Our Destiny Online Card Catalog can be accessed anywhere online. Google "BCPS Destiny" if you ever need the link, or simply click HERE.

Of Course, in school there is an icon for Destiny on the desktop of every computer.

A great feature of Destiny is the ability to search by items limited by reading level or Lexile score.  You can get more information on Lexile levels and related grade bands here.

The BCPS databases can be accessed from any computer using the link below.

http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/feebased/

If you are not on a BCPS computer, you can still access these databases. You still will need to use the above link, but you'll need to enter a user name and password for each site. You can download the PASSWORDS here. You'll need to enter your school user name and password - possibly several times, but they will eventually open in a Microsoft Word document.

Some popular sites within the BCPS databases include:

• MasterFile (which now has a link that says (Ebsco): This is a site with access to thousands of magazine articles, encyclopedia entries, and academic research articles for research. 
• World Book Advanced: Everything in the print version of World Book and more. 
• Net Trekker: Similar to a Google search, but every search result gives a readability level for the suggested site, along with a rating for its usefulness. 
• NBC Learn: Video clips from NBC News from the dawn of TV news all the way to the present day. Searchable by topic. Also has exclusive content that is designed for classroom use. 
• Safari Montage: The video content we show in classrooms is now viewable at home. Students and teachers just need to log in with their internal usernames and passwords.  

You can find information on how determine Lexile Scores and Readability from Database Resources here.

Baltimore County Public Library databases have some great content that Baltimore County Public Schools doesn't offer. To use these sites, you will need the number on the back of your BCPL library card. If you don't have a BCPL library card, see Mr. Flynn for a registration form.

BCPL's content includes:

• Zinio - This is a cool app that allows you to read popular magazines right on your computer or iPad. 
• Overdrive - This allows you to check out popular eBooks and and audio books.
• BrainFuse - Real live homework help from experts in each academic area. 
• Many, many more!!!! 

 http://www.bcpl.info/find-info/databases

Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on your blog, profile, and in email messages.

Studies show that using technology in education improves students' achievements. Voki is a unique tool to engage your students in creative expressions. As Albert Einstein once said: "It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." 

Voki Lesson Ideas    

Tagxedo is a cool web 2.0 site that allows students to enter text on any topic to create visual word clouds. These word clouds can be presented on a computer screen, displayed on a wiki, or printed.

Screencast on using Tagxedo

Tagxedo frequently asked questions

VoiceThread 

A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). Share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too.

See Mr. Flynn or Ms. Iadevaia if you'd like an account.

Here's an example of a VoiceThread. This one was created by our students in response to reading The Hunger Games.

 http://voicethread.com/share/2613654/

Tools for reluctant readers

1.  We have quite a few audio books on little MP3 players called PlayAways. Every title we have on PlayAway, we also have in print edition in case a kid wants to read along while he listens. 

Go to http://destiny.bcps.org and choose our school from the list. Do  a search for “PlayAway” to see all the titles we have available.

2.   You can check out audio books from the public library. If you stop in, they also have a bunch of titles on PlayAway, as well as titles on CD. If you do  a search of their online card catalog and find titles at other branches, they’ll even transfer them for free. 

Also, if you go to the public library website, www.bcpl.info , and click on the “Find Materials” icon, and then click on the “find eBooks and Audio Books,” there will be a link for OverDrive, which is their system that allows you to download audio books. This is a great option.

3. 

• The third option is through the BCPS databases.

http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/feebased/

In the Grade 6-12 section, click on the icon for TumbleBooks Cloud. Choose the option for Read-Alongs. This will give you titles where it shows the text and highlights it while a voice reads it.

From home, if you need a password, this is what it is:

ID = bcps
Password = login

•  Also from the  BCPS databases, I also think EBSCO Host (which some of you may know as MasterFile) is a good source for finding magazine articles or encyclopedia articles on any topic. 

http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/feebased/

From home, if you need a password, this is what it is:

ID = bcps
Password = ebsco

When using MasterFile, you need to start by choosing to “select all” so it will search in every possible place. Then, you can do a search on any topic. When you get results, you can narrow your results so you only get results that are full text, from sources you want like magazines (periodicals), from a certain timeframe, etc.

Best of all for reluctant readers, if you choose an article that has full text in html format (most do) you can choose to have the computer read the article for you.