Students spend one day in the media center with their English classes. The media specialists use PowerPoint , a presentation software package, to inform 9th graders about media center services, hours, personnel and resources. A prize is given to the group which finishes first and everyone receives credit in their English class. Choosing Sources Knowing when to use Internet vs books vs CDs, knowing which online service to use, and understanding key words and databases are skills which every competent user of information has developed. The first English unit, Independence, is used to teach and reinforce these skills.
Students come to the media center three days.
During this time they explore several of the online services purchased by Springbrook or MCPS including Encyclopedia Britannica, World Book Encyclopedia, Galenet and Proquest . Recognizing key words and choosing an appropriate source are emphasized. Because internet use is so prevalent at Springbrook, it is imperative that students quickly learn to evaluate the pages they use. Students come to the media center from their social studies classes for a two day session on evaluating WorldWide Web pages. After learning simple search strategies students practice choosing appropriate sites from search results.