Wrap up

I enjoyed this so much. There was so much to learn about. This summer I am going to put together a scavenger hunt for my students to do during the year. They will have to use  different parts of this. That way they will become more familiar with the site too. I did this with another web site that we used during this past year and the students enjoyed using the site and selecting the different topics that were in the hunt. Thank you both for all you did.

AncestryLibrary : I enjoyed using this site, I can't wait to talk to my mom and get a few more names to look up to trace back to Daniel Boone. I did find the right one based on his wife. I wish this could be accessed from outside the school as my mom would love it. My grandmother and great grandmother were both listed there too.

HeritageQuest: this was not quite as user friendly to me. I think with more time I could use this to help my mom with the family tree. It is hard to find the time right now to pursue these links.

Sanborn Maps: I found the state fair grounds in my home town. Again this would be useful for people tracing family trees. I didn't spend as much time here right now, but will go back this summer when I have more time.

Archive Grid and Camio

After putting in there about Sitting Bull and short amount of information came up about him. It also said about what was in the collection. I tried putting Daniel Boone in the search box as he is an ancestor of mine. When I clicked on the genealogy link I got an error page. Then I clicked on the contact information and it took me to Wisc. Hist. Society. That was more confusing. Then I clicked on the read more and got another system error. I did a little more playing around on this site. Wasn't sure how to go about finding the info to read. I guess you contact the lib. that says it is located. I wonder then if there is a charge to see the info.

Camio: after putting in Paul Revere a list came up of different objects from his time as well as paintings of his time and of him and his wife. The paintings of him and his wife were different. She looked really different in the two that were there. If we had an art teacher I could see  her using this site to show different works of art.
After putting in Sioux there were way more items. I wondered if any of the items we have at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre and listed in there.
Then I put in Leonardo Da Vinci and several of his painting came up. You can click  on them and make them larger. If you click the little box you can put them in your favorites and if you choose several you can view them like a slide show. What a way to put together art work of different time periods or from one artist to compare. You can get up close on the art work, maybe view brush strokes etc.

WorldCat

While in WorldCat I typed in a book that I like to read with my students. There were many libraries that had it, over 2000 of them.  The list began with libraries in SD. When I clicked on the top Library which was in Mitchell it said it couldn't go there. The third one down on my list was  NSU and I could get there. I am not sure what the class descriptor is. They are different topics to click on. Then I clicked on the author's name and selected titles by the same author. Four titles totaled  popped up. All located at the NSU library.

I scrolled down and  found the word Descriptors and there were several different topics listed. When I clicked on one of those it went to a whole different pages of books available. This was a more difficult task for me to do. It was more complicated for me to understand the site. It is probably not a site that I would use very often, if at all. I can't see how is would be useful for my age of students.
I do enjoy seeing all the different things out there and realize just how much I don't know. My students have to give a speech and I am requiring them to use the lib. website to get facts and information. Hopefully by using it they will be comfortable using it again.

I am not to original when it comes to topics to look up so I choose classroom management. I found several that I read and found them helpful. I went to choose database and selected profession development before searching.
When I typed in Constitution Day I was confused about all the different topics that came up. I think it would be confusing for some students. It was confusing for me too. I did go to a couple of different articles and found information on constitution day.
I typed in Nebraska and the list seemed to be about Native Americans, some Nazi, baseball, human rights topics. There were a couple on history.
This part of the library will take me a lot more time to become comfortable in using it. The other ones we have explored have been more suited to the grade I teach.

After getting into the GVRL I went to the Endangered Species list. It was very easy to find different animals to research. The pictures were fantastic. Most of the titles I went to were fairly easy to understand, from a students point of view. They had a map to show where the animals live in the world. It was easy to go to a different animal. We study endangered animals and this site will make it so much easier to students to research such animals.
I really like the Listen feature since I have several auditory learners. They would really benefit from this. I think they could undertake a more difficult text if they can listen to the writing.
I read another blog and they found it very useful with their older students. Some of the material may be to hard for my elementary students but some will work out very nicely.

ProQuest

After looking at some other blogs I can see that mine is boring. I like the looks of some others but I don't know how to get there. I also know that if I don't have a specific task to do I am not very good at looking at different web sites etc. Some people really have a good handle on the library site. I know that as I use it for school I will get much better at it. Is there a document that explains the different sites that we are learning about as well as some instructions to go with it. I know that my students will need something to look at that has instructions.

I am looking into ProQuest and I like all the available information. The most difficult part for me is to come up with a topic to look into. I like that the whole article is there.

I clicked on the Publication Tab and found many choices. I liked that there was a table of contents so I could choose the article that I wanted. It was very easy to move around in and easy to understand. I plan on sharing this site with my class as they will be able to use it with their February project.

Curriculum Pathfinders will be to difficult for my students. I loved looking through the topics and searching things out, but it will be overwhelming for almost all of my students. Older students will benefit greatly from this part.

I am looking forward to sharing with my class these things I have learned so far. Our 5th and 6th graders have to give a speech so they will get to use these sites for their research.

lesson 3 Look up armadillos (or your favorite animals) and discuss the results. Note if you find pictures and the various reading levels of the articles. 

I liked the way the reading level was there to help students find an article that they will be able to read and understand. I like it that is shows if there is a picture and activities. Students will like that.

I think that they way they have the countries and states set up make it easier to children to find the information they need. Each page I looked at was set up the same so children won't get confused. The map and flag are awesome too.

I love the maps of the world. So many times it is hard to find a map that is easy to read and shows just where countries are located. The fact that they can be opened in  a PDF and printed will be really helpful. Students will love this. I can hardly wait to show them.

I selected the biographies data base since we are going to be studying black Americans this month. This will be so helpful once I explain to the class how to look at the book icon at the left side to determine how hard the selection might be, and all the other features, they will be off and running. I predict that these book reports will be much better than previous ones. Yeah!

I like the topic overview as I think it will help students decide if this is the topic they are looking for. I like the Pro/Con and Essential Questions. These will help the students to focus their topic.
The toolbox will be wonderful for those students who struggle with writing. They can help walk them through the process. I don't have the right age for the debate topic but I like how it just sets it up for students. The cite tab will come in handy as I have trouble remembering that.

Lesson 2.3.
I took a test on grammar. My students struggle with that no matter how many times we go over it. I think if they could over it using a computer test it may just sink in. Plus they could repeat if needed.

Lesson 2.2.   This was great!  I really enjoyed Learning Express. I think my students would like the part where they get feedback right away. I liked being able to see my answers, which ones I missed etc. Students like to take tests more on a computer than paper pencil.

Comparing world book kids and world book students I found that there was a little more information in the world book students, plus there were more options for the students. Students that struggle with reading would be able to use World Book Kids with greater ease. It had a simpler design and looked like it was for younger students.

World Book Advanced: the left side would work better for my students. I believe they will understand the topics and be able to use the site with greater ease. They would be able to narrow down their search topic using the left side.  This site has so much reading that some of my students will have trouble getting through it all.

World Book Discover: I do like that there are the icons to help those that struggle with English. Then it has the option for another language which would be a huge benefit.

I am going to explore these site more as I really like what they have to offer elementary students.