SD Library Challenge - Lesson 4 - SIRS

SIRS Discoverer

1.       I did a search for “elephants”. When SIRS Discoverer brought up several resources, I found that the search provided a list articles and also provided the Lexile score of the articles. I noticed that at the bottom of the search results, a student can search for different levels of reading difficulty, as well as ranking their search by Lexile scores. The resource list also gives readers an icon to recognize whether the article contains graphics, activities, etc. When I clicked on an article, I noticed at the bottom of the article it provided the proper MLA citation for students who are doing research papers.

2.       Country Facts: I selected “Europe”, and then “Italy”. This database is so easy to use and provides so much information that kids can use such as population, climate, size, capital, holidays, agriculture, languages, and much more. The graphics shows the country flag and a map. There is also a timeline noting important dates in history for the country.

Maps of the World: The historical maps would be very beneficial for social studies and history teachers. I also like the outline maps, which could be used for students to study identifying states, countries, or continents.

iThink Skills Tutor: This is an amazing tutorial for kids to watch so they can better understand the steps for doing a research project. It is very kid-friendly, and easy to follow.

SIRS Issues Researcher

 

1.       I chose “sports” because I was curious if this would just contain information about the Olympics which are taking place right now. I was impressed to find other current topics in sports such as capping salaries for pro athletes, whether cheerleading should be considered a sport, and performance enhancing drugs. This site would be very useful for students who cannot think of a topic for research. By using the leading issues, students can find a topic and then find resources on that topic. Everything they may need, including timelines and statistics can be found on this site by using the article links or the research tools.

2.       Curriculum Pathfinders: I chose “Math Games”, and found that not only does this give me the links to websites, but also shows an image of the site. This is helpful if I am looking for activities for my kids to do in the computer lab because the image helps me see the approximate age level of the activity without having to click on every link to find that information.