"I need this document from my shared drive at school to work at home, what can I do?" "I need to print this picture and the printer is out of ink, what do I do?" "How do you add a picture to powerpoint?" "I have to use the computer today because I will be out of town all weekend for a basketball tournament. How can I get my homework done?" All recent questions asked by our students, some are easily resolved, some require some thinking outside the box. I think our students need lessons in problem solving. With teachers trying to teach curriculum needed in a particular grade, it is hard to convince them they need to add one more skill to their lists of things to teach.
The common core standards have been debated in the media across the country. "At the core of the standards is a reduced emphasis on memorization. Students now have to connect the dots and apply critical thinking. It's what experts call higher-order thinking. Teachers say it's preparing students for life after high school.
That has made classrooms much more of a hands-on proposition." (Common Core State Standards Focus On Critical Thinking Amid Political Debate AP | By PHILIP ELLIOTT) This addition to common core standards has opened up the need for a different approach in the classroom. Teachers are feeling overwhelmed in how to handle one more thing. However with the Gale Virtual Reference Library easily available, articles can be found to encourage a different approach to teaching which will teach problem solving skills in conjunction with curriculum.
By accessing Gale Virtual Reference Library an article is found, Instuctional Strategies from Encyclopedia of Education which gives an overview of various strategies including the positive results of problem based instruction. Another article is found also from the Encyclopedia of Education, Project Method With these two articles in hand a teacher can begin to formulate lesson plans to guide students to learn better problem solving skills while teaching their subject material. With Gale virtual Reference Library, educators need not feel isolated as information is easily found which aids in their classrooms.
As teachers and librarians become familiar with GVRL they can then point their students to these academic articles as well as many other articles on subjects ranging from the arts to history and science. Learning can begin even in the most remote part of the state.

ProQuest or Protest?

8.RL.1 Cite the textual evidence that most
strongly supports an analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from
the text.
In other words:
I can trace and evaluate the argument and claims in a text.
I can assess whether an author’s reasoning is sound and whether he has enough evidence to support the claims he makes.
In the 7th & 8th grades students are given assignments which require reading and analyzing certain types of writing. They also work on essays requiring information from various sources. It has been my experience that given no guidance students will default to “google” in their research. They will immediately, after logging in to the computer, go to google with their query, “what are the red worms in our compost bin?” “who is the president of Argentina?” , or simply a term “bug”, “virus”, “alternative energy” (actual research questions and terms entered into google by students). The term “bug” which a student used to find information about a virus, listed everything from Volkswagen to entomology. The article count for “alternative energy” in google is 192,000,000. Factor in side bar advertisements, images, videos and various other distractions on a page, students can spend a lot of time tangled up in the web. I admit that google is the go to place for information in a hurry but for academic research, the library databases should be the “go to”.
Proquest in my opinion provides a lot of information, journals and magazines however for our purposes in 7th & 8th grades, students will tire of the scholarly appearance and return to the comfort of google with images, videos and quick facts.
In order to use this database, teachers will need to be proactive, finding specific journal articles, guiding students along the way. The article count in Proquest for “alternative energy” is 297,591, substantially less than google but still overwhelming for young minds. To meet the common core standards, from this database for middle school students, I would preselect certain articles pertaining to the topic at hand, perhaps guiding students to find the articles on Proquest. After reading the articles, students would show they have met the standards by answering questions or writing an essay supporting their writing with examples from the article. Another use of this database would be to use it as a tool to demonstrate research techniques. Students would be given a topic and asked to find websites or articles regarding this topic from various databases. This would allow students opportunity to experiment with databases and compare the search results, analyzing sites and articles for accuracy. Even though students are not likely to use ProQuest at the middle school level, they need to know of its availability as they continue their education.

SIRS

SIRS: What a great tool! With Common Core standards readily available at the top, research tools along the side to aid students and topics easily searched, this database is one to be bookmarked.
In middle school the students are asked to write a persuasive essay. If they were to go to SIRS they would find topics of interest in many subjects with questions already asked--they just need to answer yes or no. Articles are provided which provide information to support their opinions. Each entry has an icon in the margin to indicate the format of the original information, reference book, magazine, newspaper and media. If a student had no idea where to start this is a great place to begin. A list of topics is readily available with pros and cons of an issue. In order to begin a student would need to read the articles, analyze, synthesize and evaluate, all part of the common core standard for language arts:

Indicator 5: Students can access, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate informational texts.

The research tools help to organize the research to begin the writing process. The educator resources link, found at the bottom of the SIRS home page provides great information for teachers as they prepare lessons. In fact, the common core and ProQuest datasheets are going to given to the teachers in our building because as I was looking at this site I was thinking of ways to share this information. These resources are a perfect way to share the value of this site with our teachers.

Now, I will investigate some more, read more articles and learn!

Learning Express

I have used the Language Arts standards for the other posts so thought I would use Math for this one. The Learning Express correlates with the standards very well.

Upon entering the Learning Express site, the user can choose from several centers, college, career and school. Choosing school gives you further options, elementary, middle and high school. I chose middle school, 7th grade. The introduction of the center coincides with the common core standards for math:

Although fractions and decimals can express whole numbers, they are used primarily to represent numbers that contain part of a whole number; that is, they fall between two integers. Fractions can be useful for showing ratios or proportions, and decimals are used in everyday life to represent money.

In this unit, you will learn how to:

compare fractions
add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals
work with fractions and decimals in real-world contexts
name decimal places
convert between fractions and mixed numbers
convert between fractions and decimals

COMMON CORE STANDARDS

Apply and extend previous understandings of operations with fractions.
CCSS.Math.Content.7.NS.A.1 Apply and extend previous understandings of addition and subtraction to add and subtract rational numbers; represent addition and subtraction on a horizontal or vertical number line diagram.



The math tutorial takes the user step by step through processes, questions and answers. At the end there is a quiz on the topics of previous screens. Scoring is immediate and with feedback on why the answer is what it is. This is a very helpful tool for reinforcement. I could easily recommend this site for added practice for all students, especially those who might struggle with certain concepts.

The only thing I did not figure out was how to retake a test. Perhaps there is a way to do it but I did not find it. If there is no way to retake then that would limit the use of this site. More investigation is needed.

Overall this site correlates with standards almost word for word so would be a great asset for educators.

Using Chilton Manuals and Mango Languages

Week 2 of Common Core Challenge Using Chilton Manuals and Mango Languages For some people reading an automotive manual is similar to reading a foreign language. The world of automotive care is a language all its own. It is one that needs to be studied, practiced and used in order to learn. What happens if a non-automotive speaking person wants to enter that world? A new language must be learned. The following standards will apply for both the Chlton Manuals and the Mango Languages:

7.L.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. 8.L.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. 7.RL.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 8.RL.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. >

Students learn new vocabulary words each year in school. Often these words float around in their heads with no platform on which to stand.
Reading the Chilton manuals for the first time could be this way. With no point of reference, the vocabulary of the manuals is much like a foreign language. With guidance and practical use these words can be brought together in a meaningful way. Students in 7th and 8th grades are beginning to think about driving. This would be a great time to introduce car maintenance. The Chilton manuals could be accessed, finding the student's car or a car they wish to own, looking up maintenance requirements, troubleshooting and possible ways to fix problems. Using the vocabulary of the manuals, how-to speeches could be presented which would further the use of new vocabulary in context. As students learn to read a manual, then take what they have learned to give directions, they have acquired knowledge and skills that will carry them throughout their lives. Even if someone doesn't want to work on their own car, it is good to have knowledge of the vehicle and possible problems in order to avoid costly unnecessary repairs.
Using Mango Languages Learning a new language expands our minds and gives us a better understanding of our own language. Grammar and word usage become more important when learning a new language. Students realize quickly how easily the meaning of a phrase changes with the misuse of a tense or misspelling. As we grow up speaking a particular language and learning to read with our spoken language we often forget the rules of grammar, they are just second nature. A new language causes us to think about these rules and become more aware of our own language as we learn a new one. Contextual clues in learning vocabulary become even more important in a new language. Mango Languages allow students access to many different languages to try or to build on what they already know or are taking in school. With converstations spoken, as the written words are highlighted, students can see as well as hear the new language. The english words change to the other language as the cursor is placed on the phrase to give added study help. Mango Languages is very valuable in learning another language as well as emphasizing the grammar rules in English. The value of both of these databases is to learn--going beyond our borders with a technical manual or a new language. We must never stop learning! What a great asset to our library.

Research and Analyze Historical Fiction

7. RI.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. 8.RI.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Students in all grades read historical fiction. In 7th and 8th grades, students can begin to look at the value of historical fiction in learning history. This standard can be used to evaluate the historical fiction novel using articles and primary sources from the time period. For example, if a student read Bud, Not Buddy as the historical fiction assignment, the World Book article, Great Depression, would give background information on the time period. The student would get a better understanding of the character in the novel after reading the historical information about the time period. Primary sources are available through World Book as well providing students with even more information regarding this time period. With this information, the student can then analyze the historical fiction novel for accuracy, asking questions regarding the setting, actions and voice of characters and interaction with historical fiqures.

Dear America: Down the Rabbit Hole

In the spring of 1871, fourteen-year-old Pringle Rose learns that her parents have been killed in a terrible carriage accident. After her uncle Edward and his awful wife, Adeline, move into the Pringle family's home -- making life for her and her younger brother, Gideon, unbearable -- Pringle runs away with Gideon to Chicago, seeking refuge from the tragedy, and hoping to start a new life. She becomes a nanny for the children of a labor activist, and quickly finds herself caught up in a web of intrigue and lies. Then, when a familiar figure from home arrives, Pringle begins to piece together the devastating mystery of what happened to her parents, and realizes just how deadly the truth might be. But soon, one of the greatest disasters this country has ever known -- the Great Fire of Chicago -- flares up, and Pringle is on the run for her life.