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Enclosed is this month's free newsletter for SIRS Knowledge Source® subscribers. This newsletter is designed to help teachers, librarians, and administrators stay informed about the latest changes to their SIRS subscription(s), while providing classroom resources and giving tips for using their ProQuest solutions in a variety of settings.
Check out our online archive to read past issues.
In this issue:
- What's New @ SIRS
- SIRS Decades: Classroom-Ready Primary Sources
- SIRS Content Selection Process Explained
- Professional Development Program
- Building Young Readers
- Vocabulary Lesson Generator
- Applied Learning
- CultureGrams in Focus
- Top 3 Websites
- Get Credit: Free Training Opportunities
- Call for User Testimonials
- Email Service Information
WHAT'S NEW @ SIRS
Our product development team is constantly reviewing customer feedback and making changes to our learning resources to meet your needs. Several updates to our SIRS family of products were recently completed and we wanted to bring them to your
attention.
Fresh Sample Searches: Live!
Conducting an upcoming training session? On the hunt for laser-focused sample searches to highlight the best content inside your subscriptions?
Look no farther than our all-new sample search collection. Connect to www.proquestk12.com, click the Training & Support tab at the top of any page, then select the name of your solution subscription. You’ll see a link to our new Sample Searches document!
Newest Articles & Graphics
Our editorial team updates SKS every day with new articles and resources. Here’s a short list of the timeliest and most topical articles added to your product this month. Publication dates may vary due to the editorial selection process.
SIRS® WebSelect Subject Tree
At SIRS, we’re reviewing the WebSelect Subject Tree to provide a more comprehensive search function that reflects the carefully selected content available in the database. Below are examples of areas where new Subject Tree branches have been created:
- Science: Physical Science: Astronomy and Space
- Science: Medical Science
- Global Issues: Government
- Global Issues: History
- Global Issues: Human Rights
- Literature: Authors and Poets: American Authors and Poets (20th Century)
Renaissance's Literary Corner
Don’t miss SIRS Renaissance's Literary Corner! You’ll find a curricular study of prominent authors in every major literary period and region, along with fresh author profiles. To connect, click the link to SIRS Renaissance on the main search page. You'll see a large Literary Corner link on the right under Database Features.
SIRS Interactive Citizenship: New Supreme Court Photo
Our editorial staff has updated the photo of the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court in Chapter 7: The Justice System of What Citizens Need to Know About Government to ensure that users have the most up-to-date information available. Related articles below the chapter text include overviews of new Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito.
SIRS Leading Issues: This Month's Top 20
Our popular SIRS Leading Issues feature is dynamically updated daily with new content! New topics are added monthly along with "Your Top 10 Choices"--a list solely driven by end-user searches. Here's a list of some of the more commonly accessed topics by our subscribers:
Marijuana
Gangs
Capital punishment
Abortion
Teenage pregnancy
Child abuse
Same-sex marriage
Eating disorders
Cloning
Immigration
Censorship
Gun Control
Stem Cells
Smoking
Animal Experimentation
School uniforms
Euthanasia
Obesity
Doping in Sports
Sex Education
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SIRS® DECADES: PRIMARY SOURCES IN YOUR CLASSROOM
The use of source documents offers students a direct glimpse into the past. But without context, these sources can confuse as often as illuminate. Our newest offering places these resources into a relevant framework for understanding that enriches both the content and student understanding of the material.
SIRS Decades features more than 5,000 hand-selected primary and secondary source articles highlighting key events, movements, people, and places in 20th-century America.
Focus: Don't miss out on the hundreds of editorial cartoons available within SIRS Decades!
To find these documents, you can do a subject heading or keyword search for Editorial cartoons. To narrow the search results, you may do a specific keyword search, such as world war or suffrage, and limit the sources by toggling only the Editorial Cartoon source type box.
Did you know that all 5,000 documents in Decades include an editorially-written summary, which provides a framework for the documents and helps students to fully understand the importance of each document, which they may find difficult to interpret on their own?
Here are direct links to several examples within SIRS Decades. In order to access the resources, sign up for a free 30-day trial, login, then click these links:
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SIRS CONTENT SELECTION PROCESS
Our ProQuest SIRS team prides themselves on selecting only the best and most relevant resources for your SIRS electronic education solutions and SIRS print information systems. SIRS research staff selects articles, government documents, and websites that reflect both the enduring and current issues of the topics represented in our products.
How SIRS Selects Content
The articles, documents, and Web sites selected for inclusion on the SIRS databases are chosen from 1,600+ sources that include domestic and international newspapers, magazines, journals and government publications.
SIRS compiles the best research information provided by all of these sources into print and online databases for schools and libraries that do not have the resources to subscribe to all these sources themselves. Choosing the best research information from thousands of sources is a daunting task. Such a task can only be accomplished by an expert research staff.
SIRS research team is composed of more than 40 professionals with diverse educational backgrounds. Many members of the SIRS staff possess advanced degrees in disciplines such as: Economics, English, Religion, History, Political Science, Sociology, Business, Education, Journalism and Library Science.
Additionally, there are a number of trained educators on staff with teaching experience in public, private and international schools. These educators lend valuable insight into today's educational needs and priorities.
Selection Process
Every article is personally reviewed and hand indexed before it is included in a SIRS solution. First, our staff researchers meet each week to look at material which discusses current events and enduring issues. When sifting through thousands of sources, the research staff attempts to select only the best for inclusion.
We look for sources that:
- include well-documented information
- include the latest information on ever-changing fields
- include issues of both local and global importance
- examine a wide variety of viewpoints
- use graphics to help clarify information
- are clear, comprehensive, reliable, and relevant
- avoid needless duplication
Next, the articles selected by our staff researchers are compiled into topics, which are then hand indexed according to Library of Congress and Reader's Guide subject headings. Finally, the new content is dynamically added to the databases to ensure that every search provides the most current and relevant information available.
To learn more, visit our K-12 website today!
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PROQUEST LEARNING PAGE: BUILDING YOUNG READERS
"LearningPage is an amazing website… The activities and worksheets are fun and engaging, and there is such a broad range to cater to each child's individual interests and abilities."
-- Kersten Firth, Educator & Mom of Three
LearningPage is celebrating spring with special activities in honor of all of April's events and happenings--National Poetry Month, baby animals, life cycles, Earth Day, and Arbor Day. Check out these fun activities:
- Butterfly math
- Earth Day bingo
- An Arbor Day connect-the-dots
- A recycling activity
- An acrostic lion poem
- And more!
You'll also find three great printable books in this month's
Spring-Fun activities:
Rocks, in which readers discover how rocks transform from mountains into dust
Introducing Planet Earth, a humorous look at how Earth sustains life, day becomes night, seasons change, and more
Tommy and the Great Wall, an adventure in China with Tommy and his friends
Next month, LearningPage will celebrate "Marvelous May" with an assortment of activities related to Clean Air Month, Get Caught Reading Month, and Memorial Day.
All of the thousands of resources at Learning Page are free! If you aren't already a member, register today for access to all the materials at Learning Page. It's quick and easy!
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PROQUEST PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: SIRS & ELIBRARY
Our professional development training program is a complete package that delivers the key processes to ensure successful program implementation, and the content to support ongoing use and customization across the entire curriculum.
The CEU-eligible program provides educators with research-based technology integration strategies and tools for customizing instruction and assessment using our SIRS and eLibrary online learning solutions. Schools receive the materials they need to build professional development and instructional models that can maximize teacher efficiency and effectiveness, and improve student achievement.
Educators receive rubrics, assessments, activities, and content designed to spur students' information literacy skills, critical thinking, and reading and writing abilities, while increasing their own technology usage. Plus, our flexible model ensures that all instructional staff in a school or system will benefit from the lessons learned.
Our fresh support for our line of SIRS solutions will train your teachers to fuse four types of literacy using SIRS resources with state and national learning standards. Find out more about this new program today--just in time for your spring training dates!
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APPLIED LEARNING
Everybody loves a good joke, so National Humor Month in April will certainly be popular with your students. Help them celebrate, learn, develop essential language arts skills, and digital information literacy skills, as well.
Activity: To locate information on humor in SIRS Researcher type humor in the Subject Heading search box, then note the following list of subjects:
Black humor (Literature)
Christianity and humor
Humor in advertising
Humor in business
Humor in literature
Humor in medicine
Israeli humor
Jewish wit and humor
Music, Humor
Musical wit and humor
Pictorial wit and humor
Wit and humor
Wit and humor in art
Assign each student to research a different subject from this list and find examples of wit and humor that they can share with the class in a two- to three-minute oral report. Students should also determine and explain the type of situations that create the humor in each of these categories.
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CULTUREGRAMS™ IN FOCUS
CultureGrams can help you broaden your students' understanding of the world and its peoples. Our World Edition includes 187 country profiles, written for junior high students and older. CultureGrams also has a Kids Edition and a States Edition, geared for upper elementary students. These editions include kid-friendly profiles of 68 countries and all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia.
CultureGrams goes beyond mere facts and figures to deliver an insider's perspective on daily life and culture, including the history, customs, and lifestyles of the world's people.
Country:
Mexico
- Capital City:
Mexico City
- Population: 104,959,594
- Area: 761,602 square miles (1,972,550 sq km)
- Real GDP per capita: $8,970
- Adult literacy rate: 93% (male), 89% (female)
- Infant mortality: 22 per 1,000 births
- Life expectancy: 70 (male), 76 (female)
Did You Know?
- There is a long line of advanced Indian civilizations in Mexican history. The accomplishments of these people rival those of the Egyptians and Europeans.
- After fútbol (soccer), bullfighting is the sport that draws the highest number of spectators in Mexico.
- Mexico City is one of the world's largest cities.
Land & Climate
Covering 761,602 square miles (1,972,550 square kilometers), Mexico is about three times the size of Texas, or one-fifth the size of the United States. It shares its northern border with the United States and its southern border with Guatemala and Belize. Mexico is rich in natural resources, including oil, natural gas, gold, silver, and coal. The north is generally dry and hot, and there is a large desert region. Humidity is higher in the southeast, where tropical jungles are found, and along coastal areas. Rain falls mainly in the summer. Mountains, including some volcanoes, cover two-thirds of the country.
Language
Spanish is the official language, and is spoken by most people. However, as many as one hundred indigenous languages are still spoken in parts of Mexico, including Tzotzil and Tzeltal (Mayan dialects), Nahuatl (Aztec), Otomi, Zapotec, and Mixtec. Most people who speak an indigenous language also speak some Spanish.
Gestures
Mexicans typically stand close to each other while talking, sometimes touching their friend's arm. They often use hand and arm gestures in conversation. Indigenous peoples generally are more reserved and often touch their mouth or cheek when they speak. Tossing items is offensive; one hands items directly to another person. If someone sneezes, a person may say ¡Salud! (Health). If passing between conversing individuals is unavoidable, one says Con permiso (Excuse me).
Dating & Marriage
When dating, a young man often meets the young woman at a prearranged place rather than picking her up at her home. However, parental approval of the activity and of the boyfriend is important. In some rural areas, it is considered a mark of poor character for a young woman to go out alone after dark, so a young man may call on her at home. Many people marry first in a civil ceremony and then in a church, following Catholic traditions. Wedding celebrations include music, dancing, games, and food.
To find out more about CultureGrams, connect to our website today.
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VOCABULARY LESSON GENERATOR
Finally, educators can generate customized vocabulary lessons with VocabularyA-Z.com, a new website from ProQuest LearningPage. Now you can meet all your classroom vocabulary needs with one great resource!
- Build thousands of customized vocabulary lessons
- Match the subjects you're teaching--science, social studies, arts, health, language, sports, music, and more
- Build lessons to provide materials for a full week of learning
- Get vocabulary lesson plans, assessments, graphic organizers, worksheets, activities, games, and assessments.
- Access the materials from any computer, anytime
- All for an introductory price of less than $30 a year per teacher
Try out Vocabulary A-Z for free, and take advantage of great introductory pricing!
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TOP 3 WEBSITES
Each month, our SKS WebSelect™ and Discoverer WebFind™ editorial teams scour the Internet for top-quality sites that help teachers teach and students learn. Although no Internet site can supplant a quality research database, these vetted resources offer unique resources that are sure to be of interest.
Ad*Access
Organization: Digital Scriptorium, Duke University
Ad*Access contains images and database information for more than 7,000 advertisements printed in Canadian and U.S. periodicals between 1911 and 1955. Search or browse the database for ads, or use the timeline for a chronology of historical events.
Changing the Face of Medicine:
Celebrating America's Women Physicians
Organization: U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM)
"Discover the many ways that women have influenced and enhanced the practice of medicine. The individuals featured here provide an intriguing glimpse of the broader community of women doctors who are making a difference. The National Library of Medicine is pleased to present this exhibition honoring the lives and accomplishments of these women in the hope of inspiring a new generation of medical pioneers… Their stories begin in the 19th century." (NLM)
The Essentials of Music
Organization: Sony Music Entertainment
Produced in conjunction with book publisher W.W. Norton, this title explores the history of European and American music from medieval times to the present. The site features brief sketches of each historical period, genre and seminal composers. Researchers will also find a comprehensive glossary of musical terms and instruments.
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FREE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Our ProQuest product trainers are standing by to help you get the most out of your subscription--and learn more about our other digital learning resources! We offer a wide variety of online training sessions each month.
Plus, all attendees can easily obtain a Certificate of Attendance (right) for any of our online courses! The certificate documents the course name, amount of class time, date, and verifies attendance. You can use the certificate to document attendance in the class and submit it along with the additional documentation your school district requires to award you with continuing education credits.
Be sure to tell your trainer that you would like to receive a certificate via email at the start of each class. They’ll be glad to help!
You can download three ready-to-print versions of forthcoming training dates and times in PDF format.
Our training sessions cover after-school hours within several time zones. Best of all, there's no cost to participate. All you need is a computer with Internet access, a phone, and one hour.
Register for a course!
You may also sign up for a timely enewsletter to receive training dates each month via email as soon as they're available.
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CALL FOR USER TESTIMONIALS
What features of your SIRS subscription do you and your students find the most useful? Have you recently used or are you planning to use SIRS as part of an assignment or student research project? How do you and other curriculum leaders in your institution use your ProQuest educational resources?
Share your experiences with peers working in schools across the country and around the world--through an upcoming Product News Bulletin! We're waiting to hear from you. Please send your ideas and stories to: tim.mclain@il.proquest.com
If we choose your submission, we'll contact you for additional information and permission to use your story in a future issue.
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FORWARD TO A COLLEAGUE + EMAIL SERVICE INFORMATION
Increase the usage of your digital learning resources! Our forward to a friend service makes it easy to instantly send this product bulletin--and all the great ideas and information it contains--to others in your subscribing institution with a click of your mouse.
Also, be sure to encourage them to sign up for our SIRS, CultureGrams, ProQuest, ProQuest Historical Newspapers, eLibrary, eLibrary Curriculum Edition, and additional enewsletters as appropriate.
To change your email address, sign up for additional newsletter titles, or modify your subscription settings, click here.
Cordially,
Your ProQuest K-12 Team
Your SIRS license agreement gives us permission to send you email about product upgrades, special offers, and new services. If you'd like to discontinue receiving these messages, you may unsubscribe. If you have any questions or are having difficulty, please send email to Tim McLain. Thanks for your interest in SIRS and ProQuest!
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