[Michlib-l] Guest MeL Minute from CMPL School Outreach Librarians Brittany Wesner & Mei-Ling Thomas

[Norris, Sonya (MDE)]

[A close up of a sign  Description automatically generated]In these unprecedented times, it is more important than ever to have valuable homework help, including research resources, at the ready. If you are planning on doing outreach for K-12 students, virtually or otherwise, consider adding some of our favorite MeL resources to your lineup.

Go-to resources for Elementary outreach:

K-3: PebbleGo helps teach students early research skills, while using a child-friendly interface that is great for emerging readers. The Social Studies module aligns with nearly all elements of the Michigan K-2 Academic Standards, and the Animals module supports many aspects of the K-2 Science curriculum.

K-5: Explora for Elementary is an easy to use database that allows to students to research most subjects of interest. Through this eResource, students have access to thousands of articles from publications such as Ranger Rick, Cricket, Sports Illustrated Kids, Ladybug, Dynamath, Stone Soup, and Zoobooks.

Databases we love for Middle School and High School outreach:

Explora for Middle School and Explora for High School are excellent research databases for a wide range of subjects. We love how easy it is to teach students to refine results with their user-friendly sidebar. Teachers and students love the lexile feature that allows you to eliminate articles that may be overly complex or too easy.

Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints offers different perspectives on current topics of interest. We love the Topic Finder tool under the Advance Search setting and the easy to use citation tool available with most articles. Students love being able to browse all of the offered topics, which makes selecting and researching a topic easier. Teachers love how easy it is for their students to use the database and the up-to-date information that is offered.

My favorite college prep resources for High School outreach:

Learning Express Library offers test preparation for AP exams, ACT exams, SAT exams and more. This can also be used to prepare for the High School equivalency exam. In addition to exam preparation, Learning Express Library offers skill building for an array of subjects including Math, Science, Language Arts, and Technology. Teachers and students alike appreciate this resource.

Bonus resources:

Novelist K-8 Plus & Novelist Plus is a teacher favorite that we like to present to grades 4-12. The Read-alike function is very helpful for teachers who cannot find new books for their super readers. The Lexile function is helpful for teachers who cannot find High/Low books for their struggling readers.

K-12: Britannica School: With Elementary, Middle, and High School options, this simplistic database is perfect for beginning researchers of all ages, especially those who need easy-to-find subjects. Built-in trivia, or "fundamentals" make this appealing to elementary students.

Brittany Wesner & Mei-Ling Thomas

School Outreach Librarians

Clinton-Macomb Public Library



Supporting Michigan Libraries by Putting You First.



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Sonya Schryer Norris
Library Consultant
Library of Michigan
Michigan Department of Education
517-335-1498
Norriss2 at michigan.gov<mailto:Norriss2 at michigan.gov>

https://michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan
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