Upon starting my career as a Librarian, one main question has hung over my head and served as a constant subject of research: “how do I effectively teach elementary student life-long research skills”. I feel as though I keep coming up short on up to date information.
I teach “Research Skills” to a group of grade 5 and 6’s for 25 minutes once a week. In this time, I feel as though 1) I never have enough time 2) It’s boring and 3) My Library is outdated. I’m sure problems 1 and 2 are closely linked. Students want to use the computer lab to search, and while I would LOVE to use the lab to teach critical searching skills to find information, it is not possible due to lab time conflicts. Therefore, we are ‘stuck’ using the outdated Library to find information.
I have quested to find useful and engaging lesson plans to use with this group to make the time we spend together meaningful. I have found the article, “Teaching Research Skills; A Critical Thinking Approach” by JoAnne Vergona Krapp to be a promising addition to my teaching repertoire. This article outlines practical ideas for research projects for intermediate students such as branching into the Science curriculum by researching constellations and making a bibliography and finding interesting facts about their chosen constellation (Krapp, 4).
The framework that Knapp has outlined in the article is very similar to the “Reference Process: Five Basic Steps” from Ann Riedling where the central questions of “A Need for Information, a question, the search for information, an answer or response, and an evaluation” is very similar to Krapp’s “How, Where, What Approach”. Whereas the ‘Reference Process’ is a larger framework for finding the information and evaluating the steps taken to find the information, the How, Where and What Approach seems to focus on the actual gathering of the information which could help flush out the “Search for Information” step in the Reference Process. However, Krapp’s outlines the steps well as far as a systematic lesson sequence very well in a chart format that I will be incorporating into my lessons.
My attempt on finding one research process that I absolutely love has still gone unresolved, as with any subject in teaching I am finding the quest for a quick cut-and-dry unit plan to be obsolete. Therefore, I will continue to take bits and pieces to create a comprehensive research model.
Krapp, J. (1988) Teaching Research Skills; A Critical Thinking Approach. School Library Journal . 34(5). Retrieved January 28, 2012, from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=d060fb27-5934-4e9f-9afb-3a8a1a67abf4%40sessionmgr15&vid=2&hid=12
Riedling, A. (2005) Reference Skills for the School Library Media Specialist: Tool and Tips, 2nd Edition. Ohio: Linworth Books.
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