It's been a while since my last post, in large part, because there's been a lot of research taking place in Montgomery Library! While wrapping up the Middle Ages inquiry projects with 6th grade, I began 8th grade research on the 20th century. We completed the in-class portion a couple of weeks ago and started with the 7th Grade Holocaust research.
While the students have been learning how to find and use information, I have been learning a good deal as well. I'm accustomed to working primarily with 5th and 6th graders, so it was a nice change of pace to select "advanced" when setting up the NoodleTools projects and aid them in the retrieval of sources that warrant this range of citation options. The use of end-notes and notecards within NoodleTools also allowed me to dust away some research cobwebs, as I recalled past projects, both taught and completed first-hand.
Each grade comes with it's own set of challenges. The younger students are just beginning to grasp the idea of various source types from and the idea that they can be found in a number of formats and locations. Additionally, learning not only to ask questions, but how to ask the right questions is a difficult concept to grasp and teach. As the students move along, the importance of the quality of the questions, more specifically, their essential question increases. Thus, the time spent developing that question increases and the degree to which they are guided decreases. At this point, they are in a precarious position, because they know enough of finding and citing sources that the basics don't need to be covered. However, they often become lackadaisical when it comes to keeping up with the checkpoints and details of the sources.
Overall, I've come to enjoy the research process from beginning to end, no matter the grade, subject area, or research focus. Adjustments can easily be made accordingly, though, time, or the lack-thereof, is one factor that can't always be adequately handled. The more time you have with students to intentionally direct them to be inquisitive and construct a hearty response to an essential question, the better. I suppose, my lack of free time recently is a good sign that we are heading in the right research direction, though!
While the students have been learning how to find and use information, I have been learning a good deal as well. I'm accustomed to working primarily with 5th and 6th graders, so it was a nice change of pace to select "advanced" when setting up the NoodleTools projects and aid them in the retrieval of sources that warrant this range of citation options. The use of end-notes and notecards within NoodleTools also allowed me to dust away some research cobwebs, as I recalled past projects, both taught and completed first-hand.
Each grade comes with it's own set of challenges. The younger students are just beginning to grasp the idea of various source types from and the idea that they can be found in a number of formats and locations. Additionally, learning not only to ask questions, but how to ask the right questions is a difficult concept to grasp and teach. As the students move along, the importance of the quality of the questions, more specifically, their essential question increases. Thus, the time spent developing that question increases and the degree to which they are guided decreases. At this point, they are in a precarious position, because they know enough of finding and citing sources that the basics don't need to be covered. However, they often become lackadaisical when it comes to keeping up with the checkpoints and details of the sources.
Overall, I've come to enjoy the research process from beginning to end, no matter the grade, subject area, or research focus. Adjustments can easily be made accordingly, though, time, or the lack-thereof, is one factor that can't always be adequately handled. The more time you have with students to intentionally direct them to be inquisitive and construct a hearty response to an essential question, the better. I suppose, my lack of free time recently is a good sign that we are heading in the right research direction, though!
