Livingston Lord Library
Curriculum Materials Center

Resources for Focus Units
Materials Available at the Livingston Lord Library
Minnesota State University Moorhead
 

1.Selecting an Individual or Collective Biography

a.Internet databases

i.Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature—This is an Internet resource that allows use to create your own book list.You can select age level ranges and topics. To locate this database, go to the Library home page web.mnstate.edu/library and click on “Curriculum Materials Center.”Then, click on “Internet Links,” choose “Children’s Literature” from the list and scroll down until you see the database.

ii.Horn Book Guide Online.This electronic database is accessible in the same way as the one listed above.

b.Selection Aids/Bibliographies—Use any of the following for a list of recommended biographies.These books are in the CMC Reference collection.

i.Best Books for Children: Preschool through Grade 6 (Curric. Ref. 010 G478b 2002). Biographies are listed on pages 581-683.Brief descriptions and grade level ranges are included for each book.

ii.Children’s Catalog (Located in a book holder on top of the CMC Reference stacks).Biographies are listed on pages 332-375.Brief descriptions and grade level ranges are included for each book.There are also annual updates available which list the newer books.

iii.Middle and Junior High School Library Catalog (Curric. Ref. 028.52 M627 2000).Biographies are listed on pages 286-365.Brief descriptions and grade level ranges are included for each book.There are also annual updates available which list the newer books.

iv.The Elementary School Library Collection (Located in a book holder on top of the CMC Reference stacks).Biographies are listed on pages 362-396.Brief descriptions, grade level ranges, and the book’s reading level are included.

c.Choose from the list on the CMC web page at http://web.mnstate.edu/cmc/Instruction/EECE/NewBiographiesChildren.cfm

2.Selecting Additional Books

a.Use the bibliographies listed above to locate books on additional topics.

b.Use WebPals, the Library on-line catalog.Be sure to add the word Juvenile to your keyword search.You need to be sure these books fit your grade level range.

3.Biographical Information on your author

a.Something about the Author (Curric. Ref. 920.03 S696).Look up your author in the index of the last odd numbered volume.This will tell you what volume your author is in.Look in the volume; names are in alphabetical order.

b.Junior Authors and Illustrators.This is an on-line resource.Go to the CMC home page at http://web.mnstate.edu/cmc/ and click on “K-12 Databases.”Scroll down until you can click on Junior Authors and Illustrators. This source will give you some full-text information on many of your authors.

4.Book Talk Resources

a.Booktalk!Z716.3 B6 (Library 4th floor)

b.Booktalk! 2.Z716.3 B63 1985 (Library 4th floor)

c.Booktalk! 3.Z716.3 .B635 1988 (Library 4th floor)

d.Booktalk! 4.Z716.3 .B637 1992 (Library 4th floor)

e.Booktalking.(Video available for preview in the AV Center on 1st floor of the Library)

f.Booktalking that Works.Z718.5 .B76 2001

g.Booktalking the Award Winners.Z1037 .A2 B66

h.The New Booktalker.Curric. Ref. 021.7 N532

i.Two Way Booktalks to Read and to Perform.Curric. Text 800 B73T97

5.Locating Additional Resources for Your Unit

a.Pictures—Browse in the CMC picture files under your topics.Pictures can also be searched on WebPALS; ask a librarian for help.

b.Audiocassettes—Do a keyword search on WebPALS and then limit your search to sound recordings.

c.Video Tapes—Do a keywork search on WebPals and then limit your search to video tapes.

d.Plays

i.Best Books for Children.Curric. Ref. 010 G478b.Look in the table of contents to find the list of plays.

ii.Index to Children’s Plays in Collections.Curric. Ref. 808.82 T786i 1986

iii.Plays for Children and Young Adults.Curric. Ref. 016.812 K18p

iv.Browse in the juvenile classified book section under the call numbers 812 and 821.

v.For plays in children’s magazines, look in Children’s Magazine Guide under plays.See g. below for more details.

  1. Also, browse in the children's magazine, Plays, located in the 2nd floor periodicals collection.

e.CD-ROMS—Consult the list entitled “Computer Software.”To find this list on the Internet, go to the Library home page and click on Curriculum Materials Center.Then, click on “bibliographies” to find this list.

f.Poetry

i.Look up your topic in the poetry indexes in the CMC Reference collection, call number Curric. Ref. 808.81

ii.Do a keyword search in WebPALS under your topic and the words juvenile poetry.

iii.Use the "Kids’ Korner" of Poem Finder.Locate this electronic resource from the Library home page.Click on “Internet and Electronic Sources”; then click on “p” in the alphabetical list.Click on the poetry option and then choose “Kids’ Korner.”Some poems will be available in full-text; others will cite the book in which the poem can be found.

g.Children’s Magazines

i.Look up your topic in an index entitled Children’s Magazine Guide, which is located in the CMC Reference section. The newest issues of children’s magazines are on display in the CMC.Children’s magazines for the current year are at the 1st floor Periodicals Desk.Back issues are on 2nd floor with the rest of the periodicals and are shelved in alphabetical order by title of the magazine.

ii.There is a separate index to Cobblestone: The History Magazine for Young People and the call number is Curric. Ref. 011.34 C673

6.Resources for Activity Ideas—Consult the list “Creative Ideas for Encouraging Students to Respond to Literature: A Bibliography.”This list is available on the Internet.To locate it, follow the same directions as you did above for the list of Computer Software in 5e above.


Compiled by Carol H. Sibley, Curriculum Librarian, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead, Minnesota, 02/03.