1. Kimberly Sharp Media Specialist Ivy Creek Elementary
Media Resources
Kimberly Sharp
Media Specialist
Ivy Creek Elementary
Ideally, teachers would work with their own computers as they participate in this staff development.
Note: Have current username/password list available as a handout in addition to those provided with this module. (For security issues, I cannot publish it with this module.)

2. Gwinnett County Resources
Provided by Gwinnett County for students and teachers
Password Protected
The Gwinnett County Media Services Department has researched a variety of excellent databases for use with research by students attending school in Gwinnett. A portion of the state budget allotment goes to provide these resources for us. The county keeps track of usage so that as budget cuts are necessary, they can eliminate those that are underused or fight to keep those that we use most frequently.
Many of these are password protected. See me for a list of usernames and passwords. Note: these are NOT to be shared in newsletters or on websites.

3. Accessing Resources From School
Type MEDIA in the address bar
Select ELEMENTARY
From Home:
From
Go.Gwinnett:
Select GCPS
Media
Resources
You can access these resources from any computer in the school by typing “MEDIA” in the address bar…. Not Media.com, just MEDIA.
From home, you can go through the GCPS website by selecting instructional resources OR use the go.gwinnett portal. This applies to students as well.

4. When to Use These Sites All the time!! Why? Student Research
Graduate Research
Lesson Planning
Why?
Search Engines Are Not Always Safe
NO GOOGLE!!
Filters Miss Some Content
We’ve PAID for them!
There are so many wonderful resources available through these sites. You can use them with your students or for professional research.
PLEASE teach your students to start here when conducting research. DO NOT send them to the media center to “Google it.” Inappropriate and inaccurate information is likely to show up in a search and the filters don’t always catch it. We need to keep the kids safe. These sites are EXCELLENT and we’ve paid for them!

5. Organization Elementary Subject Headings Blue and Gray
Resources are organized into a variety of tabs. You can change the level at any time by selecting Elementary, Middle or High along the top row. For our purposes we will look at the Elementary tab. You’ll know you’ve selected Elementary if the categories on the left side of the screen are Blue and Gray.

6. General References Encyclopedias GALILEO WebPath Express Britannica
New Book of Knowledge
World Book Kids
GALILEO
Kids GALILEO
Searchasaurus
SIRS Discoverer
WebPath Express
There are many choices of general references for you and your students. This is a great launching place for research. We’ll spend some time looking at the highlights of each resource. You’ll notice that we even have Spanish Encyclopedias available.

7. Britannica – Home Page Type a keyword in the Search Box and click GO
Students can search by keyword or Explore a Variety of Topics by navigating through the pictures on the right.
Type a keyword in the Search Box and click GO
OR click on an Explore Topics item

8. Britannica – Search Results
The results that appear show brief summaries of the content that is available in the article. You MUST click on the blue underlined title in order to get to the whole article. Once you are there, be sure to scroll down to the bottom to see all of the available information.
On the right-hand side of the screen, you can access the Multimedia options including pictures and videos. Scroll down to the bottom of the images and select “More Multimedia”
Additionally, Britannica suggests websites that might provide more information.
**Scroll down to select “More Multimedia”**

9. Britannica - Multimedia
Once you’ve selected multimedia, a variety of photographs and videos will appear. If you see a red bar along the top of a picture, that indicates there is a video available to watch.

10. Britannica – Web Sites
When you select the Web’s Best Sites, links to various sites will be available. This is a great time to point out to kids that they should read the titles of the sites and/or the summaries to be sure that they get the kind of Penguin they are looking for!

11. Britannica – Home Page
Discover America is a quick way to access information about each state in the United States.
A daily news feed is published in this section….. You could easily use this as a current event activity.

12. Britannica – Home Page
Again, Britannica offers some fun activities that change daily. Consider having your students examine the Animal of the Day or Activity of the Day.
Be sure to visit the Featured Spotlight section when you have time!! There are FANTASTIC collections of broad topics located in the “See More Spotlights” – Black History, Normandy 1944, Holocaust, Women’s History, Presidents, etc.

13. New Book of Knowledge
Click the Grolier Online Kids button in the top right corner.
Conduct a search by typing a keyword in the “Find It Fast!” box and pressing Go.

14. New Book of Knowledge – Search Results
The search results are not as “kid friendly” as Britannica, but you access them the same way. Click on the underlined blue titles to access the full article.
Use the tabs along the top to get some additional information from a variety of sources.

15. New Book of Knowledge
Homepage highlights include America the Beautiful which has wonderful information about the United States, Today in History and NewsNow.

16. New Book of Knowledge - News
If you click on The New Book of Knowledge, you’ll have access to more fantastic links. The screen opens to the NBK News section where you can access current event articles from the main page. This page is updated every two weeks. I’m also a fan of Wonder Questions, the World History Timeline and Spotlight. The kids enjoy Web Feat.
Wonder Questions
World History Timeline
Spotlight
Web Feat!

17. New Book of Knowledge - Showcase
Feature Showcases are available by clicking on the example on the homepage OR via New Book of Knowledge. These are terrific interactive sites with photos, videos and games that allow kids to explore a variety of topics.

18. World Book Kids
World Book Kids has fun activities scrolling through the homepage. The tour with Atlas is cute as are several other activities found here.
For research, type a keyword in the “Search It” box or browse through the categories on this page.

19. World Book Kids
As with the other sites, you must click on the underlined blue title to get to the main article. Remind kids to look for the right kind of penguin based on the illustration and the summary.

20. World Book Kids - Trivia
Many of the articles in World Book Kids have the “Play It” feature. On the left hand side of the page, there is a trivia question. The kids read the article and then click on the correct answer. They are taken to the article about that topic and asked another question. Questions are asked and answered until they return to the original article. There are several of these “loops” within the program. They can be started anytime you see the “Play It” box on the left hand side of the screen.

21. Kids GALILEO
Kids are able to search for articles, images and websites through any of the options on the left. The sound effects make it fun for the kids!

22. Searchasaurus
Search by keyword or browse by using the visual topics on the lower half of the screen. Students can search by Lexile level to locate articles they can read.

23. WebPath Express
You may remember seeing this when we discussed searching the library catalog.

24. WebPath Express – Search Results
This can be accessed from the Media Catalog or the Media Resources page. Type a keyword search and you’ll receive a list of websites that are appropriate for your students. You can search by grade level or domain. Encourage students to read the summary before making a choice. Then click on the URL to take them to the site. Notice the thumb tacked notes on the right of the screen. These will tell you which grade levels would enjoy the site the most.
NOTE: This is a GREAT resource for finding quality websites for kids!!!

25. Biographies
If you are doing any lessons on biographies, you need to know about these sites!! I prefer the Biography Resource Center because you are easily able to find articles on current popular icons as well as classics. Do you need to find Miley Cyrus or the Jonas Brothers? This is the place!! The Junior Reference Collection is also good for locating more traditional biographies.

26. Professional Sites
Are you doing graduate work?? This will help!!

27. Government
Click here to find information about local, state and national governments. My favorite is Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids!

28. News & Weather
Be cautious about visiting these sites as current events can be unpredictable!! My favorite on this page is Time Magazine for Kids.

29. Primary Sources
This a great compilation of primary sources to use with your students.

30. Teacher’s Corner
Need some fresh ideas? This is a great place to start!!

31. Why GOOGLE when you can narrow your search using GCPS Media Resources?!?
I know, I know – I Google all the time! But how many times have you found something weird or inappropriate? Take advantage of the sources provided for you. If you decide that you must Google, do it on your own – not with students. If you find a great kid-friendly site, make arrangements for us to add the link to our website. Remember – it’s about protecting the kids!!
In the meantime, use the GCPS Resources. The more we use them, the more likely we are to keep them!