Google Search Tips

This week I got to explore many of the awesome search features that Google has to offer.  There are so many tools that can help you find information quickly and easily (i.e. weather, sports scores, dictionary, movie showtimes, etc).  For a brief overview of these, click on the video below:

The two search tips that really caught my eye were:  1.) Searching by Reading Level and 2.) Filetype Searching.  Both are great if you are looking for something specific for either yourself or your students.  

Searching By Reading Level   

When conducting a search (any topic), you can go into your settings and choose the reading level you want results for (basic, intermediate, advanced).  So, for example, if you chose Intermediate as your reading level, only that level of results will show up.  This is great for your students who struggle with reading fluency or comprehension because they can actually find material they can use and understand.  Your advanced students could also have access to more challenging reading material.  In addition, at the top of your search results screen, you can see a reading level box showing you what category of reading material you are currently looking at.  You can then click on and change your search material from intermediate to advanced, or down to basic if needed, instead of having to go back into your settings area.  The bar also shows you the percentage of results in a particular reading level.  An example of what the reading level box looks like is posted below:  

To watch a video on how to "Search by Reading Level," click HERE

Filetype Searching   

If you are looking for a specific file type (i.e. a PowerPoint presentation) when conducting a search, you will really like this feature.  Simply type in your search topic, add a space, and then filetype:(abbreviation of the type of file you wish to search for).  Make sure you don't have a space between filetype, colon and the abbreviation.  An example would look like this:  five food groups filetype:ppt.   If I used that example, my search results would only render PowerPoint presentations on the five food groups.  From there, I can view or download any of the PowerPoint selections from the search results.  This is a great time saver if you know exactly what kind of file you want, or you need to find something specific to help you supplement or guide a lesson idea.  Below is a list of some of the abbreviations of file types, as well as a picture of my search results for the example above: 

To watch a video on how to perform a "Filetype Search," click HERE 

Want more Google Search Tips?  Click HERE