Lesson 2 Mango Languages

1. Continuing with the same language/country as in previous questions; I chose the language of Poland, Polish. Before clicking on Launch, I learned that 40 million people speak Polish. Many Americans claim they have a "little" Polish heritage and the influence of the Polish culture can be seen throughout the United States.

2.  Ok this really was kind of fun. I liked that you could choose from ten different chapters depending on what you needed. For example, I went through the first lesson for "Greetings, Gratitude and Goodbyes". It was very repetitive and gave verbal praise throughout the lesson. There were cultural notes and grammar notes that helped understand the proper use of words and gave the user more background. If you clicked on a word, you could see the pronunciation of the word and hear it at the same time. You could hear it over and over again if you wish. After I finished the first lesson, I wanted to go back to the main menu but I was unable to find a place to do that. I had to click on the back button which took me back to the first page after you clicked a country (where you would click Launch). So that would be one thing I didn't like. I remember as a child my grandparents speaking Polish in the kitchen when they thought we (the grandkids) weren't listening. I remember one word which I thought meant pig. I typed in pig and translated it and it came up to a word that was similar to what I thought I remembered! That was cool. I couldn't hear it though, which was a bummer.

Lesson 2 Chilton Library Basic Discovery Exercise

1.  I looked up the maintenance schedule for our 2002 Pontiac GrandAm.  30.000 miles  was the first time on the maintenance schedule for accessory drive belts, fuel systems, and ignition cables to be inspected and serviced. It is also the first scheduled replacement of air filter and spark plugs. We have owned this vehicle since 2002 and now there are over 100,000 miles on it. Where we bought the vehicle is the same place where we took it to be serviced. I like to think they were honest and did what was needed to keep the car running smoothly. I think knowing about this feature would be beneficial in giving a person more information about their vehicle so when they need to visit with their mechanic they can be better informed.

2.  The most recent Technical Service Bulletin was issued in July of 2003. The notice was about the steering wheel position sensor. I guess it kind of makes me feel good that their are not a lot of recent bulletins....it is a well made vehicle!

3.   The repair tab allows a user to continue to find more information about making repairs for their vehicle. On the left side is a collapsible table of contents of sorts. When I clicked on brakes, six more choices were available to click on. If there is a + sign in front of the word, I can click on it to go deeper into the topic. There was a lot of information on brakes as well as diagrams. I also noticed a place that showed the path of how I arrived at the spot where I stopped. I think this is good because sometimes we get lost in all of the clicks we make while exploring a site. Information could also be printed if needed.

All in all, I learned a lot about this site. My husband tends to take care of the vehicles; but if I knew of a single woman who needed to take their car to the mechanic for maintenance; I would recommend that she look through the maintenance schedule just to give her a feeling of confidence! :)

Lesson 1C World Book Foreign Language Edition

1. I looked at both the French and Spanish site. As we have a few Spanish speaking kids in school, using the Spanish site would be more useful in our school. But I can see if students wanted to explore are their own, either site would be fun for them to explore.
It could be used in our PAWS program  (after school program) as an alternative to playing games on the computer. Students could make their own Spanish or French Dictionary, using images from the site and adding the correct terminology. I also like that even though it is a Spanish site, the site can easily be changed from Spanish to English and back again. Also there is the read aloud feature :)


2. I listened to an article about the Grand Canyon. As I can't speak Spanish, I found it frustrating. Not sure how I could use it with K-4, but if someone has any ideas; I certainly would try.

Lesson 1B World Book Public Library Edition

1.  Because I love bird watching, I chose the cardinal to complete my investigations. I liked the broad subjects that I could choose from on the left side of the screen. Each time I clicked further, I was able to "dig deeper" and narrow my search. After finding the entry for the cardinal, I noticed the easy to read factual information. If students have trouble reading, they are able to click on the icon to listen to the passage read to them. Also, if students run across a word they don't know or understand the meaning, they can double click on it to get a definition and pronunciation. I learned that their song sounds like a flute; I didn't know that! Also articles can be saved or printed for later use. I know that I will check out some of the games, activities etc that are included on the home page.

2.  Using the World Book Online Info Finder, I discovered many more entries for cardinal, including encyclopedia, dictionary, maps, etc. I had typed in cardinal so I got some results that didn't pertain to cardinal, the bird. It would be a good place to teach kids how to make their search more specific and determine which entries would be pertinent to their research. I also found a sound byte so I could listen to the cardinal! I think both sites gave citing information as well. I think I would use World Book Online Kids first and as they advance and become more sophisticated in their searches then I would introduce them to the Info Finder.

3. World Book Online Reference Center is geared for high school students as well as adults. Because of my Polish heritage, I chose Poland as the country to use while exploring this site. On the left, several resources are listed. The middle and right sections include the first three resources listed on the left. It gives a easy to navigate page that covers encyclopedia articles, historical maps and papers, sounds of the country (which I enjoyed), videos and so much more. I think if high school students were researching their heritage, this would be a great place to start. Most features were included such as audio read aloud, citation, dictionary, etc.

Lesson 1A

1. I chose the land mammal hedgehog to complete my exploration of world book. In World Book Kids,  I found a nice picture of the hedgehog.


The article was factual and concise; not overwhelming for young readers. The text could be read aloud for youngsters that have trouble reading. I also noticed that there was citation information needed and that the content was aligned with SD standards.


2.  In World Book Student, I searched hedgehog. The information that came up pretty much the same as in WB Kids. The differences I saw was that in the student edition, web sites and magazine articles were also included for further research.

3. I searched the country Poland. After my initial search, I noticed on the left was a contents page of sorts of what information was available. I could tell that I mostly work with K-4 graders as this wasn't as easy for me to navigate. However when I clicked on the first encyclopedia article for Poland, I again noticed the contents listed on the left side. This would help students scan articles and hone in on specific information.

4. In World Book Discover there are options to change article so that it can be in read in Spanish or French.

Okay, we are on week two and I am already behind. I hoped that I would be able to keep up with this week by week. I am not giving up by any means; but I have to say I don't like the idea of "being behind" (Yes I know this is go at your own pace) That being said, I am off to discover World Book ...this is something I already know a little be about. :)