Here are some of our favorite databases for homework help!
For specific research questions, please contact the Youth Services Desk at 815-534-6178.
Library Databases
Frankfort Public Library District cardholders can use them anywhere with their library card.
Explora for Elementary Schools
Get results for elementary school research on nearly all school subjects. Features full-text articles from more than 70 popular magazines. Lexile reading levels are included for all articles.
Gale In Context: Elementary
A great resource to help kids learn how to research. Includes more than 100 age-appropriate magazines, 6,400 searchable images, Merriam-Webster®’s Elementary Dictionary and 1,200 maps, flags & seals and over 1,700 colorful charts and graphs. It features a developmentally appropriate and visual graphic interface. Broad subject categories include animals, arts & entertainment, geography, health, history & social studies, inventions & technology, plants, people, science & math, sports, stories & literature, and transportation.
History Reference Center
Full-text articles to support research in history and genealogy and lesson plans to support student learning.
Lexile Information
The Lexile Framework for Reading is a scientific approach to measuring reading ability and the text demand of reading materials. The Lexile Framework involves a scale for measuring both reading ability of an individual and the text complexity of materials he or she encounters. The Lexile scale is like a thermometer, except rather than measuring temperature, the Lexile Framework measures a text’s complexity and a reader’s skill level.
To find a book's lexile measure, try searching at Lexile.com.
To find a book that matches your interest within your Lexile range, use this guide
Lexile Guide to find one in Novelist.
Literary Reference Center
Novels, short stories, poems, plot summaries and synopses, and literary criticism. Research guides, lesson plans, and citation tools support student learning.
Middle Search Complete
Resources to support middle school students, including biographies, magazines, primary source documents, photos, maps, and flags. Includes Sports Illustrated Kids, Scholastic News, National Geographic and dozens more. Articles include reading level indicators (Lexile).
Novelist K-8 Plus
Designed especially for elementary and middle school students, this online database has fiction and nonfiction titles chosen specifically to support the school curriculum as well as the pleasure reading needs of students.
Points of View Reference Center
Resources for students to understand issues, develop criticial thinking skills, and develop persuasive arguments. Includes essays, overviews, articles, and transcripts on, citizens' rights, earth and environmental issues, global issues, health and medicine, and media and communications.
Primary Search
Resources to support elementary school students, including encyclopedias specifically for kids, articles from children's magazines including Highlights and Junior Scholastic, and a large image collection.
Science Reference Center
Full-text articles to support research in applied sciences, biology, chemistry, earth and space science, and energy. Includes the Science Image Collection, a database of high-quality science images from National Geographic, UPI, Getty, NASA, and Nature Picture Library.