Coming to a Close

As the electronic resources challenge comes to an end, I would like to thank the wonderful ladies who put this challenge together! What a great way to get a chance to explore resources that I am now using on a regular basis! The biggest discovery I found throughout the challenge was the Learning Express Library where it offers the practice tests to determine the areas students are low in.  Here in WMS, we are working on low standards in Informational Text and the Learning Express Library offers a resource to see what areas we need to work harder on before we begin district testing here in a few weeks.

As for promoting the resources, I am already doing this.  My students are currently working on research papers and I had a large majority of students who found all of their resources from the state library (which they loved because almost all of them provide the citation for them)!  I have also discussed the resources with many of my colleagues, especially the Learning Express Library!

Again, thank you!

AncestryLibrary, HeritageQuest, and Sanborn Maps

On AncestryLibrary, I tried searching my own name and found zero results pertaining to myself.  Most of the results I found were only based on my last name (I also tried my maiden name as well to see if I could find anything there and no luck).

Next on AncestryLibrary, I chose to search for information on my maternal grandfather.  I was able to find information on his birth certificate, marriage certificate, and death certificate.  I was also able to find information of a school, church, and library directory.  I found it interesting that they list the social security number?

When searching for pictures linked to South Dakota, I was amazed at the number of resources that were yearbook pictures from various locations around the state.  I found an interesting link of a club started at what was called Wesleyan School (I assume what is known as Dakota Wesleyan University now) which was called the Bolivian Club.  Apparently it was a club founded by 3 students who were interested in Bolivia, South America, which eventually grew to 30 members! A very unique group in my opinion! Very different from any college group you would find today.

I have tried several times to open the HeritageQuest link and each time I try it brings nothing up but a blank white page? I am not sure if the link is not working or if it is an issue on my end??

In Sanborn Maps, I chose to search for information about my hometown of Parkston, SD.  I chose to search for the information from 1928-1938.  I was able to see a plot map of the city and where the homes were located at that time.  Very interesting to see all the homes so separated from one another! How different from today where some houses seem to be right on top of one another!

WorldCat, CAMIO and More

WorldCat


In the WorldCat catalogue, you can search in many different ways including by author, material type, composer, ISBN number, and various others.  I chose to search the title Where the Red Fern Grows.  There were 180 records found, but only 161 of them were in English which I found to be very interesting.  A total of 2045 libraries worldwide have the first item! Wow! Not too surprising considering the novel is considered a classic. The top library is Black Hills State University.  The novel had several descriptors including: Hunting dogs -- Juvenile fiction.; Human-animal relationships -- Juvenile fiction.; Dogs -- Fiction.; Hunting -- Fiction. When I clicked on the authors name, I found a total of 439 results, with only 235 of those results being books.  When I went into the information, the majority of the results were Where the Red Fern Grows.  I liked that it also contained a link to the citation for the page (very useful for students working on research papers!).


Using the OAIster search, I found an article on Agriculture Mediation and Counseling.  The information was about a farm program available to SD farmers for additional assistance.  I could see the information being helpful if you had received a copy of a pamphlet or handout and lost your copy.  I could see it being helpful because you could find a new copy with all of the information and contact information.  I liked that you are able to access a link with the information without having to print it out (save a tree).


In CAMIO, I found many interesting links on the Sioux.  I found that a lot of the results were Costume and Jewelry   I also liked that the information contains the creator and the museum location.  I could see this resource being a great tool for incorporating the Oceti Sakowin standards in the classroom.  It would be wonderful to have pictures of actual materials that we are discussing.  I could also find this being helpful when discussing different artists within pieces of literature.  What a great way to get students exposed to art! I could see the personalizing favorites being very helpful to have students present.  How neat is it that the search engine puts the information into a slideshow for you and allows you to compare certain images.

EbscoHost

For the first portion of this weeks challenge, I have chosen to explore the kids search feature for middle and high school students because I teach middle school.  I have chosen to explore the area of science as that is one of the areas I teach.  My students will soon be doing a research project on volcanoes and I thought this might be a good source for them to use.  I really liked how the search lets the user narrow down the type of sources (books and encyclopedias, bibliographies, and pictures).  I also like that all articles are dated and contain the Lexile level.  Once into the sources, the information is broken down into subheadings which would help students to focus on the specific types of information they are looking for.

I remained in the kids search feature for my search on Constitution Day resources.  I was able to find many good options to have students be exploring Constitution Day.  The first one I really liked was It Made America by Elizabeth Carney.  The information is interesting and relevant to students.  It comes from a Scholastic News Magazine which I know my students enjoy reading.  Many of the sources I found came from Scholastic sources including, Scholastic News, Scope, and Weekly Reader.  I would also recommend the Constitution Day source from Scholastic News 2006 for teachers because it would be a great pre/post test to determine what students know/have learned about the constitution.

I chose to search Nebraska in the PB Publisher search. I was amazed by the large number of interesting articles on Native American literature.  The search provided a link to the full ebook or a link to the table of contents or the most relevant items depending on what you are in search of.  I thought this could be helpful if you were searching for specific information without having to read the entire book. I find it to be helpful that each book contains a published date and breaks the information into subject areas.

Gale Virtual Reference Library

I selected the volume Novels for Students (2002).  I thought this would be useful in my classroom as a tool to help students in finding individual novels they might be interested in reading.  The title I selected provides very insightful critiques to literature that students may be interested in reading. Our students are part of the AR reading program, and this would be a useful tool in helping point them in the direction of literature they could explore on their own!

I chose to search for an answer to the question to what foods contain zinc because the question had me wondering. I was able to find out that oysters are a very natural source of zinc.  I found that it is more helpful to click on the view text link versus clicking on the title of the article. I also really liked that the information in the volume selected is hyperlinked by subheading.  A great tool to find what you are looking for without having to read the entire volume. I found the listen feature to be a nice option but I could not find a way to have it just read certain subheadings.  I think it would be nice to just select the portions you want read to you.  

ProQuest

For my search, I chose to search the common core standards.  As I use them everyday and hear about the major debate going on over them, I thought it would be a good topic to search.  I was amazed by the number of search results provided, especially with the full-text limitation.  I figured that would limit the number of results greatly.  I really like the links that each article provides before you even click into the article.  I could see the summary and the preview option being very helpful for students who are working on research projects.  I also see the link to the citation for each article being a great help when we begin our research projects here in a few weeks! The other thing that caught my attention was the graph showing the dates of publications of the article (obviously the great majority of my articles had been written in the past 20 years).  I also found that if you click on the graph you can narrow the information to the time period in which it was written.

Under the publications tab in ProQuest, I chose to search the American Teacher.  I think this is a great resource to access periodicals without having to subscribe to the periodical. I had no idea that we had access to something like this.  Thanks again for a great find to stay current on the ever changing world of education! I was also amazed by the number of options of periodicals to check into.  I like that you can look at the most recent issue and also at past issues.

SIRS Issue Researcher and Discoverer

SIRS Discoverer
I searched armadillos in SIRS Discoverer and was amazed by the number of results that were found (87 total articles).  I really liked that at the top of the page it divides it into the types of articles they are (magazine, newspaper, reference article, etc.) I could see this being very helpful in my classroom as my students do projects where they are required to have at least one non-internet based source.  I have used this before in my Communication Arts classes but will have to remember to use it next year in my science classes as the students are required to have at least one book source for their science fair projects! I also liked that the reading levels ranged all the way from third grade to ninth grade reading levels.  I also liked the links that show before you even click on a link whether or not it contains pictures (majority of them do!).  The captions on the pictures are also very helpful (using graphic aids)!

I selected the country of Russia because of the upcoming Olympics! The site provided a plethora of information on Russia all neatly broken into categories to help students zero in on the information they are looking for.

In the Maps of the World, I found a map of Georgia.  I could see these maps being very useful in my classroom.  My students just two weeks ago had to find major landmarks covered in a class novel and label them on the map to help us track the journey the young girl takes in the novel.  The students could have found maps of each state on the list to identify and focused in on what they needed.  They seemed to struggle having the map of the US and I think this would alleviate some of the confusion!

As a middle school science teacher, I went into the educator's resources and found the link to the science fair explorer. I thought it was wonderful that it broke the potential projects in to areas.  Then the students could focus on what areas interest them the most (recycling, the bathroom, the kitchen, etc.)  I will definitely be showing my students this link next year when we choose science fair topics!  There are multiple choices for each individual interest area.

SIRS Issue Researcher
I chose a major issue in schools today, bullying. As a Communication Arts teacher, I loved the links to the research tools! What a great way to help students organize the information they are finding in their research. The site also does a great job of defining the problem and why it is a major issue.  I was amazed that the number of amazing articles that were linked below (pages upon pages of articles).  I could see myself using this in my classroom when we do research papers here in a few weeks.  The students could choose a side and defend their side of the issue based on the information they have found.

I chose my favorite subject to be creative writing.  As a teacher, what a wonderful link to ideas on implementing creative writing within my classroom.  This will definitely be put to good use as I begin teaching a separate writing course next school year! One of the ideas I can already see coming into my classroom are the Edgar Allan Poe Museum ideas. We read The Tell Tale Heart with our 8th graders and I would love to share with them the link on the mystery of Edgar Allen Poe's death.  I would love to see what their theories would be for how Poe might have died! I am very glad to have had the opportunity to dive deeper into this great resource! THANK YOU!