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

[K-6] Doing Internet Research at the Elementary Level
One of the hardest things to teach, in my opinion, is research. I have been teaching in a computer lab for going on five years and I have never taught research the same way twice. This is partially because I never teach anything the same way twice, but it's also because each year I learn something new. Sometimes I learn the hard way when things don't pan out the way I planned in the classroom, sometimes I learn because something I didn't plan arose and worked out well, and sometimes its due to my own self-education as I prepare to teach my annual research unit. I begin teaching research skills in third grade -- just at the time where my students' reading skills are such that they can feel successful and just at the time when they have mounds and mounds of natural curiosity. In the past, I have done your typical find-information-and-regurgitate-it-to-me kinds of projects, all in the name of teaching students how to locate information. Choosing a Topic, Creating Keywords and Search Terms Related:  Teaching Research

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 Research tool - Docs editors Help Find and add suggested content to documents in Google Docs. The suggested content is related to what’s in your document. You can also search your docs and the web from within a document. Use Explore in Google Docs On your computer, open a document in Google Docs. Add images or info from other documents or the web On your computer, open a document in Google Docs. Tip: To see more charts or images from a document, click "See more content" under the presentation or document. Related articles

Frontiers for Young Minds 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?

The National High School Journal of Science 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.

Teaching materials Teaching materials Evolution is essential to our curriculum and to scientific literacy. Imagine teaching social science without teaching history; students would lack perspective on events going on today. Similarly, to understand the big picture of biology, students need to understand life on Earth in terms of its history and its future — the changing life forms and ecosystems that have arisen and changed over billions of years, as well as the mechanisms that have brought about those changes. The Understanding Evolution project aims to help instructors develop student understanding of: We've assembled a variety of resources to help you increase student understanding of evolution.

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.

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