For the first part of this lesson, I looked up elephant using World Book Kids. I choose an elephant because they are my favorite animal and was interested in seeing what information could be found. While there was a good amount of information, I was disappointed in the pictures provided. The pictures were colored sketches of an elephant, instead of an actual photograph. Also, I know that World Book Kids is for grades K-5, but I think kids in grades 4-5 might not be very impressed with the amount of information given.
In comparison, when I looked up elephant using World Book Student I was impressed by the amount of information. It also had photos! :) I learned somethings I didn't know, including that elephants can live to the age of 65. I think a student looking for information would find plenty.
Using World Book Advanced, I searched for Greece. There was plenty of information about the country available and I liked the quicklinks on the right and left sides. However, given the fact that I work in the State Library, the information would probably only be helpful to patrons who came in and were writing a report - someone school aged. I did check out some of the links - specifically the one for web sites and was disappointed by what was given. I thought there would be some helpful links if I was planning a trip there, but I didn't find much information that would be helpful, not too much information for tourists.
I then used World Book Discover to find an article on American Government. I think it would help patrons who are not good readers of English because it allows you to translate to other languages and you can also have the article read aloud.
Hi, Miles' mom, thanks for joining us! You discovered the differences in articles & related information in the various World Book modules. I hope you will take a look at some of the special features, such as Kids' World of Animals, Discover's Visual Dictionary & World Book Explains, and Student & Advanced's Timelines. Teachers also really like Student's Trivia Quizzes and Advanced's primary documents. Also, all World Book modules have read-aloud, translations, and double-click dictionary. Since this is a general encyclopedia, you will find a lot about countries' culture and history, but as you learned, it is not about tourism. Welcome aboard!
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