LibGuides: Plymouth Middle School Library and Learning Commons: Research

All subjects

BrainPop (Clever login, all BrainPop platforms) This link opens in a new window BrainPOP creates animated, curricular content that engages students, supports educators, and bolsters achievement. Login with G Suite. Teachers: Ask your library media specialist for your code. Students: ask your teacher for the code.
Britannica Escolar This link opens in a new window Este portal le ofrece recursos de referencia en español en dos interfaces exclusivas — cada una con una enciclopedia adaptada al lector: Enciclopedia Moderna para adultos y estudiantes y Britannica Escolar Online para estudiantes de 6 a 12 años de edad.
Britannica School This link opens in a new window Offers general information at three educational levels: elementary, middle and high.

Canva

PebbleGo / PebbleGo Next This link opens in a new window Early grades: PebbleGo Animals, Animales (español), Science, Ciencia (español), Biographies, Biografías (español), Social Studies, Estudios Sociales (español), Dinosaurs, & Health, Salud (español). 3rd - 6th grade : PebbleGo Next States, Science, American Indian History, Social Studies, Biographies

eBooks Middle School

MackinVIA Ebooks & Audiobooks This link opens in a new window Find ebooks and audiobooks on a wide variety of topics. Includes popular fiction. To login, pull-down the menu to your school and enter your school network username and password.
Tumble Book Library This link opens in a new window Animated, talking picture books. Kindergarten - Gr. 5. Highlighted text. Some titles in Spanish and French. All Tumblebooks are also available in MackinVia.

Libraries

Rdale Library catalogs - All schools This link opens in a new window Access library catalogs for all schools. Locate print and electronic books across the district including our professional library. Find open educational resources by grade level and subject.
Hennepin County Library Catalog This link opens in a new window
WorldCat (National Libraries) This link opens in a new window Find items in local, regional and national libraries. Items may be available for inter library loan. Ask you library media specialist.

Coding

Code.org Code.org® is an education innovation nonprofit dedicated to the vision that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science as part of their core K-12 education. We expand access to computer science in schools, with a focus on increasing participation by young women and students from other underrepresented groups.
Code Monkey CodeMonkey is an AWARD-WINNING online platform that teaches kids real coding languages like CoffeeScript and Python. Children and teenagers learn block-based and text-based coding through an engaging game-like environment.
CodeSpark Academy codeSpark’s mission is to help all kids learn to code by igniting their curiosity in computer science and turning programming into play. Our award-winning app is designed to teach kids 5 and up the foundations of computer science through puzzles, coding challenges, and creative tools.
Codesters Codesters combines a fun online coding platform for students, a powerful learning management system for teachers, and built-out coding lessons so you can start teaching kids to code in your school today.
Scratch Scratch is the world’s largest coding community for children and a coding language with a simple visual interface that allows young people to create digital stories, games, and animations.

English - Middle School

Explora Teens This link opens in a new window Remote username and password Rdale281, Rdale#281 Contains middle and high school-appropriate magazine, journal, and encyclopedia articles and also includes primary source documents, reference books, and multimedia.
Gale In Context: Middle School (Research In Context) This link opens in a new window Accesses numerous encyclopedias on a broad range of topics. Searchable by basic, intermediate or advanced levels of articles.

McGraw Hill

PebbleGo Next This link opens in a new window PebbleGo Next is the next step in research for students grades 3-6. Launching with a States and American Indian studies module, PebbleGo Next is carefully aligned to grades 3-6 curriculum objectives. The database is simple to navigate and offers key reading supports such as read-along audio and word-by-word highlighting along with a variety of downloadable, including prompts to inspire critical thinking. States, Science, American Indian History, Social Studies, Biographies.
SIRS (Pro/Con Issues) This link opens in a new window Provides relevant and credible information - for, against, or objective - about a broad range of current issues.
Swank Digital Campus (Selected Films) This link opens in a new window This platform is a Netflix-like service for streaming Hollywood films to k-12 schools. Each video in this collection has been purchased for a particular course in the district. DO NOT add a link in your course unless the film is a part of your planned curriculum, PLEASE add a link to the specific video, not the entire collection. ASK your media specialist about ordering films.
TeachingBooks This link opens in a new window TeachingBooks provides a wide variety of resources about books and authors including topical lists and information about authors. Features audio and videos of readings and interviews.

Math - Middle School

Desmos Graph functions, plot tables of data, evaluate equations, explore transformations, and much more – for free!
Wolfram Alpha (Computational Knowledge Engine) Wolfram|Alpha is a free online computational knowledge engine that generates answers to questions in real time by doing computations on its own internal knowledge base.

Science - Middle School

Gale In Context: Middle School (Research In Context) This link opens in a new window Accesses numerous encyclopedias on a broad range of topics. Searchable by basic, intermediate or advanced levels of articles.
PebbleGo Next This link opens in a new window PebbleGo Next is the next step in research for students grades 3-6. Launching with a States and American Indian studies module, PebbleGo Next is carefully aligned to grades 3-6 curriculum objectives. The database is simple to navigate and offers key reading supports such as read-along audio and word-by-word highlighting along with a variety of downloadable, including prompts to inspire critical thinking. States, Science, American Indian History, Social Studies, Biographies.
Science Reference Center This link opens in a new window Remote username and password Rdale281, Rdale#281 Science Reference Center™ is a research database that provides easy access to a full-text science-oriented content including hundreds of science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, and other sources. Topics covered include: biology, chemistry, earth & space science, environmental science, health & medicine, history of science, life science, physics, science & society, science as inquiry, scientists, technology and wildlife.

Wolfram Alpha (Computational Knowledge Engine) Wolfram|Alpha is a free online computational knowledge engine that generates answers to questions in real time by doing computations on its own internal knowledge base.

Social Studies Middle School

CultureGrams This link opens in a new window CultureGrams is a leading reference for concise, reliable, and up-to-date cultural information on countries across the globe
Gale In Context: Middle School (Research In Context) This link opens in a new window Accesses numerous encyclopedias on a broad range of topics. Searchable by basic, intermediate or advanced levels of articles.
MNOPEDIA (Minnesota History) This link opens in a new window A resource for reliable information about significant people, places, events, and things in Minnesota history.
PebbleGo Next This link opens in a new window PebbleGo Next is the next step in research for students grades 3-6. Launching with a States and American Indian studies module, PebbleGo Next is carefully aligned to grades 3-6 curriculum objectives. The database is simple to navigate and offers key reading supports such as read-along audio and word-by-word highlighting along with a variety of downloadable, including prompts to inspire critical thinking. States, Science, American Indian History, Social Studies, Biographies.
Points of View Reference Center This link opens in a new window Remote username and password Rdale281, Rdale#281 Essays on controversial topics that present multiple sides of current issues.
ProCon.org This link opens in a new window ProCon.org, is a nonprofit nonpartisan public charity, provides professionally-researched pro, con, and related information on more than 50 controversial issues from gun control and death penalty to illegal immigration and alternative energy.
Proquest Global Newsstream This link opens in a new window Global newspaper archives stretching back into the 1980s featuring content from newspapers, newswires, and news sites in full-text format. Includes Minneapolis Star Tribune. (Click Publications and search for Star Tribune to limit your search.
Proquest Minneapolis Star Tribune (Archive) This link opens in a new window Find articles from the Minneapolis Star Tribune from 1986 to present.
SIRS (Pro/Con Issues) This link opens in a new window Provides relevant and credible information - for, against, or objective - about a broad range of current issues.

Middle School Research Tools

Databases (library search engines)

Britannica School Middle This link opens in a new window
Explora Teens This link opens in a new window Remote username and password Rdale281, Rdale#281 Contains middle and high school-appropriate magazine, journal, and encyclopedia articles and also includes primary source documents, reference books, and multimedia.
Gale In Context: Middle School (Research In Context) This link opens in a new window Accesses numerous encyclopedias on a broad range of topics. Searchable by basic, intermediate or advanced levels of articles.
Gale In Context: High School (Student Resources In Context) This link opens in a new window Contains articles, on a very wide range of topics, from newspapers, magazines, journals and reference collections. Includes audio segments.
Library of Congress Research Guides This link opens in a new window
NoodleTools This link opens in a new window Create citations, record and organize notes and manage bibliographies.
PebbleGo Next This link opens in a new window PebbleGo Next is the next step in research for students grades 3-6. Launching with a States and American Indian studies module, PebbleGo Next is carefully aligned to grades 3-6 curriculum objectives. The database is simple to navigate and offers key reading supports such as read-along audio and word-by-word highlighting along with a variety of downloadable, including prompts to inspire critical thinking. States, Science, American Indian History, Social Studies, Biographies.
Points of View Reference Center This link opens in a new window Remote username and password Rdale281, Rdale#281 Essays on controversial topics that present multiple sides of current issues.
Proquest Global Newsstream This link opens in a new window Global newspaper archives stretching back into the 1980s featuring content from newspapers, newswires, and news sites in full-text format. Includes Minneapolis Star Tribune. (Click Publications and search for Star Tribune to limit your search.
Proquest Minneapolis Star Tribune (Archive) This link opens in a new window Find articles from the Minneapolis Star Tribune from 1986 to present.
Purdue Online Writing Lab This link opens in a new window
SIRS (Pro/Con Issues) This link opens in a new window Provides relevant and credible information - for, against, or objective - about a broad range of current issues.

How to Log In to EBSCO Databases

Signing Into EBSCO Resources
If you are required to log in, use these instructions for:
Academic Search Premier
Explora Kids or Teens
Science Reference Center
Points of View Reference Center
Consumer Health