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Search Tips |
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Ideas for the Search Tips were used and revised for use with USD259
software and computers from Mrs. Smoke's Surfin' the Web. Checkout
Mrs. Smoke's Website for additional thoughts & ideas you can use on
your home computer. |
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Search for websites,
audio & visual files, power point presentations. |
When using
Google, it’s best
to use the
Boolean Logic for internet searching. This narrows down your
topic for a quicker and more successful result.
Use quotation marks around phrases you want locked together. For
example if you are looking for sites on Johnny Appleseed for 2nd
grade, you type in the following…2nd grade “Johnny
Appleseed”. Results are instantly narrowed to avoid general
information on apples.
Use a plus sign in front of words that are the most important in a
phrase. For example, if I’m looking for websites that are interactive
on Ancient Greece, I will type in the following…Ancient
Greece +interactive.
My results bring up
interactive sites over research sites.
Use a minus sign in front of words you want to exclude from your
search. For example, if I’m looking for baseball history information
and don’t want the flying mammal, I will type in the following…baseball
history –mammal. This will exclude all the animal results.
To search for a PowerPoint
presentation type in "Johnny Appleseed"ppt. This will bring up sites for
any already completed power point presentations. |
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Four Nets (NEW) |
Four techniques to become a better web searcher. Each
will provide you with a better net for information catching. |
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Seven Steps (NEW) |
Seven steps for better searching is another way to search
more effectively |
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Web
sources for educators
(NEW) |
Media specialists resources and more |
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There are a few keywords you can type at the end of your phrases that do
help when searching for sites to use with your students. |
| Interactive |
This
locates sites that require students to manipulate something on the web.
These are usually the most engaging sites for students. |
| Flash |
These are sites
that require the use of Macromedia Flash. Often these are also
interactive. |
| Hotlist |
A hotlist is a
list of hyperlinks built by another Web author or teacher for public
distribution on the Web. These are the most functional to locate a
wealth of resources in the quickest amount of time. |
| Webquest |
These are
project-based lessons for students to conduct research and produce a
final product for you. Teachers all across the world have created
webquests that can be used with your students.
**Warning: If you do plan to use a previously
made webquest, please take the time to ask the author for his permission
to share with your students. |
| Thinkquest |
Thinkquests are
similar to webquests, except they are usually research driven only and
they are written by students. They do not ask students to produce a
final product, but they do offer good information. |
| Printable |
This keyword
searches for worksheets that you can download and share with your
students. |
| .jpg or .gif |
These will help
you look for images on your topic. For example, if I typed in Johnny
appleseed .jpg, the results will be narrowed to images. |
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When you are looking for audio or video files, consider
using
www.altavista.com. This search engine allows you to specifically
locate multimedia files simply by clicking on either the audio or video
tab. |
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Warning – if you do not have Real Media
Player installed, you will need to remove the green checkmark from the
FORMCHECKBOX Real choice. These show up at .rma files and will not
play on your machine. |
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Warning – When downloading audio or
video from the web, please consider the
copyright fair use guidelines
about using these in your classroom. |
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When
you are starting with a large topic that you need to narrow down,
consider using
www.kartoo.com. This is a
meta-search
engine with visuals that works
great with kids since it runs all on icons. |
| Once you have
typed in your request, the Kartoo Genie shows up to search the web for
results. |
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Here are a few other locations you can employ to help
find useful sites |
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AOL School |
This is a free site
for students and teachers to locate resources for classroom use. If you
click on Teachers, you can search specifically for lesson plans on a
topic. |
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Ethemes |
Missouri teachers
as part of their eMints program have created hundreds of hotlists that
are ready for you to use. Simply type in the topic you are studying
(i.e. fractions) and a list of sites will appear. |
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Blue Web’n from SBC |
Search here for hotlists, or create a new one for your class. |
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Education World |
Find anything here
from lesson plans to worksheets to websites. This is an outstanding
resource. |
