[K-6] Doing Internet Research at the Elementary Level

Put an End to Plagiarism in Your Classroom According to a report by Plagiarism.org, "Studies indicate that approximately 30 percent of all students may be plagiarizing on every written assignment they complete." Kids plagiarize for a variety of reasons. Some kids are lazy, some are unmotivated, some are disorganized, and some just don't understand what plagiarism really is. In 2002, a high school teacher in Piper, Kansas, resigned after the local school board ordered her to raise the grades of 28 students who had failed her course after being caught plagiarizing on a semester-long research project. Whatever the facts, the case dramatically illustrates a problem that has become increasingly common with the growing use of the Internet in our nation's classrooms. Why do kids plagiarize? When assigning research paper, teachers can employ strategies to minimize plagiarizing in their classrooms, no matter what their students' reasons might be: Make sure your students know that plagiarism will not be tolerated.

A WebQuest Starter on the Shah of Iran: Background for Marjane Satrapi's Graphic Novel Persepolis by Lisa Wynn, IUPUI In groups, you will research the Shah of Iran (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi)--especially his role in government and reasons for his eventual overthrow and exile. To continue with the ongoing theme of "Struggles and Solutions", we have read Marjane Satrapi's graphic novels, Persepolis I and Persepolis II. In groups of 4, you will create a graphic journal that will be published as part of a class wiki. The journal and research necessary to create the journal will provide an opportunity to travel to a time and place you have never been, and to encounter a historically significant person you've never seen--namely, the Shah of Iran. You will be required to make detailed observations concerning the history or Iran, and, perhaps, even geography, anthropology, literature and the arts. PHOTO Source:

Web addicts have brain changes, research suggests Elementary Research Rubric University of Wisconsin - Stout — Schedule of Online Courses, Online Certificate Programs, and Graduate Degree Follow us on Gaining Background for the Graphic Novel Persepolis: A WebQuest on Iran ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you. More Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals. More Teacher Resources by Grade Your students can save their work with Student Interactives. More Home › Classroom Resources › Lesson Plans Lesson Plan Overview Featured Resources From Theory to Practice The graphic novel Persepolis is set in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. back to top Creating a PowerPoint Slide: This handout gives step-by-step instructions for creating a slide in Microsoft PowerPoint.ReadWriteThink Webbing Tool: This online tool provides a free-form graphic organizer for activities that ask students to pursue hypertextual thinking and writing. For Further Reading Firek, Hilve. Harris, Marla. 2007.

Meeting the Needs of All Learners: Implementing Action Research - Finding Common Ground Don't keep moving forward toward the iceberg when you know it's going to sink your ship. This past semester I taught a graduate course in action research. Action research is completed by a classroom or general education teacher. Many school districts have adopted goal setting between staff and administration as a teacher evaluation tool. Action research can be used to work on student behavior issues as well as engagement issues teachers may be having with students. First and foremost, teachers need to identify the problem or they can identify the area that they would like to improve. Secondly, educators need to search for articles about the issue. College databases are the best place to find current research and educators can search by subject or journal. Once teachers find the best method to improve practice they need to take the time to implement the practice in the classroom. The implementation stage of a new intervention takes a great deal of time. What do students think?

TeachersFirst: Embracing Reseach - Primary Students Research/Information literacy projects with primary students Do your students understand the difference between reading fiction and reading informational texts? How much practice have your students had reading for information? It is essential that students have some background knowledge of the text features they are likely to encounter in reading non-fiction texts while doing research. If you have not already taught a series of mini-lessons about the table of contents, index, sidebars, captions, guide words, diagrams, glossary, comparisons, cross-sections/cutaways, maps, and charts you should consider doing so before asking students to complete research. Knowing the purpose of each of these features or conventions and how they help the reader gives your students a distinct advantage in tackling many informational texts. Will you introduce the idea of giving credit to sources?

Using Inquiry-Research Projects to Teach the Right Skills for a New Age - Philadelphia, PA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post In my last blog, “Teaching the Right Skills for a New Age”, I described five key skill areas students must develop if they are to be prepared for continuous learning in this new age: Asking questions, formulating problems and challenges Searching for and processing information Thinking deeply and flexibly Drawing conclusions, applying learning Communicating effectively Together, they form an “Inquiry” or “Research Based” Instruction model for teaching and learning. I believe that, in a 21st century curriculum, powerful projects should be implemented at every grade level because of the project’s importance in developing all of these skills. For example, in kindergarten, a teacher might suggest a number of different areas to interest students in exploring and inquiring, such as “animals and pets”. As projects are conducted and developed at every grade level, the five skill areas are taught and learned with ever more complexity and sophistication. Cornerstone projects can take many forms.

TeachersFirst: Embracing Reseach - Middle School Research/Information literacy projects with students in middle grades How will you help students to build a good search? You might want to begin by showing the short video Web Search Strategies in Plain Englishproduced by Common Craft. Search terms, keywords, relevant vocabulary and related topics can be organized using a mindmapping tool like MindMeister or Drop Mind. How will your students know whether the web content they find is worthwhile? Help students organize the information they gather. Tools like Evernote, Simplybox, and iCyte allow students to collect information, images, links, notes and keep them all in one place. Practical tip: Choose ONE notetaking/collection tool to use throughout the school year for projects, preferably with all teachers on your teaching team (or throughout the school) using the same tool. Help students to track their resources. Don’t wait until the research is done before announcing this requirement.

Study: '21st Century Learning' Demands Mix of Abilities - Inside School Research The modern workplace and lifestyle demand that students balance cognitive, personal, and interpersonal abilities, but current education policy discussions have not defined those abilities well, according to a special report released this afternoon by the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science in Washington. A "who's who" team of experts from the National Academies' division of behavioral and social sciences and education and its boards on testing and on science education collaborated for more than a year on the report, intended to define just what researchers, educators, and policymakers mean when they talk about "deeper learning" and "21st-century skills." "Staying in school and completing degrees clearly have very strong effects," said James W. Pellegrino, a co-editor of the report and co-director of the Interdisciplinary Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Ms. Transfer in Context

TeachersFirst: Embracing Reseach - Grades 3-5 Research/Information literacy projects with students grades 3-5 Do your students understand the difference between reading fiction and reading informational texts? How much practice have your students had reading for information? It is essential that students have some background knowledge of the text features they are likely to encounter in reading non-fiction texts while doing research. If you have not already taught a series of mini-lessons about the table of contents, index, sidebars, captions, guide words, diagrams, glossary, comparisons, cross-sections/cutaways, maps, and charts you should consider doing so before asking students to complete research. Knowing the purpose of each of these features or conventions and how they help the reader gives your students a distinct advantage in tackling many informational texts. Will you introduce the idea of giving credit to sources? Practical tip: share this process as you model other research steps, such as on the frist day of research time!

Hattie’s research: egregious errors | Networkonnet The egregious errors that beset John Hattie’s research are so pervasive as to prove difficult to encompass and thus lay bare – but various insights local and international are at last coming together to achieve just that. This posting argues that this coming together will reveal there is nothing about Hattie’s research that stacks up: the mathematics, statistics, design, curriculum understanding, or presentation. So influential has Hattie’s research become and Hattie along with it, that to critically examine it, whatever the outcome, if integrity and validity of policy information is valued, should be welcomed by all in school education, in academia, in government bureaucracies, by governments, and by Hattie himself. If readers take a stand (as I have) that the egregious errors are just that, the only path remaining is that Hattie has been astonishingly careless and ignorant in the maths, statistics, research design, understanding of curriculum, and presentation. The Rock Lady Like this:

Keeping it Honest: Effective Study Skills | The P.A. - News, Stories, and More from Virtual High School Let’s examine key study skills so you can avoid the temptation to take short cuts when writing papers, listening to instructional videos or lectures, or studying for quizzes, tests, or exams. Working with credible sources will allow you to create writing and presentations that reflect valid ideas and research. Consider the following questions: Who created the source? For effective note-taking: Avoid copying research word-for-word. To paraphrase means to write a text that is similar to the original, but the new passage must be written in your words. Reread unclear sections at least twice. Learning effective study skills will lead to academic success during your time at Virtual High School. This post is part of our Academic Integrity Series. Let’s examine key study skills so you can avoid the temptation to take short cuts when writing papers, listening to instructional videos or lectures, or studying for quizzes, tests, or exams. Who created the source? For effective note-taking: