Enclosed is this month's free newsletter for eLibrary® Curriculum Edition subscribers. This newsletter is designed to help teachers, librarians, and administrators stay informed about the latest changes to their subscriptions, while providing classroom resources and giving tips for using their ProQuest solutions in a variety of settings.
Don't miss our online archive for access to past issues, and to make changes to your newsletter options.
Our product development team is constantly reviewing customer feedback and making changes to our learning resources to meet your needs. Several updates or content additions were recently completed, and we wanted to bring them to your attention.
You + eLibrary Survey = Win CultureGrams!
We’re interested in providing you and your school with the best solutions to increase student achievement and teacher effectiveness. We want to ensure that all students and teachers across the curriculum are using the content and unique features of eLibrary. Many librarians tell us that when students and teachers know more about the power of eLibrary, time-intensive and fruitless Googling for school research decreases dramatically.
Help us find out more about how students and teachers use eLibrary in your school by participating in our brief survey. Your answers and an option to request additional customer support and free training will ensure that your investment in eLibrary is a sound one and supports information literacy in your school.
Take a few minutes to respond, and you could win a print copy of CultureGrams™! The survey will close to new responses on March 31, so be sure to participate today.
Presentation Multimedia Quick Start Guide
One of the most compelling uses of our ProQuest multimedia resources is to enrich a student presentation. Our full line of K-12 solutions offer access to audio, video, and Macromedia Flash content--all of which can be inserted into presentation software like Microsoft PowerPoint.
Our newest quick start guide will help you locate and make use of the multimedia files you access through your ProQuest subscriptions, using both current and legacy versions of your classroom presentation software.
1. Get Ready: Web Browser Cleanup
Before obtaining a multimedia file to insert into a presentation program, it’s best to perform some basic browser clean-up. As you may know, every browser uses something called a cache folder to store previous viewed files and online content. This is where the multimedia files from your ProQuest subscription are stored before viewing inside your browser, along with hundreds or even thousands of old webpages and other files that users of your PC or Mac have accessed in recent days or weeks.
To help speed up the process of locating and inserting multimedia files into your
presentation, we’ll first clean out this cache. To clean out your cache in Internet Explorer:
Click the Tools menu, and select Internet Options.
Under Temporary Internet files, click Delete Files.
Click the box next to Delete all offline content, and click OK.
Your Web browser cache is now empty. Click OK to close the window.
2. Get Set: Locate Multimedia
Your ProQuest subscriptions make it easy to locate audio, video, and Macromedia Flash content using a variety of search methods. In eLibrary, one method is to enter your search query, then make sure that only audio/video is checked as the content type. Additionally, you may click the purple audio/video icon on the main search page to find content by publisher.
Here’s a short list of the types of media files you’ll discover in eLibrary:
Video: .mov + .wmv
Audio: .mp3 + .wav
Flash: .swf
Keep in mind that ProQuest streaming multimedia files cannot be reused in student projects. The file is stored within our servers and can’t be transferred to your local computer for use in this manner.
3. Go: Locating & Integrating Multimedia
Once you’ve found a multimedia file you wish to insert into your presentation software, view it in your browser once. Once you’ve listened to or viewed the file, you can find it in your cache and integrate it into your project.
To learn how to locate your multimedia file and prepare it for integration into your presentation using Internet Explorer, retrieve a copy of our newest quick start guide.
Vocabulary Lesson Generator
ProQuest® LearningPage, home of Reading A-Z™, will be launching a new website in early 2006!
Vocabulary A-Z™ is an online vocabulary lesson builder that allows you to customize your vocabulary word lists and vocabulary exercises by dozens of topics and categories. Topics include English, math, science, and social studies; categories include word functions such as adjectives, verbs, and antonyms. Each lesson provides materials for a full week of learning.
The new site solidly supports the vocabulary pillar of No Child Left Behind and recommendations by the National Reading Panel. The vocabulary word lists are correlated to state curriculum standards. At last, educators can teach vocabulary through context and meaning and make vocabulary lessons match classroom topics!
It's easy to build customized vocabulary lessons--just:
Pick a topic.
Choose your vocabulary words.
Generate lessons, worksheets, and games automatically.
eLibrary CE features all the content of eLibrary and access to the special collections of History Study Center™ and ProQuest® Learning: Literature. Each of these learning resources offer primary source documents and study units that support AP courses in Social Studies and English Language Arts/Literature.
History Study Center
February is Black History Month! This important annual observance of the struggle for civil and human rights of African-Americans provides an excellent opportunity for teachers to integrate mini-research and in-depth study of topics that may not be covered, or not covered effectively by social studies texts.
African-Americans had a unique start in America as slaves and despite all the advances made in civil rights they still do not enjoy the status, income, and other benefits of citizenship that latter-day ethnic immigrant groups have achieved. The struggle continues and Black History Month helps each American to understand and support this struggle.
Activity: eLibrary CE provides access to the unique History Study Center, which supports both students and teachers in Social Studies courses to focus on history with more resources and curriculum support than just eLibrary alone. HSC provides coordinated study units composed of a variety of primary and secondary sources including video, websites, timelines, history journals, history reference books, maps, and photos on African-American history, events, and people. HSC also provides the primary sources that are required by Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses.
Click the History icon under Special Collections.
Click Browse Topic Tree.
Click American and Canadian History.
Click American Society in the Twentieth Century.
Notice that there are two topics focused on Black History; choose the entry that provides resources that are historically the oldest. Click American race relations, 1896-1954: Plessy to Brown.
A teacher or student can save this study unit on My Archive for future reference or immediate use.
To create My Archive, click Add this study unit to my archive. After exploring and archiving this study unit, you may want to go back, click and open the archive.
Also be sure to explore and archive The American Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968.
To ensure that students will learn more than facts and use their critical thinking skills, teachers must include engaging and essential questions in their assignments. Here are some samples of these questions for teachers to use:
Why is the African-American struggle for equality and civil rights similar to, and different from, other ethnic immigrant groups?
Why is the study of Black History Month topics important to a student’s overall understanding of history?
What struggles and rights remain to be gained by African-Americans today?
Who were the most important people and events in the struggle for civil rights and why?
ProQuest Learning: Literature
Valentine’s Day is celebrated each year on February 14. This is the day for sweethearts to exchange candy, flowers, and other niceties that say “I love you.” Cupid’s arrow and the heart are symbols used to decorate gifts, cards, and other expressions of Valentine love. In literature there are many examples of poetry and verse that were written and intended as gifts to a loved one.
Activity: Students can find examples of poems and other literature written especially for Valentine’s Day.
Type Valentine’s Day in the Quick Search box.
Click Literary Works link, then More.
Scroll through the list and explore several works about Valentine’s Day.
Select one that expresses your idea of the best Valentine’s Day mood.
Critique this work using the following questions as a guide:
Does the message of the work contain ideas that are applicable today?
What parts of the work would you change to make it something that you might say?
PROQUEST® PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: ELIBRARY & SIRS
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 eLibrary and SIRS 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!
February is the month to celebrate a variety of themes: Black History Month; American Heart Month; Presidents Day; Worldwide Innovation; Endangered Animals; Islamic New Year; and Oceans.
Among the 380 free model Bookcarts created by ProQuest for schools are the following that can be used by teachers for mini-research activities for students. Each of these relates to one of the themes listed above. For example, Obesity in Children relates to American Heart Month, etc.
Elementary
Endangered Animals
Inventions and Inventors
The Water Cycle
Global Warming
Black History Events and People
Buffalo Soldiers
Obesity in Children
Middle School
Foods, Nutrition, and Disease
Exercise and Health
Black History Month
Underground Railroad
The Industrial Revolution
Engineering Wonders of the Modern World
Human Anatomy
Diets for Optimal Health
High School
Genetic Diseases
Einstein Centennial Celebration
Nanotechnology Revolution
Ronald Reagan’s Presidency and Legacy
Presidential Assassinations
Comparative World Religions
Civil Rights and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Each of these model Bookcarts in eLibrary has the Author first and last name of PQ Bookcart. Use this when you search for them in Bookcart Editor of your eLibrary Teacher Edition.
eLibrary Teacher Edition eLibrary CE Teacher Edition
To get a list of all 380 model Bookcarts, click here.
To learn how to copy and edit/adapt these Bookcarts to your local collection, click here.
Learning Page salutes Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) who was responsible for the recognition that black history has attained. Born to former slaves, he worked in Kentucky coal mines and did not attend high school until the age of 20. He later earned a Ph.D. from Harvard and noticed in his studies that African Americans were mostly ignored in history books.
Dr. Woodson founded several organizations and publications to promote education about black history. In 1926, he began promoting Negro History Week to call attention to the contributions of African Americans in U.S. history. In the 1960s the commemoration became Black History Month.
Reading A-Z, a Learning Page sister site, has these titles for Black History Month:
These books are just a fraction of Reading A-Z's nearly 1,600 printable books. The subscription website also offers lesson plans, worksheets, assessments, flashcards, and reader's theater scripts --everything you need to teach reading at a very affordable price. Guided reading, phonics, alphabet, and so much more, all with just the click of a mouse and for only a few pennies per book!
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:
Spain
Capital City: Madrid
Population: 40,280,780
Area: 194,897 square miles (504,782 sq km)
Real GDP per capita: $ 21,460
Adult literacy rate: 99% (male), 97% (female)
Infant mortality: 4 per 1,000 births
Life expectancy: 76 (male), 83 (female)
Did You Know?
A tortilla española isn’t a flat type of bread; it’s an omelette with potatoes and onions.
Muslim Moors from North Africa invaded Spain in AD 711 and ruled there for hundreds of years.
If Spaniards invite someone to visit their home “sometime,” they are just being polite and don't really expect a visit. A guest accepts the offer but only goes if the host has insisted or given a specific time.
Population
The population of Spain is around 40.2 million and is growing annually at 0.16 percent. The Spanish are a composite of Mediterranean and Nordic ancestry but are considered a homogeneous ethnic group. A small portion of the population is composed of immigrants from Latin American nations, other European countries, Africa, and Asia. More than three-fourths of the population lives in urban areas. Most Spaniards live near the coast. Low birthrates stem in part from high unemployment and steep housing costs, which make it impossible for most people to buy houses large enough for more than two children.
Language
Spain has four official languages. Castilian Spanish is the main language of business and government. The other official languages include Catalan (spoken by 17 percent of the population), Galician (7 percent), and Basque (2 percent). Catalan is spoken mostly in the northeast corner, down the coast to Valencia, and on the Balearic Islands; Galician is spoken in the northwest; and Basque is common in the Basque provinces in the north (near the border with France). Spanish is the language of instruction throughout the country, except in Catalonia and the Basque region. English is the most common foreign language, followed by French.
Personal Appearance
Style and quality of clothing are important indicators of a person's status and respectability. Men usually dress conservatively, avoiding flashy or bright colors. Women like to be stylish, and children are dressed as nicely as possible. Spaniards tend to dress up when going out in public. Colorful regional costumes are sometimes worn for festivities.
Commerce
Businesses are traditionally open six days a week from about 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 5 to 8 p.m. Banks are open from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. From May to October, banks do not open on Saturdays. The midday break traditionally allowed families to be together for the main meal and take a siesta (afternoon rest). However, this practice is disappearing, particularly in urban areas. Many businesses stay open all day or have a shorter meal break. Business is not conducted as usual during July and August because many people are away on vacation. Supermarkets and malls are gradually replacing many traditional markets and small family shops. Laws intended to protect small businesses prevent large stores from opening on Sundays.
To find out more about CultureGrams, connect to our website today.
Each month, our SIRS® WebSelect and SIRS® 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.
"Questions about our origins as a species have been plaguing us as humans, prodding us as scientists and dividing us as Americans for more than a hundred years, if not for all time. Gallup polls show that nearly half of Americans believe God created man 10,000 years ago, as the Bible says, and another third believe man evolved, but God had a hand in it. At the same time, only a third of the American public believe Darwin's theory of evolution is supported by evidence. Yet nearly all scientists and science teachers do believe in the evolutionary process. So when it comes to how we teach this topic in public schools, the controversy gets even more heated." (AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA) Go to Dover, PA, where the school board endorsed intelligent design over evolution, examine the controversy over the teaching of intelligent design in the classroom, and learn how the Blount County School Board passed a resolution to teach a "variety of scientific theories about origins."
"So how do dogs manage to achieve first-class social status with an economy-coach mentality? It's simple. Dogs have good people skills." (THE WHY FILES) Although chimpanzees are closer to humans genetically, dogs have long been our best animal friends. Learn what researchers have discovered about the ability of dogs to "read" humans.
"History, at times, gives some coins or notes special significance, and this money becomes legendary. Unlike money that changes hands daily, legendary coins and currency are larger than life. The Legendary Coins & Currency Web site provides details about the 50+ coins in the exhibition." (NMAH) Explore coins that are first in their kind, legendary in their beauty and design, contrived for profit, represent the quest for gold, and signify human struggle and triumph.
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.
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.
What features of eLibrary CE do you and your students find the most useful? Have you recently used or are planning to use eLibrary 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.
FORWARD TO A COLLEAGUE + EMAIL SERVICE INFORMATION
Increase the usage of your digital learning solutions! 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.
ProQuest offers a growing family of K-12 classroom-focused,
subscription-based online research tools. Many of these education solutions offer reading level-linked
(lexile) content, support
21st-century information
literacy skills, and help schools differentiate instruction across all curriculum areas.
Learn more about all of our tools here, tap into our training resources and videos, and don't miss our new eLibrary research tool (more). We also have a pair of special resource pages just for teachers (with lesson plans) and librarians.
Learning Page salutes Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) who was responsible for the recognition that black history has attained. Born to former slaves, he worked in Kentucky coal mines and did not attend high school until the age of 20. He later earned a Ph.D. from Harvard and noticed in his studies that African Americans were mostly ignored in history books.
Country:
