Lesson 3 -- Learning Express Library

1. Set-up an account in Learning Express and browse through the available exams.

2. Choose one and answer a few questions. Then click "Score my test" in the top toolbar. Ignore the warnings and continue to have your test scored, so that you can see how the diagnostic page looks. Then click "View Answers" at the bottom of the page. What did you think about this test experience?

4^th Grade Number Sense and Operations Practice 1:  I think this assessment could be used to help gauge student understanding of number sense.  It was easy for me to navigate the test format.  If I were to use this test in my classroom to check for understanding, I could have Practice 1 be a run through to familiarize the students with the testing instrument and how to navigate within its features.  After this run-through, I would use other practices within the content area to check for understanding.

3. Job searching and resume writing are among the self-paced courses in Learning Express. Locate the career resources and add one of the courses to your center. Take a few minutes to explore the course and note your observations.

Career Center: Great Resumes – After selecting the topic I was interested in exploring, I used the menu of options on the left-hand side of the screen to locate a course.  At the top of the menu, I selected the type of information I want to access from the choices:  Tests, eBooks, and Tutorials.  I selected Tutorials from the Create Great Resumes and Cover Letters option Job Search and Workplace Skills.  Tutorials for resumes and cover letters were available.  Navigating through the course was easy.  It contained checklists to help guide to the most applicable information for what style of resume one would like to choose.  I also liked that ebooks are available in this section.  This could be a great resource for school counselors in a 1:1 setting.  As they work with students, the entire class could have access to the same ebook resources.

4. Type a search term in the search box for a skills improvement or career topic in which you are interested. Notice that results are sorted by tests, courses and eBooks (if all of those are available for your chosen topic). Please select an eBook and look through its pages.

Key word search:  teach

eBook:  Best Careers for Teachers

Lesson 2: ChiltonLibrary and Mango Languages

Basic Discovery Exercise:  ChiltonLibrary

1. Look up the maintenance schedule for your vehicle. View the whole chart and list 3 things that should be done at 30,000 miles.

§  Service/Inspect Brake hoses

§  Service/Inspect Coolant level, hoses & clamps

§  Replace Engine air filter

2. What was the most recent Technical Service Bulletin or Recall notice on your car about and when was it issued?

Upper Ball Joints on 12/1/2004

3. Click to the Repair tab and note some of the information about brakes for your car.

My Durango has an all-wheel ABS system which prevents the breaks from locking up.

The front end has break shoes and the rear is equipped with brake drums.

Basic Discovery Exercise:  Mango Languages

1. In Mango, choose a language. Before you click “Launch,” read about the language and culture. What did you learn?

The Italian culture intermingles with many parts of American culture including food and fashion.

2. Click “Launch” and try out a lesson. How helpful would this program be to help you learn a language? What did you like? What didn’t you like? Why?

Chapter 1:  Greetings, Gratitude, Goodbyes

I think Mango Languages would be helpful for anyone who is interested in learning conversational language.  I would definitely access this program if I were to travel abroad as a means of learning to communicate more effectively with “the locals”.  I can also see how the program could be used as a complimentary piece to accompany classroom language courses for world languages as well as supports for an English Language Learning program.  The pronunciation feature and self-pace are both nice features as they allow the learner to hear what they should sound like and keep a pace that best fits their learning needs.  I also enjoyed that the digital voices that guide the lesson do not sound computer generated.  Rather, they have intonation and sound like a pleasant human being.

Although I was looking forward to using the voice comparison feature to hear how close I was to sounding like the voices used within the program, I was disappointed that I was unable to get this feature to work with the settings on my computer.  I would have liked some general troubleshooting for this on the left-hand side of the screen where the Feedback menu is located.  I see that Mango has a mobile ap.  I look forward to giving this a try and taking my language learning with me. 

Lesson 1: World Book

Credit:  © Howard G. Buffett

1. Using World Book Kids, search for information on a mammal of your choice. Find a picture and information about its habitat.

Mammal search was Polar bear.

The polar bear lives in the Arctic.  They can be found along the coastlines of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia we well as on islands in the Arctic Ocean. 

 "Polar bear." World Book Kids. World Book, 2014. Web. 13 Jan. 2014 .

2. Using World Book Student, search for information on the same mammal you searched in World Book Kids and compare the amount of information.

"Polar bear." World Book Kids. World Book, 2014. Web. 13 Jan. 2014 .

Derocher, Andrew E. "Polar bear." World Book Student. World Book, 2014. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.

The information in World Book Student is more in depth and there are a few more features compared to World Book Kids.  The sheer length of the World Book Student’s article was longer compared to Kids, and contained headings for ease in locating information.  For example, the polar bear’s body type was contained within the article in Kids, but in order to specifically locate that information reading or scanning information previously included in the article was necessary.  In Student the body type of a polar bear was easily found under the heading Body, and the description was specific by contained more details.

3. Using World Book Advanced, search for a country. Notice the types of information available on the left and right side bars of the first results screen. Click on the link for your desired country, and again notice the types of information on the left and right side bars of the screen. What types of information will be most valuable to your patrons?

Country search was Ireland.

Morrill, John S.
"Ireland, History of." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2014.

Web.
13 Jan. 2014.

After search:  Timelines and Teaching with Documents on the left could be helpful resources for librarians and teachers as they prepare for classroom instruction.  The timeline feature could also be of assistance during classroom projects.  Primary Source Documents on the right could serve as sources of informational text for classroom instruction as well.

After link:  The Lexile measure provided can assist in matching students with text that is at their reading level to predict comprehension.  This feature may help bridge gaps that exist between student reading ability and textbooks used in the classroom.  There are also links available for easily navigation within the article so students can easily sort through to access the information they need.

4. Using World Book Discover, use the browse function on the right side of the screen to find an article about American government. Notice the features on the article page. How will World Book Discover help your patrons who are not good readers of English?

"National Park System." World Book Discover. World Book, 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.

The article has two features that could be of help to struggling or emerging readers.  Theread-aloud feature could assist by providing audio while the reader follows along.  The double-click feature for defining words could also be helpful in recognizing and understanding word meaning, too.