Choose the Best Resource

Created by Debra Stewart

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Questions for Review

What is a Dictionary?

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Dictionaries provide you with the meanings of words.

Dictionaries show you the pronunciation of words.

Dictionaries show you the part of speech of a word.

What is a Dictionary?

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An unabridged dictionary is complete and has all the words of a language.

An abridged dictionary is a shortened version and includes more common words that are used in everyday life.

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Look at the sample page from a children’s dictionary and see if you can

answer the questions.

Which words can be used as both nouns and verbs?Which two words on this page are homophones?

What are the guide words for this dictionary page?

Which main entry word has 4 syllables?

What is the part of speech for the word “countless”?

How many main entry words are on this page?

How many definitions are given for the word “count”?

Which main entry words have 3 syllables?

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Click on the link to visit “Word Central,” an online dictionary website where

you can have fun with words.

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http://www.wordcentral.com/index.html

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Use a dictionary when you need to find the meaning, pronunciation or

part of speech of a word.

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What is an almanac?

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An almanac is a reference book that is updated yearly.

Almanacs provide lots of brief informative facts about almost every subject.

Almanacs are loaded with hundreds of current maps, charts, statistics, photos, and lists.

There are several different types of almanacs. Some focus on narrow subjects such as sports or geography.

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The facts in an almanac are usually very brief.

Most almanacs contain up-to-date information about many topics, such as animals, cities, countries, inventions, sports, weather and more.

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The almanac can provide you with quick, up-to-date, and authoritative information on just about every subject imaginable.

Sports

Nations of the World

Health & Nutrition

Environment, lifestyles, business,

arts & entertainment

Science & Technology

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Some examples of questions you can find

answers to by using the almanac.

What were the most visited websites in 1999? What is the top selling video game? Which animals are on the current endangered species list?

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More examples of questions you can find

answers to by using the almanac.

What is the current salary of the President of the United States? What is the address for the Chicago Bulls?

What is the scale called that measures earthquakes?

http://www.almanac4kids.com/

http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/

http://www.scholastic.ca/titles/almanac/

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Here are some links to great

online almanac websites for kids.

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Use an almanac when searching for

up-to-date brief facts or statistics.

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What is an atlas?

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An atlas is a book of maps that gives information about the world.

In an atlas you will find a lot of maps, tables of information, legends and keys.

What is an atlas?

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An atlas may have maps that show continents, countries, and cities.

An atlas may have maps that show land features, such as mountains and rivers.Some atlases have maps that show the ocean floor.

What is an atlas?

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Use an atlas to find out where a place is, to collect information about a place, to conduct geography research, or to plan a trip.

Click on the link to visit an online

interactive atlas at Factmonster.com

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http://www.factmonster.com/atlas/index.html

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Use an atlas when searching for maps or other information

about different places in the world.

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What is a Thesaurus?

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A thesaurus is a book of synonyms, and sometimes antonyms.

A synonym is a word that has the same, or nearly the same meaning as another word.

An antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning of another word.

What is a Thesaurus?

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Use a thesaurus when you need to add descriptive words to your writing.

Use a thesaurus to avoid using the same words over and over in your paper.

Use a thesaurus to find and learn new words that will help you become an effective speaker and writer.

Click on the link to look up some synonyms

and antonyms in an online thesaurus.

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http://www.synonym.com/synonym/

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Use a thesaurus when searching for synonyms or

antonyms.

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What is an encyclopedia?

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An encyclopedia is a reference book that gives general information about a person, place, or thing.

Encyclopedias contain information on all subjects.

Encyclopedias are usually divided into several volumes because they contain so much information.

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Encyclopedias are arranged alphabetically by subject matter.

Encyclopedias also contain cross references which are a guide to additional information.

What is an encyclopedia?

Which volume would you use to find information

about the subjects listed below?

• Great Britain• Orville Wright• Statue of Liberty• bumble bee• immigration• propeller• kite• South America• butterfly• steam engine• hummingbird• Neil Armstrong• Colonial life in America

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• kangaroo• Thomas Jefferson• artificial satellites• France• Panama Canal• Columbus Day• transportation• baseball• Edgar Allan Poe• Grover Cleveland• camping equipment• Battle of Gettysburg• microscope

Go to the next slide if you need

more practice!

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Which volume would you use to find information

about the subjects listed below?

• Treaty of Versailles• diagram• water cycle• John Marshall• population of Alaska• Westward movement• rain forest• vitamins• Atlantic Ocean• Harriet Tubman• jet propulsion• Maryland• telephone

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• United States government

• Sir Francis Drake• stock market• vertebrates• Henry Ford• food pyramid• grizzly bears• March of Dimes• economics• computer• William Shakespeare• orchestra

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Use an encyclopedia when searching for general information

about a person, place or thing.

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What is a Periodical?

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A source that is published periodically, or from time to time like newspapers and magazines.

These sources offer short articles that provide a great deal of current information.

What is the best way to find an article in a periodical?

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Use a periodical index.

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The Readers’ Guide to Periodical

Literature is the most common

periodical index.

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The Readers’ Guide is an

index of magazine articles

alphabetized by subject.

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This guide is published monthly so it can stay up-

to-date with magazines and

other periodicals.

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Look up a subject in the Readers’

Guide and you will find:

Titles of magazine articles that match your subject.

The names of the magazines where you can find the articles.

The issue dates of the magazines.

The page numbers of the articles.

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BUT – if you’re in elementary school, you’re not going to

find a Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature in your

media center!

Now what?!

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Instead – you can use the Children’s Magazine Guide.

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Thank goodness!

The Children’s Magazine Guide is a children’s version of the Readers’ Guide

to Periodical Literature.

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Look at the sample page from

the Children’s Magazine Guide

and see if you can answer the questions.

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Use a periodical index when

searching for magazine articles

on current information.

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How many subject headings are on the sample page?Which magazine has an article about guide dogs?

How many articles are listed under Global Warming?

The article “Double Dreams” is in which magazine?

Which magazine gives information about Greenland?

Which subject has the most magazine articles?

What subject heading would help you find information about graphs?

Which magazine has an article about grandmothers?

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Electronic resources

include CD-ROMs and the

Internet.

What are electronic resources?

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A CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory) can store large amounts of information using a small amount of space.A complete set of encyclopedias can be stored on one CD-ROM.

What are CD-ROMs?

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The Internet lets you find information through sites on the World Wide Web.

To be sure that the information on a Web site is correct, look for reliable sites.

What is the Internet?

The World Wide Web offers Web sites from many different people and groups.

Now, let’s review!Which resource would

you use to:• find information on the development of electricity?• find the location of a small town?• look up the meaning of the word constant?• find the population of Tennessee in 1990?• find some basic information about dolphins?• find out who won the Super Bowl in 1967?• locate the latitude and longitude of Africa?• find information about the history of Georgia?• find out the cost of a child’s passport fee?• find the pronunciation of the word classify?

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Now, let’s review!Which resource would

you use to:• find the time zone of a country?• compare a physical map of South America to a physical

map of Africa?• find synonyms?• find information about today’s weather?• find your birthstone?• compare the differences between vertebrates and

invertebrates?• find information about Ben Franklin’s inventions?• find information about the latest fashions?

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