Enrich Curriculum with the Online Reference Centre in 1-3 Greater Edmonton Teachers’ Convention February 27, 2014 Jamie Davis, ORC Coordinator.

Enrich Curriculum with the Online Reference Centre in

1-3

Greater Edmonton Teachers’ Convention

February 27, 2014Jamie Davis, ORC Coordinator

Agenda

O What is the ORC O Why students should access the ORCO Why teachers should access the ORCO Newly added Grade 1-3 resourcesO TeachingBooks.net (time permitting)O Culturegrams (time permitting)O ORC Support SiteO ORC Listserv

What is the ORC?O A $1.7 million collection of curricular-aligned,

authoritative digital resources licensed on behalf of all Alberta:O K-12 students and their parents O School staffO Pre-service teachers O Public library staff *

O Funded by a yearly Grant-In-Aid from Alberta Education to The Alberta Library (TAL)

O Return on Investment (ROI) calculation of 3:1 for Alberta Schools

*for the purposes of supporting K-12 patrons

Why Grade 1-3 students should access the ORC

ORC Resources:O Provide authoritative, age appropriate, engaging,

curricular-aligned contentO Allow students to become familiar and comfortable

with the kinds of resources and searching practises that an integral part of 21st century learning

O Are time savers once you are familiar with using them

O Include embedded supports for diverse learners like listen, text translation, citation tools, vetted websites, copyright friendly pictures and videos

O Provide anytime, from anywhere access

Why teachers should access the ORC

ORC Resources Provide:O Access to ready-to-use or customizable lesson

plans, teaching materials and direct curricular correlations

O Support for ESL and foreign language learnersO Access to journals like Walrus, National Geographic,

National Geographic Kids, Men’s Health, and Maclean’s just to name a few (RSS feeds available)

O Consistent and explicit update schedulesO Access to vetted websites O Ability to create permalinks that can be posted on a

website or in an email blast

Accessing the ORCLearnAlberta.ca

O In school automatic authentication

O Remote access requires a district username/passwordO The username/password appears in the top right hand

corner of the screen when on the ORC on a school computer

O Share your district username/password using low tech methods

O Email [email protected] for your district’s remote username/password

Muzzy OnlineO Learning languages through the context of a storyO Hundreds of words and phrases embedded in

storiesO Six movies in each language level with subtitles

that can be turned on/offO 101 thematic video lessons with embedded

language learning games divided into levels I & IIO All new 3D animationO All new recording studio

PowerKnowledge Suite O Content divided into 3 databases: Earth and Space,

Life Science and Physical Science

O Includes a customizable listen feature

O Short, segmented articles with introductory videos to build background knowledge

O Embedded science experiments and educational games

O Aligns with 95% of the grade 3-6 science curriculum and 87% of grade 1-6 science curriculum

PowerKnowledge: Earth Space

Curriculum areas covered:O Grade 1 Seasonal Changes O Grade 2 Exploring LiquidsO Grade 3 Rocks and MineralsO Grade 4 Light and Shadows, Waste and Our

World and Alberta: A sense of the landO Grade 5 Weather Watch, Wetland

Ecosystems, Physical Geography of CanadaO Grade 6 Sky ScienceO Social Studies mapping skills

PowerKnowledge: Life Science

Curriculum areas covered:O Grade 1 Needs of Animals and PlantsO Grade 2 Small Flying and Crawling AnimalsO Grade 3 Animal Life Cycles, Hearing and

SoundO Grade 4 Plant Growth and Changes, Waste

and Our World and Alberta: A sense of the land

O Grade 5 Wetland EcosystemsO Grade 6 Trees and Forests

PowerKnowledge:Physical Science

Curriculum areas covered:O Grade 1 Needs of Animals and PlantsO Grade 2 Hot and Cold Temperatures and

MagnetismO Grade 4 Wheels and LeversO Grade 5 Electricity and Magnetism,

Classroom ChemistryO Grade 6 Trees and Forests

BookFLIXO 105 fiction and non-fiction book pairs

organized into themesO Search titles by guided reading level,

author, grade level, theme, etc.O Lesson plans for each pair providedO Real voice audio support embedded

throughout resourcesO Follow up “puzzlers” for each pair

TrueFLIXO Newly created sister resource to BookFLIX

designed for grades 3-6O Nonfiction content divided into 2 broad

themes with 3-6 subthemesO Each ebook includes an introductory video

to help build background knowledge of topicO Human voice read along featureO Interactive table of contents for each ebookO Essential inquiry questions and project

ideas for every ebook

TeachingBooks.netO Bring an author into your classroom any time you

needO Search for Meet-the-Author Movies or Book

Readings, Author Audio Name Pronunciation, book guides and lesson plans

O Access Alberta specific booklists: O Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Readers

Choice Award (YRCA)O ELA Authorized Novel and Nonfiction Reading Lists

grades 4-12O Meet-the-author book readings in FrenchO Canadian Book Award Winners/Canadian Book and

Author ResourcesO Personalized Book Lists upon request

CulturegramsO Updated every 6 monthsO Includes a World, Kids Edition and Provinces

EditionO Articles are written and reviewed by in-

country consultantsO Cultural recipes included for each country

and provinceO Create customizes graphs and tablesO Tools include world time, distance

calculator, and currency converter

ORC Support Sitewww.onlinereferencecentre.ca

O Resource training materials - podcasts, videos, archived webinars, and guides

O Information about upcoming free ORC PD opportunities

O Information about province-wide resource trials and surveys

O Online booking system for ORC sessionsO Calendar of ORC EventsO Links to Twitter and Facebook accounts

ORC ListservO Weekly email updates organized by E/J/S:

O New resources and featuresO Province-wide trialsO SurveysO Free PD opportunities

O No emails during school breaksO Membership has its benefits – joining incentiveO Email [email protected] or visit the

ORC Support Site to join today

Join Now

Contact

For more information about the ORC or to schedule a school presentation

Call 780-414-0805 ext.229OR

Email: [email protected]

Links to Check outORC Support Sitehttp://www.onlinereferencecentre.ca/

ORC ListServhttps://lists.talonline.ca/listinfo/orc

ORC Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/OnlineReferenceCentre

Additional Grade 1-3 ORC Resources

Amazing Animals of the World (K-6)O Read aloud featureO Article provides links to information about

animal habitat, and order O Access to vetted weblinks that open within

database

World Book Kids (K-3)O Text-to-speech O Compare option used to find similarities/

differences between animals, countries and places