BPL Virtual Resources Spotlight: Middle and High School Online Learning
By Caleb West | Central Library
BACKGROUND: Today is Part V of the BPL Virtual Resources Spotlight, a new blog highlighting the Birmingham Public Library’s vast free online resources available to serve the public. Earlier this week, we shared links to our resources for Pre K through 5th grade students.
Today, we examine BPL's online learning resources for 6th through 12th graders.
The Birmingham Public Library is ALWAYS open 24/7 through our FREE online digital resources. For more about BPL’s virtual resources, click here http://www.bplonline.org/virtual/
Birmingham, Ala. - The value of our virtual resources has been elevated the past few months during the COVID-19 pandemic. BPL has continued to serve the public through our free online resources and by creating new virtual programming.
This week we spotlight our BPL Pre K-5 elementary online learning resources (and like free-access links), which provide access to educational resources online testing, classes, direct-teacher interaction from BPL and government sponsored sources.
All resources below are also available on the Birmingham Public Library website page (www.cobpl.org) and on our Digital Library page http://www.bplonline.org/virtual/. Except where indicated, these services are restricted to Birmingham city residents with active library cards.
Many digital resources are also provided by the state of Alabama - Alabama Virtual Library (AVL), the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS), and the Jefferson County Library Cooperative, a partnership of 40 libraries in Jefferson County including Birmingham's 19 locations.
For a link to all of BPL's online resources for middle school students, click here http://www.bplonline.org/virtual/databases/default.aspx?p=5&q=2
For a link to all of BPL's online resources for high school students, click here http://www.bplonline.org/virtual/databases/default.aspx?p=5&q=3
Here is a spotlight on some of our most popular news digital resources for middle and high-school students:
Homework Alabama - Live Homework Help
Click here https://aplsws1.apls.state.al.us/aplsnew/homework/
Description: The Homework Alabama Live online service, HomeworkAlabama.org, offers free homework help from subject specialists in Math, Science, Social Studies, and English. It assists students in Grades 4-12 and College Intro.
Homework Alabama also provides resume writing help and more for adults. HomeworkAlabama.org is provided free of charge to all residents of Alabama by APLS (the State Library of Alabama) and your local Public Library with a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Available Sunday - Thursday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available.
LearningExpress Library
Click here http://www.learningexpresshub.com/learningexpresslibrary
Description: Skill-building and test preparation materials for standardized tests. Interactive practice exams based on official exams. Scoring and analysis of practice test responses. Basic skills, college preparatory, civil service, GED, and some specific careers.
Career Preparation - Make your work goals a reality - start a new career or advance in your current field.
High School Equivalency Center - Guided support and preparation to help you earn a high school equivalency credential.
College Admissions Test Preparation - Prepare for important exams like the ACT, SAT, AP Tests, and more.
School Center - Skill-building resources for classroom and homework success.
College Students - Achieve your undergrad goals and prepare for future success.
Adult Core Skills - Achieve your personal education and career goals.
Computer Skills Center - Video courses to learn popular software and computer basics.
Requires a JCLC card.
Check out this BPL YouTube video tutorial on the LearningExpress Library by clicking here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBA3YFEakdE
Check out this BPL YouTube video tutorial focused on how LearningExpress Library can help students on the ASVAB test (the Armed Services Vocational Battery) by clicking here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiK2Kba46Vs
Read the Books
Description: Readthebooks.com covers K-8 grades. It contains reading lists for Birmingham area schools. You can find books to read by topic or reading level. The majority of the books are Accelerated Reader (AR) books. Publicly Available. Remote Access Available.
Mango Languages
Description: Mango is an online language learning system that teaches real conversation skills for practical communication. Through fun and engaging interactive lessons, Mango makes learning a new language fast, easy and incredibly effective. The system is completely web-based and remotely accessible, so you can learn anywhere you have an internet connection. As you listen to and repeat after native speakers, you'll learn more than just words and phrases. You'll learn how those pieces can be rearranged and combined to make new thoughts, new conversations, and even more practical communication!
Language options include more than you can shake a stick at. You can even learn to speak Pirate. Ingles Para Hablantes De Espanol.
New features include watching full-length foreign films (Mango Premiere) and a native Android and Apple Store application that you can link to your library-authenticated Mango account. Prosze Bardzo! Requires a JCLC card and residence in Birmingham, AL.
Pronunciator
Description: Learn 87 languages with Pronunciator. Each language course has on average 9,600 instructional phrases. Many languages also have live teachers to provide one-to-one instructions. It allows users to learn any language in virtually any other language. This resource has four types of ESL (American, Australian, British and Canadian) for speakers of 55 non-English languages. Provided by the Alabama Virtual Library. Requires a JCLC card.
BBC Languages
Click here http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/
Description: Learn words and phrases in several languages. Site includes facts about the languages and the societies that speak them. Publicly Available.
Oxford African Americans Studies Center
Click here https://oxfordaasc.com/
Description: The Oxford African American Studies Center provides students, teachers, and scholars with an authoritative and comprehensive source on the African American experience. The site is comprised of five major encyclopedias and content from 18 additional resources from Oxford University Press, including more than 8,000 articles by top scholars in the field. The Oxford African American Studies Center combines the authority of carefully edited reference works with sophisticated technology to create the most comprehensive collection of scholarships available to focus on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture.
Requires a JCLC card and residence in Birmingham, AL. Check out this guided tour by clicking here.
African American History Online
Description: African American History Online covers topics such as affirmative action, Africa, black nationalism, civil rights, emancipation, free blacks, the Harlem Renaissance, migrations, racial violence and hate crimes, religion, slave living conditions, slave liberation strategies, social work and philanthropy, sports, and visual arts. BPL has seen a surge in interest in our books and online resources on race and social justice since the death of George Floyd.
Requires a JCLC card. Check out this BPL on YouTube video tutorial on African American History Online by clicking here.
Explora (AKA Kids Search, Student Research Center)
Click here http://web.a.ebscohost.com/web/ehpl/home?preview=false&usrNo=-25233933
Description: EBSCO's new database interface designed for elementary and middle school students. Replaces Searchasaurus, Kids Search, and Student Research Center. Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available.
Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
Click here https://bensguide.gpo.gov/Description: Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids provides learning tools for K-12 students, parents, and teachers. These resources will teach how our government works, the use of the primary source materials of GPO Access, and how one can use GPO Access to carry out their civic responsibilities. Just as GPO Access provides locator services to U.S. Government sites, Ben's Guide provides a similar service to U.S. Government Web sites developed for kids.
Britannica Digital Learning e-books
Click here http://eb.pdn.ipublishcentral.com/bookshelf
Description: Britannica offers hundreds of full-color and black-and-white nonfiction and circulating reference e-books, ranging from pre-K to academic. Offline reading is supported for all titles and requires a one-time download of the iPublishCentral Reader App. Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available.
Britannica Online School Edition
Click here https://www.jclc.org/c/auth/en/EBJCLC.aspx?desturl=school
Description: Britannica Online School Edition offers teachers and students access to three complete encyclopedias, the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Britannica Student Encyclopedia and the Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia that ensure consistency with classroom-topics and age-appropriate language. Teacher and student tools are also included such as video, media, journals, magazines, interactive activity guides, lesson plans, an Internet guide and downloadable student activities.
The School Edition has 118,000 articles, 22,000 images, 2,000 video clips, 24,000 biographies and detailed maps of 196 countries. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus and Spotlight features are also a part of this resource.
Tumblebooks ebooks for Kids
Click here https://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/Home.aspx?categoryID=77
Description: Britannica offers hundreds of full-color and black-and-white nonfiction and circulating reference e-books, ranging from pre-K to academic. Offline reading is supported for all titles and requires a one-time download of the iPublishCentral Reader App. Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available.
Encyclopedia of Animals
Click here http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/command/detail?vid=0&sid=2ffb9d95-1e75-459c-b4ca-10354a5ef53b%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#jid=EHJ&db=mih
Description: The complete text of EBSCO's Encyclopedia of Animals available in a searchable database, including general informational articles, taxonomic classifications, and photographs of thousands of animal species. Available through Kid's Search.
Explora (AKA Kids Search, Student Research Center)
Click here http://web.a.ebscohost.com/web/ehpl/home?preview=false&usrNo=-25233933
Description: EBSCO's new database interface designed for elementary and middle school students. Replaces Searchasaurus, Kids Search, and Student Research Center. Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available.
New World Encyclopedia (Funk & Wagnalls)
Click here http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/search/basic?vid=0&sid=74947d01-7c9d-412a-a401-5f5902f379ab%40sessionmgr101
Description: For students and adults alike, the New World Encyclopedia indexes over 25,000 full-text articles covering an array of topics. The database contains images, brief biographies and information in a variety of subject areas. Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available.
Kids InfoBits
Click here https://go.gale.com/ps/start.do?p=ITKE&u=bpl50399 https://go.gale.com/ps/start.do?p=ITKE&u=bpl50399
Description: Kids InfoBits meets the research needs of students in Kindergarten through Grade 5. It features a developmentally appropriate, visually graphic interface, a subject-based topic tree search and full-text, age-appropriate, curriculum-related magazine, newspaper and reference content for information on current events, the arts, science, health, people, government, history, sports and more. Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available.
Click here https://www.nfl.com/causes/play60
Description: These are difficult times for everyone. With the recent school closures happening across the country due to COVID-19, we understand things are getting even harder. The NFL, alongside our charitable partners, is making free digital education resources available to teachers, parents, and students to help ease a bit of the burden. Our hope is that these online resources provide you and the students in your life with support to lead a healthy and well-rounded lifestyle despite the disruption of these unprecedented times. Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available.
PebbleGo
Click here https://site.pebblego.com/modules
Description: Animals and Science. Emergent Reader Resource Solution. Each database features expertly-leveled text and navigation specifically designed for your beginning researchers. Enriched with spoken-word audio, text highlighting and audio/video media, PebbleGo builds a foundation of research skills for every learner. Requires a JCLC card. Full Text Available. Remote Access Available.
Sense-lang.org-Typing Tutorials, Tests and Games
Click here https://sense-lang.org/
Description: Learn how to touch type with with tutorials, tests, games and more. Publicly available.
Alabama Mosaic
Click here http://www.alabamamosaic.org/
Description: Alabama Mosaic (Alabama's Digitization Project) is a work in progress. A number of collections are available for browsing and searching. More collections will be added in the near future. The purpose of Alabama Mosaic is to make unique historical treasures from Alabama's archives, libraries, museums, and other repositories electronically accessible to Alabama residents as well as scholars throughout the world. Publicly available.
InfoTrac Student Edition
Click here http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/bpl50399?db=STOM
Description: Magazines, newspapers and reference books (most are full-text). Information on current events, the arts, science, popular culture, health, people, government, history, sports, etc. Requires a JCLC card.
Merriam-Webster Online
Click here https://www.merriam-webster.com/
Description: English Language Dictionary. Publicly available.
Sparticl - the best science on the web
Click here http://www.sparticl.org/
Sparticl - the best science on the web
Click here http://www.sparticl.org/
Description: Sparticl is a new web and mobile service for teens, a collection of the very best the web has to offer in science, technology, engineering, and math or STEM. Sparticl includes answers to science questions, images, videos, games, and the hands-off activities, all curated by a team of experts. Publicly available.
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