1. Infusing Quality Digital Resources with the Online Reference Centre Palliser District Teachers’ Convention February 21, 2014 Jamie Davis, ORC Coordinator

2. Agenda O What is the ORC O Why students should access the ORC O Why teachers should access the ORC O Newly added 4-6 resources O TeachingBooks.net (time permitting) O Canadian Points of View (time permitting) O ORC Support Site O ORC Listserv

3. 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

4. Why 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

5. 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 email blast O TeachingBooks.net ELA Authorized list for Grade 6 TeachingBooks.net ELA Authorized list for Grade 6

6. 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 Email jdavis@thealbertalibrary.ab.ca for your district’s remote username/passwordjdavis@thealbertalibrary.ab.ca

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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, and Classroom Chemistry O Grade 6 Trees and Forests

11. 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

12. 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

13. Canada In Context O Canadian content! O Customizable listen feature O Articles downloadable to MP3 O Text translation to 13 languages O Share or permalink capabilities O Featured videos, news, and stories on homepage O Jump to related articles within the article O Advanced search allows for Boolean, and content selection (basic, intermediate, or advanced)

14. 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

15. Canadian Points of View O Essays written from multiple sides of current Canadian-themed issues O Organized by category and then related topics O Homepage guides for research O In the Spotlight O Customizable listen feature O Access Canadian magazines, newspapers, International newspapers, Bios, Radio and News transcripts, etc. O Embedded Canadian Curriculum standards With An Account: O Can create folders and sort by date, articles, videos, etc. O Can create RSS feeds on searches

16. ORC Support Site www.onlinereferencecentre.ca 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

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

18. Contact For more information about the ORC or to schedule a school presentation Call 780-414-0805 ext.229 OR Email: jdavis@thealbertalibrary.ab.cajdavis@thealbertalibrary.ab.ca

19. Links to Check out ORC Support Site http://www.onlinereferencecentre.ca/ ORC ListServ https://lists.talonline.ca/listinfo/orc ORC Facebook http://www.facebook.com/OnlineReferenceCentre

20. Additional Elementary ORC Resources

21. 4-6 Resources Alberta Source (6-12) O Free website accessed without authentication O Contains articles, video, audio, images and primary documents related to Alberta O Good fit for grade 4-5 social studies curriculum Canadian Encyclopedia (5-12) O Free website accessed without authentication O Contains articles, maps, images, multimedia, and weblinks O Good fit for grade 4-6 social studies curriculum

22. 4-6 Resources Peel’s Prairie O Free website accessed without authentication O Good fit for grade 4-5 social studies curriculum Visual Thesaurus (3-12) O Added to the ORC collection in September 2012 O Creates visual, malleable word maps, customized word lists/spelling bees and lists of pertinent vocabulary “grabbed” from digital text

23. Grades 4-6 Resources World Book Student (4-9) O Text-to-speech O Simultaneous kids and student searching capabilities O Customizable timeline feature