Team+3,+ref+log+3a


 * ​Team 3, Reference log 3a: Indexes & abstracts ||  ||<   ||
 * Reviewed by Diane

//Online Teaching Activity Index //. (2007). Retrieved March 6, 2010, from Illionois Online Network: [|http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/otai/] The Online Teaching Activity Index on the Illinois Online Network website is an index of teaching activities geared for online or hybrid teaching. However, many of these activities also carry over to make great in-classroom lessons as well. This index covers a broad spectrum of activities, ranging from journaling, games, art projects, quizzing and peer editing. The index is very informational and easy to use. The simple layout of the page makes it easy for the user to choose any subject activity from the alphabetical list. The list covers activities that can be used in the learning process for students of all ages. This is shown by a link for games or art projects for younger kids and fieldwork and interview activities for older students. It is however, mostly geared for high school and beyond. Once you have a chosen an activity subject from the list, the link for each activity is easy to use. Each link provides a description of the activity along with examples and teaching strategies. The links also provide additional resources for its relevant subject area. Overall, this is a very resourceful site for any teacher looking for learning activities for his/her students, especially those in the online classroom. user age range - adult (teacher resource) subject - all rating - 8 ||  ||< //Jodye's// comment :This site is a gem! I really look forward to having time to look it over more carefully. I found strategies and highlights in a lesson about oral reports that really line up with my thoughts about this type of lesson. The strategy brought up the fact that subjects to be reported on must ignite the students attention and that oral reports tend to curb dishonesty among students which means they truly learn while preparing this type of lesson.The lessons on this site are quite thorough.

//Katie's// comment : I love this index! It covers such a broad range of topics and gives so much useful information within each link. The additional readings and references are also useful. I think this source could be useful for any educator. || //Citation in APA format goes here.// EBSCOhost Industries, Inc. (2010). //Searchasaurus.// Retrieved March 6, 2010, from GALILEO
 * Reviewed by //Jodye//

//Text of review of reference source goes here.// EBSCO’s online index, //Searchasaurus,// for primary and elementary students. //Searchasaurus// indexes articles from magazines, newspapers, books and encyclopedias, biographies, and pictures that meet the reference needs of students in grades K-6. “Teacher Resources” and “Search Other Databases” are available at the top of the home page. The format of the site is user friendly and colorful. The site offers students the opportunity to choose from five formats which includes; home, dictionary, encyclopedia, pictures, or visual search. The home position allows the user to search in the “Find” box or by selecting from 8 subjects which include; Animals, Art and Music, Health, History, People and Places, Science and Math, Sports, and Stories. The user may choose his “Lexile score” and then check if he would like “Full Text”. After searching or choosing from the subject list, students are taken to another list of sub topics. This helps students narrow their search terms which hopefully over time teaches them how to use the correct search terminology for finding the information they need quickly. Once students reach this page they may then choose to filter the results from a list which includes; magazines, newspapers, books and encyclopedias, biographies, pictures, or they may use all formats. Students may also sort the articles by dates or by relevance. The search tool is user friendly in that you may click go back or start over in your search, but remember to click start over if you decide to change topics or you will continue to be returned to your beginning search. After searching under the topic “People and Places” I chose the sub topic “maps” and was given 1639 results. I typed in the term “books”, just to see how many results I would get and there were 500,543. This is why filtering is a very important tool to have in this process. Otherwise accessing the information needed would take too long. When students determine the articles of interest that meets their need the results include the title, author, source, date, volume, pages, reading level, whether in color/black and white, and the full text of the article. When I searched “Sports” with the sub topic “Biking” I found radio and TV transcripts are offered. Articles are indexed from around the world. I found articles about dance from the //Budapest Sun// (Hungary). The access to pictures makes this index even more appealing to me in that I can get students excited about the site by using it with the whole group to teach students about this source. The animal pictures on the sight are awesome! I can certainly see this index as an extremely useful tool for students as they begin finding information to use in their research. I’m glad it can be accessed through GALILEO, thanks to my district. Grade Level: K-6 Subject Areas: All Overall Rating: 10

Grades: enter //your best judgment of age/grade appropriateness of the resource// Subject(s): enter //your best judgment of subject area(s) where resource would be most valuable// Rating: // provide your rating, using scale of 1-10 // ||  ||<  //Diane's// comment : I agree with the assessment of **//Searchasaurus.//** The site is going to be visually pleasing to the user. The site provides an engaging access point to a wealth of information. As was pointed out in the review, the student will become more efficient in his or her search requests with greater use. This is a great resource that I am also glad is available via my district.

//Katie's// comment : This is an excellent source for elementary students. I like the eye-catching colors and friendly feel this site has. I also like that so much information is contained within the links. I explored the stories section and went into the subsection on short stories. I found tons of short stories written by young authors. Each section links to a wealth of information - this is an extremely useful resource! || Gagne, L. (Ed.). (1990). //Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media//. (145th ed., Vols. 1-5). Detroit, Michigan: Gale, Cengage Learning.
 * Reviewed by //Katie// ||

The //Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media// (formerly the //Ayer Directory of Publications// ) is published annually by Gale and has been published since 1869. Gale’s contact information is presented, including physical address, phone number, and website. This 145th edition is comprised of 5 volumes and includes information about newspapers, magazines, journals, radio stations, television stations, and cable systems. The table of contents provides an organized view of each volume’s contents, making specific information easy to find. Entries are listed in alphabetical order. Volume 1 contains information pertinent to states Alabama – New Hampshire; Volume 2 pertains to New Jersey – Wyoming and Canada; Volume 3 contains indexes; Volume 4 presents a regional market index; and, Volume 5 provides information at the international level. Following the table of contents is an introduction, in which content organization is discussed along with acknowledgments, methods of obtaining information for the text, electronic availability, and contact information for those with comments/suggestions. The user’s guide gives a detailed explanation of the volume contents and provides sample listings to show users how to find information within the text. A list of abbreviations is included next and is followed by a long list of publications relating to industry activity. The main body of the text follows. Volumes 1 and 2 provide detailed listings of all periodicals published, radio and television stations in operation, and cable systems for each city or region within each state in the United States and Canada. Volume 3 contains indexes for agricultural publications, ethnic publications, fraternal publications, magazines, newspapers, and radio station formats. It also includes trade/technical, and professional publication indexes and lists contact information for all newspaper feature editors. Volume 4 contains regional market indexes for newspapers, periodicals, cable systems, radio stations, and television stations. Volume 5 puts forth detailed listings for international countries, regions, and provinces. It also includes an index to subject terms and lists agricultural publications, foreign language publications, fraternal publications, magazines, newspapers, and trade/technical/professional publications at the international level. A master name and keyword index is included at the end of the first four volumes. A master index concludes the last volume. This source is exceptionally thorough and comprehensive. It contains a wealth of useful information. My purpose in reviewing this source was to look at the portion dedicated to newspapers. However, it has much more information to offer than that of newspapers alone. I think this resource would be appropriate for the higher elementary grades, middle school, and high school. It is also appropriate for all academic and public libraries, as well. Subject areas of relevance would include mass communications, English, foreign language, social studies, and any subject requiring periodical literature research and review. My rating for this source is a 10. Grades: Upper Elementary School, Middle School, and High School; All Academic & Public Libraries Subject(s): English, Foreign Language, Social Studies, Mass Communications - any subject requiring research, review, and/or use of periodical literature Rating: 10  This is a great review of this resource. In a short read, I feel like I have a very good understanding of how I could easily grab the publication, find the subject matter required and know what to expect when I have reached that page. With the knowledge of the index of subject terms available, the confidence would be there to aid in any search needed. Well done.
 * ||< //Diane's// comment :

//Jodye's// comment :This resource thorough and is very important that a master index concludes the last Students will use this to find a wealth of information  ||