Hands-on Tools for Pre K-8
Discover It
This session, appropriate for public and school libraries, will look at the fun, reliable research and learning tools for elementary students and teachers, and the library staff who work with them.
Video Segments
Bookflix and Novelist K-8 (7:00)
Comparing Kid Search and Kid Info Bits (6:42)
Britannica Online
Try It
- Compare KidInfoBits and Kids Search.
- Search the same topic in each database (for example, Animals).
- Which database provides the best results for the kids you are working with? Comment below.
- Explore Bookflix.
- Select a theme and a story pair in Bookflix. Enjoy a few minutes of storytime!
- Do a Puzzler.
- Take a look at the lesson plan and activities.
- How might you use or promote this database? Comment below.
- Explore either Britannica Online Schools or Public.
- Locate a video clip for math help. Change the curriculum area and explore those available for science.
- Compare articles on Argentina and Brazil
- Look at the new Geography Explorer. Would this be useful to your patrons/students?
- Create a log-in for Workspace. Conduct a search and add items to Workspace, then go in and create projects. How might you use this with your young library users?
Please share your comments about the databases and your ideas for promoting these resources below.
December 3, 2010 at 10:14 am |
I look forward to trying this site. It looks very handy to refresh and update your information.
December 7, 2010 at 2:40 pm |
I love how graphics play such a big part in these resources for kids. I work with adults, but often wish that graphics were more prevalent in adult resources, both for adults to use in learning and for ease of navigation. Makes searching fun!
December 7, 2010 at 2:41 pm |
More great tutorials, Chris. These are so wonderful. I am going to show them to the school librarians. These also help staff stay in tune with all the wonderful resources our state provides. Thank you!
December 8, 2010 at 10:42 am |
Good reminder about all the fun options for kids. I’m glad to know about Compton’s middle school encyclopedia. We often have kids that age asking for help at the reference desk, and their questions are too complex for juvenile materials but too basic for adult books/databases.
December 8, 2010 at 11:31 am |
Geography Explorer was so much fun. Kids Search very helpful and easy to use. The Backpack, Workspace and Folders are nice. I really liked the dictionary hover feature in Britannica Kids.
December 14, 2010 at 11:07 am |
It seems that Kids InfoBits would accommodate the younger kids (perhaps 3rd grade and younger). When I get kids in the reference area they are usually at least 5th or 6th grade, so Kids Search would probably be more helpful for me. Bookflix would actually be a great tool to give some additional options to Mango when learning Spanish. All these databases are fun and packed with information while teaching kids (and reluctant learners) about research!
December 16, 2010 at 6:37 pm |
BookFlix would be a great resource for Home-school families that have kids who might not be so eager to read. It’s great in that they pair fun stories with interesting fact books, creating games from the information, and providing parents with ideas for projects to help reinforce the information. The Spanish feature seems like it would be great for anyone trying to learn the language.
December 17, 2010 at 4:34 pm |
Seemed to retrieve more results from KIDS SEARCH and they included images and film and video, so think that would appeal to students.
BOOKFLIX is really nice. Would think this would be good for reluctant readers and perhaps for home schooled children or any child who is into computer games-the puzzler part should apeal to them. And liked the suggestions for providing snacks to go with the ethnic group. Perhaps would be a good starting point for discussions. Will suggest to some of our homeschooling families to take a look at this.
BRITANNICA is very interesting in all the formats-I could spend all day, wandering around and searching this and that! Found the ease of comparison with split screen very nice. And the workspace aspect is very good, as the folders were in some of the others-what fun and assistance that would have been in the “old days” when I was in school.
So much to learn and explore and so little time!!
Thanks again-still-Chris!
Nancy
December 20, 2010 at 9:02 am |
I love these sites for the elementary and have recommended all of these sites to our elementary teachers. The information and format in the elementary search engines is not only fun and easy to use, but also put in short and simple terms to keep kids interest. I can’t say enough about Book Flix. The active format is great for beginning readers and reluctant readers.
January 4, 2011 at 1:08 pm |
Kid Search and Kid Info Bits not only seem helpful, but also fun for the younger kids.
I like the Bookflix and Novelist K-8, but it would be nice to know if the books are AR books (accelerated readers) with levels and maybe points.
January 11, 2011 at 3:12 pm |
So much to learn – sooooooooooo little time. This actually makes learning funnnnn!
January 18, 2011 at 7:12 pm |
Just decided to do a hand out for story time featuring BookFlix, Grzimek’s and Kids Seach. Thought it would be fun for kids to explore the feature book Is Your Mama a LLama? I do not think many kids have heard a llama. Great tutorials!
January 20, 2011 at 1:40 pm |
Thanks for another great session of tutorials Chris. I’m a hands on learner & you have helped me out tremendously. I plan to use a few of these with my storytime kids.
January 22, 2011 at 5:37 am |
Chris – these are great tutorials! I’ll be working with 1st graders on animal reports and these will be very useful. I’m also sending out a message to my teachers to figure out when they start talking about Venn Diagrams. Those are so helpful when explaining the concept of boolean searching.
I always remind the kids to give credit to their sources – even the youngest students. I figure if I start talking about it in lower grades it might stick by 3rd grade. I always point out to the students that they can copy and paste the Source Citation.
February 7, 2011 at 3:25 pm |
I really like the different brackets for age groups. This is a wonderful tool.