Part 1: ArchiveGrid
1. When I read about Sitting Bull there was not a whole lot that was new information for me. I had studied about Sitting Bull in college, so this was a good review paragraph. The one thing that I did not remember was that he had led his tribe up into Canada after the battle.
2. For the 2nd part of this excercise I chose to look up Laura Ingalls Wilder. Once the results were listed I clicked on a link to the Laura Ingalls Wilder family correspondence, 1861-1919. It was interesting to find out that there still are letter in existence between Laura's mother, Caroline and her sister, Martha from during the time of the Revolutionary War. These materials are held by the Wisconsin Historical Society. They have also been transformed to electronic resources.
This is a good resource for those hard to find documents and to find documents you didn't even know existed. It was very interesting.
Part 2: CAMIO
1. Paul Revere: I found out that Paul Revere made lots of Silver pieces/dishes. He seemed to be very skilled as his pieces are very detailed. I also found a couple of prints that are made by him or of him. I was not aware that he was a printmaker.
2. Sioux: This search revealed lots of clothes and handmade things along with pictures of Sioux tribes and places they were located. There were also drawings made by the Sioux.
3. My favorite artist: I tried to look up a couple of my favorite artists: Terry Redlin and Georgia O'Keefe but the search did not find any results. So then I tried Ansel Adams and was surprised at how few of his photographs were listed, only 17. They were some that I had seen before and some that were a little new to me. It was interesting how limited in subject matter they were.
4. My community could use this to look up famous people from our area and see there were any results found for them. You could also use it yourself to look up artists that you are doing research on to get a better feel for the types of things they created and their style. The only drawback is that there are some well known artists who are not included in this resource.
5. I chose to look up Disney to see what there was listed. Again I was surprised to see the limited selection, only 4 items. I chose 3 of the items and looked at them in the slideshow. It was interesting to do this and post them as a website. This is not something I would use often, but it is nice to get a collection together for research purposes and use them either during a presentation or just for other people to look at. It was also a very easy process to follow, which made it even better.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Lesson 10: Wrap-Up
I really enjoyed looking and experimenting with all of these resources. There are resources out there that are very useful, but don't get used very often because we don't know they are there.
1. The biggest discovery I made was the Geneology resources. I am currently trying to do some more research into my family history and these resources will come in really handy. I was very interested in what I found and will definitely keep using them.
2. I will keep all of these resources in mind and try to suggest their use to colleagues as they are looking for things. Unfortunately these resources are not applicable to my preschool students, but hopefully someday they will be able to use them too.
Thank you for this opportunity to explore these resources.
1. The biggest discovery I made was the Geneology resources. I am currently trying to do some more research into my family history and these resources will come in really handy. I was very interested in what I found and will definitely keep using them.
2. I will keep all of these resources in mind and try to suggest their use to colleagues as they are looking for things. Unfortunately these resources are not applicable to my preschool students, but hopefully someday they will be able to use them too.
Thank you for this opportunity to explore these resources.
Lesson 9: History and Geneology Resources
This was a very interesting excercise for me because I am very interested in my family history and I have kind of become the "family historian" for my family. So these are great resources for me.
1. Ancestry Library:
A. I tried looking up my own name and I actually found several listing for people who had similar names to mine, but did not find my own name. It was interesting to see how many people had my similar name though and the similar spellings.
B. I then looked up my great grandmother and found listings for her in 3 US Census forms. I also found her marriage certificate and birth recordings.
C. I tried looking up the Photos and Maps for South Dakota, but I could not find the Photos and Maps tab on the homepage of Ancestry Library. I could not find where to find these images and information.
I will definitely come back to this resource as I dig deeper into my family tree.
2. Heritage Quest: I first looked at the Census Information, it was interesting to see the Census forms from 1900 and the places that people came from during that time. There was a lot of useful information that could take up a lot of time when you are searching for something. You could very easily loose track of your day just spending time here.
3.Sandborn Maps: I live on Huron, so I chose to look at things from Huron in 1916. It was interesting to see that the courthouse and the fairgrounds had not changed much fron what they are now. It then compared the pictures of the Railroad Round House to those from 1946 and noticed that sometime in between the roundhouse had been cut in half. Sometime after that it must have been cut in half again to be what it is today, 1/4 of what it originally was.
I found these resources very useful and I will probably come back and spend some more time here.
1. Ancestry Library:
A. I tried looking up my own name and I actually found several listing for people who had similar names to mine, but did not find my own name. It was interesting to see how many people had my similar name though and the similar spellings.
B. I then looked up my great grandmother and found listings for her in 3 US Census forms. I also found her marriage certificate and birth recordings.
C. I tried looking up the Photos and Maps for South Dakota, but I could not find the Photos and Maps tab on the homepage of Ancestry Library. I could not find where to find these images and information.
I will definitely come back to this resource as I dig deeper into my family tree.
2. Heritage Quest: I first looked at the Census Information, it was interesting to see the Census forms from 1900 and the places that people came from during that time. There was a lot of useful information that could take up a lot of time when you are searching for something. You could very easily loose track of your day just spending time here.
3.Sandborn Maps: I live on Huron, so I chose to look at things from Huron in 1916. It was interesting to see that the courthouse and the fairgrounds had not changed much fron what they are now. It then compared the pictures of the Railroad Round House to those from 1946 and noticed that sometime in between the roundhouse had been cut in half. Sometime after that it must have been cut in half again to be what it is today, 1/4 of what it originally was.
I found these resources very useful and I will probably come back and spend some more time here.
Lesson 7: WorldCat and More FirstSearch Indexes
For this lesson I chose to use the book "Where the Red Fern Grows."
In WorldCat the first search turned up 2029 libraries that had this book. The top library on the list was Black Hills State University.
This particular book had 2 class descriptors: PZ4.R261 and PS3568.A884.
Also I found out that the author of this book has written a few other books, but most of the listings were for "Where the Red Fern Grows." There were also listings for visual, sound, internet, archival and computer resources associated with this author.
One interesting thing I found out was that this book was actually set in Oklahoma, this was something I did not remember from reading it. I guess I must have missed that fact when I read it in 6th grade.
In the 2nd part of this discovery exercise in searching for South Dakota topics, I clicked on an article about Dreams and Dust in the Black Hills: Race, Place, and National Identity in America's "Land of Promise" It was interesting to find out this article was located in New Mexico. It was also interesting that the author had written this article for her dissertation to gain her doctorate and had just graduated in May 2011. I was not surprised to see a countdown clock for your access to this information. It was an interesting tool to use for searching different topics.
In WorldCat the first search turned up 2029 libraries that had this book. The top library on the list was Black Hills State University.
This particular book had 2 class descriptors: PZ4.R261 and PS3568.A884.
Also I found out that the author of this book has written a few other books, but most of the listings were for "Where the Red Fern Grows." There were also listings for visual, sound, internet, archival and computer resources associated with this author.
One interesting thing I found out was that this book was actually set in Oklahoma, this was something I did not remember from reading it. I guess I must have missed that fact when I read it in 6th grade.
In the 2nd part of this discovery exercise in searching for South Dakota topics, I clicked on an article about Dreams and Dust in the Black Hills: Race, Place, and National Identity in America's "Land of Promise" It was interesting to find out this article was located in New Mexico. It was also interesting that the author had written this article for her dissertation to gain her doctorate and had just graduated in May 2011. I was not surprised to see a countdown clock for your access to this information. It was an interesting tool to use for searching different topics.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Lesson 6: EBooks on Ebscohost
1. I chose to look up Catholicism as I am a new teacher in a Catholic School. I was very interested in the book, Idiot's Complete Guide to Catholicism. I read a few of the pages and found that this is the book I need. I like the fact that we can actually read the real pages. This helps to find the right book and it helps to make finding the information easier. This is a good tool to use if the book you need is not in the local library when you need it.
2. A few books I found are: Illustrated Dictionary of Constitutional Concepts by Robet Maddex
- Bill of Rights by Thomas Lewis
- Colonies and Revolution by David King
- Complete Idiot's Guide to Presidents by Patrick Sauer
- Exploration in Cultural History by T.G. Ashplant.
I do not talk about Constitution Day with my preschoolers, so I am not sure if these books would help with this research or not.
3. I searched for Nebraska in the PB publisher for Western History and found 88 results. Many of the articles are focused on the Native American cultures of the state and their history. The results also focused on baseball history and highlights in the state. I would not have thought of either of these topics when I think about Nebraska, so this is an interesting search result.
2. A few books I found are: Illustrated Dictionary of Constitutional Concepts by Robet Maddex
- Bill of Rights by Thomas Lewis
- Colonies and Revolution by David King
- Complete Idiot's Guide to Presidents by Patrick Sauer
- Exploration in Cultural History by T.G. Ashplant.
I do not talk about Constitution Day with my preschoolers, so I am not sure if these books would help with this research or not.
3. I searched for Nebraska in the PB publisher for Western History and found 88 results. Many of the articles are focused on the Native American cultures of the state and their history. The results also focused on baseball history and highlights in the state. I would not have thought of either of these topics when I think about Nebraska, so this is an interesting search result.
Lesson 5: Gale Virtual Reference Library
1. I chose the book Literary Themes for Students: Race and Prejudice, 2007. I looked through the table of contents and chose the article Angels in America. This article could be used to show students how long prejudice has been in our country and how it has evolved from the beginning through the ages and the races. This article would serve to help open the eyes of students to see that prejudice is not just against different races, but also against different sexes and different levels of income people make. It would also be interesting to adults to read this.
2. I chose to look for an answer to the question What foods have zinc in them? There was wide range of books to use as answers, but there was not one book that specifically looked at specific minerals in foods. I was not impressed by the Listen feature. It did not read the text very well. It was too fast to concentrate on and it skipped some words. This would not be good feature for someone trying to write down information at the same time.
2. I chose to look for an answer to the question What foods have zinc in them? There was wide range of books to use as answers, but there was not one book that specifically looked at specific minerals in foods. I was not impressed by the Listen feature. It did not read the text very well. It was too fast to concentrate on and it skipped some words. This would not be good feature for someone trying to write down information at the same time.
Lesson 4: Proquest
I remember using Proquest in college for research and writing papers for classes. It was a great help on difficult topics. I like how broad the articles are and how diverse the publications are that the articles are taken from. I also like how you can have a full article to read, this helps when you are researching broad topics and you have to print off something to read later. It is easier to have the whole article right now than to try to go back and find it later.
1. I chose the topic of Quilting for my first search. This is a hobby I enjoy outside of school. I like the many different ways quilting was presented; as a hobby, some looked upon it as a useless pastime, and how other article taught you more about the hobby and tools used.
1a. I read the Proquest post by Marion the Librarian. I agree with her that Proquest requires time to sort out the information. It is not an easy site to use, and it is used more by the scholarly researcher than most other people. In fact most people do not even know that it exists. I agree with her post entirely.
2. In the Publications Tab, I tried to find the Early Childhood Journal that I have used before for research. I did find it, but it was not the same type of journal. It was a little different. The journal I have used was not in the findings. I was a little surprised that it was not on Proquest. But I guess then it is a good thing, I know where to find issues of it.
1. I chose the topic of Quilting for my first search. This is a hobby I enjoy outside of school. I like the many different ways quilting was presented; as a hobby, some looked upon it as a useless pastime, and how other article taught you more about the hobby and tools used.
1a. I read the Proquest post by Marion the Librarian. I agree with her that Proquest requires time to sort out the information. It is not an easy site to use, and it is used more by the scholarly researcher than most other people. In fact most people do not even know that it exists. I agree with her post entirely.
2. In the Publications Tab, I tried to find the Early Childhood Journal that I have used before for research. I did find it, but it was not the same type of journal. It was a little different. The journal I have used was not in the findings. I was a little surprised that it was not on Proquest. But I guess then it is a good thing, I know where to find issues of it.
Lesson 3 Revisited: SIRS Discoverer and Researcher
I looked up armadillos and many articles came up for the search. Although when I looked through them, many on them were not about armadillos, but things related to armadillos. They were on broader topics. Some articles only mentioned armadillos 1 time. The first article "Awesome Armadillos" was the best article for researching or writing information from. I read this article and learned a few things myself about armadillos. I was not aware of how versatile this animals is. I was not aware they could swim or that they would sink to the bottom of the water and run along the ground. A lot of new information can be found in this article. The other articles could be used to enhance your research, but I would not use them as the basis for a paper or research. A few of the articles had pictures, and most of them were rather lengthy. They would be more for students in upper middle school and high school reading levels.
I then chose Germany for the Country facts. I was impressed by how current the statistics were, they were from 2010. This helps gives students an accurate pictrure of what each country is really like. I also liked the Teacher resources pages. This would help when you are telling facts for students to organize their information and their thoughts. Sometimes facts tend to be boring and students are confused as to what they are hearing.
I also chose a Map of Germany from the Maps section. I was impressed by how detailed the maps are. This map included the primary and secondary roads. It also included the railroad paths. This is something most maps do not include.
I also chose to look at the Biographies section of the Database Features. I chose Dr. Suess, as his birthday is fast approaching. I was impressed by the amount of information, as well as the links to resources teachers can easily use in the classroom. I also liked how the article was linked to other sources and how it included one his more famous quotes. This could be a valuable resource when students are writing reports about famous people.
From the SIRS Issue Researcher, I chose to look at the Leading issue of Banned Books. I like how they show both sides of the issue for students to read and considers. There were quite a few research tools to enhance the research; I especially like the timeline tool. It was interesting to see how long books have been banned (since the 1600's).
I chose Social Studies from the Curriculum Pathfinders. It was nice the way it showed all the different courses that are under the Social Studies Umbrella. I also like the many different resources you can use to do research. The Diaries were interesting. Some were even interactive, which makes it more interesting for students.
Thank you for your help Julie and Jane!
I then chose Germany for the Country facts. I was impressed by how current the statistics were, they were from 2010. This helps gives students an accurate pictrure of what each country is really like. I also liked the Teacher resources pages. This would help when you are telling facts for students to organize their information and their thoughts. Sometimes facts tend to be boring and students are confused as to what they are hearing.
I also chose a Map of Germany from the Maps section. I was impressed by how detailed the maps are. This map included the primary and secondary roads. It also included the railroad paths. This is something most maps do not include.
I also chose to look at the Biographies section of the Database Features. I chose Dr. Suess, as his birthday is fast approaching. I was impressed by the amount of information, as well as the links to resources teachers can easily use in the classroom. I also liked how the article was linked to other sources and how it included one his more famous quotes. This could be a valuable resource when students are writing reports about famous people.
From the SIRS Issue Researcher, I chose to look at the Leading issue of Banned Books. I like how they show both sides of the issue for students to read and considers. There were quite a few research tools to enhance the research; I especially like the timeline tool. It was interesting to see how long books have been banned (since the 1600's).
I chose Social Studies from the Curriculum Pathfinders. It was nice the way it showed all the different courses that are under the Social Studies Umbrella. I also like the many different resources you can use to do research. The Diaries were interesting. Some were even interactive, which makes it more interesting for students.
Thank you for your help Julie and Jane!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Lesson 3: HELP!
I tried to access SIRS Researcher and Discoverer, but it would not let me into the websites without signing up for a trial or buying the program. I am doing these lessons from my home computer, so I am not sure if it will work or not. I need some advice. HELP!
Lesson 2: Library Express
I took the 4th grade reading diagnostic test and scored 6 points. The test was fairly easy to do and it gave steps that were easy to follow. I really liked the way the test showed you how you scored in each area of the test and how you could go back and see which questions you got wrong or right. It helped to have the explainations to understand why you got each question right or wrong. These tests are easy and appropriate for all ages.
I looked over the course Vocabulary and Spelling 1. I liked the way it paced the course so it was at your level and it showed you several ways to read a word or figure out something you did not understand or had not seen before. It worked with your abilities and showed you step by step how to do things to help yourself. I also like how it broke down the course into easy to manage and understand sessions. That is helpful when you only have a few minutes here or there.
For the last part of this lesson I chose the ebook "Becoming a teacher." I wanted to see how a book could explain to someone what becoming a teacher would be like. It was interested to see how the book started with career options for a teacher and took you all the way through the teacher programs, paying for teacher programs and the tests you have to take and then what you do once you have found your first job.
It definitely was interesting to see what path you have to take and how indepth that path actually is.
I like this resource for people that need help studying or who want a sneak peek into what is coming on some of these tests. It is a nice resource to have and suggest to others who are looking for this type of information. It would have been nice to know it was out there when I was studying for my PPST and Praxis tests.
I looked over the course Vocabulary and Spelling 1. I liked the way it paced the course so it was at your level and it showed you several ways to read a word or figure out something you did not understand or had not seen before. It worked with your abilities and showed you step by step how to do things to help yourself. I also like how it broke down the course into easy to manage and understand sessions. That is helpful when you only have a few minutes here or there.
For the last part of this lesson I chose the ebook "Becoming a teacher." I wanted to see how a book could explain to someone what becoming a teacher would be like. It was interested to see how the book started with career options for a teacher and took you all the way through the teacher programs, paying for teacher programs and the tests you have to take and then what you do once you have found your first job.
It definitely was interesting to see what path you have to take and how indepth that path actually is.
I like this resource for people that need help studying or who want a sneak peek into what is coming on some of these tests. It is a nice resource to have and suggest to others who are looking for this type of information. It would have been nice to know it was out there when I was studying for my PPST and Praxis tests.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Lesson 1c: World Book Foreign Language Edition
With our ever changing population these days, this edition will be very helpful for lots of people. It is also interesting to listen to different languages for those of us who do not speak them. It kind of gives us a feel for what they have to deal with.
1. The visual dictonary could easily be used by students who do not speak English but want the same information about animals we are studying in school. This gives them the same understanding of the animal that the other students in their class will use.
2. The feature of having an article read to you would be helpful for those students with limited English language and limited eyesight. This could then help them understand what other students are learning by listening to the computer read it to them.
1. The visual dictonary could easily be used by students who do not speak English but want the same information about animals we are studying in school. This gives them the same understanding of the animal that the other students in their class will use.
2. The feature of having an article read to you would be helpful for those students with limited English language and limited eyesight. This could then help them understand what other students are learning by listening to the computer read it to them.
Lesson 1b: World Book Library Edition
This edition seems to be very similar to the school edition. Again it would be a very good resource for in the classroom.
1. The kids area seems to be very similar to the school kids area. The look of the page is different but the arrangement of information and the options for other resources (maps, games, etc.) is the same.
2. The Info Finder seems to be very similary to the Student version of the School edition. I like the close-up pictures in the interactive earth features. This is neat for kids to see actual pictures of places they are learning about.
3. The Reference Center is similar to the Advanced version of the School edition. I do like the addition of the Government Resources option and the How to option. This enhances what you are looking for and can supplement your information.
The type of information that would most benefit my patrons would be the Kids section. Since I do teach young children this section would be the most educational for them.
1. The kids area seems to be very similar to the school kids area. The look of the page is different but the arrangement of information and the options for other resources (maps, games, etc.) is the same.
2. The Info Finder seems to be very similary to the Student version of the School edition. I like the close-up pictures in the interactive earth features. This is neat for kids to see actual pictures of places they are learning about.
3. The Reference Center is similar to the Advanced version of the School edition. I do like the addition of the Government Resources option and the How to option. This enhances what you are looking for and can supplement your information.
The type of information that would most benefit my patrons would be the Kids section. Since I do teach young children this section would be the most educational for them.
Lesson 1a: World Book Online
This is a really good resource for teachers. I like how easy it is for even the youngest students to use. I really like how it is already leveled so you don't have to take time and figure out what parts are appropriate for certain age levels.
1. The Kids version is appealing to kids and it is easy to use. I really like the way you can compare two different animals or countries.
2. The Student version is nicely set up to be full of information, but not so much that a student would get overwhelmed. I like how they keep the articles short enough for students to read and not get overwhelmed with pages upon pages of information. I also like the timeline feature of the site. This would be a good tool to help with presentations for both students and teachers.
3. The Advanced version is geared more toward high school age students and adults. I really like the Citation Builder. This would be really helpful when you are writing papers for classes. This would even be really helpful for college students!
4. The Discover version is going to be very helpful for students now and in the future. It is good for students who speak a different language and the read-aloud part will be really helpful for them too. I really like all versions of this site and wish I had been able to use it when I was in school.
I teach preschool so the version that would be most useful for them would be the Kids version. They would not be able to use it themselves but I could use it to enhance instruction and show them different animals we are talking about.
1. The Kids version is appealing to kids and it is easy to use. I really like the way you can compare two different animals or countries.
2. The Student version is nicely set up to be full of information, but not so much that a student would get overwhelmed. I like how they keep the articles short enough for students to read and not get overwhelmed with pages upon pages of information. I also like the timeline feature of the site. This would be a good tool to help with presentations for both students and teachers.
3. The Advanced version is geared more toward high school age students and adults. I really like the Citation Builder. This would be really helpful when you are writing papers for classes. This would even be really helpful for college students!
4. The Discover version is going to be very helpful for students now and in the future. It is good for students who speak a different language and the read-aloud part will be really helpful for them too. I really like all versions of this site and wish I had been able to use it when I was in school.
I teach preschool so the version that would be most useful for them would be the Kids version. They would not be able to use it themselves but I could use it to enhance instruction and show them different animals we are talking about.
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