Using NoodleTools

Level 1 Tool:   Tools that are essential to curriculum and are under contract with BCPS.

Grades:     Intermediate   Middle   High

This information last checked: 8/27/2019

 

  NoodleTools is an online research platform that promotes critical thinking and authentic research. Features of NoodleTools allow students to stay organized as they evaluate information, build accurate citations and bibliographies, archive source material, take notes, outline topics, and prepare to write. Students can also share and collaborate with other student researchers. There are three differentiated levels of support for individual students across grades and abilities. The online environment allows librarians and teachers to provide feedback, monitor individual contributions to group work, and view statistics about source use. NoodleTools is a research platform that empowers students to engage deeply in research and produce original work. 

 

 

 

• Access through BCPS One> Instructional Tools > NoodleTools tile. 
• Teacher and student accounts are single-sign on through Office 365. 

• Students & teachers use their Office 365 credentials; BCPSusername@bcps.org BCPS password.

• Users will be prompted to select Student or Teacher and their school from a drop-down menu the first time they access NoodleTools to set up their account. 

• Product Overview
• NoodleTools Help Desk is a comprehensive Knowledge Base of guides with screenshots and video tutorials. Selected guides are provided below. See the NoodleTools Help Desk for additional guides and tutorials.
• Support Guides for Students include: 
• How to access NoodleTools through Office 365 
• NoodleTools Quick Guide for Students
• How to work with Projects
• How to use the Dashboard 
• How to set up a collaborative project with classmates *Peers must have initialized their accounts before inviting them to collaborate.
• How to share your Project with a teacher
• See more Support Guides for Projects & Dashboard, Sources & Citations, Notecards & Outline, and others.
• Support Guides for Library Media Specialists and Teachers include:
• NoodleTools Quick Guide for Librarians & Teachers
• How to set up an Inbox and work with Projects shared with you *Teachers must have initialized their accounts for shared access to a Project Inbox.
• How to comment on Projects shared with your Inbox 
• How to view a collaborative Project as a teacher
• See more on the NoodleTools HelpDesk index 
• NOTES about Citation Levels:
• Students choose from three Citation Levels: Starter, Junior and Advanced. These are intended to roughly correlate with a student’s grade level as shown below. The major difference is the number and types of Sources available to cite. Librarian/teacher should check sources students will be using for the research project to see if citation forms are available at Starter or Junior Citation Level. Students CAN change the Citation Level later if necessary by choosing Change Level from the Options pull-down menu beside the Project title under My Projects.
• Starter: Elementary school students or middle school ESL learners; 6 basic citation forms.
• Junior: Middle school students or high school ESL learners; small set of simplified citation forms.
• Advanced: High school students or college, professional; comprehensive coverage, 70+ citation forms.
• NOTES about the Project Inbox:

• Teachers or Librarians should set up a Project Inbox before students start the research projects.

• Suggested naming conventions for Project Inboxes:

• Elementary:  Teacher Name-Grade-Project Title/Topic (for example: Jones 2 Schoolyard Habitats) 

• Secondary:  Teacher Name-Class Period-Project Title/Topic (for example:  Williams 1B Judicial Branch or Smith PD 4 Native American Music)

• Provide students the name of the Project Inbox, and instruct them to Share their Project with the Inbox as soon as they create the new Project. Project Inbox name will pop up as they type.

• Direct students to fill in their Name when they share their Project with the Inbox. This will enable the teacher/librarian to see student names rather than just usernames.

 

  

 

• prevent plagiarism
• create citations for over 59 different sources in MLA, APA and Chicago citation style.
• create and organize digital notecards for study and reference
• save citations for future reference
• create bibliographies
• create outlines of your research
• use analytics to reflect on your research 
• evaluate sources 
• document annotation/ archiving
• peer review
• online collaboration 

 

 

	Substitution	Augmentation	Modification	Redefinition
Provide multiple means of Representation (Content)
Provide multiple means of Action and Expression (Product)
Provide multiple means of Engagement (Process)		create citations, bibliographies, note cards for study, outlines for research within a collaborative, web-based platform.