Grade Three through Grade Five

Restate task/assignment and recognize the need for information

• understand instructions and guidelines for assignments
• understand that information is available from many different sources
• decide what types of sources will provide useful information (encyclopedia, almanac, atlas, non-fiction, biographies, periodicals)
• know where to obtain a broad overview of the research topic
• decide researchable issues on topic
• define and refine research topic based on broad overview
• understand which words are important keywords for research topic

Form information seeking strategies

•  obtain background information on research topic
•  explore different sources such as on-line catalog, encyclopedia, non-fiction books
•  outline, diagram, or web research topic
•  understand the difference between primary and secondary sources

Locate information needed

• review the organization of the library (location of fiction, non-fiction, encyclopedia, easy/everyone, series, and young adult)
• know that fiction books are shelved alphabetically by author's last name
• learn the Dewey Decimal System classifications
• identify and use reference material (dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas, almanac, thesaurus)
• use OLA's on-line catalog with assistance (author, title, subject search)
• introduce 'see' and 'see also' cross references
• explore Caldecott, Newbery, King and White awards
• understand the value of local public libraries

Evaluate information

• skim/scan resources for usefulness
• look for keywords in the information source
• practice paraphrasing/ taking notes in own words (KWL or Trash-n-Treasure)
• identify parts of book (index, glossary, copyright date, table of contents, title)
• learn to evaluate website to determine if it is a valid resource
• distinguish among fact, point of view, and opinion
• understand what types of books are helpful (fiction, non-fiction, biography)

Organize Information

• understand the importance of copyright and the consequence of plagiarism
• create/revise draft of project (word process, powerpoint)
• make bibliography with title, author, pages, copyright, and publisher
• present project in class

Evaluate

• determine what was done well
• determine what could be done better
• complete self-evaluation rubric