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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 CSA solutions in a variety of settings.
Check out our online archive to read past issues.
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.
New Leading Issues:
Alternative Energy Sources + Drug Testing
We have added two new Leading Issues -- Alternative energy sources and drug testing. We have determined that students are often searching for information on these topics and by adding it to Leading Issues we provide them with an overview, pro/con analysis and other valuable information for researching and writing a paper on this important topic. Look for more Leading Issues topics in the coming months.
Google & SIRS Podcast
When asked what their favorite websites are, most Internet users agree –- online search tools like Google are popular destinations.
Faced with a nearly limitless number of websites, it’s more critical than ever for researchers to carefully consider how they choose to utilize their limited time and energy tracking down information online.
Which brings us to this month’s podcast from ProQuest CSA - a practical guide to objectively comparing online search engines like Google to its subscription research cousins, including eLibrary, SIRS, and ProQuest CSA. This is one podcast you want to share with your fellow teachers, librarians, and administrators!
To view this month's video, subscribe to a ProQuest CSA podcast channel today, or view the video via Google Video or YouTube.
Plus, don’t miss our free monthly Web training sessions, which are eligible for CEU credit!
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 Leading Issues: This Month's Top Picks
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 our subscribers' more commonly accessed topics:
- Global warming
- Marijuana
- Gangs
- Capital Punishment
- Abortion
- Teenage pregnancy
- Same-sex marriage
- Eating disorders
- Child abuse
- Immigration
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APRIL SPRING TRAINING: ONLINE
Forget Spring cleaning!
Try Spring training, ProQuest CSA-style! In April we’re offering more courses starting at more times, and have reduced your time commitment to just 30-40 minutes each! Download the list of available courses and get online today.
Our 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 for continuing education credits.
Be sure to tell your trainer you’d 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 SIRS or additional ProQuest CSA solution course today!
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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LESSON PLANS
Doesn’t everybody love a good joke?
April is National Humor Month. Any language arts activity with this theme will certainly be very popular with students. Humor is like food preferences -- not everyone laughs as the same jokes, regardless of the skill of the jokester.
What is it about a joke that makes people laugh? Help your students learn more about the psychology of humor while they also develop their digital information literacy and writing skills.
Activity: Assign your students different subjects that focus on the topic of humor. Type “humor” in the Subject Headings Search box and note the following list of subjects:
- Black humor (Literature)
- Christianity and humor
- Humor in advertising
- Humor in business
- Humor in literature
- Humor in medicine
- Indians of North America, Humor
- Israeli humor + Jewish wit and humor
- Musical wit and humor
- Pictorial wit and humor
- Wit and humor in art
Assign students to use the following examples of engaging, essential questions to guide their research. Use two-minute oral reports as the method of presentation (this should make it more fun for everyone). Teachers may want to add or substitute other essential questions for critical thinking from these examples:
- What is the main theme for the humor in your assigned subject area?
- What are the basic themes of all humor and why?
- What is your favorite joke and why? (Assign them to tell it)
- Why can a joke make some people angry while making others laugh?
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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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CULTUREGRAMS™ IN FOCUS
CultureGrams can help you broaden your students' understanding of the world and its peoples. The World Edition includes 190+ country profiles, written for junior high students and older. CultureGrams also has a Kids Edition, Provinces Edition, and a States Edition, geared for upper elementary students. These editions include kid-friendly profiles of 70+ countries, all 50 states (including Washington, D.C.), and the Canadian provinces.
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.
- Capital: Brasília
- Population: 186,112,794 (rank=5)
- Area, sq. mi.: 3,286,488 (rank=5)
- Area, sq. km.: 8,511,965
- Real GDP per capita: $7,790
- Adult literacy rate: 88% (male); 89% (female)
- Infant mortality rate: 33 per 1,000 births
- Life expectancy: 67 (male); 75 (female)
Did You Know?
- Forests cover slightly more than half of Brazil's territory and include the world's largest tropical rain forest in the Amazon River Basin.
- The largest Japanese community outside of Japan is in Brazil.
- Nearly half of all private lands are owned by one percent of the people.
Language
Portuguese is Brazil's official language. It differs slightly in pronunciation from the Portuguese spoken in Portugal. English and French are popular as second languages. Spanish is also becoming more popular in some circles as Brazil establishes stronger trade ties with its neighbors. (Although Portuguese speakers generally understand Spanish, some Brazilians are offended when deliberately spoken to in Spanish.) In southern cities, some descendants of European immigrants also speak German or Italian. Indigenous peoples may speak any one of more than a hundred local languages.
General Attitudes
Brazilians are warm, fun-loving, and free-spirited. They are also outgoing and enjoy being around others. At the same time, they are hardworking. Brazilians are proud of the Portuguese heritage that sets them apart from other Latin American peoples. One point of pride is the “Brazilian way” -- their ability to find creative ways around seemingly insurmountable problems. Brazilians often are opinionated and will argue for their convictions with vigor. In spite of economic difficulties, most Brazilians are hopeful about their country's future.
Gestures
Brazilians often use gestures to communicate and express feelings. Gestures often accompany greetings. One beckons by waving all fingers of the hand with the palm facing either up or down. Pulling down the lower eyelid with an index finger signifies disbelief or caution. One may tap the fingers horizontally under the chin to indicate that another person does not know what he or she is talking about. The “okay” sign used in the United States, with the thumb and index finger forming a circle, is an offensive gesture.
Diet
In Rio de Janeiro, the favorite is feijoada (black beans with beef, pork, sausage, and sometimes a pig's ears, feet, and tail). Churrasco, which originated in the south, is a barbecue with a variety of meats. Bife à cavalo com fritas (meat with egg and french fries) is popular in many areas. Common drinks include lemonade, milk, fruit juices and shakes, soft drinks, coffee, and mate (MAH-tay), an herbal tea enjoyed in southern states.
To find out more about CultureGrams, connect to our website today.
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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.
Cosmic Journey: A History of Scientific Cosmology
Organization: Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics (AIP)
This is "the story of the colorful individuals, startling ideas and ingenious tools that brought us knowledge of the vast and strange universe we inhabit." (CENTER FOR HISTORY OF PHYSICS, AIP) Discover the ideas and tools of cosmology, beginning with the ancient Greeks to the present.
Ethanol: Can it, Should it, Replace Gasoline?
Organization: The Why Files, University of Wisconsin, Madison
"Global warming getting worse. Petroleum growing scarce. Should we start making biofuels bigtime? If so, does corn ethanol make much sense? Why not get energy from the cellulose in plant wastes?" (THE WHY FILES, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, MADISON) Learn about this biofuel to see if it can help counter global warming.
Wired for Books
Organization: Ohio University (OU)
"For many years, most of the best writers of the English language found their way to Don Swaim's CBS Radio studio in New York. The one-on-one interviews typically lasted 30 to 45 minutes and then had to be edited down to a two-minute radio show. Wired for Books is proud to make these important oral documents publicly available for the first time in their entirety. Listen to the voices of many of the greatest writers of the twentieth century." (OU) Find interviews with famous authors and audio versions of many of their works--in some cases read by the author!
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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 CSA 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 CSA 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 CSA!
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