Using Britannica with Emergent Bilingual Students

 

I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not, but I have a library intern from TWU this semester. Her background is elementary, but so was mine until I made the leap to high school.  She was really nervous about coming to our library, but she has been here a few times a week since January.  She is definitely getting into the groove with our students.  It has been so much fun.  

Last week was her observation with a high school class.  I picked our Emergent Bilingual students because I have a good relationship with the teachers and the students.  And the classes are pretty small.  Of course the downside are the languages they speak.  The predominant language is Arabic with a few Spanish, Vietnamese, Pashto, Farsi, and Uzbeck speakers as well.  So we decided to do a preliminary research lesson using Britannica.  The library intern and I looked at Britannica and discussed the features we wanted to highlight based on the classes we were going to see.  The 3 main features we settled upon were the reading level, the translate feature, and the dictionary.  Then we decided that we would demonstrate what we wanted them to do using one topic, and then the students could pair up and pick one of 3 topics we gave them.  The intern created the research sheet, and we did some mock lessons the week before the kids came to the library.  On the day of her observation, I conducted the lesson with the first 2 classes, and then we set up her observation for the last class.  Her professor wasn't on campus; we had to set up a laptop where she could Zoom and see everyone.  That was different!

Lourdes (the intern) did a fantastic job.  The kids were super quiet, but they worked like crazy.  They participated, and did everything they were supposed to do. It was great.  I know it was such a relief when she finished since high school is really not in her comfort zone.  Her last day is in early April.  I think we will all miss having her around.  She will be a fantastic librarian.

EBSCO Learning Express

 

This is one of my favorite digital resources we have in our arsenal as high school librarians.  I like it because it opens the doors to unconventional classes that I might not see.  This resource is a test prep resource as well as a college and career prep.  It has almost every test we take in the state of Texas.  There are test preps for all of our EOC exams, the SAT, the PSAT, all of our AP exams, and the TSI test.  Not only does it have practice tests; it also has tutorials, videos, flashcards, and interactive worksheets to help students study.  On the college and career side, this resource has a college finder, a scholarship finder, a skills/interest survey to help one find a career, and a resume builder.  There are also eBooks of all kinds of careers in case you want to know more. This is an amazing resource, and I don't think enough of us promote or use it in the classrooms.

This semester I have worked with 16 AVID classes, 12 English classes, and did some one-on-one training with our AP teachers and Science, Math and ELAR specialists.  In the English classes, the juniors always do a College and Career research project.  So we go into EBSCO so they can take the skills matcher, use the College search, and the Scholarship search.  With the AVID classes, we are all over the place.  I usually show them the EOC materials, the TSI materials, and the AP test materials.  AVID can range from Freshman to Seniors in each class.  The Freshman take the most EOCs, and them some will take the TSI to qualify for dual credit classes the following year, and they could be in AP Human Geography.  With them, I have created a tic-tac-toe menu board.  The teachers like it because this activity can count as a grade, and I like it because it keeps me on track and not shooting off on some tangent the class might not need.  With all that EBSCO has to offer, it is easy to get lost.

Again, I cannot say enough good things about this resource.  So much so, that this is the topic of my upcoming presentations for next year.  Stay tuned!