Website Review: Smithsonian Learning Lab

THE SMITHSONIAN LEARNING LAB provides access to digital resources across the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, 9 research centers, and the National Zoo.

The project contains three major sections: discover, create, and share.

The Discover area provides easy access to the collections. Users can do a general search. Or, the search can be refined to include specific types of resources, exhibits, or resource providers. Details about each item can be viewed. In addition to the standard search, users can also select from surprises, what’s trending, and recent discoveries.

The Create section allows students and educators to build and customize their own collections including annotating and tagging objects. Teachers can create lessons and assignments to go with their collections. Resources including files and websites can be added.

The Share component allows users to share their collections, assignments, and projects with the global community. Teachers can assign particular collections or assignments using password access.

To use the system, teachers and students will need a login. This provides access to a Dashboard of options.

Librarians will find that this website provides an excellent entry point for building classroom collections, resources and activities with teachers across the curriculum.

To visit the website, go to https://learninglab.si.edu/.

Technology Review: The Smithsonian Channel

The SMITHSONIAN CHANNEL app and website provides access to full-episodes of original series and documentaries as well as a large video library.

The app connects to over a thousand short videos as well as full programs. Users can select from favorite topics or browse the possibilities. The attractive interface is easy to use. Users can create their own channels of content based on favorite topics. Or, let the system select videos based on interests. Favorite videos can be identified.

The website features links to video clips as well as full episodes. Playlists are provided on popular topics such as bees, history, baby animals, and the civil rights movements.

Librarians will find videos across the curriculum including science and social science topics.

To download the app, go to https://itunes.apple.com/…/…/smithsonian-channel/id482096908.

To visit the website, go to http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/.

Special Event: National Hispanic Heritage Month

NATIONAL HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH is held each year from September 15 through October 15.

The National Hispanic Heritage Month website housed at the Library of Congress provides a history of the event, a wealth of content pages, as well as links to other resources.

The website features carefully selected Exhibits & Collections, Images, and Audio/Video resources. A Teacher section provides specific ideas for connecting primary sources to hispanic heritage-related lessons.

Sections on Hispanic Americans in Congress, The Latino Experience, and Hispanic American Veterans provide in-depth exploration of these areas.

Librarians will find lots of useful resources and activities at the Library of Congress website. In addition, the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Park Service, and Smithsonian Education - Hispanic Heritage Month websites contain specific pages focus on this event.

Be sure to check out the new Library of Congress, National Archives, and Smithsonian Institution Pinterest Boards associated with this important month.

To learn more, go to http://www.hispanicheritagemonth.gov/.

Website Review: Smithsonian National Zoological Park

The SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK website is a fun way to learn about animals and science.

Start your website exploration with the “Zoo News”. These press releases contain text, images, and sometimes video associated with a news item such as the birth of an animal or a new scientific discovery. They’re great for informational reading or for current events activities.

The “Meet Our Animals” section of the website is likely to be the most popular area with children. The Animal Index provides images and in some cases information about hundreds of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish in the collection. If you can’t visit the zoo in person, you can still enjoy the animals live on the zoo cams. In addition, users can explore groups of animals and exhibits. Many of these pages contains information and activities. The “National Zoo E-Cards” page provides access to animal images and the opportunity to write a message and send it through email.

The “Science” section of the website explores the conservation activities of the zoo. These research initiatives, laboratories, and centers are a great way for youth to learn about the scientists who work behind-the-scenes at the zoo and in the field. These projects would be a effective way to jump-start student science projects.

The “Conservation Central” online habitat education program is a fun way for youth to learn about the animals of temperate forest habitats. This section includes curriculum materials along with online interactives.

The “Smithsonian Biodiversity Science in the Classroom” materials provide videos and lessons plans for upper elementary students.

The website is available at http://nationalzoo.si.edu. To extend the experience, be sure to check out their social media presence including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Instagram sites to keep up on the latest news and information about the zoo and its animals.

In addition to the website, an app is available from both the App Store and Google Play at http://nationalzoo.si.edu/SmithsonianNationalZooApp/. While the app includes features such as an interactive map and schedules for zoo visitors, it also provides lots of useful information such as an animal index and live animal cams for those not able to visit in person.

Website Review: TweenTribune

TWEENTRIBUNE from the Smithsonian Institution is a newly launched website focusing on news and information for K-12 students.

The project is designed so that teachers can make reading assignments and involve youth in posting public or private comments. Free teacher accounts allow educators to create 9 classrooms and manage student accounts for each classroom.

The home page contains chronological access to the latest article postings. Each article contains a photo, caption, short article, and critical thinking challenge. The Lexile reading level can be selected, a comment can be added, an option is provided to assign the article to students, and a quiz link is also provided.

One of the most useful aspects of the site is the ability to choose the Lexile level for a reading assignment. While each article contains a default Lexile such as 900L, the article may also be displayed as 680L, 1090, or 1310L. A master list of articles can be listed by Lexile levels from 500L to 1600L. Teachers can also explore articles by topic such as animals, art, entertainment, fashion, and science.

In addition to the articles, a Photo of the Day area is designed for youth to write their own captions to match interesting photos.

Teachers can assign an article for a particular classroom and add a message. For instance, they might ask students to address a question using the comment feature. Quiz questions can also be assigned and student results recorded.

Common Core aligned lesson ideas are available that help connect the informational reading experience to practical assignments.

The TTJunior and TTTeens sections present articles of particular interest to younger and older youth. The TTEspanol section is still under development.

School librarians can partner with teachers to build an exciting informational reading experience across content areas. Consider a school-wide approach that involves students in reading and discussing current events.

To get started, go to http://tweentribune.com/
To visit TTJunior, go to http://tweentribune.com/junior
To visit TTTeens, go to http://tweentribune.com/teen
To visit TTEspanol, go to http://tweentribune.com/spanish
To visit the Lessons, go to http://tweentribune.com/lessonplans