|
|
|
|
| Overview |
 Children are naturally curious—they want to know "how" and "why." Teaching research skills can help students find answers for themselves. "Skim, Scan, and Scroll," taken from a research skills unit, is a step towards the students completing a written report on a state symbol. Here, students will read informational text, looking for supporting details. Throughout this unit, students will not only learn the research process, they will also experience it first hand.
|
| From Theory to Practice |
Teaching the process and application of research should be an ongoing part of all school curricula. It is important that research components are taught all through the year, beginning on the first day of school. Dreher et al. explain that "[S]tudents need to learn creative and multifaceted approaches to research and inquiry. The ability to identify good topics, to gather information, and to evaluate, assemble, and interpret findings from among the many general and specialized information sources now available to them is one of the most vital skills that students can acquire" (39).
Dreher, Jean, et al. 2000. Easy Steps to Writing Fantastic Research Reports (Grades 3–6). New York: Scholastic Professional Books.
|
| Student Objectives |
Students will
- use a variety of sources (e.g., media center, classroom resources, available technology) to locate information.
- use text aids (e.g., table of contents, glossary, captions, chapter headings, index) to locate information.
- use text structure (e.g., sequential order, chronological order, problem/solution) to determine most important information.
- apply appropriate reading strategies to fiction and nonfiction texts within and across content areas.
- use key words to identify relevant information.
Discriminate between relevant and irrelevant information, and make generalizations based on relevant information from expository text.
- distinguish between main ideas and supporting details.
- organize and synthesize information.
|
| Instructional Plan |
Resources
Background Information
Related Lessons
Research Building Blocks: Hints about Print
Research Building Blocks: Examining Electronic Sources
Research Building Blocks: Notes, Quotes, and Fact Fragments
Definitions for This Lesson
Skim: To read quickly for main ideas or supporting details in a text
Scan: To move the eyes quickly over a text to find a specific point or points that answer a question or questions
Activities
- Create a question that would arise from the unit your students are studying. Then, using the class text, model how to find a supporting detail in a paragraph that answers your question. Follow this by having the students generate a question of their own.
- Begin to “find” the answer by turning through all the pages in the book.
- Students will probably protest, telling you that there are better ways to find the answer. Generate a list of their responses.
- Talk about the skill of skimming, using the definition above.
- Seek the answer again, this time skimming to find it.
- Have the students complete Activity #1.
- Follow up the activity by having the students generate a short list of questions they have on a topic the class is studying.
- Discuss the skill of scanning, using the definition above.
- Model the scanning process while finding a few of the answers to their questions.
- Then have the students complete Activity #2.
- After skimming and scanning print sources, the students are ready to look at electronic sources. With an LCD projector, show an example of an online source. Discuss what characteristics of the site make it easy or difficult to read. Point out things such as headers, colored print, links, etc. A good site to try would be an online encyclopedia such as Encyclopedia.com.
- Have the students scroll through an entry, skimming and scanning for information that ties into what they've been studying in their print texts.
Web Resource
- Encyclopedia.com
http://www.encyclopedia.com/
- An online encyclopedia that can be used to teach skimming and scanning of electronic text.
|
| Student Assessment/Reflections |
| As this is only one step in teaching the research process, students need not be graded on the activity. However, peer review of their filled out Activity Form #1 and Activity Form #2 would provide helpful feedback for the students as they practice their skimming and scanning skills. Teacher observation could best assess how well the students differentiated between main topics and supporting ideas. |
1 - Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
3 - Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
4 - Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
5 - Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
7 - Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
8 - Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
11 - Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
12 - Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
|
|
|
