1. E NHANCING S OCIAL S TUDIES AND ELA IN G RADES 7-9 WITH THE O NLINE R EFERENCE C ENTRE (ORC) Central Alberta Teachers’ Convention February 20, 2015 Jamie Davis, ORC Coordinator

2. W HAT IS THE ORC? A $1.7 million collection of curricular-aligned, authoritative digital resources licensed on behalf of all Alberta: K-12 students and their parents School staff Pre-service teachers Public library staff * Funded by a yearly Grant-In-Aid from Alberta Education to The Alberta Library (TAL) Return on Investment (ROI) calculation of 3:1 for Alberta Schools *for the purposes of supporting K-12 patrons

3. W HY S HOULD STUDENTS ACCESS THE ORC? ORC Resources: Provide authoritative, age appropriate, engaging, curricular-aligned content Allow students to become familiar and comfortable with the kinds of resources and searching practises that are an integral part of 21 st century learning Google & Wikipedia are the tip of the searching and information literacy “iceberg” Are time savers once you are familiar with using them Include embedded supports for diverse learners like listen, text translation, citation tools, vetted websites, copyright friendly pictures and videos Provide anytime, from anywhere with Internet access

4. W HY S HOULD SCHOOL STAFF ACCESS THE ORC? ORC Resources Provide: Access to ready-to-use or customizable lesson plans, teaching materials and direct curricular correlations Support for ESL and second language learners Access to journals like Walrus, National Geographic, National Geographic Kids, Men’s Health, School Library Journal, Canadian Libraries and Maclean’s just to name a few (RSS feeds available) Consistent and explicit update schedules Access to vetted websites Ability to create permalinks that can be posted on a website or in an email blast

5. A CCESSING THE ORC Go to LearnAlberta.caLearnAlberta.ca Select English or French Click on “Online Reference Centre” in the tab along the top of the screen In school automatic authentication Access outside of school requires a remote username/password Share your district username/password using low tech methods Email jdavis@thealbertalibrary.ab.ca for your remote username/passwordjdavis@thealbertalibrary.ab.ca

6. A NY Q UESTIONS ?

7. R ESOURCES TO S UPPORT L ITERACY AND L ANGUAGE L EARNING S KILLS

8. T EACHING B OOKS. NET Bring an author into your classroom any time you need Search for Meet-the-Author Movies or Book Readings, Author Audio Name Pronunciation, book guides and lesson plans Access Alberta specific booklists: Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Readers Choice Award (YRCA) ELA Authorized Novel and Nonfiction Reading Lists grades 4- 12 Meet-the-author book readings in French Canadian Book Award Winners/Canadian Book and Author Resources Personalized Book Lists upon request

9. L ITERARY R EFERENCE C ENTRE Recommended for grades 7-12 Customizable listen feature (where HTML format available) Text translation into 32 languages (where HTML format available) SMARTTEXT searching capabilities to find similar articles Create notes within an article and save to an account Create article permalinks for sharing Search for professional “Publications” and subscribe to RSS feeds to stay up-to-date Same publisher of Canadian Reference Centre and Advanced Placement Source including similar features

10. V ISUAL T HESAURUS Recommended for grades 3-12 Correct word pronunciation in human voice for every word Images related to words with right click (images are google images and not vetted) Subscribe to age specific word of the day on homepage Access professional development videos in the “Educators” link to maximize the features of this resource Personalized word lists and spelling bees* Vocabgrabber* Instructions for setting up a personal account included in the next four slides *With personal accoun t

11. S TEPS FOR SETTING UP A PERSONAL V ISUAL T HESAURUS ACCOUNT

15. R ESOURCES TO S UPPORT THE S OCIAL S TUDIES C URRICULUM

16. T HE C ANADIAN E NCYCLOPEDIA Recommended for grades 5-12 New updated interface very aesthetic and functional Multiple pathways to accessing information View personal accounts from veterans, view videos, articles, images, and digital exhibits Wealth of Canadian content to support the Social Studies curriculum: Grade 7 - Pre-Confederation/Confederation, Immigration/Migration Grade 9 - Canadian citizenship, Government, Charter of Rights & Freedoms Check the Historica Canada icon for extra content including the Citizenship Challenge (grade 9)

17. C ANADA I N C ONTEXT Recommended for grades 6-12 Includes Canadian content! Featured videos, news, and stories on homepage Customizable listen feature Articles downloadable to MP3 Text translation to 13 languages Share or permalink capabilities (Bookmark) Featured videos, news, and stories on homepage Jump to related articles within the article Advanced search allows for Boolean, and content selection (basic/intermediate/advanced) Search specific learner outcomes from a variety of Alberta curricula to find supporting articles in “Curriculum Standards” Same publisher (same functionality) as other In Context resources

18. C ANADIAN R EFERENCE C ENTRE Recommended for grades 7-12 Customizable listen feature (where HTML format available) Text translation into 32 languages (where HTML format available) SMARTTEXT searching capabilities to find similar articles Create notes within an article and save to an account Create article permalinks for sharing Search for professional “Publications” including Canadian Libraries, School Library Journal, and Walrus with a subscribe to RSS feature

19. C ULTUREGRAMS Kids and Provinces Editions ideal for students in grades 2-6 World Edition ideal for students in grades 7-12 Detailed information on more that 200 countries Includes articles written by in country consultants with information about: country background, people customs and courtesies, lifestyle and society Customizable read aloud feature Photo and video gallery included, in addition to interviews from individuals of varied ages, and information about the famous people Cultural recipes included for each country Create customizes graphs and tables using current data from the countries and provinces Tools include world time, distance calculator, and currency converter

20. W ORLD H ISTORY I N C ONTEXT Recommended for grade 7-12 Customizable listen feature, articles can be downloaded to MP3 format Text translation to 13 languages Share or permalink capabilities (Bookmark) Featured videos, news, and stories on homepage Jump to related articles within the article Advanced search allows for Boolean, and content selection (basic/intermediate/advanced) Search specific learner outcomes from a variety of Alberta curricula to find supporting articles in “Curriculum Standards” Featured videos, news and topics on homepage (clickable navigation) Access thousands of newspaper articles, magazines, reference materials, videos, images and websites Same publisher (same functionality) as other In Context resources

21. O THER M ULTIDISCIPLINARY D ATABASES TO C HECK O UT

22. W ORLD B OOK S TUDENT Recommended for grades 4-9 Ability to simultaneously search World Book Kids and World Book Student for struggling readers Text to speech feature General encyclopedia that includes atlas, dictionary (with voice pronunciations), images, web links, and charts "My Research" option for students to track and save their research online Embedded timeline feature, in addition to a citation builder “How to do Research” guide on homepage Available on iPads Online Training Available

23. W ORLD B OOK A DVANCED Recommended for grades 8-12 Text to speech feature General encyclopedia that includes atlas, dictionary (with voice pronunciations), images, web links, and world newspapers "My Research" option for students to track and save their research online Embedded timeline feature, in addition to a citation builder Features: primary source documents, pathfinders, citation builder, and timelines Online book archive includes thousands of fiction and nonfiction online books in nine languages Available on iPads Online Training Available

24. S UPPORT FOR S CHOOL S TAFF USING THE ORC

25. ORC S UPPORT S ITE www.onlinereferencecentre.ca Resource training materials - podcasts, videos, archived webinars, and guides Information about upcoming free ORC PD opportunities Information about province-wide resource trials and surveys Online booking system for ORC sessions Calendar of ORC Events Links to ORC Twitter and Facebook accounts

26. ORC L ISTSERV Weekly email updates organized by E/J/S: O New resources and features O Province-wide trials O Surveys O Free PD opportunities O How to guides and tips No emails during school breaks Membership has its benefits – joining incentive Email jdavis@thealbertalibrary.ab.ca or visit the ORC Support Site to join todayjdavis@thealbertalibrary.ab.ca

27. C ONTACT For more information or to schedule a school presentation please contact Jamie Davis, ORC Coordinator Call 780-414-0805 ext.229 OR Email: jdavis@thealbertalibrary.ab.cajdavis@thealbertalibrary.ab.ca

28. L INKS TO C HECK OUT ORC Support Site http://www.onlinereferencecentre.ca/ ORC ListServ https://lists.talonline.ca/listinfo/orc ORC Facebook http://www.facebook.com/OnlineReferenceCentre Twitter @ORC_AB