MeL for Kids — Kids InfoBits

Kids InfoBits, published by Gale Cengage Learning, is a kid-friendly database available through the Michigan Electronic Library It has an easy to use graphical interface organized into subjects. It is targeted for students in grades K-5, but is most useful for independent research grades 3-5. Users may either search by keywords, or drill down through the categories using the topic tree.

A brief, helpful  (around 7 mins.)  training overview web cast describes the main features of the database, such as the sources (Blackbirch Press reference publications, Columbia encyclopedia, 75 magazines such as Highlights, Time for Kids etc), how to search for information in various formats and save them to a “backpack” feature to create a bibliography.

The Teacher Toolbox feature contains ready to use

lessons and accompanying worksheets for subjects such as “How to Write A Topic Sentence,” “Organizing a Report” and  “Creating an Outline.”

All kinds of documents except images may be listened to using the Audio Player tool:

Audio Player

While the audio file will play in real time, allowing for independent learning, downloading the file as a mp3 file makes it a bit smoother (this option is permitted).  The possibility to hear whole or partial documents read makes this resource good for use with ELL, special needs and younger students.

MeL for Kids — elibrary Elementary

The Michgian Electronic Library (MeL) is a wonderful free resource for the State’s educators and students (actually, it’s not “free” – it costs millions — but the user fees are paid for us 🙂 ).  You can access the resources through most Michigan libraries and also at home with a valid drivers’ license.

One of the most useful sections for research is the MeL database section.  There are several resources that are great for students in grades 3 through 12 (as well as professional educators).  This post will discuss eLibrary Elementary.  Although this general information database is targeted for use primarily with students in grades 4-8, a helpful reading level, expressed as a Lexile, makes it accessible and relevant even for students in high school. It’s a great way to differentiate instruction and to accommodate special needs.

Students may search for information which is delivered in a wide variety of formats including newspaper and magazine articles, maps, pictures and audio files.  Results are presented according to relevance to the keyword search terms, with an icon representing the media format. To access the information, students simply click on the link or title.

 

Elibrary Topic Tree

There are two other important ways to locate information in eLibrary Elementary. One of these is to browse the subject or topic tree. Students can drill down from broad categories such as “social studies,” “current events” or “famous people” to browse for more specific information under the main headings.

 

Lastly, the database also has a “Reference Desk” with a dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, encyclopedias and a category called “other” (containing DK publications, weekly readers, and various other non-fiction works.

Reference Desk

 

 Results lists can be sorted by media type by clicking on the appropriate icon in the top row.

This is a wonderful resource which students love when they have been taught how to use it, especially when looking for maps and media. While the magazine articles can be a bit confusing for younger students, they are always thrilled to locate an encyclopedia article, map or picture.   Once students have worked with this database, typically they only need a refresher the next time around — and that’s also a great opportunity to introduce some of the more complicated research techniques 🙂