Learning Express Library

There are so many (free!) practice tests here. I went to the US Citizenship test. I liked the test because you write in your own answers; it is not multiple choice. I think that I could use this in my government and civics classes. After about ten questions it showed the answers I had that were correct and incorrect and what a good answer would be. Under Job Search and Workplace Skills I found WorkKeys Reading for Information Practice Test. These are great for Common Core. I like that they are full length practice tests and that they are timed- like the ACT. I think this could be very helpful to prepare. When I used the search box to look for e-books I was surprised with the variety that turned up. I searched for “government.” The topics that came up were the citizenship exam, civil service exam, geography review, and vocabulary. I selected “Becoming a Homeland Security Professional.” This seems like a topic lots of people would be interested in based on the numbers of people that are entering into criminal justice educational programs. The book itself seemed OK. I like that it’s available for people, for free, on their computers, but I also am wondering how easy we need to make this for people. (Then again, maybe if they’re just gathering information.) ~Common Core~ Standard 11-12.RH.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole. I like the Reading Comprehension Skills Improvement section for meeting this standard. If I was going to use the e-books from the Learning Express Library I could have students look up the topic that we are studying. We could use the table of contents (I noticed most of the e-books had them) to look for the chapter or section that may tie in the best with our current lesson. From then we could scan the chapter for a phrase that we think best relates to our topic.