1. Reading Support for the Elementary Classroom
Jamie Davis, ORC Coordinator
EPSB EdTech Community of Practise
January 19, 2016

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

3. Why These Resources?
Provide authoritative, age appropriate, engaging, curricular-aligned content
Google and Wikipedia are the tip of the searching and information literacy iceberg
allow students to become familiar and comfortable with the kind of resources and searching practises that are integral to 21st century learning
Are time savers once you are familiar with them
include embedded supports for diverse learners like listen, text translation, citation tools, vetted websites, copyright friendly pictures and videos
Provide anytime, from anywhere with an internet connection access

4. What’s in it for Teachers?
Direct curriculum correlations, curriculum mapping for Science and Social (under completion)
Support for diverse learners
Access to journals like Walrus, National Geographic, School Library Journal, Men’s Health, and MacLean’s (RSS feeds can be set up)
Consistent and explicit update schedules
Access to vetted websites
Ability to create permalinks that can be posted on a website/moodle page.blog or sent in an blast

5. Accessing the ORC Go to LearnAlberta.ca Select English and French
Click “Online Reference Centre” in the tab along the top of the screen
In school automatic authentication should occur
Outside of school access requires username and password
EPSB Username: LA13 Password: 9418
Share your district username and password (low tech methods)
for your remote username/password

6. Resources that Support Literacy Learning
Early World of Learning *NEW*
BookFLIX
TrueFLIX

7. Early World of Learning
Recommended for K-2 students
Designed for very young learners with human voice read aloud embedded throughout
Stories, pictures, videos, songs and activities build literacy skills
Related content to Science and Social Studies curricula
Fun and interactive, works well on iPad or tablet
Early World of Learning
Top Right-Hand side of the screen
Read:
Trek’s Travels - stories about what Trek learns on his adventures. Each story includes human voice read aloud, auto play or user controlled play, related game, videos and pictures
Welcome to Reading - Additional Trek Books that are levelled from A -D. Books include all additional features (game, videos, etc.)
Know It- Explore Animals Homes, Animal Safari, Creepy Crawlies, Sea Animals, Me, Myself and I, People at Work, Plants, Rainforest Animals, Dinos, Vroom Vroom, and Weather. Each section include related pictures and videos
Play:
Put the Story in Order (ordering the story - first, second, third, and fourth events)
Concentration (digital concentration game, flip the cards to find matches)
Multiple Choice (Fill in the missing word in the sentence)
Sorting (long vowels, short vowels, middle sounds, final sounds, etc.)
Watch:
Sports and Hobbies (yoga, step aerobics, juggling, etc.)
People (police officers, teacher, firefighters, garbage truck)
Animals (numerous animal videos to choose from)
Getting Around (cars, busses, planes, etc)
Machines (backhoes, snowblowers, Tractors, etc.)
Big Ideas (shapes, colors, sizes, sounds, etc.)
Plants (plants growing, starting a garden, etc.)
Health (doctors, vaccines, senses, etc.)
Earth (seasons, weather, etc.)
Print and Do:
Blackline Masters available to print. Include colour the number activities.
Topics include: colors, numbers, letters, locations, matching, sets, shapes, sizes and time
Bottom Right-hand side of the Screen
Click on the Frog with the fly to access additional resources
Story Corner - Variety of classic stories read aloud
Nursery Rhymes - Variety of Classic nursery rhymes
Songs - Classics like Baa, Baa and Eensy, Weensy Spider

8. BookFLIX
118 fiction and nonfiction book pairs (236 books total) organized into themes
Pairing fiction with related nonfiction increases student comprehension when reading both formats
search titles by guided reading level, author, grade level, theme, etc.
lesson plans provided for each pair
Real voice audio support embedded throughout resources to allow emergent readers to navigate the resource independently
Between 1-3 follow up “puzzlers” for each pair
Ideas for using BookFLIX in the classroom:
-Read Aloud or Shared Reading on SMART Board or LCD projector
-Play with read along off or on, have students make specific sounds with a related word, mute words and read along to word highlighting
-Small Group or Learning Centre
-Can use BookFLIX on a computer, netbook or iPad (with a java enabled browser like -Puffin) or on the SMART Board
-Reading and Writing Connection
-Read about the author and their writing process or target a specific writing style and view/discuss together
-Research and Inquiry projects
-Nonfiction eBooks on a variety of topics (some direct links to curriculum), in addition to vetted related websites
-Have students use these websites at the start of their inquiry
-At home reading program - No more ziplocks!
-Provides a reading experience for students who may not have an adult who can read to them each evening. Reading with someone is obviously preferable but that is not always an option for some of our students.

9. TrueFLIX Sister resource to BookFLIX designed for grades 3-6
Nonfiction content divided into 2 broad themes with 3-5 sub themes
Each eBook includes an introductory video to hope build background knowledge of topic and improve student comprehension
Human voice read along feature to support emergent/struggling readers
Interactive table of contents for each eBook, in addition to a glossary and index
Essential inquiry questions and project ideas for every eBook

10. Reading Support in the Content Areas
PebbleGO Science *NEW*
PebbleGO Social Studies *NEW*
PowerKnowledge Suite

11. PebbleGO Science & Social Studies
Recommended for K-3
Easy navigation, levelled text, visual searching designed for beginning researchers
Human voice read aloud with text highlighting, photos, videos, audio clips to enhance learning
Articles segmented into brief sections with tab navigation at the top of the screen
Science topics Include: Matter, Sound, Life Science, Plants, Animals, Human, Seasons, Weather, Earth Science, etc.
Scial Studies topics Include: My World,Maps, Community, Culture and Awareness, Citizenship, Families, Holidays, etc.
This resource will be added to the Curriculum Mapping on the ORC Support Site

12. PowerKnowledge Suite Recommended for grades 1-6
Content divided into 3 databases: Earth & Space, Life Science, and Physical Science
Includes a customizable read aloud feature
Short, segmented articles with introductory videos to build background knowledge
Embedded science experiments, projects, and educational games related to the content of the database
Aligns with 95% of the grade 3-6 science curriculum and 87% of grade 1-6 science curriculum

13. PowerKnowledge: Earth & Space Science
Science Units Supported:
Grade 1 Seasonal Changes
Grade 2 Exploring Liquids
Grade 3 Rocks and Minerals
Grade 4 Light and Shadows & Waste and Our World
Grade 5 Weather Watch, Wetland Ecosystems & Social Studies Mapping Skills
Grade 6 Sky Science
This resource is included in the Curriculum Mapping on the ORC Support Site

14. PowerKnowledge: Life Science
Science Units Supported:
Grade 1 Needs of Animals and Plants
Grade 2 Small Flying and Crawling Animals
Grade 3 Animal Life Cycles & Hearing and Sound
Grade 4 Plant Growth and Changes, Waste and Our World
Grade 5 Wetland Ecosystems
Grade 6 Trees and Forests
This resource is included in the Curriculum Mapping on the ORC Support Site

15. PowerKnowledge: Physical Science
Science Units Supported:
Grade 1 Needs of Animals and Plants
Grade 2 Hot and Cold Temperatures & Magnetism
Grade 4 Wheels and Levers
Grade 5 Electricity and Magnetism & Classroom Chemistry
Grade 6 Trees and Forests
This resource is included in the Curriculum Mapping on the ORC Support Site

16. Support for School Staff Using the ORC
ORC Support Site
ORC Listserv
Links
Contact

17. ORC Listserv Weekly email updates organized by E/J/S:
New resources and features
Province-wide trials
Surveys
Free PD opportunities
No s during school breaks
Membership benefits for every 50th person to join
or visit the ORC Support Site to join today

18. Links to Check Out ORC Support Site www.onlinereferencecentre.ca
ORC Listserv
ORC Facebook
ORC Twitter
@ORC_AB

19. Contact
For more information or to schedule a school presentation contact:
Jamie Davis, ORC Coordinator
Call ext: 229 OR

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