Enclosed is this month's free newsletter for SIRS Discoverer® and SIRS® Discoverer WebFind subscribers. This newsletter is designed to help teachers, librarians, and administrators stay informed about the latest changes to their subscription(s), while providing classroom resources and giving tips for using their ProQuest solutions in a variety of settings.
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.
Safe Collection of Sites Now Part of Discoverer
Starting in January, SIRS Discoverer will include SIRS Discoverer WebFind. This collection of more than 5,000 educational weblinks delivers high-interest Web content, with guaranteed reliability and online safety. Every day, our editorial team evaluates dozens of new websites spanning the globe.
Following SIRS’ time-tested techniques for vetting and organizing information, each site is carefully selected for its relevance, credibility, appropriateness, and reliability before it’s added to our collections.
How reliable are the links? In a word, very. Special software monitors website content changes throughout the day. When a change is detected, the site is removed until it’s personally reviewed by our staff to ensure compliance to our rigorous standards. Plus, our editorial process ensures that sites are educational in nature, non-commercial, and free from overt advertising.
Organization by SIRS Discoverer topics, keyword search, standards correlations, reading levels, and website summaries make Discoverer the safe and easy choice for kids online.
Find out more about this new addition to your subscription at our K-12 website.
Charts & Graphs Feature
Did you know that Discoverer offers charts and graph activities, geared for the younger researcher?
Students can learn how to read and decipher charts and graphs. Visit our new Activities category in the Database Features, “charts & graphs.”
Discoverer now offers political cartoons geared for the younger researcher, from noteworthy sources including Junior Scholastic, Scholastic News, New York Times Upfront and Current Events.
Students can learn how to read and decipher political cartoons, as well as understand the writing devices employed in them (satire, irony, metaphor, etc.). In a hurry? The quickest route to all of our political cartoons is Database Features, Activities, Editorial Cartoons.
Here's just a few timely examples to get you started:
Travel -- with Discoverer! We provide map activities geared for the younger researcher, from noteworthy sources including Scholastic News, Junior Scholastic, and Current Events.
With these new resources, your young students will learn how to read and decipher varied types of maps, and answer discussion questions based on their observations.
Visit a sampling of the following articles to learn more:
Our editorial team updates our SIRS products 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.
Don’t Miss a Single Teachable Moment: Free Curriculum & Lesson Plans
On the first of each month, our curriculum specialists deliver a powerful tool to thousands of K-12 teachers worldwide. And best of all, you can sign up to get this free, hands-on and classroom-ready content today at ProQuest.
Our monthly Teachable Moments email newsletter (November issue here) offers a treasure trove of innovative student activities that take full advantage of our complete line of K-12 learning solutions. Most can be easily augmented to fit into any classroom curriculum.
Sign up for Teachable Moments today using the box below, then browse our inventory of back issues. Consider it your own personal teachable moment with a professional development theme!
New ProQuest K-12 Catalog Available
Don’t miss the latest information about ProQuest’s full line of popular K-12 learning solutions. From eLibrary to SIRS to CultureGrams and beyond, you’re sure to find a new solution that will help students at all grade levels learn at their own pace--online. Get your copy of the PDF version today.
SIRS Monthly Podcast
Don’t miss this month’s SIRS podcast, focusing on Student Bibliographies: Discovering Biographies.
Students are naturally curious about the past and the people who played a role in history. Who were our founding fathers? Who invented the automobile, or flew the first rocket into orbit?
SIRS Discoverer offers several gateways to biographical information. This month’s podcast will show you how to tap into biographies with a few clicks of your mouse!
First, click the subject search button on the main search page, then type in the name of a famous person. Click Search.
Select a subject heading from the results list, and explore the links!
Second, try a keyword search, and put the name of the famous person in quotes.
Individual SIRS content pieces matching the name will appear.
Third, in the Browse Content Tree area, click Notable People.
Recent articles related to famous people appears on the left; a handy listing of topics and subtopics is shown on the right. Select an article or topic to continue a more general search for famous people of the present or the past.
Fourth, under Database Features, click Biographies.
Conduct a biographical search here, or select a letter of the alphabet to browse for famous people.
Only biographical articles and resources will appear in the search results. This search will target all SIRS sources for information.
Lastly, click the Encyclopedia link near the bottom of the main search page.
This search will target only articles found in Encyclopedia Britannica's 17 thousand plus entries.
Download your copy of iTunes today, and subscribe to our free podcasts with a click of your mouse.
Suggested Research Topics
Tens of thousands of students mine SIRS resources for the latest information on the leading issues of the day. To provide the most pertinent and safe content, SIRS Editors carefully research topics and issues each day to find age-appropriate materials that bring students to a better understanding of the topics taught in schools and classrooms across the U.S. and Canada.
Be sure to take a peek at some of SIRS Discoverer’s most searched topics and issues this month, including:
Dogs
Hurricanes
Bullying
Halloween
Global Warming
Ancient Egypt
Egypt
Cats
Animals
Football
November 15 is America Recycles Day. With the current emphasis on energy conservation because of high home heating oil and gas prices, students will benefit from learning more about the benefits of recycling.
Recycling not only helps keep the environment clean but conserves energy that may be needed to extract more natural resources from our forests and mines. Glass, plastics and tires (both made from oil), paper, steel, and aluminum are some of the major products that can be recycled everyday from homes and businesses.
Conserving energy, conserving clean water and air, and generating revenues for communities are some of the benefits to individuals and the environment.
Activity: Click the Subject Heading link and type “recycling” in the Search box.
Students will get a results list of a variety of subjects that will provide the articles and websites that they will need for their two minute oral reports.
Students should be assigned a specific resource to research for recycling and how that recycling efforts benefits the community economically, the environment, and energy conservation at this critical time.
Oral reports are a great way for students to learn from each other and practice standards-based essential skills of reading, writing, research, and presentation.
ProQuest Learning Page celebrates November with activities related to Thanksgiving, Election Day, and Veterans' Day.
Worksheets include:
Thanksgiving notes, drawings, and word problems
Completing patterns
Veterans' Day counting
Election Day word search
...and more! Get them here.
You'll also find three great printable books in this month's Giving Thanks activities:
Maria's Thanksgiving: A resourceful girl turns a snowstorm into an opportunity to honor the true meaning of Thanksgiving.
Celebrating Food and Family: Families around the world celebrate the harvest season according to their own unique traditions.
Tommy for President: RK-5 arranges for Tommy to go back in time to meet George Washington and learn an important lesson.
Next month, Learning Page will celebrate December with a collection of activities related to world holidays.
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!
Plus, Reading A-Z has everything you need to expand your teaching tool kit and help you motivate young readers. Sign up today and enjoy a wealth of resources--all with just a click of your mouse.
CultureGrams can help you broaden your students' understanding of the world and its peoples. Our World Edition includes 190+ 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 70+ 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:
Chile
Did You Know?
Chile’s Easter Island is in the Pacific Ocean, far away from the Chilean coast. The island’s strange ancient statues stand 30 feet (9 m) tall, but why they were built is a mystery.
For centuries, Chileans have used llamas to carry their goods.
About five hundred years ago, the ancient Inca Empire of Peru began spreading south into Chile. Ruins of Inca roads and buildings still can be seen in Chile today.
Language
Spanish is the official national language of Chile, and almost everybody speaks it. But the Spanish that people speak in Chile is a little different than the Spanish spoken in other countries. Chileans call it Castellano. Chileans like to add little word endings like -ito, which means “small.” For example, Chileans can change the boy’s name Carlos into “little Carlos” by saying Carlitos. Chao means “good-bye,” but Chaoito is a “small good-bye.”
Schools
Chileans take education very seriously. All Chilean kids between the ages of five and seventeen have to go to school. Kids go to public schools, which are free, or to private religious schools. They study many of the same subjects you do. After eight years of elementary school, kids advance to a four-year secondary or vocational school. For those who want to get a higher education, Chile has many universities. Santiago alone has eight.
Rodeos
The people of Chile held their first rodeo (or la fiesta huasa) more than four hundred years ago, and they have loved them ever since. Huge crowds go to watch them. Rodeos in Chile are a little different than rodeos in North America. Two riders on horseback try to corner a bull against a certain spot on the edge of the rodeo ring. The winning team is the one that can corner the bull the best and the fastest. The riders wear the traditional clothing of flat hats, brightly colored ponchos, and boots with spurs.
To find out more about CultureGrams, connect to our website today.
As world events increasingly affect all our lives, it’s more important than ever to educate students about the world around them. CultureGrams and World Conflicts Today show students how the world’s peoples live... and what’s behind the major conflicts they face.
CultureGrams concise, reliable, and up-to-date information delivers a true insider’s perspective on daily life and culture of the world’s people. Explore 190 country reports that include 25 cultural categories, maps, images, bios, glossaries, statistics, and five local recipes per country.
World Conflicts Today provides new ways to understand the high-profile conflicts currently engulfing many of the world’s nations. Unbiased overviews of the history, background, obstacles, and implications analyze each conflict, alongside primary and secondary sources, interactive maps, slide shows, and other multimedia.
Conflicts include Afghanistan, Basque Country, Chechnya, Colombia, Darfur, Iraq, Jammu & Kashmir, Korean Peninsula, Northern Ireland, and the Palestinian Territories.
Together you get more than facts and figures; you give students unbiased cultural and social insights they won’t find in any textbook, website, or encyclopedia.
You can save 20% off World Conflicts with purchase of both* by 12/31/06.
And, with district purchases you may be eligible for up to 40% off CultureGrams!
* Existing CultureGrams Online subscribers are eligible
You’ll see why School Library Journal recommends CultureGrams for, “History, geography, foreign language, ESL, and current events teachers…[for] discussions, debates, presentations, research papers, reports, and reading and writing exercises.”
For more information, contact ProQuest toll-free at 1.800.521.0600, or by email at PQSales@il.proquest.com.
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.
"The first planets to be found around nearby stars have never been seen. Instead, astronomers have discovered them indirectly, inferring the existence of an unseen companion through its effects on the star itself." (NASA) This Flash presentation discusses four ways scientists detect new planets.
"Watch this musical animation while learning about the importance of groundwater to living things--including people--and how to help protect this hidden resource. The Groundwater Story is designed for kids and adults who like watching funny cartoons while learning." (KING COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES) Tap your toes to this tune while learning about groundwater from a couple of singing groundhogs.
"As the many paleontologists supported by the National Science Foundation can attest, spotting fossil remains is only the first step in accurately recreating a creature that has been dead for many millions of years. Categorizing it and eventually concluding you've found something new requires far more than the ability to recognize an ancient bone lying on a frozen beach." (NSF) Learn about the process by which scientists discover and identify dinosaur fossils.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Starting in January, SIRS Discoverer will include 
Did you know that Discoverer offers charts and graph activities, geared for the younger researcher?
Discoverer now offers political cartoons geared for the younger researcher, from noteworthy sources including Junior Scholastic, Scholastic News, New York Times Upfront and Current Events.
Travel -- with Discoverer! We provide map activities geared for the younger researcher, from noteworthy sources including Scholastic News, Junior Scholastic, and Current Events.
Don’t miss this month’s SIRS podcast, focusing on Student Bibliographies: 
November 15 is America Recycles Day. With the current emphasis on energy conservation because of high home heating oil and gas prices, students will benefit from learning more about the benefits of recycling.
Country:
