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 The Best Online Research Sources You've Never Heard Of
Check this site out for specialized research resources--for you or your students. It's worth a look. Sample Wiki from PBWiki
Get the access from Duane Hawkinson, and you'll see just how easy it is to create and edit a Wiki.
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[1] - 2 5 items total Talking to Students About Haiti The earthquake in Haiti, and its effect on Haiti’s people, has dominated the evening newscasts. Teachers who are talking to their students about the situation in Haiti as a current events topic need to find kid-friendly information about the earthquake and its aftermath, images that are appropriate for young eyes, and, most importantly, information about what’s being done to help—including what kids can do. The Fun Theory Want to inspire kids and teens to think more creatively, solve real problems in your community, work as a team, and have loads of fun all at the same time? Discussing Discrimination Martin Luther King Jr. Day is next Monday. This year, focus on one of the issues Dr. King devoted himself to changing—discrimination. This site explores many different forms of discrimination, not only against African Americans. Organizing Time At this time every year, we hang up a new calendar. But not everyone uses the same one—the Islamic, Chinese, and Jewish calendars are very different, and ancient civilizations like the Romans and Mayans had their own unique calendars, too. This site is chock-full of information about different systems of marking the year. Let It Snow: Create your own snowflakes and other cool, seasonal things to do online Bentley Snow Crystal Collection www.bentley.sciencebuff.org Born in 1985, Wilson Bentley grew up in a small town in Vermont, where as a teenager he became fascinated with snowflakes. Not only did he photograph them using a camera mounted on a microscope, but he also studied how flakes formed. Bentley became a snowflake expert, and his photographs of these icy wonders are now part of the Buffalo... Winter Wonderland Lessons It’s difficult to keep kids focused on school right before the holidays, what with all the parties, TV specials, and anticipation of presents. “Winter Wonderland,” just updated for 2010, is the perfect site to help kids focus on learning. Winter Whimsy Winter Bells is engaging, kid-appropriate, visually stunning, and has wonderful original music. The premise of this charming online game is simple: use your mouse to make the rabbit jump and land on top of bells as they fall from the sky like big snowflakes. Thanksgiving: Another Perspective Many teaching materials focus on just one side of the Thanksgiving story, the Pilgrims, but the real story is much richer and more nuanced. Native Words, Native Warriors “Native Words, Native Warriors” addresses both Veteran’s Day and Native American Heritage Month, chronicling the fascinating story of the “code talkers.” Flu Info for Kids and Parents With both the Swine flu and various strains of seasonal flu hitting schools hard these last couple of weeks, it’s definitely time to make sure kids and parents have up-to-date information about how to protect themselves from the flu, how to help stop it from spreading, and what to do if they or a family member comes down with it. Money Hungry: These Web resources help you through the grant seeking process ALA Grants & Fellowships bit.ly/1lNIAb The American Library Association (ALA) has created numerous grants and awards to help support programs and provide funds to individuals wanting to attend professional meetings. This handy page provides links to not only ALA grants, but also awards sponsored by the various divisions, including PLA (Public Library Association), YALSA (Young Adult Library... Three Halloween Treats Next week kids will be carving pumpkins and figuring out what they'll be for halloween. They’ll also start anticipating the sweet and gooey treats they’ll receive. Why not provide the kids in your library with three sweet Halloween games as well? Breast Cancer Awareness for Teens October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This well-written, age-appropriate Web article explains to teen girls why they need to start examining their breasts, teaches them how to properly perform a self-exam, and explains, in a very reassuring way, the warning signs to be aware of. Hispanic Heritage Resources for Teens The folks at Gale and Cengage Learning have created this excellent Hispanic Heritage Web site specifically for teens. Fun for Young Kids, British Style This site was designed to enhance the BBC's children’s television programming, but kids don’t have to be familiar with any of the TV shows to have a blast discovering its hundreds of entertaining and educational online games, stories, and activities. Censorship Next week is Banned Books Week and many of us will be spending time educating library patrons, staff, and parents about the ongoing efforts to limit what children and adults can read. Many of us will discuss the First Amendment and censorship of not only books, but also of other media. September 11th Memorial and Museum Last Friday many of us paused to remember that harrowing day eight years ago when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. A memorial and museum are being planned on the site, dedicated to the people who lost their lives that day. Pimp My Bookcart For the past three years, Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum, creators of the library e-comic strip Unshelved, have held an online competition to see how creative folks can get when spiffing up a standard book cart. The deadline is October 31, so now’s the time to start designing your cart. Investigate Our World This wonderful, interactive world atlas, created by National Geographic’s Map Division, will be an invaluable information resource for elementary age children, teens, teachers, and librarians. Back-to-School Resources: Sites to ease the transition for teachers, parents, and kids At the Intersection of School & Home—Parent Corner school.discoveryeducation.com/parents Some kids look forward to the start of school—others are less than thrilled about it. On this site designed to help parents encourage their children, start at the “MotivationStation” for articles on various issues from academic performance to fitting in at school. The Buzz: Tools, trends, and gizmos A Whiteboard on any Surface Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) inspire passionate opinions among educators. Now, a product launched by Epson offers a new wrinkle. The Brightlink 450Wi Ultra-Short Throw Projector turns almost any surface into an IWB. Offering a larger, more flexible working area than dedicated IWBs at a cheaper price, the Brightlink delivers WXGA (wide-screen) resolution, and is US... Black History Trove: Librarian Mayme Clayton's collection will offer teacher resources While the personal papers of Martin Luther King Jr. will be shared with the public for the first time at the Atlanta University Center beginning this month, another important, though lesser-known collection is also seeing the light of day. The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum in Culver City, CA, houses the largest privately held collection of African-American materials, with more than 30... Fight Content Filters Buffy Hamilton thinks one shouldn’t take online content filters lying down, but instead build a well-supported case to get them removed. “I think out of an effort to be proactive, keep children safe, and avoid litigation, schools may err on the safe side,” says Hamilton, school librarian at Creekview High School in Canton, GA. Digital Resources: The National Science Digital Library As budgets get tighter and educational requirements grow broader, it's become more difficult to find science and math databases that won't devour the entire library budget. However, there's one digital database that provides standards-based instructional resources, K-12 lesson plans, digital downloads, streaming video, and 2. A How-To for Fighting Content Filters Buffy Hamilton believes school librarians should never take online content filters at face value. When presented with a digital roadblock, media specialists should instead devise reasoned, well-resourced arguments with which to open these doors. The Buzz: Tools, trends, and gizmos View Clips with FlipShare TV Fans of the Flip Video mini camcorder have a new gizmo for sharing clips: the FlipShare TV. A USB dongle loaded with FlipShare software attaches to your computer, while the set-top box connects to your TV. View Flip vids stored on your PC or access other users' clips through “Flip Channels” via the TV interface. Looking to Ramp Up Your Library Web Site? Try a Blog. Does your library Web site feel a bit flat or just plain boring? Do you wish you could interact with students on your site and share more of your passion for learning? Then consider turning your site into a blog. Blogging software lets you update your site easily and keep it current. LeighAnn McCready, teacher librarian at Milpitas (CA) High School, converted to a blog (librarymhs. Gamers in Training: Global Kids hosts games-based training for educators, librarians Give a kid a joystick, and she’s occupied for a day. Teach her how to create her own video game, and she’s a learner for life. That’s the goal of Global Kids (www.globalkids.org) and its games-based educational training sessions, which the New York-based nonprofit kicked off in early December 2009. Let It Snow: Create your own snowflakes and other cool, seasonal things to do online Bentley Snow Crystal Collection www.bentley.sciencebuff.org Born in 1985, Wilson Bentley grew up in a small town in Vermont, where as a teenager he became fascinated with snowflakes. Not only did he photograph them using a camera mounted on a microscope, but he also studied how flakes formed. Bentley became a snowflake expert, and his photographs of these icy wonders are now part of the Buffalo... Digital Resources: Early Learning Made Easy Finding new tools to meet the educational needs of early childhood educators and their students can be a difficult task. With hundreds of toys, games, and software programs available for instruction, it becomes a major research project to identify the best resource for an individual child, along with a measurable outcome. Obama’s Call to Action Spurs STEM Initiatives A national call to boost student mastery in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) has prompted new initiatives of interest to the K–12 community. Tech Is all the Talk at NCTE Educators from around the globe shared methods for tying media and technology into literacy lessons at the 99th annual National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention held in Philadelphia, PA, November 19–22. Innovation in Libraries Explores Mobile Services From instant messaging to e-books, text referencing to cell phone search, libraries are serving up more mobile resources to patrons, helping to turn 24/7 services into more of a reality, according to speakers at the Innovation in Libraries event at the Queens Library in Flushing, NY, November 3. Art Appreciation: SLJ reviews new resource Picturing Books Even though I love children's picture books, I almost always cringe when a high school art student asks me to help them locate examples of titles that use "woodcuts" or "wash." While I handle these books on a daily basis, I admit that I'm not as familiar with the original media used or the style displayed within the pages of these mini museums. School Librarians Weigh in on Net Neutrality With the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) decision last week to consider how to protect—and regulate—the free nature of the Internet, the battle over Net neutrality went into high gear, and librarians, of course, were in the mix. K12 Online Conference Goes Global Teachers, media specialists, and students around the world are gearing up for the 4th Annual K12 Online Conference—a chance for tech-savvy educators to virtually mingle and share, while those less familiar with Web 2.0 tools can learn about their use from the experts themselves. Good Grammar Counts, Period: Resources for Teaching Grammar Good grammar is important, but how do you inspire kids to watch their Ps and Qs (and commas and ellipses)? It’s easy, according to Jeff Rubin (pictured), who breaks into song, a little ditty called “Punctuation, Punctuation,” sung to the tune of “Frère Jacques.” That’s just one example of how to teach younger students the basics, he says. Web Site in a Rush: H1N1 threatening, EdReady goes up fast If a pandemic or other significant event made it difficult or impossible for your students, staff, or teachers to physically attend school, how would you make sure that communication and education still take place? This is the question looming for educational institutions nationwide, given the potential of the H1N1 virus to disrupt or even close schools this year. Digital Game to Help End Violence Against Women The Emergent Media Center (EMC) is using the world’s favorite sport to help impact attitudes surrounding the treatment of women. Pen Ultimate: For kids who take part in National Novel Writing Month—the acid test for would-be authors—it's no guts, no glory Kathleen Kohl was penning 2,000-word short stories at 12 years old and by 13 set her sights on writing a novel. In a move gutsy enough for any would-be writer, much less a teenaged one, Kohl last year signed on for National Novel Writing Month, an online contest, of sorts, that challenges all comers each November to complete a 50,000-word piece of fiction over 30 days. | |
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Updated February 3, 2010.