SEARCHING FOR
Selected Bibliography of Non-Print and Fiction
Resources for K-6
Plus Information for Kids, Parents, and Teachers to
Help in Any Search
PART 2:
MORE INFORMATION FOR
PARENTS AND TEACHERS
Besides listing some very good resources
on the topic of
Please note that with most of the items
listed as suitable for K-2, I am not suggesting that most children will
actually be able to read them. They will
enjoy the rest of the content, and will enjoy the information if you read it to
them. For grades 3-6, the suggested age
range does have something to do with average reading abilities.
The remaining information in this section
for parents and teachers is a repeat of the resources listed in Part 1. The bits of additional content and review
information are meant to supplement what is in Part 1. Excepting the websites, this list also has
more complete bibliographic information to aid you in locating the resources
mentioned. The databases and physical
resources items listed in this bibliography were not chosen from the entire
universe of available resources, but from those actually available from the two
public library systems in the Seattle, Washington area. (The Seattle Public Library at www.spl.org and the King County Library System
at www.kcls.org) There is, of course, no guarantee that you
will find them either in your public library or available for purchase.
ITEMS OTHER THAN BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY CATALOG
For Grades K-2
CD-Rom – Jumpstart
Explorers – produced by Knowledge Adventure Inc., Fresno, CA (2001) recommended
for ages 5-8, ISBN 1581897998 (jewel case), 1581896220 (container).
I think this game would be improved if the
animations representing men were not animal characters, but my young reviewer
did not agree.
For Grades K-3
VHS -Columbus –produced by
Spoken Arts – runs 10 minutes (1987), ISBN 080459001X.
The advantage of this video is that it
allows multimedia enrichment of research or curriculum without consuming very
much time. Because illustrations from a
book are used, it also provides a bridge to reading.
VHS – Christopher Columbus
– produced by Castle Vision – runs 45 minutes.
I think the live acting without voice is
an interesting addition to this video.
It helps children visualize real people without having them speak in
English, which would of course be inaccurate.
As noted this production moves along well except for the historian
segments
For Grades 4-6
VHS – Columbus and the Age
of Discovery – produced by Films for the Humanities &
Sciences – 7 videos that
run 58 minutes each,
DATABASES ON THE LIBRARY WEBSITE
For Grades 2-6
The Discovering Collection
– produced by the Gale Group –on your library website or learn
about it with a PowerPoint demo at http://www.gale.com/ppt_demo/k12-disc.ppt.
This
wonderful database makes a good case for one-stop researching at the library website,
especially for young children and those who don’t need very much
information. Even in this one source,
various points of view can be found.
Also unlike the Internet, it’s advertisement-free.
Electric Library
Elementary
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
Grolier Online
Infotrac Kids Edition K-6
All of the above databases also can
provide many sources in one search.
Electric Library and Infotrac are weighted toward periodicals.
Britannica gives a lot of articles with multimedia, plus outside links. Grolier Online is the encyclopedia and
several other components searchable in one step. Whatever databases your library has, you can
be sure they will be information packed.
If you have a favorite that isn’t in the collection, consider lobbying
for its purchase. It will help if you
can show that it could replace a less helpful one, assuming there is not a huge
difference in cost.
BigChalk.com - at http://www.bigchalk.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/WOPortal.woa/db/Home.html
This
is a website of the Education Network which sells software and other products
for classrooms and media centers. The
advertising is not an aggressive part of the free search feature however. You can keyword search “Homework Central”
from the homepage, and limit it to elementary, middle, or high school if you
wish. On the search page there will be a
group of handpicked websites that have been gathered and added to the BigChalk
site. Examples are Worldbook Online and
Encarta text articles. Another group of
websites results are ones offsite, but they will open in a window that offers a
return to BigChalk. Last, an unobtrusive
link at the top will take adults to applicable free curriculum archives. It is a wonderful free service, but I do
think navigation could be improved at this site. At the very least, a “back to results” button
on every page would help. My preference would be that the subject descriptions,
the content clues, and the actual urls be combined on one page.
KidsClick! - at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!/
This
site was built by librarians and is now maintained at
KidsSpace at the Internet
Public Library - at http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/
On
this search page 10 category descriptions are arranged adjacent to a circle in
which the picture changes to suggest the topic as you pull the cursor over
them. Additional feature topic
suggestions appear at the left. Examples
of these are “U.S. President”, “Science Projects”, and “Story Hour.” At the top is a keyword search box that can
be changed to include the entire IPL, but the search feature is still under
construction. Currently you tend to get
a short list of results, and for half of them, the connection to the keyword is
obscure at best. To get a better feel
for the potential power of this site, browse any category to see the annotated
collections of wonderful websites. Children’s librarians would do well to
become familiar with them all.
MarcoPolo-Education.org
search engine - at
http://www.marcopolosearch.org/mpsearch/basic_search.asp.
This keyword search box includes possible
limits to a certain school subject areas, and the age ranges of K-2, 3-5, 6-8,
and 9-12. Truthfully it is only helpful
for children if they remember to change the box at the bottom to exclude lesson
plans, because otherwise the results are loaded with them. If they do remember to do that, they will get
good results with a several line description of the content often including the
source or website host. You may be familiar with this search page as part of
National Geographic Xpedition, but NG is actually only one of the partners of
MarcoPolo.org. The other partners are
ArtsEdge, EconEdLink, EdSiteMent, Illuminations, ReadWriteThink, and Science
NetLinks.
For Grades 2-6
Reference With Encarta – produced by
MSN – at http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/reference.aspx.
This resource has severe limitations since
its purpose is to promote purchase of the full resource. However, if the topic is popular or broad enough
to be included, plenty of good information is to be found.
Fact Monster – sponsored
by the Family Education Network – at http://www.factmonster.com/.
There
are great free resources on the Web, but unfortunately many of them are forced
to use advertising to support their continued existence. Especially if you live in an area with
limited subscription database access, it would pay to know about these
resources. KidsSpace is a good place to
go to find out about large numbers of them.
Worldbook Online,
This part of the BigChalk collection is a
good reason to use their search engine if you are going beyond library
databases.
SPECIFIC LINKS THROUGH THE LIBRARY WEBSITE
For Grades K-6:
Columbus Day - at http://www.jeannepasero.com/columbus1.html.
Ms. Pasero’s homepage is currently
unavailable, so it is difficult to say anything about the source. However, even if she has no subject
expertise, she has done a wonderful job in creating a site full of information,
yet simple and colorful enough for the young children to enjoy. There are tons of pictures and a different
tune attached to every page.
Looks Are Deceiving: The
Portraits of Christopher Columbus - at http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/admiral.html.
This page is a good lesson for older
children about the unreliability of portraits before the age of
photography. As the site points out,
even the written descriptions of
For Grades 2-6:
Christopher Columbus, His
Gastronomic Persona -
at http://www.castellobanfi.com/features/story_contents.html.
This
site may be a winery, but the information is extensive and seems to be well
researched.
If
you have children read this site or copies of the information there, they will
be better informed than many Americans on the subject of
The
The author of this site is Keith
Pickering. Any site with links to
likely to link to this one, a testament to its fine design,
its facts, and its links for further research..
For Grades 3-6
Biography.com - at http://www.biography.com/search/index.html
This
free PBS site is equivalent to most biography subscription databases, and that
is high praise. Its existence probably
accounts for the fact that most of the vendors have to package their biography
databases with additional resources in order to sell them.
Discoverers Web - at http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/discovery/
This is an extensive and fairly well
organized collection of links to resources on explorers. I would only wish for a little more
annotation.
Internet
Medieval Sourcebook -at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1z.html.
The emphasis here is on primary documents,
and since
Voyages of Exploration:
Discovering New Horizons - at
http://www.thinkquest.org/library/lib/site_sum_outside.html?tname=C001692&url=C001692.
I can’t say enough about the quality of
the design and content here, plus any ThinkQuest site is a lesson in what is
possible in web design at a young age. I
did not mention it in the kids part, but there are
actually quizzes and tracking tools for teachers here as well. I had included this site in my bibliography
before I ran across the site developed by younger children, or I might have
given that primary billing.
For Grades 4-6
The Age
of Exploration - at http://www.mariner.org/age/index.html.
A
major purpose of this website is curriculum enrichment. The activities are actually intended for use
by teachers in their classrooms.
For Grades 5-6
Dr. Thomas C. Tirado’s
Document Collection – at http://muweb.millersville.edu/index.html
Many
of the documents here are the old, dull-gray-with-text style, but it is
certainly a good place to find obscure information on
1492: An Ongoing Voyage -
at http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/1492/intro.html.
There is lots of good information
here. It’s one of several sites on this
list that are the result of efforts to create something special to commemorate
the 500 year anniversary of
REASONS TO CHANGE YOUR SEARCH TERMS
For Grades 4-6
Renaissance - at http://www.learner.org/exhibits/renaissance/
Results
were sparse as I tried to locate sites that would support a study of events
leading up to the Age of Discovery. This
site is a wonderful exception to that.
The additional websites linked here may be equally fine, but I have not
examined them.
For Grades 3-6
Deep Look: the Tainos - at http://www.discoverhaiti.com/history00_1_1.htm.
As I moved into looking for information
about the natives of the
The
overall site is also a great one and goes far beyond the subject of
history. The linked page appears to
contain reliable information, but teacher Bob Corbett, who wrote it, admits to
drawing conclusions based on the historians he has read rather than attempting
to make an exhaustive search including primary documents. However, he seems to be open to dialogue,
even providing links to opposing viewpoints with his article.
The
Taino Survival – at http://www.lasculturas.com/aa/aa100900a.php.
This
site appealed because it was different with its interview format and provided
another side to a controversy. It opens
the door to a discussion about differing opinions, and the thought that
assertions unsupported by real evidence may take on the appearance of fact if
they are passed unchallenged from generation to generation.
The Taino Tribal
Organization Website – at http://www.taino-tribe.org/tribal-culture.html/
I
include this site because its creators claim to be descended from the peoples
FICTION TO READ
With the possible exception of “The Gold
of Dreams”, I heartily recommend all the fiction listed here as enjoyable in
and of itself, besides offering the opportunity to expand understanding of an
important topic. I also included only
that fiction which was very obviously based in fact, and whose embellishment
did not affect those facts. After
rejecting “I Discover Columbus” for its farfetched plot unsupported by the
facts, and one that made Columbus seem quite the incompetent buffoon, I have to
admit that one or two books here give the man rather unbelievably positive
characteristics.
For Grades K-2
In 1492
- written by Jean Marzollo; pictures by SSteve Bjorkman – 30 pages.
Beautiful watercolor scenes are peopled
with characters that somehow remind me of the animated series “Doug.” The illustrations both amuse and elicit
emotional response to the immenseness of nature. The book includes prefacing background about
All Pigs
on Deck – written by Laura Fischetto; pictures by Letizia Galli – 30 pages.
The
illustrations are bold outlined layers of color. Despite the lighthearted text, the sea is
wild and filled with large menacing fish while the ship is sailing, so readers
connect the voyage with some dangers.
The flat primitively drawn people and their strange postures invite
psychological analysis, but I am not sure there is only one conclusion to be
drawn. Includes an
endnote about
For Grades 1-6 (To read or have read aloud)
The Boy
Who Sailed With
This
story, with its short chapters, would make a great read-aloud. It
is the gentle tale of the maturation of one individual lucky enough to have the
influences of multiple cultures. It
draws attention to the ethnocentricity of the Europeans without beating
the reader over the head with the idea.
Morning
Girl – written by Michael Dorris – 74 pages.
This
award winner captures the rhythms of a nature- and spirit-centered
culture. The thin paperback with
six-page chapters will not intimidate the most reluctant reader. Children will be able to identify with the
combination of support and rivalry between the siblings, and perhaps even
without knowing anything about what happened to these peoples, react to the
menace of the arrival of the Europeans at the end. The addition of
He Went With Christopher
Columbus – written by Louise Andrews Kent – 318 pages.
I actually think that today’s children
will very much enjoy this book written in 1940.
It pretty accurately chronicles aspects of gentried life in
For Grades 3-6
Encounter
– written by Jane Yolen; pictures by David Shannon – 26 pages.
I actually find the dark message and style
of this book disturbing, but it rings true as a possible viewpoint of some of
the natives faced with the arrival of
For Grades 4-6
The Admiral and the Deck
Boy – written by Genevieve A. O’Connor – 168
pages.
Children,
especially boys, will identify with Carlos, and the specific sailing terms,
many in Spanish, and nautical drawings will enhance it for many. This is one where the author has probably
erred on the side of glorifying the
The Gold of Dreams –
written by Jose Maria Merino; translated by
I wanted to include an item that gave
some information about the spread of religion-based Spanish colonization,
without shifting the focus to another explorer or conquistador, or getting
heavily into details about non-Taino native culture. The books by Merino were the only ones I
found, and of the two I read, I liked this one better than the other. I am not a huge fan of the story itself, but
I would still recommend it for the way it enhances understanding of the
religious Spanish and the clash of cultures.
For Mature Readers
Freedom Beyond the Sea –
written by Waldtraut Lewin; translated by Elizabeth D.
Crawford – 262 pages.
I recommend this book
whole-heartedly. It does portray
If you are looking for materials on