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English Language Arts Toolkit

What are the links to the curriculum?
What's available for Elementary students?
What's available for Secondary students?
What are some sample lesson plans?
What are some specific journals and magazines?

By providing a variety of magazine articles and primary source documents students have many opportunities to compare within and among texts, contrast, analyze and evaluate information. Students can do this with:

• articles from different publications and by different authors
• articles written in different time periods giving perspective
• a wide variety of articles on a specific topic

What are the links to the Curriculum?

Reading and Viewing

• K - 7:  Read and view to comprehend and respond to a variety of grade-appropriate texts

• 8 - 12:  Read and view both collaboratively and independently to comprehend a variety of information and persuasive texts with some complexity of ideas and form, such as, articles and reports, magazines and newspapers, electronic reference material and opinion-based material, broadcast media, web sites, graphic novels, films and videos, photographs, art, visual components of print media

Writing and Representing

• K - 7:  Write and represent to create a variety of meaningful personal, informational, and imaginative texts

• 8 - 12:  Write and represent to interpret and analyze ideas and information from texts, by – making and supporting judgments – examining and comparing ideas and elements within and among texts – identifying points of view – identifying bias and contradictions.

Communications 11

• identify various techniques of persuasion in a variety of works, including workplace communications
• explain how perspectives and biases are reflected in print and non-print resources, including electronic communications
• compare different sources of information on the same topic
• identify ways in which mass media influences individual perceptions and social behaviour

EBSCOhost, Word Book and Encyclopedia of BC have primary and secondary source documents that support the BC Curriculum. Primary sources include things like a copy of the 95 Edits that Martin Luther posted on the door of the cathedral, the US Declaration of War against Japan in WW II, or extracts from the Magna Carta. Secondary sources are more general works that interpret and analyze primary sources.

What is available for Elementary students?

• Primary Sources
  
  
  1. World Book Advanced - Check out E-books for lists of stories of the same genre, or for a list of books by the same author. Using the full text stories gives the students the opportunity to read, or have read to them, stories that are no longer readily available in print. The stories are original copies not newer or abridged versions.
     
     

     For example:
     

     • A search for tales by Hans Christian Anderson will lead you to his original version of very familiar stories. Students could discuss the similarities between his original works and today’s more popular versions
     
     
     • Search for books by Louisa May Alcott and have students compare the differences between today’s “books for girls” and Miss Alcott’s stories.

  2. CPI.Q. - CPI.Q. is a very useful database for the English Language Arts subject area. Besides the many current events documented in Newspapers and Periodicals, there are many Magazine articles that can be used to supplement any of your English Language Arts lessons and materials. Studying the "Kite Runner" with your class? By searching for "Afghanistan" and then limiting your results by Publication, allows you to select articles and news reports that are appropriate for your class that can supplement their learning with current and accurate information. Saving this specialized search as a email allows you to share this with your class at any time!



• Secondary Sources
  
  
  1. World Book Student – Look here for articles relating to the people and places and times in the novels being studied, biographies of the authors. Use the interactive Atlas to find out "where in the world" the story or event takes place
     
     
  2. World Book Kids: Look for articles relating to the people and places and times in the novels being studied. You can also use the Activities section to provide extension activities for your students. Make your own book; try your hand at writing with the Fairytale machine
  
  
  
  3. Novelist K–8: Look for summaries of stories on a similar theme or in the same genre. Students could check for other titles on a similar theme or more titles in the series and develop a proposed reading list and rationale.
  
  
  
  4. There are many resources in the CPI.Q. database that can be used specifically as Secondary Sources to help your students get the bigger picture surrounding events and issues they maybe studying in your class. By supplementing your classroom materials with this electronic database, students can learn about related issues, summaries and background about their topic. This can be a great tool for students to explore and expand their topic using Magazine articles, Multimedia and news opinion pieces. When doing an "Advanced Search", be sure to limit the results by lexile score so that you find appropriate age-related materials.

What is available for Secondary students?

• Primary Sources
  
  
  1. World Book Advanced: In E-books, look for stories from the same genre, or Primary source documents such as treaties, declarations of war etc.
  
  
  
  2. EBSCOhost: In Middle Search Plus, a search for books relating to the Holocaust brings you to a list of original accounts taken from the anthology Holocaust: The Voices & Faces of History's Great Tragedy
     
     
  3. In EBSCOhost in Canadian Student Research Centre, students can easily limit their search to specific types of mass media such as newspapers, or radio and TV news transcripts. This allows them to analyze the differing perspectives offered on the same topic.
  
  
  
  
  
  4. CPI.Q. is most useful for your Secondary Students in helping them find current and accurate Primary sources to support and inform their research. Because this database is exclusively Canadian Content, students will be able to search and find articles and news reports about events that happened very recently and close to home. Students are then able to discuss the impacts of these current events on the bigger picture of their research. Almost all full-text articles and reports have images and multimedia components associated with them. These resources will be very useful and valuable to your Secondary Students when learning about the world around them.



• Secondary Sources
  
  
  1. Encyclopedia of British Columbia : Look for articles relating to the Japanese relocation in WW II which includes a copy of the Order–in-Council calling for their removal.
  
  
  
  2. EBSCOhost Research Databases
     • MasterFILE Premier – biographies
     • Canadian Reference Centre – periodicals, reference, biography
     • Middle Search Plus – middle school magazines, biography
     • Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia
  
  
  3. Novelist and Novelist K-8 – for access to lists of stories on a similar subject or theme
  
  
  
  4. Just like the Primary Sources, CPI.Q. has many reflective pieces that can help your Secondary Students dig deeper into the issues and research topic and gain a better understanding of not just the most recent events, but how the whole picture has been developed. By including thousands of Journals and Academic resources, CPI.Q. allows your students to access both Primary and Secondary sources from the same database, in the same search interface.

What are some sample lesson plans?

These lesson plans are based on the Research Quest model, developed by the BC Teacher-librarians’ Association. This model builds information literacy and critical thinking skills and includes the following stages:

• Focus
• Find and Filter
• Work with the Information
• Communicate
• Reflect
• Teacher Notes

For more information on the Research Quest Model and how to integrate into the classroom, go to pages 11-16 of the Getting Started with Integrating ICT: A Guide for Teachers (PDF 6 MB).

Use these sample lessons as templates to help develop your own lessons:

Grade 6: Survival - as an introduction to or follow-up after the reading of "Hatchet."	Critical Question:You have the opportunity to take part in a survival adventure and have a week to collect and pack your essential items. What 5 items would you take and why?
Grade 8: Children in War activity to follow the reading of non-fiction books on that theme.	Critical Question: You will be writing letters to an International Aid agency describing your situation as a child living in a war situation. In your letter you will ask for help in easing the specific conditions in which you find yourself. What type of help do you most need? Choose a conflict from any country that has occurred since 1900.

What are some specific journals and magazines?

Here is a list of just a few of the Language Arts specific periodicals for k-12 in EBSCOhost. To search for a specific periodical, please refer to the Basics Toolkit.

1. Reading Teacher
2. World Literature Today
3. Fantasy and Science Fiction
4. Plays – The Drama Magazine for Young People
5. Reader’s Digest
6. BookLinks
7. Hornbook Magazine

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