DISCUS: Kids InfoBits

Kids InfoBits is another great database for elementary students available through DISCUS. You access it the same way as you do SIRS Discoverer by going to http://www.scdiscus.org/ and either click on the database name or clicking on DISCUS Kids to get to the list of K-8 databases.

Kids Infobits is very kid graphic friendly and the easiest way for students to search is by clicking through the subject icons until they find the area they are searching for. This is great for teaching topic definition and keywords and well as broadening and narrowing a search in a kid-friendly, visual way.

Notice the tools circled - there are some fabulous teacher aides in the Teacher Toolbox for reseach projects and the dictionary is a very friendly version of the Merriam Webster's Elementary Dictionary.

Aside from the subject searching, you can also do a basic and advanced search to find something specific. I did a search for "Zebras" to demonstrate for this session.

Like SIRS Discoverer, InfoBits has tabs at the top to distinguish between types of information. (marked by the big arrow) There is also a student Backpack feature where students can keep a list of likely sources while they search. (marked by the star) There is a less sophisticated, but easy to follow reading level distinction with circles and triangles denoting "easy" and "more difficult" by articles. I also really like that some of the articles are available in PDF so that students can view them with full color photographs and charts. This is particularly helpful where budgets have been cut and students might not have ready access to learn the reading skills associated with reading in magazine and newspaper formats.

However, to me, two of the best feature comes when you look at the specific articles.

You have the option to email or print the article just like most of the other DISCUS databases (circled). But every article has ReadSpeaker connected so that students can listen to the article. Its not the best - its computer generated speaking - but it is a boon for students struggling with reading nonfiction texts for comprehension. You have the option of downloading the MP3 as well, so you can have the students listen while reading on email or with a printed version. This gives so MANY options for reinforcing reading skills!

I also like that at the bottom of most of the articles it has the full citation written out to help students get the citation information that they need. I've found that having students cite from databases is one of the hardest for them to learn (so they tend to do it the least!).

DISCUS: SIRS Discoverer

I love working with students and DISCUS... why... because the variations on the name are hilarious. I have lost count of the number of times I heard "Is that that DISCUSS thing?"

Now, following our progress, we've had Destiny Quest, we've talked a little about Nettrekker, what's DISCUS. More stuff for your students to plow through, you say? Well, every good teacher knows you start with a tool box and you try to fill it up with the best stuff. Then you pick the best tool for the situation and need. DISCUS is a big, multipurpose tool that we really need to share with our students.

DISCUS is provided free to citizens of South Carolina through the SC State Library and funded by the state. It provides 24/7 access to excellent reference sources for students and adults. Everything from encyclopedias, online reference books, periodicals, magazines, newspapers, government documents. It has a ton of stuff for you. The downside?? It has a ton of stuff for you and there isn't really a "Google" option for streamlining all that stuff. ; )

Because it is so huge, I am just going to concentrate on 2 databases that I love for elementary schools today: Kids Infobits and SIRS Discover. These databases are commercially available outside of DISCUS, but in SC we access them through the main discus website: http://www.scdiscus.org/. If you are at school, your IP address will be recognized and you should not have to enter a username and password. At home, you'll need the username and password which you can get from your local school or public librarian. In the upper right hand corner, it has a graphic and link for DISCUS Kids. That has a list of all of the databases most useful to K-8 students. Click there to get started.

There's a good basic breakdown of what each database offers and links to each, I'm going to start with SIRS Discoverer.

Click on the icon or link to enter the SIRS Discoverer database.

There is a tremendous amount of "stuff" just on the front page - you have access to the current almanac, encyclopedias, world maps, country facts, pathfinders, activities... just devote a little time to browse around and enjoy. It truly is like a treasure trove of fun stuff that is easy and safe for your students to access. Also note the SIRS websearch which makes a good back up to Nettrekker and easy to integrate if you are wanting students to stay on one site for an activity.

To demonstrate a search, I just did a simple keyword search on "Frederick Douglass." Look at the search results page - this is why I wanted to start with SIRS Discoverer. Look at the Lexile ranking option. Because we use Lexiles so frequently with the students, this is an easy way to target a general range to start reading. That way your students are getting frustrated with things to high or low (AGAIN... pick your instructional battles - it is what you are focusing on at the time!). There are color coded book icons to help readers distinguish between levels of difficulty and these are there for the websites as well! Also notice the tabs at the top; you can easily move between the types of information returned, so it is easy to sort newspapers, magazines, photos, websites and reference sources.

Now, look at an article from the search. The articles are full text and offer you (and your students) the chance to email the article. In our work to be more economically wise and eco-friendly, the less we print the better. This way you can use portions in your lesson plans, and students can work on the computer to take notes and organize research materials! You also have the option to print from here, AND I love the Source and Summary link with clear and concise information that the students need to cite the article and a brief summary. This would be great to have students summarize the article and then compare with the "official" summary. The link to subjects will take you to more articles like this one and results takes you back to your search screen. This particular article has fabulous features for teachers and offers vocabulary, pre-reading questions, comprehension questions and follow up enrichment exercises.

Nettrekker Refresher: Kids on the Internet : )

We love computers... and kids... and we especially love them together, right???!!!

Students can fool us when it comes to technology - they have such as high level of skill when it comes to being "tech-naturals," they adapt, they use prior computer and tech knowledge to quickly figure out new programs and swiftly navigate through the internet. HOWEVER, (and I don't say this to hang on to a shred of my tech intelligence around the students), they are NOT information savvy. They can jump out into the ocean - but can they swim well? Students need guidance to learn to navigate the information out there, and to be able to pull back exactly what they need. This is part critical reading skills, part information evaluation, and part source selection.

That's where Nettrekker and DISCUS come in. We've talked about Destiny Quest, which helped us search for print materials, Nettrekker gives us Internet resources, and DISCUS gives us quality electronic reference and periodical information.

Why Nettrekker? Well - the kids know Google, and they know search engines... how... someone told them and they told their friends. Type in whatever you want and get stuff... a lot of stuff... if you're lucky, you'll find something on the first two pages. Who could ask for more? Google has a lot to offer - don't get me wrong. Let's do a simple search on "civil war" - librarian friends, settle down, I KNOW this is a bad search, work with me.




Now, this is a bad search because there is more than one civil war and the search could have used much better key words. But, me, the lucky person thinking like a student just went with it.

What did I get? Link 1 - preservation society trying to save battlefields, Link 2 - for profit site with ads, authorship on non primary documents by unidentified "committee," Link 3 - Wikipedia (I'll save that heated argument), Link 4 - Wikipedia again, Link 5 - personal nonprofit site - no information on author's credibility without serious digging. I as the student didn't care, I copied pictures from the first page and copy/pasted information from the for profit site, then got everything else from Wikipedia... I'm done!!

Now, this is an excellent teachable moment with students to talk to them about web evaluation, selecting site, AND using all the cool tools that Google has built in for us savvy users. HOWEVER, do we use these tools ourselves regularly as teachers? Have you Googled something in the last month... I've lost count for my part. The point is, we need to break these skills down. They can't be taught in one shot, and they aren't all need at one time. Its the habit that needs to be built and habit is tied to purpose and repetition. SO... lets look at Civil War on Nettrekker...


For the classroom, for targeted searching this is much cleaner. There are easy ways to sort AND a lot of the junk has been cleared out ahead of time.

I can tell before I go to the site if there are pictures and I can find other sites like it just by following my blue link addiction.

Nettrekker is also much safer for the school and home environment for children. NOW, that said, there is no such thing as a completely SAFE search engine that still works the way you need it to? WHY? Because a computer program is running the selection. However, Nettrekker is far and away better than Google for returning safe searches. Remember, the site may be blocked, but the description isn't on the search returns!! So now, I as the student am searching in a safer environment, and my teacher can focus on my atrocious copy/paste habits and critical reading skills THIS time, and make me search savvy over time until I am the uber cyber wiz as I go off to college with my 21st century skills alive and kicking. (Cue success story music) The truth is, as teachers well know, that it is a process and continued practice and reinforcement will make it better. Echew the once a year "research projects" they don't stick!!

There is a full handout on using Nettrekker including its advanced features like the Read-Aloud, and specialized searches available at: http://www.greenville.k12.sc.us/gcsd/depts/ets/its/docs/nettrekker.pdf