Neat! It correctly listed his parents, as well as where they were born. It was neat to see how old his brothers and sisters would have been at the time of each census. His address and phone number were listed correctly. It was sobering to pull up his Social Security Death Index. His death was listed correctly as well. Man, I miss my Grandpa! Grandma's birthday was listed correctly, but no phone number. I suppose because it was listed under Grandpa's name.
3. I never realized till I took this class how fascinated I am by old pictures. I could lose myself in them. There were 929 pictures and they seemed to range from about 1876-1968. Amazing to see how they used horses... When I saw a miner reading in his shack, I felt truly spoiled reading in my air conditioned house! "Oregon or Bust", the back of a vehicle with bicycle-width tires , boasted! It seems like "Bust!" to me! I love this tool.
4. Heritage Quest
I didn't have very good results with this tool. I typed in Volga, SD; Prairie Chautauqua at Madison, SD, etc. I did like the bars on the left side that showed the degree of relevancy.
5. Sanborn Maps
I searched Volga, SD and found 6 maps. They ranged from 1893-1925. The last year had 2 maps. I'm assuming that this is because Volga had grown enough to warrant 2 maps. The 1904 map was fascinating! Main Street was full of little businesses: a hotel, jewelry store, harness store, even an Opera House. It would be awesome to step back in time and see Volga as the busy, thriving community it was. Fifth Street, where I live, was, of course, not there since our house wasn't built till the early 1950s. The school didn't show up until the 1925 map. I found the Volga Hospital, which was later converted to an apartment house. I zoomed in on it in my mind. (This was easy to do since I used to help vacuum it after school when it was owned by my parents. Neat stuff!
1. I typed in my married name, and found interesting results. It provided my nickname correctly in parantheses. However, my birthdate and birthyear were incorrect. (It showed me being born 40 years earlier than I was!) It provided me with both college addresses and phone numbers (1 on campus, 1 off campus), and the address and phone number I moved away from 9 years ago. It hasn't caught up with me yet!
Just for fun, I typed in my nickname and married name. It provided me with my maiden name and the motel address we stayed at for a month 18 years ago while we waited for our new house. It provided me with one of my college addresses and also the house address we moved into.
2. I searched for my sweet Grandpa, not knowing his middle name, and found him. Neat! It correctly listed his parents, as well as where they were born. It was neat to see how old his brothers and sisters would have been at the time of each census. His address and phone number were listed correctly. It was sobering to pull up his Social Security Death Index. His death was listed correctly as well. Man, I miss my Grandpa! Grandma's birthday was listed correctly, but no phone number. I suppose because it was listed under Grandpa's name.
3. I never realized till I took this class how fascinated I am by old pictures. I could lose myself in them. There were 929 pictures and they seemed to range from about 1876-1968. Amazing to see how they used horses... When I saw a miner reading in his shack, I felt truly spoiled reading in my air conditioned house! "Oregon or Bust", the back of a vehicle with bicycle-width tires , boasted! It seems like "Bust!" to me! I love this tool.
4. Heritage Quest
I didn't have very good results with this tool. I typed in Volga, SD; Prairie Chautauqua at Madison, SD, etc. I did like the bars on the left side that showed the degree of relevancy.
5. Sanborn Maps
I searched Volga, SD and found 6 maps. They ranged from 1893-1925. The last year had 2 maps. I'm assuming that this is because Volga had grown enough to warrant 2 maps. The 1904 map was fascinating! Main Street was full of little businesses: a hotel, jewelry store, harness store, even an Opera House. It would be awesome to step back in time and see Volga as the busy, thriving community it was. Fifth Street, where I live, was, of course, not there since our house wasn't built till the early 1950s. The school didn't show up until the 1925 map. I found the Volga Hospital, which was later converted to an apartment house. I zoomed in on it in my mind. (This was easy to do since I used to help vacuum it after school when it was owned by my parents. Neat stuff!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Lesson 8: Learning Express Library
1-2. I subbed in K-8 for the school I'm at for 7 years before coming to our K-12 library. The blessing in that is that I have a pretty good idea of what projects different teachers/grade levels do. I love my supportive role in the library, so discovering different tools that I can share with my teachers is a bonus! Our intermediate elementary teachers do Daily Oral Math, so the Math Skills Improvement section looks like it could prove quite useful. If teachers opted to use these in a large group setting, working through them on the Promethean board would come in handy. Students could also work through these independently or in small groups. I could also see our 4th, 5th, and 6th grade teachers enlisting the help of our computer teacher. Is there a way for teachers to view the results of individual students? Obviously not for the purpose of grades, but to see how individual students do...
3. I liked the section on "Choosing the Right Format for You". Three formats were showcased: Chronological, Functional, and Combination/Targeted. Nine yes/no questions were posed, such as "Are you a recent graduate with little or no real-world work experience"? Once all the questions were answered, it told you how to crunch that information so you could choose the right format for you. I also liked the "Putting It All Together" section. Once you entered information that dealt with your heading, job objective, educational background, skill set, and work experiences, it gave you the option to download it in the three formats.
4. One e-book that popped out at me was Basic Skills for Homeschooling under the Parent's Guides. I jumped feet first into a chapter on fractions and decimals. After introducing each skill, there was a small activity or application to do under "Resources Around You". Several parents whose homeschooled children check out books at our library will enjoy this e-book.
3. I liked the section on "Choosing the Right Format for You". Three formats were showcased: Chronological, Functional, and Combination/Targeted. Nine yes/no questions were posed, such as "Are you a recent graduate with little or no real-world work experience"? Once all the questions were answered, it told you how to crunch that information so you could choose the right format for you. I also liked the "Putting It All Together" section. Once you entered information that dealt with your heading, job objective, educational background, skill set, and work experiences, it gave you the option to download it in the three formats.
4. One e-book that popped out at me was Basic Skills for Homeschooling under the Parent's Guides. I jumped feet first into a chapter on fractions and decimals. After introducing each skill, there was a small activity or application to do under "Resources Around You". Several parents whose homeschooled children check out books at our library will enjoy this e-book.
Week 7: Archive Grid and CAMIO
1. I typed in "Sitting Bull autograph card" and this is what I found:
"Sitting Bull, also known as Tatanka Iyotake or Tatanka Iyotanka or Ta-Tanka I-Yotan, was a Native American shaman and leader of the Hunpapa Sioux. He fought against the Crow Indians and was wounded in battle on several occasions. Sitting Bull greatly opposed the encroachment of the white men. He led Sioux and Cheyenne warriors against U.S. soldiers of the 7th Cavalry at the battle of Little Bighorn. After the battle, in which many were killed, Sitting Bull led his tribe into Canada, where they lived until surrendering to U.S. forces. After his capture he toured with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. Sitting Bull was killed while resisting arrest for his unwillingness to abandon the traditions of the ritual Ghost Dance, which had been outlawed."
I did a search on Helen Keller and came up with 860 matches. There were photograph collections, letters and papers written by Helen Keller, letters written by Annie Sullivan about Helen Keller, printed Braille cards, Helen Keller's autograph, etc. Materials were largely found at University of California, University of Virginia, and Harvard University.
CAMIO
1. I had no idea that Paul Revere was a silversmith. Amazing! The items showcased for him on CAMIO spanned about 40 years, 1760-1800. From teaspoons to teapots, sugar bowls to sugar urns.. I'd be happy with any of his creations!
2. Sioux: Information provided with each image included a title, museum, date, format (medium), type (paintings, sculptures, costume and jewelry, books, drawing and watercolor, photographs, prints, etc). One could click on the type, such as sculpture, and link to other works of that type.
3. Favorite artist: I chose Claude Monet. Wow! I will need to share this tool with both our elementary and MS/HS art teachers. I'm confident that they will find CAMIO useful. I can also see our elementary computer teacher collaborating with our art teacher using this tool... giving students different artist names and having them look through them for favorite works of art.
4-5. Oops! I selected four of Monet's works by checking the box to the left of the image number, and then tried to add them to favorites. That didn't work. It only added the last image. Once I figured out to click on one box at a time and add it to favorites, I was home free. Wow! Our art teachers will do cartwheels when I show them the bells and whistles for this tool! I love how quickly one can make a slideshow, and how easily one can compare two works of art. Piggybacking on the idea in number 3, students could make a slideshow of their favorite works of art and present it to the class. This is one of my favorite new tools so far!!!! I can't wait to share it with our art teachers!
"Sitting Bull, also known as Tatanka Iyotake or Tatanka Iyotanka or Ta-Tanka I-Yotan, was a Native American shaman and leader of the Hunpapa Sioux. He fought against the Crow Indians and was wounded in battle on several occasions. Sitting Bull greatly opposed the encroachment of the white men. He led Sioux and Cheyenne warriors against U.S. soldiers of the 7th Cavalry at the battle of Little Bighorn. After the battle, in which many were killed, Sitting Bull led his tribe into Canada, where they lived until surrendering to U.S. forces. After his capture he toured with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. Sitting Bull was killed while resisting arrest for his unwillingness to abandon the traditions of the ritual Ghost Dance, which had been outlawed."
I did a search on Helen Keller and came up with 860 matches. There were photograph collections, letters and papers written by Helen Keller, letters written by Annie Sullivan about Helen Keller, printed Braille cards, Helen Keller's autograph, etc. Materials were largely found at University of California, University of Virginia, and Harvard University.
CAMIO
1. I had no idea that Paul Revere was a silversmith. Amazing! The items showcased for him on CAMIO spanned about 40 years, 1760-1800. From teaspoons to teapots, sugar bowls to sugar urns.. I'd be happy with any of his creations!
2. Sioux: Information provided with each image included a title, museum, date, format (medium), type (paintings, sculptures, costume and jewelry, books, drawing and watercolor, photographs, prints, etc). One could click on the type, such as sculpture, and link to other works of that type.
3. Favorite artist: I chose Claude Monet. Wow! I will need to share this tool with both our elementary and MS/HS art teachers. I'm confident that they will find CAMIO useful. I can also see our elementary computer teacher collaborating with our art teacher using this tool... giving students different artist names and having them look through them for favorite works of art.
4-5. Oops! I selected four of Monet's works by checking the box to the left of the image number, and then tried to add them to favorites. That didn't work. It only added the last image. Once I figured out to click on one box at a time and add it to favorites, I was home free. Wow! Our art teachers will do cartwheels when I show them the bells and whistles for this tool! I love how quickly one can make a slideshow, and how easily one can compare two works of art. Piggybacking on the idea in number 3, students could make a slideshow of their favorite works of art and present it to the class. This is one of my favorite new tools so far!!!! I can't wait to share it with our art teachers!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Week 6: OAIster
For my "South Dakota" search, I found the photographs especially fascinating and disturbing: one taken back in 1908 of a log shanty with a flag, woman and 7 boys; one taken in 1931 of a school of the prairie; one of a horse and sled; one taken in 1891 of American soldiers gathering up dead Sioux Indians after Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota, etc. My fourth grade son started looking over my shoulder and found the old photographs quite interesting.
I clicked into "Observations on Bats at Badlands National Park, South Dakota" and was disheartened when all I could find was an abstract. When I clicked into another publication, I noticed a box off to the right that said "Download". I then went back to the publication on bats and found a similar option.
I'm not sure how my students/teachers could use this particular tool, but I did find it interesting.
I clicked into "Observations on Bats at Badlands National Park, South Dakota" and was disheartened when all I could find was an abstract. When I clicked into another publication, I noticed a box off to the right that said "Download". I then went back to the publication on bats and found a similar option.
I'm not sure how my students/teachers could use this particular tool, but I did find it interesting.
Week 6: WorldCat
At first, I searched for Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. 9 records were found, 5 which matched my title. I added the number of libraries worldwide for those 5 libraries and came up with 2,956 owning libraries. I switched to Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher so things would be more straight forward (not multiple records). 1,817 libraries worldwide owned that book. Brookings Public Library was listed at the top, I'm assuming because it is the library closest to me. It was found in their Young Adult collection under Asher, the author's last name. Its call number was YA ASH. Aberdeen - Alexander Mitchell Public Library owned 3 copies and a CD, making it the top library.
The call number/class descriptors were as follows:
LC: PZ7.A8155 (Not sure what this means)
Dewey: Fiction and 813.6 (Literature and rhetoric).
When I clicked on the author's name, it came up with the same book translated into German, Czech, Spanish, and Polish. The only other book that he seems to have written is Going Pro With Logic Pro 9, a book on interactive media.
Subject descriptors were suicide, high schools, schools, and interpersonal relations. When I clicked on each one, it gave me a nice list of other books dealing with those subjects.
The call number/class descriptors were as follows:
LC: PZ7.A8155 (Not sure what this means)
Dewey: Fiction and 813.6 (Literature and rhetoric).
When I clicked on the author's name, it came up with the same book translated into German, Czech, Spanish, and Polish. The only other book that he seems to have written is Going Pro With Logic Pro 9, a book on interactive media.
Subject descriptors were suicide, high schools, schools, and interpersonal relations. When I clicked on each one, it gave me a nice list of other books dealing with those subjects.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Week 5: NetLibrary
1. I searched "Oppositional Defiant Disorder", and read Educating Oppositional and Defiant Children. The table of contents on the left side was very helpful. It was nice to see at a glance what was covered.
I did not realize that ODD used to be referred to as explosive personality disorder. Quite fitting, though. This book provided lots of examples and was easy to read. It stated that children who experience neglect, rejection, harsh discipline and/or lack of nurturing can develop pent-up anger. Some use aggression to get even or to get what they want. I was glad for some reminders when dealing with these students. Here were a few that struck home...
* When a child loses control of his emotions, educators may too.
* Teachers must always value the child no matter what the behavior.
* Children must feel emotionally and physically safe in the teacher's presence.
* Hope is a key. Educators must have hope.
2. Here are a few appropriate titles I'd recommend for Constitution Day:
A Companion to the United States Constitution and Its Amendments
by John Vile
Publication: Westport, Conn. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001
The Constitution of the United States of America
Publication: Champaign, Illinois; Project Gutenberg
The Teacher's Calendar: School Year 2003-2004: The Day-by-day Directory to Holidays, Birthdays, Historic Events, and Special Days, Weeks and Months
by Holly McGuire and Kathryn A. Keil
Publication: Chicago, Ill. McGraw-Hill Professional 2003
This book gave a brief background of Constitution Day. It included a National Archives website to go to for activities and lesson plans for Constitution Day. However, the website was no longer available.
3. I entered Oklahoma as the publisher, something I wouldn't have thought of on my own. Eighty-three e-books came up. A lot of them came from the Oklahoma Western Biographies set, which seems like a credible source: Father Peter John DeSmet, A.P. Giannini and the Bank of America, Red Cloud: Warrior Statesman of Lakota Sioux, to mention a few.
Others titles that came up were: A Tour on the Prairie, Oklahoma Place Names, Oklahoma Treasures and Treasure Tales
I did not realize that ODD used to be referred to as explosive personality disorder. Quite fitting, though. This book provided lots of examples and was easy to read. It stated that children who experience neglect, rejection, harsh discipline and/or lack of nurturing can develop pent-up anger. Some use aggression to get even or to get what they want. I was glad for some reminders when dealing with these students. Here were a few that struck home...
* When a child loses control of his emotions, educators may too.
* Teachers must always value the child no matter what the behavior.
* Children must feel emotionally and physically safe in the teacher's presence.
* Hope is a key. Educators must have hope.
2. Here are a few appropriate titles I'd recommend for Constitution Day:
A Companion to the United States Constitution and Its Amendments
by John Vile
Publication: Westport, Conn. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001
The Constitution of the United States of America
Publication: Champaign, Illinois; Project Gutenberg
The Teacher's Calendar: School Year 2003-2004: The Day-by-day Directory to Holidays, Birthdays, Historic Events, and Special Days, Weeks and Months
by Holly McGuire and Kathryn A. Keil
Publication: Chicago, Ill. McGraw-Hill Professional 2003
This book gave a brief background of Constitution Day. It included a National Archives website to go to for activities and lesson plans for Constitution Day. However, the website was no longer available.
3. I entered Oklahoma as the publisher, something I wouldn't have thought of on my own. Eighty-three e-books came up. A lot of them came from the Oklahoma Western Biographies set, which seems like a credible source: Father Peter John DeSmet, A.P. Giannini and the Bank of America, Red Cloud: Warrior Statesman of Lakota Sioux, to mention a few.
Others titles that came up were: A Tour on the Prairie, Oklahoma Place Names, Oklahoma Treasures and Treasure Tales
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Week 4: Gale Virtual Reference Library
1-2. I overlooked the "Show all" option previously. It's interesting to see what publications are available in each field. Some of the reference books listed were outdated. For example, I searched for wind energy and GVRL came up with 15 matches. Only 4 of them were less than 4 years old. However, although the type of sort defaults to "relevance", it can be changed to publication date. Students at our school would need to be careful about which which reference books they'd use, as our English teachers don't encourage articles more than 4 years old.
I went into an article on wind energy in Alternative Energy. I liked the related subjects list that came up off to the left side: wind power, windmills, turbines, electric measurement, etc.
Wow! I wish that last spring I'd known what I know now about GVRL. One of the suggested research paper topics our Senior English teacher gave her students was on alternative energy. I brushed over GVRL with our seniors, but wasn't really impressed/informed about it, and I'm sure that showed to the students. I'll be more positive about its potential this year.
I went into the article about Wind Energy, and it was incredibly thorough. It explained what wind energy was, the history of windmills in Europe and North America, and the decline and revival of windmills. It also went into the environmental, societal, and economical impacts of windmills, and then highlighted those impacts for wind turbines as well. It discussed the benefits and drawbacks of both windmills and wind turbines. I enjoyed scrolling through the pictures before sinking my teeth into the article.
It appears that one can have the text read aloud and follow along below. Articles can be translated into 11 different languages, but I couldn't find a way for them to be read outloud.
I was the least informed about this online database. Once again, I appreciate this class being offered in the summer when there is a little more time to explore.
I went into an article on wind energy in Alternative Energy. I liked the related subjects list that came up off to the left side: wind power, windmills, turbines, electric measurement, etc.
Wow! I wish that last spring I'd known what I know now about GVRL. One of the suggested research paper topics our Senior English teacher gave her students was on alternative energy. I brushed over GVRL with our seniors, but wasn't really impressed/informed about it, and I'm sure that showed to the students. I'll be more positive about its potential this year.
I went into the article about Wind Energy, and it was incredibly thorough. It explained what wind energy was, the history of windmills in Europe and North America, and the decline and revival of windmills. It also went into the environmental, societal, and economical impacts of windmills, and then highlighted those impacts for wind turbines as well. It discussed the benefits and drawbacks of both windmills and wind turbines. I enjoyed scrolling through the pictures before sinking my teeth into the article.
It appears that one can have the text read aloud and follow along below. Articles can be translated into 11 different languages, but I couldn't find a way for them to be read outloud.
I was the least informed about this online database. Once again, I appreciate this class being offered in the summer when there is a little more time to explore.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Week 3: ProQuest
1. I like the format of this online database. It has even helped students that hit a dead end on research papers to come up with different subtopics. I like how you can put in a broad term and ProQuest offers ways to focus/narrow the search. For example, I did an initial search on "bullying". ProQuest came up with 4,441 articles, and suggested I narrow the topic by the following subtopics: Bullying and Children and Youth, Bullying and School Violence, Bullying and School Discipline, Bullying and Students, Bullying and Behavior, Bullying and work environment. I then chose Bullying and School Violence (201 articles), and it offered to narrow my topic further with: School Discipline, Children and Youth, Student Behavior, Students, Studies, Nonfiction, School Safety, Secondary Students. When I chose School Discipline, ProQuest narrowed my search to 29 articles. When I chose School Safety, 4 articles were left.
I never noticed the date range before. Our English teachers and students will appreciate this option as they have parameters on acceptable dates of data.
2. The Publications Tab will provide a nice visual when introducing this database to English classes or reviewing its potential with them. Rather than just saying that ProQuest has 1,700+ magazines/journals and newspapers, it will be nice to actually go into the list of publications and scroll down to show the data bank.
I typed in "Library" and it came up with 24 matches. I went into Young Adult Library Services. I went into the Spring 2010 edition and it gave me ways to narrow my topic as well. Neat! What I saw was a feast for the eyes. There was an article on "Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: It's All About the Popular". We've been trying to come up with different ways to display the books besides the obvious: mysteries, science fiction, etc. I need to look more into the PPYA themed lists. This could save us a lot of time, and give us a foundation to build on.
Another article that caught my eye was "YALSA Announces 2010 Literary Award Winners and Selected Booklists." 2010's PPYA themes were listed there:
I never noticed the date range before. Our English teachers and students will appreciate this option as they have parameters on acceptable dates of data.
2. The Publications Tab will provide a nice visual when introducing this database to English classes or reviewing its potential with them. Rather than just saying that ProQuest has 1,700+ magazines/journals and newspapers, it will be nice to actually go into the list of publications and scroll down to show the data bank.
I typed in "Library" and it came up with 24 matches. I went into Young Adult Library Services. I went into the Spring 2010 edition and it gave me ways to narrow my topic as well. Neat! What I saw was a feast for the eyes. There was an article on "Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: It's All About the Popular". We've been trying to come up with different ways to display the books besides the obvious: mysteries, science fiction, etc. I need to look more into the PPYA themed lists. This could save us a lot of time, and give us a foundation to build on.
Another article that caught my eye was "YALSA Announces 2010 Literary Award Winners and Selected Booklists." 2010's PPYA themes were listed there:
- Bodies: They come in all shapes, sizes and abilities... love it, or hate it, you only have one body.
- Change your world
- Hard Knock Life
- Twist on Tales
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Week 2: SIRS Issues Researcher
1. Our MS and HS English teachers already value and use SIRS Issues Researcher. I am usually responsible for doing a presentation in their classes before students start researching. My point being, I thought I was pretty familiar with SIRS Issues Researcher, but it looks like they have added some new features since this spring!!! I'm glad I noticed now! (Yet another plus from taking this class.)
- The interactive feature is new. I went into a handful of topics to see if it was just for the "Your Top Ten Pro vs. Con Leading Issues", and it appeared to be there for all, if not many. Our English teachers will love this addition.
- I've never gone into the "more" under Topic Overview. Is this a new feature, or did I overlook it before? This is gold. I love the further research offered, the organizations, primary sources, and key figures.
- The research tools continue to be informative: timeline, global impact, statistics.
- Just out of curiosity, do you know how often the Top 10 Leading Issues are changed?
2. The Curriculum Pathfinders is news to me. There was quite a range of topics: Math, Health, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Fine Arts. I went into Algebra and clicked on the first link: Algebasics: Show Me How, Now. This is exactly what our neighbor is looking for. He came over the other day and told me that he was contemplating a college career at age 40. He only had one year of algebra in HS, nothing since and was looking for something to give him a taste. This link has 16 sections, ranging from the basics of algebra to quadratics and applications. Once you click into a section, you have numerous examples to choose from (up to 20 from what I could see). It talks you through the problem/equation, giving you the visual of the work as you listen. Neat! I am adding Curriculum Pathfinders to my list of things to tell teachers about this fall. For example, I can see our MS Math teacher using the link I summarized above.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Week One: World Book Encyclopedia
Whew! I've had trouble getting to this point... The Blog component may be my biggest challenge, not familiarizing myself with and navigating through the library resources! Thanks, Julie, for helping me get to this point.
1. I chose dolphins, as they are one of my favorite animals. As a young child, I watched them "lead" ships into Port Aransas Bay in Texas. I found 3 pictures, 3 videos, and 13 articles in World Book Kids. There was a wide array of articles: dolphins, porpoises, Dan Marino, poetry, Atlantic Ocean, etc. The main article was 9-paragraphs long. I think it would be interesting to show students a list of words such as the following, and have them predict and explain which words they think they would come up for a given animal. (Dolphin example: Atlantic Ocean, Missouri River, jellyfish, porpoises, mammals, reptiles, Marino, Brett Favre, etc.) Then give them time to go to the site and actually do the search. Were they right?I see immediate applications for our 3rd graders as they already do a computer-based research project on an animal of choice. They could step right into the related web sites found on the left. I also liked having the option to hear text read aloud. It was helpful to be able to double-click on a word to define it, too. Younger students will think this is cool!
2. There was much more information on dolphins in World Book student. There were 66 articles instead of 13, 7 pictures instead of 3, 4 videos instead of 1, and 29 paragraphs instead of 9. There was more "meat" in the articles. I liked the main sections outlined on the left side. I enjoyed poking around the tables. I found the table on animal intelligence particularly interesting. Finding dolphins on that list didn't surprise me, but did you know that elephants and pigs are the best problem solvers among the hoofed animals? I didn't!
3. I chose Bangladesh as my country. The left side had maps, tables, sounds, historical maps, related web sites, and much more. World Book Advanced is impressive. Our high school English teachers require students to use the Citation Builder found here for research papers. Our fourth grade teachers will enjoy the "Explore South Dakota" for Social Studies. They do a Wax Museum of famous SD people, so the biographies will prove helpful. There are wonderful graphs of things like average January and July temperatures, which I will be pointing out to both our elementary and MS math teachers.
4. World Book Discover can help patrons who aren't good English readers in a number of ways. Words can be defined by double-clicking on them. Text can be translated into other language and/or read aloud at different speeds. I can see that I need to do a better job of educating our teachers as to what is available in the line of online references, thanks to South Dakota State Library.
Is it still possible to have SD State Library Staff come and do an inservice for individual schools? If so, please refresh my memory: who would we contact? How much time would you recommend for such an endeavor?
1. I chose dolphins, as they are one of my favorite animals. As a young child, I watched them "lead" ships into Port Aransas Bay in Texas. I found 3 pictures, 3 videos, and 13 articles in World Book Kids. There was a wide array of articles: dolphins, porpoises, Dan Marino, poetry, Atlantic Ocean, etc. The main article was 9-paragraphs long. I think it would be interesting to show students a list of words such as the following, and have them predict and explain which words they think they would come up for a given animal. (Dolphin example: Atlantic Ocean, Missouri River, jellyfish, porpoises, mammals, reptiles, Marino, Brett Favre, etc.) Then give them time to go to the site and actually do the search. Were they right?I see immediate applications for our 3rd graders as they already do a computer-based research project on an animal of choice. They could step right into the related web sites found on the left. I also liked having the option to hear text read aloud. It was helpful to be able to double-click on a word to define it, too. Younger students will think this is cool!
2. There was much more information on dolphins in World Book student. There were 66 articles instead of 13, 7 pictures instead of 3, 4 videos instead of 1, and 29 paragraphs instead of 9. There was more "meat" in the articles. I liked the main sections outlined on the left side. I enjoyed poking around the tables. I found the table on animal intelligence particularly interesting. Finding dolphins on that list didn't surprise me, but did you know that elephants and pigs are the best problem solvers among the hoofed animals? I didn't!
3. I chose Bangladesh as my country. The left side had maps, tables, sounds, historical maps, related web sites, and much more. World Book Advanced is impressive. Our high school English teachers require students to use the Citation Builder found here for research papers. Our fourth grade teachers will enjoy the "Explore South Dakota" for Social Studies. They do a Wax Museum of famous SD people, so the biographies will prove helpful. There are wonderful graphs of things like average January and July temperatures, which I will be pointing out to both our elementary and MS math teachers.
4. World Book Discover can help patrons who aren't good English readers in a number of ways. Words can be defined by double-clicking on them. Text can be translated into other language and/or read aloud at different speeds. I can see that I need to do a better job of educating our teachers as to what is available in the line of online references, thanks to South Dakota State Library.
Is it still possible to have SD State Library Staff come and do an inservice for individual schools? If so, please refresh my memory: who would we contact? How much time would you recommend for such an endeavor?
Week 2: SIRS Discoverer
1. Wow! Searching for dolphins on SIRS Discoverer definitely brought different results than World Book. I think it would make our 3rd-graders animal reports more three-dimensional if they not only looked up the usuals (habitat, size, etc.), but also if they looked up and summarized an article on SIRS Discoverer. I'll have to suggest it to our two 3rd grade teachers. They're both really open-minded. (My list of who I need to inform about what is getting quite long! Nice problem, though!)
I searched for information on dolphins again, and the first article I came to was "A Superhero of the Sea". This was a very high-interest article. As I scrolled down further, I was delighted to find suggestions of what to do before, during and after reading the article. Discussion questions and writing prompts were also available. One of the neatest things I discovered was "Sentence Chef Presents: How to Write a Paragraph". A topic sentence based on the article had been filled in, and there were four additional lines, two for supporting sentences and two for detailed sentences. Hints were given under each. I sure wish there was an option of having these articles read aloud by the computer. During computer class, students could work together and read/listen to an article and then fill out the Paragraph diagram together. This will still work, just without the read-aloud feature. The color-coded reading levels will prove helpful too.
2. I again chose Bangladesh for my country. I found a map of Bangladesh, which offered a link to an article about Clinton's visit there. There was information on its geography and weather. It not only gave its size in miles/km squared, but also compared it to something more familiar (about the size of Wisconsin). There was information about its economy, government, and history. Population was listed, as well as how ethnic groups, religions, life expectancy, etc. broke down within that population. Easy, moderate, and challenging graphic organizers were provided. I will be sharing these with elementary, MS and HS Social Studies teachers.
I went into "Maps of the World" and found all sorts of maps: outline maps, maps with time zones of the world, etc. The time zone map had a link to an article about how time zones work. Neat! A teacher could do a scavenger hunt. Display the outline of a country and have students look for it in the outline maps.
I explored "Educators Resources". I will be sharing the elementary workbook with our computer teachers. It would be nice to let our elementary students play with these resources so it's not so overwhelming when they move into research papers in MS. I also liked the table on SIRS vs. Google. The Analyzing Graphs and Charts sheet is something that our teachers will find helpful.
I searched for information on dolphins again, and the first article I came to was "A Superhero of the Sea". This was a very high-interest article. As I scrolled down further, I was delighted to find suggestions of what to do before, during and after reading the article. Discussion questions and writing prompts were also available. One of the neatest things I discovered was "Sentence Chef Presents: How to Write a Paragraph". A topic sentence based on the article had been filled in, and there were four additional lines, two for supporting sentences and two for detailed sentences. Hints were given under each. I sure wish there was an option of having these articles read aloud by the computer. During computer class, students could work together and read/listen to an article and then fill out the Paragraph diagram together. This will still work, just without the read-aloud feature. The color-coded reading levels will prove helpful too.
2. I again chose Bangladesh for my country. I found a map of Bangladesh, which offered a link to an article about Clinton's visit there. There was information on its geography and weather. It not only gave its size in miles/km squared, but also compared it to something more familiar (about the size of Wisconsin). There was information about its economy, government, and history. Population was listed, as well as how ethnic groups, religions, life expectancy, etc. broke down within that population. Easy, moderate, and challenging graphic organizers were provided. I will be sharing these with elementary, MS and HS Social Studies teachers.
I went into "Maps of the World" and found all sorts of maps: outline maps, maps with time zones of the world, etc. The time zone map had a link to an article about how time zones work. Neat! A teacher could do a scavenger hunt. Display the outline of a country and have students look for it in the outline maps.
I explored "Educators Resources". I will be sharing the elementary workbook with our computer teachers. It would be nice to let our elementary students play with these resources so it's not so overwhelming when they move into research papers in MS. I also liked the table on SIRS vs. Google. The Analyzing Graphs and Charts sheet is something that our teachers will find helpful.
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