Group items tagged

OVERVIEW: The purpose of teachingbooks.net is to give teachers (as well as librarians) good book ideas. One helpful resource the website includes is a search area in which you can type in a book or an author. There is also an area where you can look up different author websites (you do, however, have to be a member of teachingbooks.net). My first impression of this website was fantastic! The book search engine alone would make me want to return to this site. CONTENT: I did not find any problems with the content of Teaching books. There were links to other sites and the content is well organized. It is clear to anyone that the website provides an informational purpose. Teachingbooks.net is also updated daily which can be seen at the bottom of the home page. DESIGN: Like the content of this website, I did not find any problems with the design . Navigation was extremely simple. When a link is clicked the page downloads quickly. The home page has good eye appeal. There is a neat table of contents at the top of the page and the author/title search engine is front and center and easy to see. The information is helpful to anyone aspiring to be an elementary school teacher or librarian which makes the site worth visiting. Overall, teachingbooks.net is a wonderful website that I would recommend to others.

OVERVIEW: The purpose of this website is to provide teachers and librarians with good book ideas. Some of the resources the Children's Literature Network's website provides include recommended authors and new book ideas. There are videos that discuss the general plots of books to help teachers and librarians decide if they should include that book in their class room or library collections. My first impression of this website was that it had a lot of useful information that I would use in my classroom. This was a fantastic and helpful website. CONNTENT: As I filled out the website content evaluation form for the Children's Literature Network, I saw that I hardly marked anything in the "No" or "N/A" columns. It was easy to see who the general audience was for the website and what its purpose was. The content was well organized and the author (Children's Literature Network) is given. The one area that I did not see on the checklist, however, was information on the author. Otherwise, the content of the website was great. DESIGN: The design for the website was wonderful as well. The home page (and all of the other pages) was attractive and there was a clear table of contents at the top of each page. It was simple to navigate between pages. When I clicked on a specific link, I was taken to where I expected i was going to end up (there were no dead ends). The Children's Literature Network also updates its website every day, so you know you are getting current information.

OVERVIEW: The purpose to explore readingrockets.org is to learn how to teach small children how to read and to see research that has been done on children reading. The audience for this website includes parents, teachers, principals, librarians, school psychologists, school counselors, and speech pathologists. If you fit into one of these specific categories all you need to do is click on the link at the top of the home page. There are numerous resources available on Reading rockets ranging from videos on how to teach reading to resources for school psychologists helping struggling readers. The Reading rockets website gave me a fantastic first impression. One of the first things I did on this site was watch a movie and I learned many new and interesting things! CONTENT: Like all of the other websites I reviewed, the content of readingrockets.org was fabulous. The information given seemed to be accurate and the content is complete. The information was easy to understand and extremely interesting. If anybody was struggling teaching a child to read, this is the first site I would direct them to. It does a wonderful job satisfying the need of teaching literature and reading. DESIGN: There is a lot going on at the home page of readingrockets.org, but it is well organized and easy to navigate. There is a table of contents bar with links not only on the top but also on the left side. All of the links work great. I did not experience any problems with getting to a specific web page on the site. Finally, the website is current with a 2012 copyright date at the bottom of the home page. Overall the design of Reading rockets is fantastic.

government library, primary sources

Jaymes Talkington January 23, 2010 http://www.loc.gov/index.html Content This site is full of collections of books, newspapers, videos, and other documents on thousands of historical events and people that are kept in the Library of Congress. There are resources for kids, librarians, publishers, researchers, teachers, and visitors. All of the informational documents found on the site come with citations, and since the information is in the Library of Congress it is most likely creditable. There is also a link that allows you to ask some of the librarians specific question. Design The front page of the web site is pretty easy to use considering there are many specific areas to click on depending what your use of the site will be. Everything is clearly identified on the front page. It didn't take unusually long to load either, and all the other links I tried came up pretty fast as well. The "search" bar at the top of the front page makes it easy to find exactly what you are looking for. It may take some time to download copies of texts, but the videos don't take long at all. There is no advertising on any of the videos I observed so it gets right to the chosen subject. Overview This site's purpose is to make the Library of Congress's information available to anyone without leaving their home. Their audience can include kids, librarians, publishers, researchers, teachers, and visitors. The resources on this site include digital copies of books and journals, and also educational videos. Overall the cite seems like an accurate and easily accessible source of historical information.

This webstie allows students to research primary sources.

Overview: This website is intended for teachers and provides lesson plans and videos from grades Pre-K to Post Secondary. It offers free information in the subjects of Art, English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Health/Physical Education. This website would be wonderful for teachers who are looking for a new lesson plan on any subject or for any grade. If the teacher creates a free account, they have the chance to find and share any information and also have the privilege of seeing the standards that are required for the school they are teaching in. Overall, this website would be a very useful tool for teachers to plan and share lesson plans, video, other websites and interactive games. Content: After reviewing the content of this website, I have found that most people would not have any trouble navigating and finding information on this page. The homepage is a great place to start because it allows users to login to their account, search the webpage or click on the subject that they would like to further explore. One problem I encountered with this website is that it is hard to tell who the intended audience is. By the websites name one would think that the site was just for teachers, but when creating a free account you are able to select from students, parents, teachers, school administrators and librarians even though teachers would probably benefit the most from this site. All of the lesson plans seem to be up to date, but some of the videos are out of date. The links on the site are active and running and provide great information and resources. Design: While exploring this website, I was very disappointed to find that the graphic design did not have strong eye appeal, but the layout of the site was easy to move around. One of the best attributes of this site is the external links, which are helpful in finding more information in that topic and they were all working properly. There is also a lot of information available to anyone and after

Bailey Stanfield Reviewed 10/12/2014       This is a very informational source. The audience it is directed towards is very clear. There are specific tabs for each different audience including teachers, parents, kids, administrators and librarians. Pertinent information for each different audience is found easily under each of the tabs. Scholastics is a book company so they are obviously pushing for the literature aspect of education. The website is very appealing and works well for the target audiences.  The content is very easy to see and is very well provided. Scholastic is a very well-known company, and they are sure to keep the information on their website up to date with quality information. They had a new post on the new books for October so that their audience can always be aware of new, upcoming books that may be of interest to them. The content of the website is very solid and easy to find.  The design of the website is also very well done. On the home page they grab the audience's attention by having a video playing. The theme of the video is "open a world of possibilities". This plays into their company as whole seeing as they sell books, but also plays into the emotional aspects that captivate their audience. The design allows for easy navigation through the website and clearly presents the content. 

* Jessica A. Wilhelmsen Reviewed August 31, 2010 o International Children's Digital Library Overview The purpose of this site is to provide accessibility to children's literature that spans multiple languages and cultures. Its audience is geared toward ages 3 to 13 as well as for librarians, educators, parents and researchers. The site is a collection of currently over 4400 children's books in 54 languages, with the goal of adding and translating even more. This site provides a plethora of resources for children and adults keeping with current technology as well as current research. Users are able to navigate easily through this site finding information as well as activities that makes it engaging and easy for ever user. Younger children will need some assistance when looking for specific books but will be able to turn the pages as well as make the print bigger or smaller. The overall feel from community postings and twitter, gives this site great reviews. Content The content of the Children's Library allows the user to quickly determine the point and use of the site. It provides a site map that is visible, allowing material on the site to be easily identified. Identification tabs with sub menus are located at the top for quick reference. Children accessing the site, interested just in reading would be able to identify the "read a book" button which is centrally located on the page. The content is free of biases and provides users with multiple opportunities to be interactive. This site is educationally based and updates are provided frequently. It is also, well organized providing information on its mission as well as its sponsors. Design The esthetics of the Children's Library is appealing. It uses mostly primary to pastel colors giving an ease to the feel of the website. The links are also helpful as well as appropriate. When navigators access the "read a book" button the format changes to a more interactive coloring b

¬¬¬¬Mandy Toll 9/11/11 Overview: This website was very useful for finding information on the presidents of the United States. Within this website you choose a president to learn more information. By clicking on their name you learn more about what they did as a president, their election results, and other basic information about them. The audience of this website is directed towards students and teachers looking for more information on the U.S. presidents. There are a lot of reliable resources on the website to allow you to get more information on presidents. My overall impression of the website was that it was easy to use and very useful for the information I was looking for. I think that students and teachers will easily be able to use the site and it is easy to find more information by asking the ipl2 librarian from the button shown on the website. Content: It was easy to find the content of the website and who the website is intended for. On this website there was a lot of information on the author of the site and the sponsor of the site. There is also a button you can click to ask questions to gain more information about the topic you are researching. The information on the presidents from this website is updated to the most recent president. The links on the site also are up to date and working properly. There is a lot of information on this site to inform the user about the president they are researching. The content overall was organized and appears to be well done and the information is accurate. Design: This website was easy to use do to its design. The website looks attractive and you can easily tell what the website is trying to inform you about. This website is easy to navigate. All the links on the website are helpful and give you more information on the U.S. presidents. The only thing that this website did not have was graphics and videos which might have made it a little more exciting. All of the information on this site is easy to find and

Lyle Wiley September 10, 2011 Overview: The Folger Shakespeare Library is an exhaustive site of Shakespeare resources with specific large pages for different audiences including a site for students and one for k-12 educators. While the site has a clear focus on selling published Shakespeare works and resources, there is a good deal of free information and resources available for students and teachers alike. These resources include Shakespeare information and history, lesson plans for teachers, study guides, audio and video embedded helps, space for teachers to interact and share ideas and experiences, and a frequently update blog (called "Making a Scene: Shakespeare in the Classroom"). This rather attractive site has some very helpful and interesting resources for the Shakespeare educator. Content: The basic content and intended audiences of this site is easily discerned upon entry. There are numerous authors of the material available on the site, but for the most part the author's contact and educational information is easy to find. The site appears to be frequently updated, and certainly the blog attached to the educational resources on the site is updated often. The purpose of the site is both business and informational which sometimes colors the available information on the site, but there is a large amount of rather good free information including lesson plans, teaching ideas and tips, audio and visual resources, and access to a creative community. There are few external links, but the information available looks to be very helpful to the Shakespeare educator. Design: The Folger Shakespeare Library loads quickly and has a nice aesthetic appeal. Well organized and heavily indexed, the site has an impressive ease of navigation which is complimented by some nice photo design and occasional embedded multimedia (which is always relevant and helpful). Again, much of the material on the site is up for sale; however, there are a good many quality resource

Overview The Folger Shakespeare Library site is the home page for the Folger Shakespeare Library located in Washington, D.C. The site has any number of features that any good library web site would have: an online catalog, listed hours, ask a librarian. The site is designed for teachers, students, scholars, and the average Joe who is interested in Shakespeare, Renaissance literature, and early modern literature. Areas of the web site of high interest are the Visitors section, Students and Families section, K-12 Teachers section (which includes monthly lesson plans), and a Scholars' section. Content The content included on this site is amazing. The Folger Shakespeare Library has a catalog of over half of the world's books published before 1640, and the catalog is, of course, accessible online. There is a section of Hamnet (the online catalog) for electronic resources as well. The site is interactive-offering a free e-newsletter, social media, a calendar of events, and an active blog. There are podcasts chock full of lectures, poetry readings, etc., digital images, an archived list of lesson plans. There is a six minute YouTube documentary on the First Folio! You could spend many happy days lost in this site. Design The site's design is simple, elegant, and business like. It is a light blue color, which is easy on the eyes. Most of the navigation is at the top or to the left. The site is sometimes difficult to navigate unless one has at least an idea of what he or she is looking for. A site map is made available if one gets distracted or lost though.

Jonathan Krajnak 9/14/11 Overview: Scholastic's site covers a seemingly incredible amount of useful information for educators. It's pretty clear and straightforward, none of the information buried or misrepresented. There are a few sections that require a subscription, but most of the information is readily available. Content: The site includes several things that can be valuable to teachers. Among them you can find lesson plans, tools, tips. There's even a section for new teachers. There's an area dedicated to parents which helps educators because it gives parents a general knowledge of what kids need socially, cognitively, and physically. It also promotes and helps parents understand how to get involved in this aspect of their child's life. For the kids, there's a large interactive section. However, it's mainly geared towards ages 8-12. Design: The site easy very easy to navigate and professionally presented and designed. The presentation itself is appropriately tailored to whatever section you're viewing. (Namely between adults and children.) Couldn't find anything wrong with it.

OVERVIEW: The purpose of the Scholastic website is to help children to learn to read and also to provide teachers with lesson and book ideas. Librarians and administrators can also take advantage of this website to learn to teach certain students and learning of the newest authors. Some of the resources this website provides are tips on how parents can teach their children to read, as well as games that kids can play. The Scholastic website gave me a wonderful first impression. I would definitely use it in my classroom or library and recommend it for others to explore. CONTENT: The content of scholastic.com was amazing. The general audiences are easily seen in the table of contents on the top of the home page. Grammar and spelling all seem to be correct and the information on the site is simple to understand. Like the last website I reviewed, it was difficult to find a sponsor. This was the only flaw that I was able to see. DESIGN: Scholastic has provided the public with a beautifully designed website. The home page is neatly organized with easy to read font and not too much going on. It is nice and simple. It is easy to navigate between pages and there are no incorrect links. There is plenty of information that makes the site worth visiting. The same format is used consistently throughout the website which makes it even more professional and organized.