Page 90 - ABCTE Study Guide_Neat

• Exploring inventive spelling

• Taking part in writing fluency activities

Building Blocks of Language V

Lesson Objective

In the upcoming section, we'll look at some of the basics of teaching solid research skills.

Previously Covered

• In the preceding pages we reviewed the writing process and how to help students
deveop and expand their ideas. We also covered some specific techniques, including
clustering, word mapping, and free writing.

Research

In almost all the genres of writing referred to above, you’ll need to do some amount of research.
Cultivating good, thorough research habits in your students will take time, but their writing will benefit from
it greatly as will their oranizational skills. With so much information online, today’s students face the
double-edged sword of having a lot of knowledge at their fingertips and having to ferret out the worthwhile
stuff. Let’s review some research basics:

Ask the Right Question

Make sure that you have a clear focal point for your research. Striking a balance can be tough—is a
question too narrow? Or, is it too broad for the assignment at hand. For example, when helping 4th
graders formulate a reseach question about the causes of US involvement in World War I for a two-page
paper, you want to keep the query rather specific. An example might be: What was the Zimmerman
telegram? This query will keep the focus on an important event but also allow them to explore some of the
context. You can see how this would work better than “What were the causes of US involvement in World
War I?”

Get a Plan

Your students may get overwhelmed with the amount of information out there, especially when taking on
the World Wide Web. Narrow their search field for them if you think they need it. Many Web sites, such as
www.yahooligans.com, are geared for student research and learning. These cul-de-sacs on the Web will
be more helpful for students than the Autobahn of the whole internet.

Use a Variety of Sources

Help your student get fluent in their research as well as their writing. They should be comfortable using
reference books, atlases, dictionaries, card catalogs, Web searches, magazines, newspapers, and other
materials. Many sources have their own proprietary way of organizing information (the Dewey Decimal
System, for one). Help them learn these codes that will unlock the information.

Cite Sources

Giving credit where credit is due is especially important where research is concerned. Stress the
importance of citing sources properly, no matter what style you choose.