Lesson 10--Wrap Up

 

 

     1.  Deciding on my biggest discovery may be the biggest challenge of all for me as I started as a true novice (Humility had nothing to do with the blog name!).  There were so many discoveries and each one useful in its own way.  Personally, I know that I'll use the Ancestry Library and the Heritage Quest information for my own family projects and have already passed along some of my finds to  my family members.  My mom didn't even know that her mom had a half-sibling!  Professionally, I've been using most of  my new-found skills on my students as we went along.  There's no better way to learn something than to teach it to someone else, right?  If I  had to choose one piece that I think I will use most, I guess it would be the World Book Student resource.  I teach social studies and math in the middle school, and this offers so, so much usable material for me without much effort on my part.  My students can easily navigate and figure things out as they go.  So, thanks for making my life easier!

 

     2.  By exposing my students to these resources, I hope that they will think of the South Dakota Library when they have a project in school or outside of school.  I've been raving about this class to my colleagues as well as passing along resources to my fellow teachers.  If the class comes along again, I'm going to try to talk some of them into taking it because it has been one of the most worthwhile classes I've been involved in, and I've been in the business a LONG time!

 

 

Lesson 9--History and Genealogy Resources

 

 

     1.  Well, I've been looking forward to this lesson since I first signed up for the course.  I had no idea that the SD State Library offered this service before signing up.  I figured that since I have been a faithful registered voter all my adult life that there would be lots of data about me on Ancestry Library.  However, I found very little information about myself, even after refining my searches over and over!  Not that I'm complaining, but my ego took did take a bit of a blow. :)  There were many, many people across the country (and Canada) with the same name, but my own data showed up only once.  I did have fun looking at pictures of these potential relatives in their yearbooks just to see if they may resemble my own family! This just goes to show that a librarian can be a real help. I'm sure that I'm out there in plenty of places, but I was running into dead end after dead end!  Finally, I searched the database suggested in the lesson, "U.S. Phone and Address Directories."  I do exist, apparently, as I did find my information here.

      2.   Moving on and hoping for better results in Ancestry Library, I searched for my maternal grandmother.  Right away, at the top of the first list was an image of her marriage license, where I could see her signature alongside that of my grandfather, who passed away only ten years later.  I was pumped and excited to dig for more!  I found her again in the Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925, along with all of the rest of her family.  The family tree was informative as I didn't have information on the half-sibling listed there before this.  I'm going to do some further exploration on that soon! 

     3.  I had no idea what to expect with this directive to look at pictures under the search for "South Dakota" in Ancestry Library.  What a surprise!  I first came to a list of professional baseball players with ties to South Dakota.  Upon clicking on the image, I could see that person's picture in a primary source baseball publication.  Going on, I decided to look under Family Trees in this same section and typed in my paternal grandfather's name.  I came upon images of headstones belonging to my grandparents and those associated with my grandfather, including the images of my great grandparents' headstones in Iowa (which neither I nor my father has ever seen).  I can see that the time is flying by and I've barely scratched the surface of what I'd like to see here! I went a little further, viewing the image bearing his name from the 1900 United States Federal Census, listing his immigration from Canada and his birth in Ireland.  Good stuff!

   4.  I figured my fun had peaked after all the goodies in Ancestry Library, but I moved on to Heritage Quest with a positive attitude anyway.  All teachers love learning, right?  I started out doing a basic search for my paternal grandfather again and found information on him as a 24-year-old single man.  I wondered if I could break through the barrier that I came to in my last search in which the trail ended at his parents' birth in Ireland.  I clicked on the "Learning Center" portion of Heritage Quest and found that there were all kinds of mini courses that I could take to learn about how to do the very thing I was wondering about--even specific to Ireland!  Perfect for a St. Patrick's Day project!  I also did a search for my town in South Dakota, but  had no luck, so I settled on my county.  That brought up three books, one being a history of German Americans in World War I.  I could view images of each page and read the information there, detailing the difficulties experienced due to hatred and persecution of German Americans during the war.  I was wishing there was a way to  jump to the specific page in which my county was mentioned, but I didn't find that tool if it is there.  I'll just have to read the book, I guess!

     5.  Sanborn Maps proved to be a challenge as my town was not incorporated until 1968, and always has been very small, so no luck.  I, instead, chose to search for maps of the town in which I teach, and struck gold there!  I went to the 1893 map and looked at Main Street for anything familiar.  I did find a bank in the spot in which a former bank still stands.  I'm going to have to check for a dated cornerstone on the building to see if it's the same one that existed in 1893.  Many of the stores on the 1893 were "general stores" and there was a tin shop just off of Main Street as well as an artesian well close to the railroad tracks.  What fun to be able to step back in time!

 

 

Lesson 8 Part 3--CAMIO

 

 

     I was anxious to check out CAMIO, but being not only a lucky mom, but also a lucky grandma, my extra time at school is limited, so here I am on a Saturday morning back at school to delve into CAMIO.   When I did a search for "Sioux", I found so many great artifacts of the Sioux Indians, from clothing to jewelry to pipes to artwork to costumes.  The information on these pieces was interesting and saddening at the same time.  Most of it was located nowhere near where it originated.  I realize that more of the population will be able to view it in a more populated area, but it would be nice if we held it here where the Sioux lived and still do live and where people who are seeing it could also view the environment in which it was created.  Nevertheless, CAMIO enables me to know where to go to see the real thing and to know what rights I  have as an educator to use these images of such very valuable primary sources.  It's the next best thing to being there (to steal a quote and to date myself)!  I don't teach South Dakota history, but I'll surely pass along this find to my colleague next door who does teach it.  Students (like myself) are often such visual learners, and these images can make a lasting impression.  To see the intricacies of these works will instill an appreciation for the talents and the culture of the Sioux.  I thought I that I might find some of the Oscar Howe paintings among these, but there weren't any (that I found, at least).  I guess they must all be held by non-participating institutions.  As the introduction said, it's a growing collection, so, hopefully, we'll be able to see those in the future.

 

     I did a search for Albert Bierstadt, as I have an old, old print of one of his Yosemite Valley paintings bought at an estate sale back in the 1970s.  I know of a couple other works of his just from teaching history all these years.  I was amazed when CAMIO brought up so many diverse paintings from Bierstadt.  I saved them to my favorites and used the compare tool to look at them side-by-side.  I thought how great this would be for an art teacher to show early and later works from the same artist to see how his or her work evolved over a lifetime.  It was nice to be able to zoom in and the option to save it as a webpage would allow a class to do this work outside of the classroom (like I am today!).  As a history teacher, I could use this tool to show changes in attitudes towards a group of  people over time or how and when clothing styles changed in history, for a couple of examples.  Regular use of CAMIO would bring to mind many, many uses in the history classroom, I've no doubt!

 

 

 

Lesson8--WorldCat, CAMIO and More

 

 

     I was excited to dig into this week's lesson. I envisioned the challenge to search worldwide for something when I'm sitting here in smalltown South Dakota to be a herculean task.  Much to my surprise, WorldCat seemed familiar after previous lessons in this Library Challenge.  The book I chose to search for was One Minute to Midnight.  Apparently, worldwide, there are 2142 libraries with this book.  Conveniently, the list of those libraries started with one close to me, Augustana College Library.  After I clicked on the book title, I was able to see a great deal of information about the book, including the call numbers, which were LC: E841 and Dewey: 973.922.  Clicking on the name of the author, Michael Dobbs, I found 184 results, 120 of them being books and many of those being different versions of the same book.  There were large print versions and audiobook versions as well as foreign language versions.  I then changed my search to a subject phrase and looked for other books on the Cuban missile crisis. Twenty-three books came up.  I was kind of surprised that there weren't more, to be honest!  Then again, as my blog name confesses, I am a novice at this stuff!

 

     My look into databases had my head swimming!  I had no idea there was so much available in a one-stop search area!  Kudos to Jane and Julie for their guide to searching the thirteen databases.  It looks like a helpful tool to those in need.  Under OAIster, in the South Dakota subject search, I chose to look further into one called "Retirement Planning Information."  Since it was available online, I was able to read some tips and a timeline for retirement in the South Dakota Retirement System right there.  There were options there for sharing the information on Facebook, etc.  Instead, I used the option to e-mail the information to myself.  I'll keep that handy for future reference! 

 

 

Lesson 7--Ebooks on EbscoHost (formerly NetLibrary)

 

 

     My students and I have been talking about South Dakota's exports, so I decided to see what Ebooks on EbscoHost had to offer.  I found it easy to navigate, especially with the table of contents listed at the left.  I quickly found a book entitled Foreign Trade of the United States:  Including State and Metro Area Export Data.  Perfect!  Better yet, the data was somewhat recent, with the latest information on South Dakota's exports being from 1999.  I was able to see a detailed table with a breakdown of about 35 export categories by millions of dollars and the destinations by country or by region yearly from 1994 to 1999.  I learned so much in such a short time!  For example, Japan was, by far, our largest export trade partner in 1999 with almost 581million dollars' worth being sent their way.  A surprise to me was that manufactured products exported totaled about 1.1 billion dollars in 1999 while agricultural products totaled about $0.01 billion.  I would have guessed agricultural products to be easily in the lead for our exports.  Since I'm big on my students citing their resources, I clicked on the icon to help me to do that.  It led me to seven different citation formats available for the taking.  To my delight, I was also able to e-mail (from a link on the right side) just the four pages with information on South Dakota to myself.  I'm sold on this one!

 

     In my quest for information on the Constitution for my students, I found quite a few materials that were a little too in-depth for them, so I decided to see what other databases were available to me.  I clicked the one titled "Teacher Reference Center."  I was distracted by all the goodies for teachers. I'll no longer be reinventing the wheel on Constitution Day because there was a wealth of resources out there for me!  Deciding that I had better get back to the task at hand, I changed my database selection to "Middle Search Plus" since I teach middle school.  The selection entitled Did You Know? Monkeyshines on America caught my eye. I think my students would love this one because it would pique their curiosity by bringing up potentially shocking things like the fact that the government can take your private property (provided they pay you for it).  Another one from "Junior Scholastic" was titled "The Fight over the Constitution."  This can be viewed as a pdf complete with color pictures and an inviting layout.  Students could also view it as html with a read aloud option where students can even choose the accent!  A similar, but more challenging article would be "The Deciders" from "Time" magazine, which suggests that Internet and telecom company officials are really the folks who get to decide what is fit to print.  This sounds like fodder for good class discussion!

 

     The advanced search for my class projects on Western history yielded 170 books published by either the University of Nebraska Press or the University of Oklahoma Press.  They have been busy!  I would  not  have thought about limiting my search based on the location of the  publisher, but it yielded much more relevant results than I would have found doing it my way.  My students would have spent way too much time perusing options rather than doing their project.

 

 

Lesson 6--Gale Virtual Reference Library

 

 

    1.   In the blizzard of information available to students online today,  it's refreshing to find dependable reference materials within.  The Encyclopedia of World Biography was my choice.  There I found 23 volumes covering human notables worldwide and historically deep.  Heaven!  I went to the table of contents and chose a volume to get me to information about Meriwether Lewis.  I chose to view it as a PDF because I like the look of a real book rather than a computer screen, but I quickly went to the text version because it was much easier to navigate, I found.  The end of the article had a list of books for further reading on Meriwether Lewis as well as other articles within the Encyclopedia of  World Biography that are linked to Lewis.  Being somewhat of a skeptic, I tried the e-mail function to see whether it was actually that easy to just send the entire article to my school e-mail.  Sure enough--there was the article along with all the necessary citation information.  When I clicked the citation tab back  in the encyclopedia, I was given the citation and the option to export the citation to EasyBib, EndNote, etc.  Students really have it made with resources like this literally at their fingertips! I can't wait to tell mine that very good news!

 

     2.   My search for zinc in foods was as simple as typing those exact words into the search bar on the GVRL homepage.  That took me to several publications, some of which were not focused on the foods as much as health, so I narrowed my search by using the list on the left side that offered me the option of using a "Zinc (Nutrient)" link.  Now, I was in business!  My resource list was whittled down to two, both editions of the Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health.  I chose the later edition and skimmed the article for the highlighted search terms I had used.  It was simple and quick.  I found that oysters, beef, chicken, turkey, milk, cheese, yogurt, and pure maple syrup are not only good sources of zinc, but allow it to be used by the body more readily than some other sources.

 

I liked the listen feature and the settings it offered, such as whether to use highlighting and what color I would like it to be, the speed of the reading, and automatic scrolling.  I also liked that when I went back to the article, it picked up from where we left off instead of starting over.  One thing I didn't care for was that it didn't read the words that were hyperlinked to another article.  There was probably a way around that, but I didn't find it.  Nevertheless, many of my students would benefit from this listen feature, and they all have their earbuds handy at any given moment these days!

 

     3.  Faith Library's blog reminded me of how current some of the information is in the GVRL.  Students no longer have to used the outdated set of encyclopedias in my classroom closet.  Yea!

 

     Matt's Blog mentioned the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures 2012.  I'm going to put that one to use this week in my own geography class!

 

 

 

Lesson 5--ProQuest

 

 

    1.

  In checking out ProQuest, I decided to do a little research on Teachscape.  Our principal just talked to us about needing to complete a course in this professional development software before the end of the school year.  We can't access it yet, but my curiosity has me wondering what it's all about.  ProQuest was perfect for my endeavor.  When I did a basic search, up popped 57 trade journals, 15 newspapers, 6 scholarly journals, 4 reports, and 3 magazines.  Also, on that first page, I had the option to look at a preview of each source presented without actually leaving the page I was on.  Furthermore, from that preview, I could "Save to My Research" if I had created such an account as well as cite it, print it, save it, or e-mail it.  I liked the fact that I could have my searched word highlighted in the text as some of the articles were quite lengthy and didn't deal completely with Teachscape.  Still on that first page, I could conduct a "search within" those findings already listed and have that highlighted as well.  I decided to look for Teachscape Learn since that is the portion of the program that we teachers are expected to complete.  Sure enough, it then showed me the findings for the more detailed search within those sources it had already located for me in my first search.

 

     In trying the advanced search, only 31 results were available.  Those results, as you probably guessed, were better suited to my purpose.  Again, I had all the options to save, cite, print, etc. as before.  A feature I really liked, which was also available in the basic search, was that I could click on a bar graph which indicated the year of publication of the results that were being shown, enabling me to get only the most recent data.

 

     1.a.

   I enjoyed going to cohorts' blogs where I found out that I have a LONG way to go in blogging if I want to attract anyone to my blog!  Stephanie's blog showed me that I missed the videos on the Chilton Manual site, which I would have been impressed with, because I agree with her that I need to see the real thing and not an artist's drawing of the parts.  Mike's blog opened my eyes to the world of voice activation for entering my blog posts.  There are a few bugs to be worked out, but some potential uses nonetheless!  Shayna confirmed what I had been thinking about Learning Express and how handy it would have been "back in the day." 

 

     2.

 

     Next, I went to the Publications tab where I could find all the publications catalogued (4803 of them!) in ProQuest in an alphabetical list.  I chose just one, "Tech and Learning," which was available from 1988 to present.  Within just this journal, I could conduct a search for Teachscape as well.  I could again narrow it by choosing the year of publication, the databases to search, etc.  To find what I think my principal is really looking for, I decided to search within the 24 articles about Teachscape that were found with this query for those that included the name of Charlotte Danielson, famous for teacher evaluation tools.  Eight of those 24 articles included Charlotte Danielson's name.  This was just too easy!  I never imagined all this could be done in such a short span of time and all from the comfort of my easy chair at home!



 

 

Lesson 4--SIRS Discoverer

 

     I looked up armadillos and went straight to the graphics tab as my students would probably do.  There I found several pictures of armadillos, some in their defensive ball position, some as babies, some as adults, and a chart including information about armadillos.

 

     On the main page, I found many articles from various magazines for young people and from reference books.  These offered the option to have the article e-mailed to me and included citation information and a read aloud feature. Lexiles scores were included for each article and the heading at the top allows the reader to learn more about how to research and cite their sources.  I can even feature this information on my Facebook page with a button at the top.  I played with the translate feature and was able to see the same article in Chinese.  Amazing!

 

 

    Something that really got my attention in the "Country Facts" section of SIRS Discoverer was the graphic organizer which came ready to print.  I was impressed by having a direct link to the country's (I chose Bolivia) official government webpage.  I know this is not someone else's interpretation of the information.  Students can make decisions for themselves.  The Fact Monster link there had me lost with so many great activities for students like geography hangman, math flashcards, and even a conversion calculator.  I'm so glad I took this challenge!

 

 

    In checking out "Maps of the World," again I was lost in the treasure of maps available.  Forget about potential use, I'll definitely be using these historical maps on a regular basis for my American history classes.  Specifically, I found a map of Boston in 1775.  Rather than my students having to put up with my crude drawings on outline maps, they can see these beautifully detailed maps made especially for that particular period when we cover Paul Revere's ride, for example.

 

     This adventure just gets better and better!  I decided to look at the "Nonfiction Books" section as my last database feature, thinking that I would find a list of suggested books, but, instead, was able to download the entire DK Eyewitness Civil War book!  This will be a great resource for me in my American history class when I want to find pictures and articles not included in my textbook.  There are so many great books listed, and I'm anxious to share this discovery with my colleagues.

 

 

SIRS Issues Researcher

 

     Genetically modified food was the issue I chose to research.  I found very up-to-date information there, including the very recent announcement in the "LA Times" about Cheerios going GMO free.  I was given two citation options, a summary of the article, a list of many similar topics with live links, and a read-aloud feature.  I already have my opinion, but my eyes were opened by the articles I found in the "viewpoints" link, giving the other side of the story.  Looking closer, I found a timeline, which gave a chronological run-down of food and nutrition history.  The "My Analysis" link gave me a great deal of advice on researching and writing about my topic.  The "Note Organizer" looks like a lifesaver tool as far as organizing my material for my paper.

 

     Under "Curriculum Pathfinders," I chose social studies.  The next page showed me a graphic with many possibilities for research topics (all links for further inquiry).   To the right were two interactives, one entitled "Eyewitness:  American Originals from the National Archives" and the other a nuclear weapons interactive game from the Nobel Prize organization.  Both of these would be sure to get the attention of serious and not-so-serious researchers and maybe even grab the attention of those students who may be protesting the assignment!  Next, I went to the civics link, then to the "Newseum Digital Classroom."  I registered for free and was then able to open up and use many, many valuable resources for the classroom, one being a "Protesting for Right" timeline.  This allowed me to click on various years or events which opened up digital images of primary sources, categorizing them into legal, social, and economic groups.  There was a tab for lesson plans for a variety of civics, history, and media topics.  I had no idea there was so much available to me for free!





 



Lesson 3

 

Learning Express Library

 

 

     Because I'm a middle school math and social studies teacher, I found the tests available intriguing.  I went to the School Center and chose a 7th grade algebra test.  It seemed to have appropriately challenging questions for 7th graders.  I liked the immediate feedback, the ability to look at individual questions after the scoring, and the suggestions for eBooks to download for my improvement (Yes, even the teacher makes mistakes!).  Next, I tried my hand at the United States Constitution Review 1 Test.  Again, challenging questions and immediate feedback with suggestions for another test or a downloadable e-book kept me interested.  The eBook suggested was engaging as well.  It was quick to download and had short readings followed by a quiz with explanations for why the correct answer was the right choice.

 

     Moving on to the Career Center, I found my way to the "Job Search and Workplace Skills" section. Because my daughter will be graduating soon, I thought I'd take a look at their  "Great  Resumes" course.  I was amazed at the level of guidance offered here.  The course is really tailored to whatever your needs are--whether that be a recent grad or a seasoned veteran looking for a change.  The course walks you through which format is best for you and the dos and don'ts of both online and paper versions.  Something totally new to me was the "Keywords" section, suggesting  keywords to use that may be picked up by resume-scanning software in case you're applying for a job with a large company.  Oh boy, would I have a lot to learn if I decide to change careers!

 

      In looking for an eBook, my curiosity was immediately piqued when I found one titled "Best Careers for Teachers."  Now, I do love my job, but I'm getting close to that magic number we're all so keenly aware of in SD public education, so why not check out my options, right?  I was pleased to see that the copyright date on this eBook was 2010 so the information was applicable to today's situations.  Not only did it give job options, it guided me through a self-assessment of my skills and gave a forecast for future opportunities in different areas and possible incomes related to those opportunities.   I'll keep it handy for future reference!

 

 

 

 



Lesson 2

 

Chilton Library

 

After entering the data about my vehicle (a 2011 Buick Regal), I found some items that will need to be taken care of upon reaching 25,000 miles (no 30,000 mile option for this vehicle).  They suggest that I inspect  the accessory drive belts, inspect the evaporative control system, and replace the passenger compartment air filter.  In the notes below the maintenance chart, the manual recommends replacing the brake fluid every two years as well.

 

The most recent technical bulletin was dated October 7, 2013 and discussed the replacement of the radio being an issue because some of the replacement radios were not the same as the original radio and may require different programming.  The manual recommends checking the part number on the radio with those listed in the bulletin to be sure the correct programming is used.

 

The information about the brakes on my vehicle was very technical.  (I have new appreciation for my brothers and father who are all mechanics!)  There was information about an automated brake bleed which may be required in some cases such as the brake pedals being at the wrong height or having the wrong feel.  Something I found interesting and kind of scary was how caustic brake fluids apparently are.  Warnings were given in the preface about getting any of this on the electrical system, painted surfaces, or human skin.  The same section gave warnings about sanding brakes due to that making the asbestos airborne, a well-known hazard.

 

 

Mango Languages

 

In anticipation of the Winter Olympics, I chose to explore the Russian language.  I learned that it is the primary language for 164 million people, and a secondary language for 114 million.  These people are mostly in Russia and countries formerly a part of the Soviet Union and in San Javier.    Within the lesson, I learned that, unlike Americans who greet the same person with a "hi" more than once in the same day, Russians would simply smile or nod their head rather than say the word for "hi."  In the short introduction, I found out that coffee is sipped through a sugar cube in Russia.  Clever!

 

I, however, wasn't so clever in choosing Russian.  What a tough language!  The pronunciations are so unfamiliar and the letters so different from our alphabet.  I liked the step-by-step approach to learning the language, giving me the opportunity to become familiar with one simple task before moving on.  I also loved the replay button!  The chapters are divided logically into situations in which a traveler may find herself in a foreign country.  The only thing not to like was the level of difficulty in the chosen language.  My fault!

 

In an attempt to learn more about resources at my disposal from the South Dakota Public Library, I'm posting this blog with my lessons of discovery.  I hope to be a better and more enlightened junior high teacher by the time I'm finished with this challenge.  Thanks for your participation in my endeavor!

~Lucky Mom

 

 

Lesson 1A--World Book School Edition

 

 

World Book Kids

 

 

I read about Australian dingoes.  These wild dogs came to the continent with the Aborigines.  They kill wallabies and sheep while hunting alone or in groups.  Fences are put up to stop that from happening, and poison is used to kill the dingoes.







 

 

World Book Students

 

World Book Student included more detailed information such as a time frame for when the dingoes came to the continent and how tall they are as well as how much they weigh.  Pros and cons about the dingoes make the article more attractive for older students.  A link is provided for aligning to SD Content Standards, and the scientific classification appears at the bottom of the article.  A tool to highlight the searched term is an addition to the World Book Students version.

 

World Book Advanced

 

As a history teacher, I appreciated the primary sources available and the fact that they're plainly labeled as such for students.  The categories of information on the left side makes narrowing down what I'll actually open up much quicker.  The correlation to South Dakota Content Standards is a surprising plus to me as well.  From my perspective again, having had non-readers in class, the feature that provides for the text to be read aloud is invaluable.

 



 World Book Discover

 

The read-aloud toolbar is an amazing feature.  It can not only read the text aloud, but could help the patron become a better reader by highlighting the text being read word-by-word.

 

 

Advanced Challenge

(I'm not really an overachiever.  I did this section by mistake, but found it useful nonetheless, so here are my ideas for whatever they're worth! :) )

 

1. I went into the "Maps and More" section as I also teach geography.  I was able to quickly click on the map of the area I was searching for and drill down to get a printable blank map with a compass rose and map scale as well as a flag that could be completed by the students.  Good stuff!
2. I was amazed at what I found here.  I use current events quite often in my classes, so I went to the "Behind the Headlines" link.  Here I found today's news with a built-in dictionary for the vocabular words.  There was also a current events game in which my students would get immediate results that can also be e-mailed to me as their teacher.  I love it!
3. Students would love the citation information as well as the related websites.  I found a memory game about Mark Twain.  Students wouldn't even realize they were learning!
4. My own students would get a great deal of use out of the timelines feature.  I love that they can create and save their own timelines.  They would also love the citation builder feature for use in their presentations and projects.

 

Common Core Connections

(Yup, did this one by mistake too!  I found it extremely valuable, however.)

 

I decided to take on the 7.G.1 benchmark-Analyze information from geographic representation, tools, and technology to define location, place, and region.  As this is a seventh grade geography class, I decided to use the World Book Student "Compare Places" feature.  I plan to do a lesson correlating with the upcoming Winter Olympics by comparing the United States to other countries participating in the Olympics.  Students will choose a country in which they're interested and compare types of government, land area, population, etc.  Then, we'll apply some of our math skills to figure things like population density of each. Students will take notes on the "Compare and  Contrast" graphic organizer which is also provided on the site  Students will then prepare a slide show to teach the rest of the class about the location, climate, type of government, and the people of the country.

 

 

Lesson 1B--World Book Online Public Library Edition

 

 

World Book Online Kids

 

 

 

Clouded leopards are so named because of their cloud-like markings.  These cats live in Asia and are unique in the fact that they can climb down headfirst and hang upside down on branches.  They hunt other tropical jungle animals like monkeys and wild hogs.  Males may be six feet long and about 45 pounds, living to about 15 years of age in captivity.

 

 

 

World Book Online Info Finder

 

 

The information here provided a link to a website with a wealth of information on the clouded leopard and ways that one can help save these threatened animals.  The citation information was much more detailed and there is an opportunity to save one's research as well as to dig deeper into the related articles and a "Back in Time Articles" feature.  Both sites offer a read-aloud feature, but this one adds a built-in dictionary.

 

 

World Book Online Reference Center

 



I chose to search for information about Bolivia since my students study the geography of the Western Hemisphere.  Some of the most valuable links for my students' purposes include maps, historical maps, and primary sources including letters in presidential papers of several of the U.S. presidents.  Links to newspapers in Bolivia would give Spanish-speaking students a chance to enlighten the rest of the class by reading a pertinent article to the rest of us.

 

 

Lesson 1C--World Book Foreign Language Edition

 

 







World Book Foreign Language Edition

 

Until this activity, I hadn't thought that much about the importance of the visual dictionary.  Not being able to speak Spanish, I was at the mercy of the photos to choose an animal, just like an ELL student or a non-reader may be in  my own classroom.  The read-aloud feature could help to familiarize my students or me with the foreign language being used.  Being able to move back and forth between the World Book Foreign Language Edition and the World Book Kids Edition was educational and potentially useful for me as a teacher.  Again, teaching geography, I want my students to be familiar with all aspects of the country, language included.  Hearing the language being spoken makes the lesson that much richer!

 

 

 

Lesson 2

 

Chilton Library

 

After entering the data about my vehicle (a 2011 Buick Regal), I found some items that will need to be taken care of upon reaching 25,000 miles (no 30,000 mile option for this vehicle).  They suggest that I inspect  the accessory drive belts, inspect the evaporative control system, and replace the passenger compartment air filter.  In the notes below the maintenance chart, the manual recommends replacing the brake fluid every two years as well.

 

The most recent technical bulletin was dated October 7, 2013 and discussed the replacement of the radio being an issue because some of the replacement radios were not the same as the original radio and may require different programming.  The manual recommends checking the part number on the radio with those listed in the bulletin to be sure the correct programming is used.

 

The information about the brakes on my vehicle was very technical.  (I have new appreciation for my brothers and father who are all mechanics!)  There was information about an automated brake bleed which may be required in some cases such as the brake pedals being at the wrong height or having the wrong feel.  Something I found interesting and kind of scary was how caustic brake fluids apparently are.  Warnings were given in the preface about getting any of this on the electrical system, painted surfaces, or human skin.  The same section gave warnings about sanding brakes due to that making the asbestos airborne, a well-known hazard.

 

 

Mango Languages

 

In anticipation of the Winter Olympics, I chose to explore the Russian language.  I learned that it is the primary language for 164 million people, and a secondary language for 114 million.  These people are mostly in Russia and countries formerly a part of the Soviet Union and in San Javier.    Within the lesson, I learned that, unlike Americans who greet the same person with a "hi" more than once in the same day, Russians would simply smile or nod their head rather than say the word for "hi."  In the short introduction, I found out that coffee is sipped through a sugar cube in Russia.  Clever!

 

I, however, wasn't so clever in choosing Russian.  What a tough language!  The pronunciations are so unfamiliar and the letters so different from our alphabet.  I liked the step-by-step approach to learning the language, giving me the opportunity to become familiar with one simple task before moving on.  I also loved the replay button!  The chapters are divided logically into situations in which a traveler may find herself in a foreign country.  The only thing not to like was the level of difficulty in the chosen language.  My fault!