Lesson 2:
Using Real World Resources
In Spring Branch, we have access to many on-line
resources. Throughout the year I am
asked about our magazine and newspaper subscriptions – they are all
on-line. In the elementary school we
have Kid Info Bits. The Middle/High
schools have Gale Research and ABC Clio for History. The Middle/High School resources can also be
used for elementary, just check before you send a child there as the reading
levels can be high as well as the subject matter more adult. For you – you can find a lot of your
magazines located in the databases – so no more cutting recipes…or clipping
articles – it’s all in the database.
Kid Info Bits is a great research tool. Not only does it index encyclopedias and
reference books, it also compiles magazines, newspapers and more. Full text articles are only a click away and
the full citation is already created for students to use. Just like the e-books, multiple users can be
on the same site at the same time. You
can use this for current events in Social Studies, experiments in Science and
so much more. A big feature in Kid Info
Bits is using graphic organizers and charts to give information. If you are trying to teach students how to
get information from charts and graphs….Kid Info Bits is the place to go! Again, looking to the future transition
years, think of all of the resources you will have at your fingertips!
Remedial:
Check out this handout
with specific directions to work through all that Kid Info Bits has to offer.
Enrichment:
Look into the resources available for Middle/High School students. How
can you use these resources to enrich your classroom? (Look at the primary documents in ABC Clio.)
Enrichment II: Look at Google Scholar – a free search engine of
scholarly materials. Take a look through
this handout
to peruse Google Scholar
Assignment:
Pick a topic that you study in your classroom. Search on Kid Info Bits using the subject
tree to see how many resources are available to your students. Use the tabs across the top to look at
articles from magazines, research books, newpapers, and graphics.
After you have perused the database “Kid Info
Bits”, answer the following questions on the blog:
How can you see incorporating Kid Info Bits into your
classroom? What benefits do you see
having Kid Info Bits as part of our on-line resources collection? How can you utilize Kid Info Bits as a great
tool to support your curriculum?
We use Kid Info Bits quite a lot. It is the perfect place to go when kids want to “know more” on specific topics. Although the database is limited (in my opinion), it does allow for kids to search for information on some common birds. Some of the birds listed, however, I had never heard of before. I enjoyed looking under the tab about Famous Places and thought about the “Statue of Liberty” as being one of the required things to teach. The “Landforms” section was another great place to look. I clicked “Fossils” and found lots of neat pictures. There were no maps to look at. It appeared that the newspaper articles were up to date and will play out loud to the kids. The downfall is that it is rather monotone and would lose the interest of the child midway. I did like the “Geography and Maps Terms” as they used live data that you could integrate into Math.
ReplyDeleteOne frustration is that I cannot seem to enter this database from home. They want me to enter my library user password and since I can’t take a look at it from the “Power Page” because I do not have access to view the files. Why do they have to “lock down” this for the summer? UG!
Jennifer B. I think Kids Info Bits is limited in its use for older grades. Since we are assigned certain specific things to research for social studies I feel Kids Info Bits is not the best resource for our grade level. It covers subjects that are univiversal very well, but not things that we study directly for our state. I see this as a resource good for younger grade levels, but not as good as a source for older grade levels.
ReplyDeleteThis year I used Kid Info Bits into our research unit on Birds. The kids also enjoyed using Pebble Go and Power Kids for research also. While the kids did enjoy Kid Info Bits it was a bit limited on bird information. I was unable to get in to the page from home so I have not been able to use it to explore another topic since it is requesting a password that I don’t have at the moment. I’ll have to revisit this soon. In looking through some of the Middle/High School resources I don’t see info that my kids can use directly due to go the higher reading level and vocabulary, but this will be a good resource for me when needing additional information while planning.
ReplyDeleteKid info bits has resources from multiple reference books, magazines and journals geared at elementary students. All are full text. What this allows is for students to go past encyclopedias and books for information. Passwords used to be found on the power page, but due to copyright, the bookmarks with passwords are now available in the library. I have posted a password page on the server, I can no longer post it on the internet. Kid Info bits has two levels, one being early elementary and the other being intermediate grades.
ReplyDeleteLisa Davis
ReplyDeleteI've used Kid Info Bits before. It has really great stuff. I used the site to search for material for economics. I found some great articles, but the graphs were the best. They are definitely geared toward boys because they deal with sports. My one complaint is that the graphs are a little outdated. It would be nice to have some that are based on more recent years. The ones I looked at came from 2001 - 2003. My students won't have been born yet. Does anyone know how often they update this site? I do like the idea that kids can save the articles they like in a backpack, so they don't have to write down the title to remember later, or even print the article in order to use it. I can see my students using this site to apply what they learn about different topics, and to write or create in order to teach their classmates. Also, students who need more enrichment can go to this site and choose a topic that is interesting to them for research and exploration. I did look at ABC Clio, but it really is difficult reading for my kids. The topics are very relevant, so we might work on them together.
Kate Evetts
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed playing around with Kid Info Bits. I feel like I can start off using this by modeling it while doing research on different units. For example, I might model doing a government lesson on it, and assign different articles from newspapers or magazines to read and share with each other. Then as the students get better at navigating through this they can start choosing what they need to read to learn more about particular topics. Later in the year, we read and research about space. I could have students use this site to help them decide what they want to learn about and research it. Then they can share with each other what they thought was important. 2 or 3 students could work on particular planets. Then share with the class what they found important. The class can put these facts on planets together to make into a class project. Then we will change over into small group work and individual work to help explore different needed topics.
Now, this works for me. I can really see me using this for social studies and social studies. I like Kate's idea of using this to model how to do research and how to read charts and graphs. I like the timelines and can use them to overlay different events occurring at the same time. I do think it is something that needs to be done regularly so kids gain confidence in using Kid Info Bits so they go away with a real tool they can use vs. one they have used once or twice and can't remember how to navigate or retrieve. This would also be a good way to offer support when writing expository pieces. Kids can easily access information to show support of their claim statement. I also like that the reading level is elementary which is usually an issue when doing research.
ReplyDeleteThis site seems a little young for 5th graders, but I would prefer they be on something like this than a game. I could definitely see me using this in whole group instruction with regards to graphs and charts. This is one area that the students continually struggle with on Scholastic News question and answer. I found myself pulling out old issues last year for small group instruction with those students who could not interpret the data. Having the ability to give them time to review an article or two and giving them questions on the charts or graphs to answer before getting back together for discussion, would be very helpful. Students could easily work in pairs on this, which would also make it more fun. They could also find information to support a claim in writing if working on an expository piece. It is a good resource for the toolbox.
ReplyDeleteAmy White
ReplyDeleteThis website initially seems a bit babyish for 5th grade. However, as I explored it, I could see how it could be used as a research tool. I would incorporate it as one research tool that could be used independently or in small groups to explore a topic. The charts and graphs would help the students visualize the information that they are researching. The benefit of online resources is that multiple students could access it at the same time. The students would be able to access it as a resource when studying about a topic. This would support the curriculum by enabling the students to explore topics individually, at their own pace, or in groups.
Lesson 2-
ReplyDeleteDebbie Moore- Using “kid Info Bits” and “Google Scholar” could be used in Health lessons and inspiring student interest in current sports men and women. Using this type of discovery would be used either in class for those students unable to participate or for assignments they would have to search and bring back to discussed during health lessons. Kids Info Bits magazines and newspapers would be a very good way to incorporate current information, events and athletes. Encyclopedias and reference books would be convenient for students to read about past information and successful athletes. Google Scholar has several ways a student can get information by searching; using key words, authors, and name of articles to search more specific articles. I like the fact that Google scholar has “an alert” that automatically sends new related information to your email.
I agree with Amy and Brandy that info bits is a little lower than our 5th grade readers. However I like that I could use it to front load students that don't have a lot of background info when we get to the newer topics in Science. I love Google Scholar. The ease of use for this website is fantastic! I love that we now have more resources other than the encyclopedia and books to gather the information we need to really delve into topics. Where was this when I was in college! I think I will utilize this site more this year when we research more technical science concepts. This is great to enrich the higher students who ask technical questions that I don't necessarily know the answers. Students can research at home or at school which is an added bonus!
ReplyDeleteKerry L
ReplyDeleteKid Info Bits looks like a great place for the kid who is always looking for more information....I have one of those at home....Once he finds a topic he is interested in he loves to learn more and more facts. This looks like a great easy to use site where he could gather information.