Competency #7--Internet

Image Source: Poets.org (http://www.poets.org/)

The website I chose to add to my blog is Poets.org.
(http://www.poets.org/). This site is a product of the
Academy of American Poets, which was created to “support
American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the
appreciation of contemporary poetry” (from the Poets.org
website). On this site, one can search for a particular poem
or poet. There are daily poems, weekly features, poems for
all occasions, and a calendar of poetry events across the
nation.

One section of the website is devoted to educators and
includes curriculum units, lesson plans, essays on teaching,
a discussion forum, poems to teach, tips for teaching, links
to other resources, information on classroom Poetry Read-a-
Thons, and a National Poetry Month page.

I located this site by searching WorldCat for internet
resources. I searched for “poetry” AND “classroom” with a
limiter of English language. Poets.org was one of 54 hits
returned.

I have added the RSS feed from this site to my blog.

Competency #6--Multimedia

Photo Source: Famous-Poems.biz
http://www.famous-poems.biz/Shel_Silverstein/Shel-Silverstein-poems-biography-poetry-collection-free-online.html

I found the photo above by searching Google Images for
"Shel Silverstein."

The creative genius of poet Shel Silverstein has inspired
others to create their own versions of his work. I selected
these eight videos of interpretations of Silverstein poems
(plus a bonus clip of Silverstein and country legend Johnny
Cash singing “A Boy Named Sue,” which was written by
Silverstein) from the many available on YouTube.

I located these videos by using Google. I searched for
YouTube and then in the YouTube search box, I entered
“Shel Silverstein.” These are some of the hits I got.

Enjoy!

“Whatif”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plxOibb0L0s

“Crocodile’s Toothache”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN8PfuyowG0

“We’re Out of Paint, So….”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIpjpUBmNSw

“Where the Sidewalk Ends”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGvESpEeyr4

“Camp Wonderful”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmYXXoDY0Vs

“Ickle Me Pickle Me Tickle Me Too”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9vBay8Zwk4

“Boa Constrictor”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6VKCuGwdbE

“Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_mxsjHrMmY

“Jimmy Jet and His TV Set”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVzPDXOpSEY

“Smart”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6FYapcrlOE

“Shel Silverstein” (with Johnny Cash)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npVZEOzotCE

Competency #5--Databases (part 5)

General Reflections on the Databases and Search Strategies

After using the four search strategies discussed in my earlier
posts, I think that each one is useful at different times and in
different circumstances. Building Block and Successive
Fraction seem to be the easiest to use if a search needs to be
narrowed since they allow the searcher to add more facets or
limiters until the resources retrieved are truly relevant to the
searcher’s needs. Citation Pearl Growing is a good tool when
the searcher has a good article or source already and wants
similar materials or materials by the same author or from the
same publication. Browsing is a good tool when the searcher
has only a vague idea of what kinds of resources are available
or has only a general knowledge of the subject since many
different kinds of resources may be discovered while
browsing.

One kind of search technique may lead to another. For
example, a searcher may start out by browsing, find
useful information, and then proceed to citation pearl growing.

The different databases are also useful for different purposes
and in different ways. Books in Print is excellent if one needs
to find what books are available on a certain topic, but not as
useful if one needs immediate information. ERIC and Library
Lit, and Academic Search Complete provide readily available
information on topics of interest to librarians, but are not as
good as Books in Print if the searcher is looking for help in
building a collection. I found the databases listed above to be
more user-friendly than some of the others that I looked at.

In summary, I think it is important to know about different
search strategies and different databases because each one
may be useful. The challenge is in matching the strategy, the
database, and the information need so that the best possible
search results are obtained.

Competency #5--Databases (part 4)

Database: Books in Print (BIP)
Search Strategy: Citation Pearl Growing

To begin this search, I used an article that I had found in a
previous search of Academic Search Complete. The article was:

Johnson,Walter H., Joseph Sottile, and Charlotte R. Witting.
"What One Activity Would You Recommend to Teachers Who
Are Nervous about Teaching Poetry?." English Journal 96, no. 1
(2006): 23-24. (Accession Number: 22428852)

The subject terms for that article were:

*ACTIVITY programs in education
*POETRY -- Study & teaching
*SONNETS
*TEACHING methods
*EDUCATION -- Experimental methods
*MUSIC & literature

I chose to search BIP using the Advanced Search
option. I used the term “Poetry – Study & teaching” from my
original article and found 471 hits.

One of the hits was for this book:
Steinman,Lisa M. Invitation to Poetry: The Pleasures of
Studying Poetry and Poetics. Boston: Wiley-Blackwell, 2007.
These subjects are listed for this book:

POETICS

POETRY_STUDY AND TEACHING
LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Study & Teaching

LITERARY CRITICISM / Poetry

The subject headings are hyperlinked so that clicking on them
takes the user to other books on the same subject. Since I had
already used Poetry – Study & teaching, I clicked on “Poetics”
and found 1,282 results.

Language Arts & Disciplines/Study & Teaching produced
15,412 hits, while Literary Criticism/Poetry produced 22,264.
Obviously, those results would have to be refined and limited
in some way to be useful, but it is clear that Citation Pearl
Gathering can broaden a search as much as is necessary to
find the desired results.

Searching Books in Print was different than the other searches
I have done because I was searching for books about poetry
rather than articles. The Citation Pearl Gathering strategy was
still useful because it gave me ideas about other search terms
that I could use. BIP makes that process very easy by using
hyperlinks. I discovered that Academic Search Complete
also has a feature that encourages pearl gathering—a tab that
invites the searcher to “Find More Like This.” I don’t think it
would be possible to ever completely exhaust the possibilities
of a pearl gathering search. There would always be another
search term to try. The searcher just has to decide when he or
she has enough information.

Competency #5--Databases (part 3)

Database: Library Literature (Library Lit or Lib Lit)
Search Strategy: Browsing

After accessing the Library Lit database, I clicked on the “Browse”
tab. I used “poetry” as the search term and searched it as a subject.
There were several areas that were of interest to me. They were:

Poetry 273 hits
Poetry/Awards 26 hits
Poetry Databases 5 hits
Poetry Exhibits and Displays 15 hits
Poetry Book Club 1 hit
Poetry Festivals 8 hits
Poetry Reading 33 hits




When search results are returned, tabs at the top of the screen give
the choice of viewing all results, full-text, full-text PDF, peer-
reviewed, or non peer-reviewed.

One interesting article that I had not seen in my previous searches
was about having students write a biographical poem. It was:

Borum, Vera and La Dawna Harrington. "Celebrate Women,
Celebrate Poetry!" The School Librarian's Workshop 27, no. 2
(2006): 11-12. (Accession Number: 200628800765006)



Another was about using poetry to teach nutrition. It was:

Keefe, Betty. "Language Arts/Nutrition: Yum-Yum Poems!!!."
School Library Media Activities Monthly 23, no. 8 (2007): 21-24.
(Accession Number: 200709100762007)

I would classify the kind of browsing that I did as semi-directed
or exploratory since I knew the kind of information I was
looking for, but not a specific term or article.

Browsing is probably not the most efficient search technique.
Many of the records returned did not deal with schools or
teaching methods, but browsing has the advantage of finding
articles or hits that the searcher did not know to look for.
Several databases can be searched simultaneously. It is also
an enjoyable way to search since many interesting records are
returned.

Competency #5--Databases (part 2)

Database: Academic Search Complete
Search Strategy: Successive Fractions

My first search term was “poetry”. That term yielded 122,854 hits.
I modified my search by adding a second term—“schools,” which
reduced the number of hits to 4,003. I added a third term, “teaching
methods,” and got 22 hits.

One of those hits was--
Bafumo, Mary E. "Pass the Poetry." Teaching Pre K-8 35, no. 7
(2005): 8-10. (Accession Number: 16488993)

Successive Fractions searching is useful for limiting the number of
hits received and for narrowing the focus of a search, especially when
one is dealing with a broad topic. Terms can be added until the focus
of the search becomes narrowly focused so that the hits received are
relevant and useful.

Competency #5--Databases (part 1)

Database: ERIC/Ebscohost
Search Strategy: Building Block

S1 (poetry OR rhyme ) AND

S2 (encourag* OR promot*) AND

S3 (high school OR middle school).

Limiters: January 1998 to July 2008

My search produced 33 hits.

One hit that looked especially interesting was this one--

Reyes, Gerald T. "Finding the Poetic High: Building a Spoken Word Poetry Community and Culture of Creative, Caring, and Critical Intellectuals." Multicultural Education 14, no. 2 (2006): 10-15. (EJ759646)




The Building Block strategy is helpful for focusing a search on
specific areas. Had I just searched (poetry) AND (schools), I
would have gotten 2210 hits.

The Building Block strategy is also useful because looking at the
subject terms for hits returned is a good way to find synonyms
that can be used to refine or modify a search.