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WHAT'S NEW @ SIRS

Our product development team is constantly reviewing customer feedback and making changes to our learning resources to meet your needs. Several updates to our SIRS family of products were recently completed and we wanted to bring them to your attention.

SIRS Discoverer Charts and Graphs Feature

Did you know that Discoverer offers charts and graph activities, geared for the younger researcher? Students can learn how to read and decipher charts and graphs. Visit our new Activities category in the Database Features, "charts & graphs." Some examples:

Political Cartoons in Discoverer

Discoverer now offers political cartoons geared for the younger researcher, from noteworthy sources including Junior Scholastic, Scholastic News, New York Times Upfront and Current Events.

Students can learn how to read and decipher political cartoons, as well as understand the writing devices employed in them (satire, irony, metaphor, etc.). In a hurry? The quickest route to all of our political cartoons is Database Features, Activities, Editorial Cartoons.

Here's just a few timely examples to get you started:

Map Activities in Discoverer

Travel -- with Discoverer! We provide map activities geared for the younger researcher, from noteworthy sources including Scholastic News, Junior Scholastic and Current Events.

With these new resources, your young students will learn how to read and decipher varied types of maps and answer discussion questions based on their observations. Visit a sampling of the following articles to learn more: 

Current Events

Our editorial team updates our SIRS products every day with new articles and resources. Here's a short list of the timeliest and most topical articles added to your product this month. Publication dates may vary due to the editorial selection process.

Suggested Research Topics

Tens of thousands of students mine SIRS resources for the latest information on the leading issues of the day. To provide the most pertinent and safe content, SIRS editors carefully research topics and issues each day to find age-appropriate materials that bring students to a better understanding of the topics taught in schools and classrooms across the U.S. and Canada.

Be sure to take a peek at some of SIRS Discoverer's most searched topics and issues this month, including:

Thanksgiving
Respiratory System
Dogs
Global Warming
Cats
Hurricane
Pluto
Jamestown
Germany
Ancient Egypt

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

National Chocolate Day is December 29th. "Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands -- and then eat just one of the pieces." says Judith Viorst, an American author, perhaps best known for her children's literature.

Chocolate is made from the seeds of the tropical cacao tree, theobroma cacao, which means "food of the gods." Cacao grows 15-20 feet tall with fruits shaped like pods. Each pod holds about 20-50 beans.

The first known cacao plantations were established in South America's Yucatan by the Mayans in 600 A.D. According to Aztec Indian legend, the cacao tree came from Paradise, and eating its fruit gave man wisdom and power.

It is believed that in 1502, Christopher Columbus brought back cacao beans to King Ferdinand from the New World. The first chocolate bar was made in 1828 when Conrad Van Houten, a Dutch chemist, invented a cocoa press that mixed cocoa butter with finely ground sugar.

Chocolate can be good for you in small doses. Research has shown that the cocoa-based confection, which contains chemicals called flavanols, can improve blood flow and reduce blood pressure. Flavanols are found in apples, red wine and green tea.

Studies also showed that chocolate contains phenyl ethylamine, the same chemical that your brain produces when you fall in love. So, indulge!

Activity: Students will enjoy researching and sharing information about especially in preparation for holidays. Oral reports of about two minutes give students and opportunity to share their new knowledge and also to develop essential language arts skills. Select and assign each student a specific subject to research from the list below.

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