Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss today!
SIRS Discoverer:
Scott Hamilton has always been my favorite Olympic athlete. From the moment I watched him win gold at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, I've admired him. Reading his biography on Discoverer just emphasized to me what a great athlete and person he is and the trials he has faced in becoming such an exceptional person. There were no photos or activities associated with Scott, so I did another search for Apolo Ohno. I spelled his first name wrong but last name correctly. Interestingly, Discoverer did not pick up on that and I got a "no results" message. I tried adding his middle name Anton and still no results. I finally Googled his name, discovered my error in spelling of his first name, went back to Discoverer and put it in correctly, then finally got results. That part seemed a little cumbersome. Maybe Discoverer will add a "did you mean..." like Google at some point. Anyway, I did not find a lot of biographical information about him, but there were plenty of headlines as well as some photos.
Since Chile and Haiti have been in earthquake news lately, I chose them for the second exercise here. I loved the country facts organizers for different age levels and that Discoverer gives lots of basic info about each country including maps and flags; just the kind of stuff the K-9 age group would need when writing a report about that country.
SIRS Researcher:
I chose bullying as my subject of interest for Researcher. I was impressed with the research tools section: timeline, global impact statistics, etc. I found the timeline to be especially sobering on this topic. Clicking on the topic overview link takes a user to a page that carries a lot of useful information as well, so clicking around and exploring all of the different links is important when using any database.
Having not used the curriculum pathfinders before, I found this to be a really neat tool. The stuff students have now, compared to when I was in grade and high school, is just mind boggling. Under the math heading, I noticed math careers. I chose to look closer at that because I was a math major in college. At the time I got my degree, I figured the only thing I could do with a math major was teach. Then I discovered that I really didn't like teaching middle and high school. That's another story, but if there had been more resources readily available like we now have online and in databases, I may have been more ambitious about researching what else I could do with a math major. These resources are great for grade and high school students, and even college age.
I am a big fan of Scott Hamilton, too, Brenda, and have such respect for him. Yes, it's too bad SIRS isn't more forgiving or helpful about spelling, especially names! Glad you noticed the country facts organizers. I think teachers would find them very helpful. What did you think of SIRS Issues Researcher?
ReplyDeleteHi, Brenda,
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked what you found in Issues Researcher. It's a powerful tool! I, too, am impressed with the timelines. We think so many of those topics are new, but they have been around for a loooong time. When we show the Curricululm Pathfinders at inservice sessions, everyone perks up! Thanks for your comments.