Enrich Curriculum with the Online Reference Centre in K-3 South Western Alberta Teachers’ Convention February 20, 2014 Jamie Davis, ORC Coordinator

Agenda O What is the ORC O Why students should access the ORC O Why teachers should access the ORC O Newly added K-3 resources O TeachingBooks.net (time permitting) O Culturegrams (time permitting) O ORC Support Site O ORC Listserv

What is the ORC? O A $1.7 million collection of curricular-aligned, authoritative digital resources licensed on behalf of all Alberta: O K-12 students and their parents O School staff O Pre-service teachers O Public library staff * O Funded by a yearly Grant-In-Aid from Alberta Education to The Alberta Library (TAL) O Return on Investment (ROI) calculation of 3:1 for Alberta Schools *for the purposes of supporting K-12 patrons

Why K-3 students should access the ORC ORC Resources: O Provide authoritative, age appropriate, engaging, curricular-aligned content O Allow students to become familiar and comfortable with the kinds of resources and searching practises that an integral part of 21 st century learning O Are time savers once you are familiar with using them O Include embedded supports for diverse learners like listen, text translation, citation tools, vetted websites, copyright friendly pictures and videos O Provide anytime, from anywhere access

Why teachers should access the ORC ORC Resources Provide: O Access to ready-to-use or customizable lesson plans, teaching materials and direct curricular correlations O Support for ESL and foreign language learners O Access to journals like Walrus, National Geographic, National Geographic Kids, Men’s Health, and Maclean’s just to name a few (RSS feeds available) O Consistent and explicit update schedules O Access to vetted websites O Ability to create permalinks that can be posted on a website or in an blast

Accessing the ORC LearnAlberta.ca O In school automatic authentication O Remote access requires a district username/password O The username/password appears in the top right hand corner of the screen when on the ORC on a school computer O Share your district username/password using low tech methods O for your district’s remote

Muzzy Online O Learning languages through the context of a story O Hundreds of words and phrases embedded in stories O Six movies in each language level with subtitles that can be turned on/off O 101 thematic video lessons with embedded language learning games divided into levels I & II O All new 3D animation O All new recording studio

PowerKnowledge Suite O Content divided into 3 databases: Earth and Space, Life Science and Physical Science O Includes a customizable listen feature O Short, segmented articles with introductory videos to build background knowledge O Embedded science experiments and educational games O Aligns with 95% of the grade 3-6 science curriculum and 87% of grade 1-6 science curriculum

PowerKnowledge: Earth Space Curriculum areas covered: O Grade 1 Seasonal Changes O Grade 2 Exploring Liquids O Grade 3 Rocks and Minerals O Grade 4 Light and Shadows, Waste and Our World and Alberta: A sense of the land O Grade 5 Weather Watch, Wetland Ecosystems, Physical Geography of Canada O Grade 6 Sky Science O Social Studies mapping skills

PowerKnowledge: Life Science Curriculum areas covered: O Grade 1 Needs of Animals and Plants O Grade 2 Small Flying and Crawling Animals O Grade 3 Animal Life Cycles, Hearing and Sound O Grade 4 Plant Growth and Changes, Waste and Our World and Alberta: A sense of the land O Grade 5 Wetland Ecosystems O Grade 6 Trees and Forests

PowerKnowledge: Physical Science Curriculum areas covered: O Grade 1 Needs of Animals and Plants O Grade 2 Hot and Cold Temperatures and Magnetism O Grade 4 Wheels and Levers O Grade 5 Electricity and Magnetism, Classroom Chemistry O Grade 6 Trees and Forests

TrueFLIX O Newly created sister resource to BookFLIX designed for grades 3-6 O Nonfiction content divided into 2 broad themes with 3-6 subthemes O Each ebook includes an introductory video to help build background knowledge of topic O Human voice read along feature O Interactive table of contents for each ebook O Essential inquiry questions and project ideas for every ebook

TeachingBooks.net O Bring an author into your classroom any time you need O Search for Meet-the-Author Movies or Book Readings, Author Audio Name Pronunciation, book guides and lesson plans O Access Alberta specific booklists: O Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Readers Choice Award (YRCA) O ELA Authorized Novel and Nonfiction Reading Lists grades 4-12 O Meet-the-author book readings in French O Canadian Book Award Winners/Canadian Book and Author Resources O Personalized Book Lists upon request

Culturegrams O Updated every 6 months O Includes a World, Kids Edition and Provinces Edition O Articles are written and reviewed by in-country consultants O Cultural recipes included for each country and province O Create customizes graphs and tables O Tools include world time, distance calculator, and currency converter

ORC Support Site O Resource training materials - podcasts, videos, archived webinars, and guides O Information about upcoming free ORC PD opportunities O Information about province-wide resource trials and surveys O Online booking system for ORC sessions O Calendar of ORC Events O Links to Twitter and Facebook accounts

ORC Listserv O Weekly updates organized by E/J/S: O New resources and features O Province-wide trials O Surveys O Free PD opportunities O No s during school breaks O Membership has its benefits – joining incentive O or visit the ORC Support Site to join Join Now

Contact For more information about the ORC or to schedule a school presentation Call ext.229 OR

Links to Check out ORC Support Site ORC ListServ ORC Facebook

Additional Elementary ORC Resources

K-3 Resources Amazing Animals of the World (K-6) O Read aloud feature O Article provides links to information about animal habitat, and order O Access to vetted weblinks that open within database BookFLIX (K-3) O Pairs fiction with nonfiction, 105 pairs in total O Real voice audio support embedded throughout the resource

K-3 Resources World Book Kids (K-3) O Text-to-speech O Compare option used to find similarities/ differences between animals, countries and places