If you’re having trouble finding information about your composer in the library’s books, try these online resources:

Gale Biography Resources Center – This library database is likely to have valuable information on your composer. Pay close attention to the search results. Look at the Reference articles first; then, take a look at the Magazine and News articles. You might even find Images here. (To use this resource at home, you have to go to the Library Website and click on “Access Databases from Home.” Then, login with your FirstClass ID and password.)

Naxos and All Music - These music websites often have biographical information about musicians and composers.

Sweet Search – This search engine was created by teachers and librarians. It basically weeds through Google results for you, leaving behind only the types of websites that will be most helpful to students doing research – like you!

Remember to use NoodleBib to make your Bibliography.

If you have any questions, stop by the library and see Mrs. Cornelius.

Did you know that conducting an experiment is a form a research? It’s the most hands-on way to find out something you are curious about!

Career scientists usually conduct experiments to either discover something completely new and unknown or to test and verify new discoveries made by other scientists.

When conducting any experiment, scientists know that the best tool they can possibly bring to the lab is knowledge. The more you know about what you are about to test, the better prepared you will be to observe what happens and draw appropriate conclusions.

Here are a few resources to consider as you compile information about your experiment topics:

Library Books:

To find books in the Blackburne Library, search our Catalog.

Citing Tip: Most of the time, all the information you need to cite a book is on its title page and verso (the back of the title page).

Library Databases:

The library subscribes to many subject-specific databases, so certain databases will be more helpful for different students. It all depends on your topic.

The following databases are listed under the Science heading:

GREENR (Environment): This will be useful to you if your experiment pertains to Earth Science, and is especially helpful with Environmental Science topics.

Grzimek’s Animal Life: This database is all about animals.

New Book of Popular Science: This database has a little bit of everything and is a great place to start.

Science Journals (ProQuest): This is full of up-to-date articles on science-related events and issues.

If you would like additional help choosing a database to search, you can always ask Mrs. Cornelius!

Citing Tip: Sometimes, database articles will include ready-to-use citations at the bottom of the article. (Make sure you find one created in APA-style.) Often, database articles will include a citation creation tool somewhere near the top of the article. (Make sure you ask for an APA-style citation.)

If you need to use NoodleBib to create your database citation, you will need to site it like a Web Site, but fill in the Database-specific entries and not the Web Site-specific entries.

Free Online Resources:

Remember that sometimes in life, you get what you pay for. The Library pays for access to our online databases, and they are full of accurate and reliable information. Remember that free information found online must always be evaluated before it can be counted as a trusted source.

Remember the 5 W’s when looking for information online: Who wrote this? What is its purpose? When was it published or last updated? Where did this information come from? Why is this site a valuable resource? (In other words, check for Authority, Objectivity, Currency, Accuracy, and Coverage.)

Citing Tip: Use NoodleBib to create citations from web resources. Do your best to fill in as much information as you can find. Leave everything else blank.

IMPORTANT REMINDER:

Any source that you decide to take notes from, MUST be cited. For Science research, you will use APA-style, so make sure you set your NoodleBib project in APA-style when you create it.

In-text Citation Tip: When you quote something directly or paraphrase an idea that belongs to someone else, you must include an in-text citation. It is crucial that you include the author or authors where the quote or idea came from and the date of the publication you are referencing. (If you are citing a website with no known publication date, you will only include the author(s) name(s).)

There are 3 ways to do this:

If you include the name(s) of the author(s) and the date of publication in the sentence, no further action is required. Ex: In 2005, Martin concluded that this reaction occurs…

If you include the name(s) of the author(s) in the sentence, put the year of the publication  after the name(s) in parentheses. Ex: Martin (2005) believed that this reaction occurs…

If you do not mention the author(s) name(s) directly, include both the name(s) and date of publication after you make a reference to the work in a sentence. Ex: According to a recent study (Martin, 2005), this reaction may occur because…

If you are referencing a work by 2 authors, a parenthetical citation looks like this: (Martin and Sinatra, 2005)

If you are referencing a work by 3-5 authors, your first parenthetical citation looks like this: (Crosby, Davis, Martin, and Sinatra, 2005) Every in-text citation made after that will look like this: (Crosby et al., 2005)

If you are referencing a work by 6 or more authors, a parenthetical citation always looks like this: (Crosby et al., 2005)

If you are referencing a work with no known author, you need to use all or part of the title with the year. Ex: (“New Study Finds,” 2005)

If you are referencing a work with an organization as its author, your first parenthecial citation looks like this: (Center for Disease Control [CDC], 2005) Every in-text citation made after that will look like this: (CDC, 2005)

Still have questions? See Diane Hacker’s Guide to APA Citation. (Look for APA under Social Sciences.)

The library has many wonderful resources to help with your ocean animal research!

In addition to the books Ms. McDonough has in her classroom, the library also owns several databases that you will find helpful. To access them, go to the library’s website.

If you having trouble accessing the databases from home, you might want to use the “email” feature inside each database while you are at school. Using this allows you to email database articles to yourself, so you can read them later without having to go back to the database.

Look under the Science heading for:

New Book of Popular Science

and

Grzimek’s Animal Life

DON’T FORGET TO COPY AND SAVE THE MLA CITATION AT THE BOTTOM OF ANY ARTICLES YOU TAKE NOTES FROM!

Encyclopedias like World Book Encyclopedia and Encyclopedia Britannica will also be helpful.

If you want to search the Internet, Google is okay, but Sweet Search is better! It only gives results that are useful for educational purposes, like writing a report about an ocean animal. Infotopia is another search engine that tries to do the same thing.

If you want to skip the search engines altogether, try looking at these websites:

National Geographic

MarineBio

Animal Planet

DON’T FORGET TO ADD ANY WEBSITE YOU TAKE NOTES FROM TO NOODLEBIB!

Looking for visuals?

Try out the databases! Most offer images – and sometimes videos – under “Media.” There is also a database full of nothing but images called Associated Press Image Archive. Check it out!

You can also look for copyright-free images at www.pics4learning.com and search.creativecommons.org

If you’re searching Google Images, remember to go to the website the image came from before you cite it. You CANNOT cite “Google Images” in your bibliography. It’s just a search engine and not the owner of the image.

Your presentations will need images, or pictures, to add a visual aspect.

I recommend you check these places for images:

Associated Press Image Archive (Library Database)

TIP: Remember to click “Search AP Images” to get started.

Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (Library Database)

TIP: Remember to look under the Media Tab on your Results Page.

Pics4Learning www.pics4learning.com

TIP: Copy and Paste the Bibliography given.

WARNING: If you search in Google Images, you must view the “Website for this Image” in order to cite it. It is sometimes hard to find all of the information you need to cite it in NoodleBib, but do your best to fill in as many blanks as possible.

DON’T FORGET TO CITE ALL OF YOUR IMAGES IN NOODLEBIB.

No matter where you find your images, I recommend that you save them for later by copying and pasting them into your document. To do that, first highlight your image. You know how to do the rest. 

All reporters must research their topics in order to create accurate reports.

Here are the resources you will be using for your newscast:

DATABASES:

Access these from the Blackburne Library website. You can get there through the Library course conference or fc.packer.edu. If you are researching from home, remember to click on the “Access databases from home” link in the upper-right corner of the site and use your FirstClass username and password to login.

1. New Book of Knowledge

Tip: Click through the tabs at the top for more resources.

2. World Book Student

Tip: Select the option to search World Book Student + Kids. Click through the menu options on the left for more resources.

3. eLibrary Elementary

Tip: Sort your results so that articles appear first by clicking on the icons at the top of the page.

4. EBSCO Kids Search

Tip: Make sure you click on “Full Text” to read the actual article.

Don’t forget to copy the MLA citation information from the bottom of your articles or create a citation in NoodleBib!

WEB SEARCHING:

Use one of these web search engines to find information for your news report:

1. Sweet Search   www.sweetsearch.com

Tip: You can add search words in the “Browse inside the Links” box. You can also select results to Bookmark for later or Remove from the list.

2. Infotopia   www.infotopia.info

Tip: Skip the Ads and scan through your results until you find a link with a promising description.

Don’t forget to create a citations for your websites in NoodleBib! The URL address is not enough!

OTHER SEARCH TIPS:

1. Scan through your results and read the ones that look most useful first.

2. If your results don’t seem useful, you might need to remove search words to broaden your search or add search words to narrow your search. Try looking for synonyms in a Thesaurus or using related keywords you find while reading articles.

3. Use Cmd+F to find words on a page.

The annual  PA Book Fair will take place from May 11th-13th.  Don’t forget to come and choose your summer reading selections!

Here is the link to Michael Buckley’s blog.  We are looking forward to his visit today!

http://www.michaelbuckleyonline.com/s/Howdy!/Howdy!.html

The Sisters Grimm:

http://sistersgrimm.com/newsite/index.html

NERDS:

http://www.abramsbooks.com/nerds/

Michael Buckley, author of the Sisters Grimm series and NERDS books, will visit Packer on Monday, April 4th during MS lunch in the Blackburne Library! Fifth and sixth graders are invited to hear him talk about his successful series.  Read more about Michael Buckley

Middle Schoolers, create your own book trailer for your favorite book using images, video, music clips, audio, or your own animation.  At the end of January, we will have a showing of the most creative book trailers for each grade.

How should you make your trailer? Choose a book you really like and think of a way to promote the book to your friends. You can think  of producing a commercial for your book.  Give some details about the plot, characters, setting, or theme, but don’t give away too much information! Use photographs, sound, video, animation or any method you prefer that will make someone want to read the book.  You can produce a trailer by yourself or with a friend.

You may access some copyright friendly images and sound from the following site:  Copyright-Friendly and Copyleft (Mostly!) Images and Sound for Use in Media Projects and Web Pages, Blogs, Wikis, etc. Make sure you give credit for your sources!

Once you finish your trailer, send me the link for it.

Good luck!

Ms. Jones

Credit: Tim Saccenti
Scott Mebus

On Janaury 19th, Scott Mebus, author of The Gods of Manhattan, Spirits in the Park, and The Sorcerer’s Secret will visit Packer.  He will speak to Middle School students about his fantasy series that takes place in both modern day Manhattan and a parallel world called Manahatta, ruled by immortal Gods such as Babe Ruth, Alexander Hamilton, and Peter Stuyvesant.  Thirteen-year-old Rory tries to keep the peace between the Gods and the Munsees, an ancient Indian tribe.