Research Tools
California State-Funded Library Databases
Britannica School site for learning more about any subject—for all grades and all reading abilities—offering thousands of up-to-date, curated, and curriculum-relevant articles, images, videos, audio clips, primary sources, maps, research tools, recommended Web sites, and three separate databases—Elementary, Middle, or High.
Access: https://school.eb.com/levelsEscolar is the leading knowledge-building resource that is universally trusted for accurate and age-appropriate content in Spanish.
Access: https://escolar.eb.com/levelsBrittanica Schools and Escolar can be used at home. To access them at home the student enters the
Username: woodland
Password: wjusd
CultureGrams - Concise cultural information on countries around the world.
Access: http://online.culturegrams.comeLibrary - General reference aggregation of periodical and digital media content with editorial guidance for novice researchers. Two unique interfaces available.
Access: https://explore.proquest.comSIRS Discoverer - Selected content for novice researchers, especially elementary and middle school students and educators.
Access: http://discoverer.sirs.comSIRS Issues Researcher - Curriculum-aligned database of content organized by complex issues, ideally for middle and high school students and educators.
Access: http://sks.sirs.comTeaching Books- vetted collection of instructional materials about children's and young adult books and authors, everyone can easily: identify exceptional books that reflect diverse cultural experiences, interests, and ability levels, obtain resources paired with your book titles that further reading enjoyment, contextual knowledge, and educational relevance, share resources with everyone in your community via easy-to-use flyers, emails, texts, embeddable links, and social media
Access: https://www.teachingbooks.net/Six Bad Online Sources
Six Bad Online Sources![]()
Six Bad Online Sources
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Blogs- Anyone can create a blog, just like anyone can have a Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat account. There is no way to evaluate the authors reliability or expertise on a subject
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Personal Web pages- Just like blogs, personal web sites are difficult to evaluate. Avoid them !
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Social Media apps - When it comes to information, social media apps are in the "wild west" era of information, which means little oversight to the accuracy information. This includes Istagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook and any newer social media apps on the market. Remember, opinions are not facts, You need to check your sources.
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Wiki sites, including wikipedia - Wiki sites allow groups of people to add and edit information on individual pages. Wikipedia is a good place to start if you know absolutely nothing about a topic, but use the links on the bottom of the Wikipedia reference to go to more reliable sources.
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Movies and Video Games - the latest Call of Duty game might have information you "think" is accurate, the cool horror movie is "based on a true story" or the newest Youtube video might "look" real. Just remember that both movies and video games were created for entertainment not for accuracy
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Historical Novels- Novels are fiction, even if they are set in a real historical setting.
- Staff
