K-2 PRE-Search Guide for West Ha

K-2 PRE-Search Guide for

West Hartford Public Schools

In Grades K-2, our focus is Research Readiness...

...building the skills necessary to do good research.

How can you help your child/student gain the tools to be a great researcher?

Here are some ideas...

1. Ask questions! Ask the child to make up questions. Questions lead everyone toward looking for answers and the search for answers is what RESEARCH is all about.

When reading, ask them to cite facts from the story; name the author and illustrator; have them retell the story or perhaps create an alternate ending; with older children, ask questions about an author's style - Why do you think the author used those words? Why do you think the author had the story end in this way? Who are the main characters? Where does the story take place? Would the story be the same if it took place somewhere else? (in a city, in the country...etc.) What if the main character were a mouse instead of a cat?
Note cause and effect and ask questions to get kids thinking about it -
"Wow - that thunder came just after that lightning. Why do you think that is?"
When asking questions, don't forget Bloom's taxonomy

2. Give Students Organizing Activities -

give students a bag of objects that could be categorized in several different ways and ask them to organize them. Bags might have pieces of colored paper cut into several large, medium and small shapes- watch as some students organize the items by color, others by shape, others by size. See if they can come up with other ways of organizing them. Point out that librarians organize library books using a system that makes it easier to locate books.

3. Have students describe the world around them

Descriptions can lead to questions...
Questions lead to a desire to find the answers...
This is RESEARCH

Use everyday objects or photographs and have them tell you about it
Ask questions and have them ask questions about the object or photograph
"Why do you suppose Monarch Butterflies are Orange?
Why do you think that this bird has such sharp claws?
Why do you think the clouds are shaped like that today?
What do you think will happen if I let go of this balloon if I don't seal it after blowing up? Why?

4. Graphic Organizers help students put together information they have found

Here are some graphic organizers for Haiku Poetry, Plants and Reptiles
(thanks to Valerie Doyle at Bugbee Elementary School!)

(Coming soon...)

If you have any organizers you would like to share, please email them to dave_st.germain@whps.org

5. Have students report where their information comes from

It is never too early to introduce bibliography
This site provides a simplified citation style appropriate for students in elementary school. Students in grade one begin with a brief citation. Each grade level adds additional components to the citation through grade six. Examples are included at each grade level.
Oradell Public School Instructional Media Research: How to Compile a Bibliography: http://www.intac.com/~aroldi/biblio.html

6. Introduce your students to the Super3

The Super3 is the early childhood version of The Big6 Skills^tm.
The Big6 Skills^tm was written by Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz.

Sometimes stated as "Plan, Do, Review" or "Beginning, Middle and End"..the website below outlines the steps and compares it to the BIG6, which is made for Grades 3+. Here is a synopsis:

Plan:
What am I supposed to do? What are the questions? What do I need to have when I am done?

Do:
Where do I look for the answers to these questions? Who or what can help me? How will I organize and present my information?

Review:
How do I know I did what I needed to do? How do I know if I did a good job? How do I know I am finished?

Here is a cute, handy chart that summarizes the Super3 steps: Handy Chart

Here is a "real-life" lesson for teaching students
how to use the Super3

Students in my library class are told that I have a problem
- I came home yesterday and found 3 penguins sitting in my bathtub!

Plan...Do...Review

Plan:
What do I need to do?
Safely get rid of the penguins

Do:
How do I do this?
Find out about penguins; brainstorm places I can call to help (where do I find the phone numbers? phone book, dial 411, call local library, call local zoo, nature center or veterinarian)

Review:
Are the penguins gone? Are they safe? Am I safe? How is the tub?

Here are some websites to help you...

Information Literacy Resources for those who TEACH
Lists national standards, recommended websites, books and other online resources

http://www.librarysupportstaff.com/teachlib.html

How to Select a Good Book

http://www.frsd.k12.nj.us/barleylibrary/lib/selbk.htm

Five Finger Test

http://www.frsd.k12.nj.us/barleylibrary/lib/5fingrtst.htm

Copyright for Kids

http://www.copyrightkids.org
Visit this site for a kid-friendly overview of copyright. Sections include: What is Copyright? Copyright Basics & FAQs, Register Your Own Works, For Parents & Teachers, The Copyright Challenge: A Quiz, Definitions, Sample Permission Letters and The Yearbook Club.

KENTUCKY VIRTUAL LIBRARY: HOW TO DO RESEARCH

http://www.kyvl.org/html/kids/homebase.html

A fun way to introduce research, finding quality information, judging websites...

MULTIMEDIA TOUR OF THE DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM

http://www.oclc.org/dewey/resources/tour/

LESSONS FROM THE LIBRARY

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson261.shtml

This site offers five different library lessons for various age and grade levels.
Early elementary students can try out "Mapping the Library", and "Alphabetize for a Reason".

WORD HELPER

http://pbskids.org/lions/words/

PBS provides an online dictionary here for early elementary students. Including illustrations and sentences to help define the selected word, Word Helper would be an appropriate online tool to help build primary level vocabularies.

Online Activities - Problem Solving (also in French!)

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jeux.lulu/english.htm

School-Libraries.Org Online Resources for School Librarians
Information Literacy and Library Skills Resources

http://www.school-libraries.org/resources/literacy.html

Many thanks to Jeri Van Leer, David St.Germain, Barbara Sergi, Ray Callahan, Valerie Hansen and Nancy Pacht, Gr. 1 teacher at Whiting Lane for their assistance.