Lesson 3: SIRS Discoverer

Armadillos - Wow!  There are 73 articles on armadillos.  Each article shows the reading difficulty and if there is a picture or not.  There were 6 newspaper artricles  40 magazines, 18 references, and 6 pictures. Some of the pictures weren't armadillos.  They were other nocturnal animals.  There was a word find for night creatures that would be fun for my students to do. 

Mexico is my country.  We celebrate Cinco de Mayo in our classroom so I am always looking for more age appropriate information on Mexico.  It also had 3 different reading levels.  I clicked easy and got a really neat graphic organizer for Country Facts.  It had a wonderful map that was easy to read and had a lot of great information.  I really loved the fun facts!

Maps of the World is an excellent resource for maps.  There were several very good maps.  I liked the outline map of the United States.  We do a postcard activity where we collect postcards from around the United States.  I think this would work great to have the children color in the states we've received cards from and put in the name of the states.

I was excited to find the Dictionary/Thesaurus.  My chldren try to find synonyms for words and the Thesaurus will be super for that!

Lesson Two - Tests and E-Books

I took a poetry test on the 4th grade level.  I think this would be an excellent way for 4th-12th grade students to improve their reading and math skills and prepare for Dakota Step Tests.  The test was easy to navigate and essential skills for succeeding in reading.  This site is definitely not one I would use in my first grade classroom.  I will pass it on to the 4th-6th grade teachers in our building since I think it would be beneficial to their students.

I also checked out the career site.  I read the e-book about firemen since so many of my first graders say they would like to be a fireman when they grow up.  The information was well organized and very informational.  I think this would be very helpful for someone trying to decide which career they wanted to pursue.

World of Animals and Games & Activities

I spent some time looking at the World of Animals.  I like the way the pictures make it easy for the children to locate their animals.  The table makes it easy to see the info immediately.  The video was short but had enough information for my first graders.  I like the sites listed for the children to visit.  I love the activities Think It!  Be it!  Make It!  Teach It!  It has loads of ideas that are quick and easy to use.  I can see how it will benefit me when I am planning my lessons.

I played some of the games on the Games and Activities site.  I have been trying to find sites on the internet where the children can practice their math facts.  The Color by Number and Robot Math were fun and engaging.  I think my children will enjoy practicing their skills with these games.  I also liked the Dream math game.  It is more challenging and will make the children do a higher level of thinking.  This will be a site we will visit often.

SD Library Challenge lesson One

I searched World Book Kids for information on zebras.  It had lots of great information about zebras.  There are 3 kinds of zebras all living in Africa.  The spend most of their time eating - something I love to do!  The live in groups called herds which may have a few or several hundred zebras.  The can run 40 mph.  They are hunted by lions, hyenas, lepards, and cheetahs.  Next I went to World Book Student and researched zebras.  There was a lot more information  in this version.  Way too much information for my first graders!  I love the idea of being able to access a reliable encyclopedia on the computer for my students.  I also love the fact that they can either read the information or listen to it.  This is a resource that we will be using often.

Kids Info Bits

I like that it reads the articles to you so all level readers can gather information from the site.  The tabs on the page make it easy to navigate the site.  I was a little disappointed that some of the magazines had illustrations omitted.