SIRS Researcher

SIRS Researcher is an excellent source to use with older students. I think that it would be useable for 5th graders on up if the students have a good background in research. The amount of information is terrific. I like the way you can find the pros/ cons. This would be the best way for most of the subjects to be presented and it would make students do some critical thinking.
The curriculum pathfinders are awesome! Very interesting to just peruse and again a wealth of information. I think that I should spend a lot of time exploring these so that I can decide the best way to introduce these to students, and to find out all of the possibilites.

Sirs Discover

This resource is geared toward the younger students. It is very easy to use and the vocabulary will be suitable for the younger student. When looking up armadillo, there are several very good articles. The first article and several others include pictures. The basic information about size, color, habitat, habits are found in the articles, so all the basics are covered.

The country facts are very useful. I like the idea of the graphic organizers for the very young, and then progressively more informative.

I would use the different maps for country identification. If a class is studying South America, the outline map could be printed off, and then students could lable the countries.

I would also use the teacher resources. There is no end to what is possible with this source.

World Book

World Book Kids is something that I will definitely use more now that I have learned more about it. I will be able to collaborate with the primary teachers to use it. The animal feature will be very useable with young students, as will the the feature that enables students to hear the information read.
Having the different World Books for the various age groups is great. Vocabulary and information is appropriate for each age and grade group. Again the spoken feature is great. Another wonderful feature is the citation and teacher resources.