Research Archives

Activities to Help Students Understand Why Citations Are Important

An age-old question students have is, “Why are we doing this?” Students have asked that question for decades before us, and they will continue to ask well into the future. Luckily, there is a simple answer to why citations are important. In the digital age we live in, it’s absolutely critical to understand copyright and plagiarism. Citations are important whether students are writing a paper and need to cite evidence, or when using music for a presentation. Each of these areas comes with its own rules and regulations for copyright. Why Citations are Important Citations are important because they protect people’s work. When we cite a work correctly, we are giving credit to the owner or creator of that work. Being fair is something students are often naturally passionate about, so help bridge that connection for students. When we cite = we are being fair. In order to appropriately

Biography Research Projects

Students need to read and learn about many different types of informational texts, including biographies. A biography research project can combine many important skills besides just learning about the life of an important person, such as: note-taking summarizing and paraphrasing information evaluating information finding the best sources for information organizing information the importance of citing your sources practice writing informational text Basics of a Biography Teach students the call number When I teach about biographies in the library, I start by showing students the biography section and pointing out the call number for biographies. I always give my biographies the call number of 92; however, each library is different. What’s the difference between a biography and an autobiography? I then like to discuss the difference between a biography and an autobiography. A biography usually provides facts about a person from their childhood through adulthood and is written by someone

Teaching the Research Process

We all know how important it is to teach our students information literacy skills: how to access, analyze, evaluate and communicate information. There are several different research or information gathering models available to teach the research process including the Big6 and the FINDS model from Florida. However, I do not think you need to use a “formal” model as long as your lesson plans cover these skills. Something to keep in mind is that a research project is more about teaching students the process of finding information, not so much as in the finished product. The primary objective is to teach students problem-solving techniques and how to think critically. You want them to learn how to navigate through large quantities of information to find what they are looking for. Show them how important it is to provide credit to the sources the information came from and how to avoid

QR Code Animal Research Reports

One of my favorite nonfiction authors is Steve Jenkins. Students love reading his books and learning about all the different animal facts. The two I love best are Actual Size and What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? I have done several different activities after reading these books to my students including matching the animal to the part mentioned in the book to writing and art activities. Since I bought a set of Chromebooks a few years ago (thank you book fair profit), I have been doing an animal research project with my second and third graders. Students will select one of ten animals and use QR codes that I created to look up facts about the animal. They record their notes and create a simple research report. I chose ten different animals from the book What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? Since I

5 Animal Research Websites for Students

Ready to do some animal research? Finding trustworthy and appropriate animal websites for students to use can be a challenge. Below are my go-to websites that you can feel confident having your students go to. Most of these sites also have videos, games and other educational activities as well. National Geographic for Kids DK Find Out San Diego Zoo Kids These websites below do have some advertisements on them. Ducksters Animal Fact Guide Ready to research and use these animal websites for students? Thank you for subscribing! A confirmation message has been sent to you with a link you MUST click on in order to begin receiving emails and gain access to the free resource library. Open your inbox and look for a message from “[email protected]”. There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again. Email Address I’d like to receive the free email course. Subscribe

Getting Primary Students Ready to Research

We all know just how important it is to teach our students research skills. These include how to find information from print and digital sources, how to evaluate that information and how to use that information correctly. Over the next few weeks, I am going to write a series of blog posts providing ideas, advice, and resources that you can use to get your students ready to research, including your youngest. With kindergarten and first graders I like to use the term research-readiness. I want to teach my students skills they will need that will help them to prepare to become researchers. This includes learning about the difference between fiction and nonfiction, understanding that nonfiction text teaches us information, understanding that text features help us to find information quickly and how to begin to search for information on their own. These are things that can be taught all throughout

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Activities to Help Students Understand Why Citations Are Important

Biography Research Projects

Teaching the Research Process

QR Code Animal Research Reports

5 Animal Research Websites for Students

Getting Primary Students Ready to Research

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