Student Resources - South St. Paul School Public School District

Elementary Media Centers

Secondary Media Center

The South St. Paul Secondary Media Center is an instructional hub with resources specifically chosen to meet the educational needs of our staff and students. We are committed to building a principled learning community driven by interest, need, and a growing interdependence on technology. We strive to empower our students and staff to achieve success in the 21st Century.

Book Loan Policy

Maximum of five books checked out at one time
Three-week loan period

Passes

Students do not need a pass to use the Media Center before or after school.
Students do need a pass to come to the Media Center during the school day unless a teacher brings the entire class or it is passing time. Please present your pass at the circulation desk as soon as you enter the Media Center.

Guidelines

Be courteous and respect fellow students, staff, the Media Center facility and materials.
Students must sign in and out when entering or leaving the media center without a teacher.
No eating or drinking is permitted in the Media Center.

DESTINY ONLINE CATALOG

Click here to access the DESTINY Online Catalog.
Search for items in the Media Centers collections here.

E-Books

MackinVIA

Website: http://mackinvia.com
iPad App: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mackinvia/id558020762
Login Info/Tip Sheet

Project Gutenberg

Website: http://www.gutenberg.org/

Mostly public domain titles - Great for classics!
Choose among 42,000 free epub books and kindle books; download them or read them online

Books Should Be Free

Website: http://www.loyalbooks.com/genre/Children

ebooks and audiobooks for free download or read/play on the internet
Works on iPads
Through Project Gutenberg and Librivox: mostly classics, few picture books

International Children's Digital Library

Website: http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/SimpleSearchCategory?ilang=English

Site is slightly confusing to navigate
Read online for free
Works on iPad
Has books in other languages

The Public Library

Don't forget about the public library! Library cards are free and the barcode gives you access to online material like databases and eBooks. They have a much bigger budget than we do, so they can afford more ebooks.

Dakota County Library cardholders have free access to ebook services listed below:

Cloud Library: eBooks that can be read on your computer or mobile device. A variety of popular titles are available.
OverDrive eBooks: A collection of popular titles that can be transferred to portable devices. Supports all major e-readers, including the Kindle (video tutorial)
EBSCO eBooks: A collection of mostly non-fiction titles that can be transferred to a portable device
TumbleBooks: A collection of animated, talking picture books that also includes puzzles, games, audiobooks and language learning.

Note: OverDrive and the 3M Cloud Library have iPad/iPhone, KindleFire, Book and Android Apps to read on your devices

Source: Dakota County Library

Unite for Literacy

Website: http://www.uniteforliteracy.com

Unite for Literacy has free ebooks which narrate books in English and several other languages. In addition, it will sign the books too.

Find a Book

Sometimes it can be hard to find a good book. Here is a list of online resources to help you find good books to read or recommendations for books that might interest you:

Biblionasium
BiblioNasium is a reading community made especially for elementary readers. It helps students connect to reading outside of the classroom. It is kind of like GoodReads for kids. Track what books you read and get book recommendations. You can even set up and share lists. Login required.

Your Next Read
Search for a book in the search box and then use the map of books to find recommendations. No login required.

Dakota County Library
Looking for a good read? This reader's advisory tool helps you find new books based on other books you've enjoyed or topics in which you're interested in. You will need your Dakota County Library Card barcode and PIN.

Goodreads
Discover and share books you love on Goodreads, the world's largest site for readers and book recommendations. You can create a new account, or sign in with Facebook, Twitter or Google.

Research Sources

Google is not a website, it is a search engine that looks through the internet, finding both good and bad websites. Instead of just using Google to search your topic, use specific websites that you know have credible information.

When you are looking for credible websites, consider these questions:

Who are experts on the topic?
Are there organizations or museums?
Who studies that topic professionally?
Websites for things in print (Magazines, newspapers)
Who has a high level of integrity?
Who has to be accountable for what they write/publish?

Websites

Here are some good websites to start with, arranged by subject:

Science

PBS and the Nova series
National Geographic Kids
Discovery Channel
National Geographic (magazine and organization)
Discover
Scientific American
Popular Science
Scholastic Science World

Sports:

Sports Illustrated
ESPN (magazine and TV network)

Technology:

Other:

Consumer Reports
Minnesota Conservation (Environmental and Animals)
Psychology Today
Time

Space

NASA
Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
Neave Online Interactive Planetarium (constellations)

Animals

The Minnesota Zoo pages on their animals
Sea World’s Animal Infobooks and Animal Bytes (quick facts)
The Oregon Zoo’s pages on their animals
Defenders of Wildlife Animal Factsheets (lots of endangered species here with information about conservation)

Minnesota History

Counties

CIA World Factbook
National Geographic Kids pages on countries (click "Print this Feature" to see all the text on one page)
For political information, US Department of State Factsheets

The Arts

Visual Arts:

Minneapolis Institute of Arts
The Walker Art Center
The Louve
The MET
The Guggenheim

Newspapers

Local newspapers:

National newspapers:

Research Databases

Elementary

PebbleGo for gr. K-2

e-LibraryMN

Britannica Online School Edition: Elementary School
Encyclopedia content for elementary grades plus multimedia, timelines, world atlas, country comparison, animal kingdom, and geography explorer
Kids InfoBits
Popular elementary school magazines as well as encyclopedias and newspapers written for kids, plus an image collection of photos, maps, and flags.
Explora Kids
Contains elementary school-appropriate magazines, encloypedias, dictionaries, and images. Includes Primary Search and Middle Search Plus databases.
eBooks MN K-5 Collection
In this exciting compilation of titles for young readers, children will learn and explore fun, vibrant books on a wide range of topics. Contains elementary school-appropriate magazines, encloypedias, dictionaries, and images. Includes Primary Search and Middle Search Plus databases.

Middle School

Britannica Online School Edition: Middle School
Encyclopedia content for middle school grades plus multimedia, timelines, world atlas, country comparison, and primary sources.

Student Resources In Context
Encyclopedia, magazine, and journal articles, plus primary sources, images, video, and more for middle and high school students. Includes Discovering Collection, Junior Reference Collection, InfoTrac Student Edition, and InfoTrac Junior Edition databases.

Points of View Reference Center
Pro vs. con essays that present multiple sides of current or controversial issues. Plus magazine and newspaper articles, primary sources, and more related to those issues.

Science Reference Center
Science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, and other sources covering numerous science topics for middle and high school students. Included in Student Research Center and Kids Search databases.

High School

Dakota County Library Databases
There are additional databases available from the Dakota County Public Library linked here.

Britannica School Edition: High School
Encyclopedia content for high school grades plus multimedia, timelines, world atlas, country comparison, and primary sources.Student Resources In Context
Encyclopedia, magazine, and journal articles, plus primary sources, images, video, and more for middle and high school students. Includes Discovering Collection, Junior Reference Collection, InfoTrac Student Edition, and InfoTrac Junior Edition databases.

Points of View Reference Center
Pro vs. con essays that present multiple sides of current or controversial issues. Plus magazine and newspaper articles, primary sources, and more related to those issues.

Science Reference Center
Science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, and other sources covering numerous science topics for middle and high school students. Included in Student Research Center and Kids Search databases.

Online Search Tips

Citations

If you have problems or a question about citation, ask your teacher or a Media Specialist.

Resources:

General MLA Guidelines

Sources used are cited on a page titled: Works Cited
Listed alphabetically
Double spaced
The second line of citations should have a hanging indent
If the information is not available for a part of a citation, move on to the next part
- For example, if there is no author or editor, leave that part off

In-Text Citations

When you use information from your sources in the body of your paper, you need to cite it properly.
Some ways to include this information include:

Use the author's last name
Use "according to"
Use direct quotes
Put the source in parenthesis at the end of the sentence

Examples:

Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
According to Johnson, there are more than 2 million turtles living in the country (24).
One man even claims that math, not space, is "one of the greatest adventures," and that it is "fully infinite" (Rothman 10).

Books

One Author
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

Two Authors
Lastname, Firstname and Firstname Lastname. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

Example
Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999. Print.

Journal or Magazine

Author, Name. “Article Title.” Title of the Journal Volume.Issue (Year): Page number(s). Print.

Internet Sources

Web page
Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Web Page or Document.” Title of Web Site. Publisher or sponsor of site (if none, use N.p.), Date of publication or update (if none, use n.d.). Web. Date accessed. <URL> (if needed).

*The content on this page was adapted from the resources from the OWL at Purdue.