Melissa Thibault

Teaching & Learning

For Students

Primary: K | 1 | 2
Elementary: 3 | 4 | 5
Middle: 6 | 7 | 8
Secondary: 9–12

About LEARN NC

Melissa joined LEARN NC as Education Resource Coordinator in August 2000 and, shortly thereafter, assumed the role of Director of Media Services. She became Associate Director in 2005 and Executive Director in 2008. Melissa oversees all areas of the LEARN NC program, including publications, professional development, online learning, and instructional technology.

Before joining LEARN, Melissa was a Media Coordinator at W. G. Enloe Gifted and Talented International Baccalaureate High School in Raleigh, N.C. Her experience as a librarian has included university, public, literacy and school programs. Her master's degree in Library and Information Science is from the University of South Florida, Tampa, and her undergraduate degree in Economics is from Colby College, Waterville, Maine.

When not working at LEARN NC, you may find Melissa on the sidelines of her daughter's soccer games or creating scrapbooks of her extensive extended family's photos and memorabilia.

Resources developed by Melissa Thibault

Records 1–20 of 28 displayed: go to page 1, 2

American Memory: North Carolina educator's guide: Each month during 2007, LEARN NC will feature an in-depth look at one aspect of the Library of Congress' American Memory with a special focus on North Carolina materials.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: edition
Accessing the American Memory collection: Browse by subject, chronology, and geography: Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
Accessing the American Memory collection: Multimedia formats and offline-use tips: The American Memory collection contains a wide variety of formats including motion pictures, sound recordings, sheet music, maps, and photos. First, learn how to find them, then explore options for use in your classroom.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
Accessing the American Memory collection: Searching: Take a look at the second installment in the American Memory: North Carolina educator's guide and find out how to search the collections with success. You'll learn all kinds of tricks and techniques, and even explore the Library of Congress's latest search tool.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
Animal folktales: Legends, superheroes, and pourquoi tales: By writing a narrative about an animal rather than a traditional report, students can learn about literature, develop writing skills, and still fulfill science and research objectives.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
Believe it or not! Reporting on amazing animals: A visual and oral presentation of an "animal report" can engage students' interest and develop their artistic and visual literacy skills.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
Bring history to life with a Living History Day!: A Living History Day turns students into teachers and challenges them to think historically.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
Canning for country and community: In this lesson plan, students will use primary source documents to evaluate the technological challenges of food preservation in the 30s and 40s, compare food preservation in the first half of the twentieth century with today, and consider the political role of food in the community.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: lesson plan (grades 8, 10–12)
Celebrating the freedom to read: Banned Books Week teaches the importance of our First Amendment rights and draws attention to the danger of restricting information in a free society.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
Children's literature promotes understanding: Bibliotherapy and critical literacy are two ways to use books to help children better understand themselves, others, and the world around them. This article explains both strategies and provides resources for selecting appropriate books.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
Citing sources: A guide for high school students to citing sources from print and the web.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
Comparative anatomy: A continuum: In groups, students will design a presentation that will trace the development of an organ system through the major phyla of the animal kingdom looking for the relationships between structure and function by documenting adaptations.; Author: Joan Warner and Melissa Thibault; Format: lesson plan (grades 9–12)
Facial Studies Through Creation of a Face Jug: Students study the anatomy of a face and use what they have learned about rendering faces and three dimensional objects to create thumbnail sketches of expressive faces on jugs.

They learn to blend values to create the illusion of volume in both facial features and clay jugs. Three dimensional understanding is reinforced by adding expressive facial features to coiled clay jugs. Earth Science is integrated through the study of clay. Social Studies in integrated through the study of face jugs found as far back in history as Pre-Columbian times. Artistic meaning is explored through facial expression and the psychological implications of color.

They look at examples of face jugs. They learn about types of clay. They learn to roll clay coils and create a jug using coil construction. They score, slip and blend facial features to the jug. They choose either underglaze decoration followed by a clear glaze coating or colored glaze decoration applied after bisque firing as a finish.; Author: Lori Shepley, Melissa Thibault and Nelle Hayes; Format: lesson plan (grades 8–12)
Finding and using literary criticism: A guide for high school students to finding and using literary criticism, in print and on the web.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
Finding, not searching: You can work smarter, not harder, by determining your searching style, learning more about what your searches return and why, and learning to look in the right place first.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
It's an ad!: How do marketers target kids — and how can we teach kids to know the difference between advertising and fact? These websites provide strategies to build critical thinking skills for media literate kids.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
Just link it?: A hyperlink is a citation to someone else's intellectual property; therefore, linking should protect the source's integrity and make its identity clear.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
The Learning Page: Getting started with primary sources: Introduces a primary sources guide made available through the Library of Congress's The Learning Page. You'll also get an introduction to some of the LOC's lessons that will help your students use primary source materials.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
Learning to look at art: Strategies for helping students develop visual literacy in looking at paintings and other forms of visual art.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page
Reading biographies and autobiographies: How good is that biography your students are reading? Here's how to make sure they get the most out of their reading and research.; Author: Melissa Thibault; Format: article/single page