ERS Portal Featured Resource: World Book

Great news – you and your students have FREE access to World Book Online from any internet-connected device in the classroom, at home, or on the go.

World Book Online supports your curriculum with a wide variety of content and features that span all subjects and grade levels! Collaboration is made easier and faster with Google Classroom and Microsoft OneDrive integration. World Book’s range of topics and features provides users of all ages, abilities, and interests a place to explore in a safe, trusted environment. Each product is designed for a target age group, so the word choice, amount of content, and navigation are age appropriate. Each resource builds upon the previous, to grow with students as they move through school.

Log into the ERS Portals to access these World Book resources:

Early Learning - Resources to help preschoolers and children in the early grades grasp critical childhood themes. 

• Video Tutorials (7 videos, 3-8 min. each)

Kids - Engaging content, features, and tools developed especially for young students in elementary school. 

• Video Tutorials (10 videos, 2-8 min. each)

Student - Meet the research needs of students in middle school with thousands of articles and multimedia. 

• Video Tutorials (16 videos, 1-5 min. each)

Advanced - A powerful reference tool designed for high school students and adults, including a citation builder. 

• Video Tutorials (11 videos, 1-4 min. each)

Discover - Support struggling high school or adult readers with a differentiated database. 

• Video Tutorials (9 videos, 1-4 min. each)

Timelines - Hundreds of customizable, interactive timelines of important events throughout history. 

• Video Tutorials (9 videos, 2-4 min. each)

Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos - An ideal reference tool for those learning Spanish and ELL students. Allow students to toggle between Spanish and English text. 

• Video Tutorials (3 videos, 2-4 min. each)

Technology Tips - September 2021

                                                                                                          by Steve Woods, Instructional Technology Specialist

We understand the importance of keeping your students’ attention in class. Because of this, the expectation tends to be “keep the phones off and stowed.” As content and opportunities for content creation increase, it’s only natural to ask if now is the time for cell phones to make an appearance in classrooms and school libraries. 

Here are some examples of how cell phones can be a welcome educational tool in your learning spaces...

Ask your students to use iMovie or other video editing apps on their smartphones to create book trailers -- short videos highlighting a book's plot and characters in interesting ways. If you have a smaller space available, set it up with a green screen so students can schedule the space to create their content together -- a great alternative to book reports.

Your students are TikToking, Instagramming, and YouTube-ing. Because of this, they are always searching for content. If you’ve spent any time on these platforms, you’ll find a lot of copy-cat content (dancing to songs, mouthing to movie clips, taking on less-than-advisable challenges, etc.) What makes a TikToker stand out? Unique and meaningful content. Have you considered hosting content brainstorming sessions for your young creators? Bring them together to talk and share ideas in a safe environment, and steer them to create meaningful messages that help them stand out as individuals.

Break out the QR codes! Did you know QR codes can link a scannable code to websites, blogs, book reviews, podcasts, movie trailers, author interviews, and more? All your students need is a webcam with an Internet connection to freely scan codes and view content. How about supplementing your books with TeachingBooks content, which is available through the ERS Portal? There are many free QR code generators online that will turn your URLs into codes. Download the code images, rename them, and print. QR codes can be put inside book covers, placed on posters, and anywhere else.  

   Extend this beyond the classroom by linking to online school surveys,  

   cafeteria lunch menus, the yearbook order form, and more.

Bring your students back to encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauri in your classroom and library. World Book Encyclopedia, ProQuest, and Encyclopedia Britannica are available through the ERS Portal and accessible on a student’s mobile device. These sites tend to have mobile-friendly versions available for performing research. Because so many libraries have limited research stations available, allowing students to use their phones brings many more opportunities.

Teachers and Librarians in middle and high schools may want to consider looking into Google and Apple podcast services. There are hundreds of educationally rich podcasts on science, math, English, and history by podcasters who bring content to life. The podcast apps are free, as well as almost all of the podcast episodes. If you find a wonderful podcast to share with your students, why not assign episodes and discuss them in class?

eBooks and Audiobooks! The ERS Portal contains eBooks and audiobooks from a variety of sources, including Sora and MackinVIA. All your school district needs to do is connect their district Google account to these services (we’ll help!), then students can access thousands of audio and ebooks through their mobile devices.

With these suggestions, perhaps it’s time to consider safe and effective strategies that make space for those tiny phone screens to appear in educational ways!

Technology Tip - November 2020

                                                                                                          by Steve Woods, Instructional Technology Specialist

Educational Resource Services is proud to present World Book Early Learning, a new online resource for PreK-3 teachers and students..
 
The World Book Early Learning’s easy to use interface is broken up into educational videos, games, stories and activities, as well as the all-new category of Basics for your youngest learners. When you choose an activity type, you’ll see a scrolling bar with sub-categories of resources, allowing you to navigate deeper into topics of interest.
 
Choose the Games button and you’ll find matching, tracing, concentration, and true or false based games. Positive verbal and music feedback is provided throughout each interactive game, to keep younger students excited and interested. 
 
Video categories include animals, dinosaurs, nature, transportation, colors, numbers, weather and more. Videos are short and often narrated to help explain what is being viewed.
 
Stories include fairy tales, rhymes, my body, people at work, animal homes, and even stories in Español. A speaker icon in every story allows emerging readers the ability to hear the words sounded out, as well as the story read aloud to them.
 
The Activities button will lead you to a very long list of downloadable pages with activities involving coloring, tracing, solving mazes and connecting the dots, all in support of the other categories of learning.
 
The new Basics category, specially designed for Pre-Kindergarten students, includes letter practice, early literacy and counting based resources. Students can practice their mouse skills while drawing letters of the alphabet and hearing words that begin with that letter.
 
If you are a K-3 teacher, you can access World Book Early Learning by visiting the ERS Portal and logging in using your credentials. Students will access World Book Early Learning through the ERS Kids Portal with your site's student login. Click on the resource icon, and you're in! Please let us know your thoughts on this great new educational tool!