INTERNET COURSE MODULE
REFERENCE


OBJECTIVE: Students will be able to identify several free reference sites that are appropriate for children's usage.  These will include both search engines and specific reference types (such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, biographies, atlases, etc.)

INTRODUCTION: The internet is full of useful, current, reference materials for children.  But finding reliable, and helpful, ones is often difficult.  When children have to first search to find an appropriate reference site, then search again to find the needed information, they often get lost or give up.  Younger children especially often find composite sites overwelming and confusing.  If you do the pre-search to find helpful sites, you have increased the chances that your children can succeed in finding the information they are seeking..  

ACTIVITY: In order to choose the best reference sites for your students to use, you will locate and evaluate various sites.  Go to the sites listed below and use each one to try to answer various reference questions.  Search for other possible reference sites and try them out as well.  Choose your top 5 to 10 sites and write up a brief annotation of each.  

ASSIGNMENT:
1.  Visit sites:  Below are suggested sites, you may visit these and also  find your own.  
2.  Evaluate Sites:   Check for age appropriateness of the sites chosen (are they navigable?)  as well as for accuracy (who sponsors the sight?)  You may wish to complete the elective on website evaluation before completing this excercise.  It may help to pretend that you are trying to answer some of the following research questions to see how well and how easy/difficult it would be to find approprate information.  
3.  Choose Sites: Remember that there are two basic ways for children to search for reference information on the intenet: search engines and reference sites.  Your children will need access to both of these. Look for a balance of sites that can help answer as many types of research questions as your children may have.
4.  Annotate Sites: Include a brief (1-2 sentence) annotation of each site you choose.  
5.  Use Sites: When you finish, you will want to add your chosen sites to your media center (or classroom or school) homepage.

SUGGESTED REFERENCE QUESTIONS:
What are the seven priciples of  Kwanzaa?
Where was George Washington born?
Where does the author of the Harry Potter series live?
What does gendarme mean?
What were the 13 original colonies?
Think of other reference questions from your school's curriculum.

POSSIBLE REFERENCE SITES:
1000 Dictionaries <http://www.1000dictionaries.com/dindex.html>
OneLook Dictionary Search <http://www.onelook.com/>
Biography <http://www.biography.com/>
Ask Jeeves Kids <http://www.ajkids.com/>
Yahooligans <http://www.yahooligans.com/>
Montgomery County Public Library Kidsite: Homework Helpers <http://www.mont.lib.md.us/kidsite/homeworkhelpers.asp>
Fact Monster <http://www.factmonster.com/>
CIA World Factbook Flags of the World <http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/flagsoftheworld.html>
ithaki for kids <http://www.ithaki.net/kids/>
Enyclopedia Britannica <http://www.britannica.com/>
National Geographic Homework Help <http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/homework/>


RUBRIC:

RUBRIC
1
2
3
NUMBER
chooses less than five sites OR chooses only sites from "possible reference sites" listed above
chooses  more than 10 sites
chooses five to ten sites
ANNOTATION
no annotation of sites listed
very brief, unclear annotations
clear and helpful annotations of each site
VARIETY
lists only search engines or only specific reference sites
list includes only one search engine or only one or two specific reference sites
lists a variety of types of reference sites, both search engines and different kinds of specific reference sites
QUALITY
 sites lack one or more of the aspects of quality listed in the box to the right
 some sights are high quality and some are not (see next box)
 all sites are of high quality (i.e.: accurate, objective, reputable, and easily navigated)



OTHER SITES
The following are composite sites (they have links to many different types of reference materials).  Using these sites may take longer than a child would be willing to invest, but you may find them (or their links) helpful.
Library Spot <http://www.libraryspot.com>
Homework Spot <http://homeworkspot.com/elementary/>
My Virtual Reference Desk <http://www.refdesk.com/>
The Internet Public Library <http://www.ipl.org/>
Librarians' Index to the Internet <http://www.lii.org/>
iTools Quick Access to the best Intenet tools <http://www.itools.com/
The WWW Virtual Library <http://home.istar.ca/~obyrne/>