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There is a resource in the schools that you should check out. It’s called Nettrekker and it is a search engine which offers a wide variety of teacher selected digital resources to support research or answer curiosities for students K-12. Students have accounts which can be used from home. They have the ability to access images, websites, timelines, interactive educational games and more. The company offers a gauge as to the readability for each source as well as other special features such as “read aloud”, “dictionary” and translation buttons which make reading the information easier for students of varying abilities.

Just as the older students did last year during their formal library lessons, fourth grade students explored the differences between the two search engines, Google vs Nettrekker. Students had great thoughts on the comparison. Here are just a few:

Cons: Too much information at times; not always reliable; links not always related to what you are looking for; sites listed first aren’t always the best ones to find answers

Pros: small search engine=less overwhelming; screened by teachers=more reliable; high student interest sources such as interactive games, and videos; can create folders of sources for later use; readability

Cons: may not have sources for your topic if it is narrow; screened by teachers so doesn’t offer as much opportunity for student researchers to practice evaluating

Following the discussion, students worked on exploring this tool by searching for a topic of interest and creating a portfolio of sources for their topic. This folder can be accessed any time from any computer with internet access. They were encouraged to make decisions based on how the digital resources elated to what they were trying to find out as well as their readability. Quality of sources over quantity was stressed – engaging researchers to make decisions based on their particular needs – not just what was presented to them

As with any skill, practice makes perfect. Creating some exploration time and opportunities is a great way for you and your child to learn how to become more familiar with this tool.

(If usernames or passwords are forgotten, simply email me at kconway@cantonschools.org and I will give you instructions as to how to get in to the system)

To complement their research essay unit in reading, fifth graders explored advertiser messages and angles they use to get us to believe their product is a “must have” item. We discussed which advertisers use which tricks to get us to buy and classified examples from magazines found in our library. Thinking about who we are getting information from is an important skill in becoming a critical thinker.

As the sixth graders dive into their art research, they started part one of a two part website evaluation lesson in the library. The first included a discussion of what makes resources good ones to use for information. Reliability, relevance, and relatedness were the three R’s that came up. Students used Alpha Smart responders to give their opinions and advice as researchers to the various power point slides set up to prompt a lively debate about how to know which source is best. Lesson two will focus on the students’ findings after using a checklist to evaluate some websites provided.

We have some new paperbacks that need taping. If you would like to get involved and help but don’t have a lot of time, this is a great way. Please email me. It can even be arranged so that you can do this from home if that is more convenient for you.

“ Book club isn’t just a bunch of people talking about a book. It’s more. A book club is about different people congegating together to talk about one thing they have in common…a particular shared book. This one book is like the food chain. Without it, these great friendships would not exist.”

“I like book club because we get to relax and listen as Ms. C reads. We share ideas yet we get to take a break from writing reponses. We do it for the pure enjoyment!”

“Book club is great because it is a way to really connect with the books. I can talk about the book with friends as everyone is at the same spot”

Pictures from our Potato Chip Puzzles Book club meeting where we skyped the author Eric Berlin and had a blindfolded chip tasting following our discusssion.

Let’s talk books! All three grades have heard (or will be hearing soon) book talks for the 2012 Intermediate Nutmeg nominee selections. These 10 titles were narrowed down from hundreds of fiction titles by teachers, librarians and student readers. The official vote is in early February and is determined solely by children in grades 4-6. Any student who has read at least three of the nominee books can vote. This year, Mrs. Baker is on the action. She’s offered to have an “invitation only” movie (complete with cupcake making) as a reward for anyone who finishes all 10 selections by February 1, 2012.

Ebook shelf: With the generous donation from the CIS PTO, forty new titles will be added to our digital library shelf this month. You can find this on my website cantonschools.org/~kconway.

I came across this website which addresses some concerns that I’ve spoken to parents about in regards to balancing your child’s media “consumption” with homework, after school commitments and family time.

How do you set limits? When should you supervise online activities? How do you reward responsible kids (or give consequences for missteps)? In the tips below, our readers provide practical, do-able, tried-and-true advice you can put into practice right away.

Say 'nighty night. "At night before bed or at 8:30, we have them turn their phones off and charge them in a certain place that's near our bedroom. They can get their phone in the morning before school."

Don't believe the hype. "They want to know when they can get their own cell phones and iPods (even though they weren't totally sure what it was). So we've had discussions on what's neat and fun to have and what's necessary."

Adjust for age. "Now that my sons are almost 11 and 14, I find how we handle media consumption to be a fast-moving target. We've relaxed time limits on our older boy, primarily because he makes straight As, is very responsible, and increasingly needs PC time for homework."

Set goals. "In addition to caring about their safety, we believe kids need things to look forward to, so we've set definite ages for different privileges, and so far this has worked. Age 11: emergency-only cell phone and email (with Mom having access until responsibility has been proven); age 13: Facebook (friending Mom); 14: cell phone with texting."

Take back the remote. "We have now 'cut the cable,' so to speak, for children's TV and have moved completely over to Ameba for all of our children's TV shows. Our children still pick the shows they want to watch from our 'filtered' list. It kind of empowers them to make the right media decision." [Editor's note: Also try TiVo or your cable provider's digital video recorder.]

Take matters into your own hands. "My kid usually doesn't watch a whole lot of TV. But when the TV does get out of hand and he's turning into a zombie, I either pester him until he can't stand it or just unplug the TV!"

Stick around. "We as parents are all sheltered from what our (older) kids do with friends when they're away from home, so spending time with my daughter when she was on MSN [Microsoft's instant messenging program] was a good way to experience this and teach her a lot of things about life. A lot of times, she was happy I was around to give her advice on things."

Set expectations. "My son, who is 11, has been begging me for a Facebook account. I finally told him this: When he has matured to the point where he can talk comfortably to any other adult, to ask questions, say, of his teachers, or to call a friend's parent to make a request comfortably, or to meet and converse with adults at his parent's social gatherings, then he is approaching the level of maturity needed to use a social networking site."

Be a role model. "As a parent, your best offense is to 'walk the talk' (lead by example and keep words to a minimum). Any family rule/value must apply to all members of the family. You must set clear boundaries between work tasks/home life/recreation/etc. and abide by those. You can even post a schedule where all can see it."

This information was found on commonsensemedia.org. The article called Family Media Management was written by Caroline Knorr in August 2011. More helpful links can be found.