Working on Research

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!

From research to book trailers

As the last 5th grader printed out their citations from NoodleTools today I breathed a sigh of relief. A lot of information was covered in the four days I had with them. We went over plagiarism, taking notes, paraphrasing, searching databases, and citing their material with the aid of NoodleTools. Whew!

Now that they are off on the right foot for research in the coming year, it's time to move on to the next class. Over the next week, I'll be working with the 5th and 6th graders on using the library catalog and taking part in this year's book recommendation program that I discussed in a previous post. We'll go over searching the catalog and putting books on hold. Follett Destiny is fairly easy to navigate, but the kids still have to be shown where everything is located. In addition to the handwritten book reviews I'll be introducing them to Novelist and hopefully have them create their own book trailers...later on.

As a source of inspiration (hopefully), I created a book trailer for Doll Bones using Slide.ly. I've used JayCut and Animoto in the past, but due to the addition of subscription fees or transitioning to a Black Berry format(?), I needed to find something else. It was easy to upload photos and I simply typed the text in word, took a screen shot, and saved them as a jpeg in order to upload them. There's a plethora of music to choose from, which is credited automatically. I included the links to the pictures I used at the end. Also, the effects are simple, but effective. I'll definitely be using this tool again!

Doll Bones, by Holly Black by Slidely - Slideshow maker

Science in a Bag

This week has flown by, but I'm not complaining that Thursday is already coming to a close. :) 5th grade science classes have consumed much of my time this week, as I introduced them to plagiarism, citations, and research in general. Try explaining what a databases is to a 5th grader after recess...it's interesting. Everyone has to start somewhere, though, and the earlier the better. Ms. Stephan and Mrs. Van Wart set up the science in a bag project when we were still out for the summer, so they definitely live by this standard. The basis of the project is for the students to select something that relates to a personal experience and can also be tied to science in some way, find a small object representative of the the idea, experience or thing, find one database article pertaining to the topic, summarize the information on a notebook card, and cite their source. Of course, all of this is then placed in a plastic bag, thus, the name of the project "science in a bag." It sounds simple, because it is just that. Simple. For many of these students, this is the first time they have ever used a database, properly cited a source, or paraphrased an entire article, so a lot is covered in the few days I have with them.

NoodleTools has been a saving grace when it comes to citations. We begin using this online citation tool with 5th graders and it is used continually across subjects and instructors until they graduate. We pay a nominal fee for all of our students have access to all of the features, but you can also used the minimal version at no cost. I used NoodleTools for the first time a few years ago and was blown away by how simple it made citing any resource, no matter the citation format. Boy, do I wish I had it when I was in school! Through the years, the company has continued to improve the layout more user friendly and improved the usability of the additional aspects, like notes, tags, and end-notes.

Another online tool that I don't know what I would ever do without is LiveBinder. This resource has become the go-to place for organizing any project for any great. The layout consists of tabs, much like a file folder, onto which pictures, text, or sites can be loaded. Also, you can make your project password protected, so database log ins can be added without worry. It has a simple and clean layout that is perfect for kids that need as few clicks and as much information in one place as possible.