BFS
Institutes for Justice and Transformational Change
 

Preschool & Lower School Library

Promoting the Joys of Reading

Preschool and Lower School students visit the library on the third floor of the Pearl Street Building on a weekly basis. During their scheduled visit, students engage in library instruction that promote the joys of reading and introduce library skills. Students are given opportunities to interact with print and digital collections for research and for pleasure. In the library, students listen to stories read aloud and actively participate in mini lessons designed to impart information literacy skills and compliment classroom instruction. With the support of the Lower School Librarian and Library Assistant, students are given ample time to browse the shelves and online catalog, as well as, read for pleasure.

Contact Your Librarian

Ana Oropezza-Parra, Preschool and Lower School Librarian

Research Links

Fact Monster
Tons of facts! A great place to start your research.

Internet Picture Dictionary – English, French, Italian, German, Spanish
A great way to learn how to use a dictionary and find some new languages, too.

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary
Use an online dictionary and thesaurus.

Old Farmer’s Almanac
Today in history, advice of the day, puzzle of the day and more.

Word Central
Look up words in a student dictionary, check-out a rhyming dictionary.

The Art Zone
National Gallery of Art lets you create art online.

The Artist’s Toolkit
Play with the elements of visual art, watch artists at work, explore an art encyclopedia.

Chinese Stage
Discover the art and tradition of Chinese theater.

Creating Music
Compose music, explore rhythm bands, and solve musical puzzles.

The New York Philharmonic Kidzone
Compose, play, and learn about musical instruments.

PBS Kids Guide to Jazz
Join an online jazz band and learn about the musicians and history of jazz.

The San Francisco Symphony Kid Site
Learn about the instruments of an orchestra and use the “composerizer”.

Smart Kids
Be an art detective, learn about great works of art, and what it means to be an artist.

Authors and Illustrators on the Web
Links to many authors and illustrators of interest.

Edward Lear’s Nonsense
Check out these funny limericks with drawings by a master humorist.

English-Zone
Helpful tips and quizzes.

Giggle Poetry
You can read and write funny poems here

Magnetic Poetry Online
Click and drag words to create your own poems online.

Meet the Authors and Illustrators-RIF
Interviews and information about authors.

Poetry Archives
Thousands of full-text poems.

Poetry Writing with Writers
Learn how to write a poem and publish it online. Tips and readings by poets.

Shakespeare: Subject To Change
An interactive way to learn about Shakespeare. Insults included.

A+Math Games
Play all types of math games.

Ask Dr. Math
Dr. Math can help you.

Count Us In
15 interactive games help explain number concepts.

Kaidy.com
Math manipulatives and puzzles.

Math Playground
Practice math skills; play a logic game.

Animals-Oakland Zoo
Facts and images of hundreds of animals.

ASPCA Animaland
Pet care information, wild animal facts, ask a question.

Animal Cams
Live video cameras from the Smithsonian National Zoo let you watch elephants, pandas, and many other animals.

Animal Diversity Web
Detailed information from the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.

Creature Feature
Learn about different animals on this National Geographic site with videos.

Dino Dictionary
Great dinosaur information.

eNature Field Guides
Online guides to all types of animals, trees, and wildflowers.

Fish FAQ
Questions and answers about all types of fish.

Go Wild in New York City
Information about nature in New York City and games to play.

The Great Plant Escape
Become a detective and learn the mysteries of plant life.

Insectclopedia
Bugs, bugs, and more bugs.

Kids Planet
Animal facts, games, sounds and other cool stuff.

Monarchs and Migration
Find out about the facts of the migration of Monarch butterflies.

Monterey Bay Aquarium
Wonderful information about marine life, careers, animal cams, videos, and much more.

National Wildlife Federation
Animals facts and conservation tips.

Natural History Notebooks
Animal information from the Canadian Museum of Science.

San Diego Zoo Animal Facts
Learn about animals from around the world in a searchable web site.

Sea World/Busch Gardens Animal Information Database
Detailed animal information and photographs.

Yuckiest Site on the Internet
Need we say more?

Amazing Space
Explore galaxies, planets, stars, black holes and more.

NasaKids
NASA’s kid’s club is a fun way to learn about the planets and space travel.

NASA Solar System Exploration
Learn about planets, asteroids, meteoroids, comets and beyond.

Star Child
The solar system explained.

Windows to the Universe
A great site includes information about space weather, missions, physics, and more.

The Atoms Family

Chem4kids
The basics of chemistry including matter, atoms, chemical reactions, and the periodic table of elements.

Edheads Simple Machines
Learn about simple and compound machines.

Electronics for Kids
Learn about simple circuits, magnetism, and static electricity by doing these experiments.

Fear of Physics
Animated interactive ways to understand the principles of physics.

Strange Matters
Learn about physics in a very creative way.

Eco Kids Online
Play games and learn about nature and environmental issues.

Exploratorium
If you can’t get to this hands-on Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception in San Francisco, it will come to you.

Ideas and Activities from the Science Museum of Minnesota
Online science activities.

Kinetic City
Science experiments, games, and challenges.

National Geographic Kids
Creature features, King Tut, and Harry Potter, too.

Science News for Kids
Latest news from the science world.

Infection, Detection, Protection
Microbes and bacteria from the American Museum of Natural History.

Kids Health
Learn how to stay healthy and find answers to your questions.

Mental Health
Articles, games, and book reviews.

Nutrition Explorations
Games and recipes to stay healthy.

Deserts
North American deserts.

Earth’s Water
All about the water on earth-rivers, rainfall, and the water cycle.

Missouri Botanical Gardens
Biomes of the world, freshwater and marine ecosystems.

Snow Crystals
All about snowflakes including photographs.

Weather Watch
Observe and investigate weather through various activities.

Wonders of the Sea
A great place to learn about marine life.

Bill Nye the Science Guy’s Nye Labs Online
Enter online labs.
San Diego Zoo Science Projects
Fun science experiments and observations.

Culture Quest World Tour
Information, recipes, games and more from countries around the world.

Japan
A great look at the country and people of Japan.

Peace Corps Challenge
Find out what  the Peace Corps is doing around the world.

United Nations-Cyber School Bus
Information about hundreds of countries from the United Nations.
Native Americans

Haudenosaunee
Official source of news and information from the Haudenosaunee.

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
Information about the people and culture of the 19 Pueblos of the American southwest.

Native American Sites
This site is a treasure of information about Native Americans of the U.S.
Native Tech
Native American culture, art, and technology.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Online access to Brooklyn famous newspaper from 1841 to 1902.

Brooklyn Expedition
A fun interactive way to learn about Brooklyn.

Ellis Island
Learn about how immigrants entered the U.S. through Ellis Island.

Historic Brooklyn Photographs
Photographs of old Brooklyn from the Brooklyn Public Library collections.
Hudson River Portfolio http://www.nypl.org/research/hudson/ History of the Hudson River and its surroundings.

An Interactive Tour of Ellis Island
Learn about Ellis Island in an interactive tour.

New York City Subway History  News, photographs, and the history of New York’s subways.

New York City NYPL Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection
A searchable collection of thousands of photographs of NY from the New York Public Library.

Our Brooklyn
History, facts, and photographs of Brooklyn neighborhoods.

A Virtual Tour of New Netherland – New Netherland Museum History of early New Amsterdam.

A Walk Around Brooklyn
An interactive map helps you navigate around the history and places of Brooklyn.

American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and Settlement
Primary sources describe early American experiences.

Asian Pacific American Heritage
Learn about great Asian-Americans and their contributions.

Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
Learn about many aspects of United States government.

Colonial Williamsburg  
Visit Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. See what it was like to live in the 1700s.

Explorer’s Hall of Fame
The greatest adventurers of the past thousand years.

New York City Tenement Museum
Visit an actual New York apartment from the early nineteenth century preserved as a museum.

Presidents of the United States
Detailed biographical information with links as well as election results and more.

Hear the Presidents – Vincent Voice Library
Hear the actual voices of presidents of the United States.

Ancient Egypt – The British Museum
Learn about ancient Egyptian life and death..and mummies!

Living in the Middle Ages
What was it like to live in the Middle Ages?

The Romans
Ancient Roman life.