Providing a Roadmap for Research

   These are trying times for our students who are learning how to write research papers. ’s Word of the Year to be post-truth, an adjective that describes emotional appeal as mattering more than objective facts. With so many mistruths flying about on the Internet, it is hardly surprising that teachers are concerned about their students’ ability to discern not only fact from opinion, but also trustworthy sources from unreliable ones (and this study from Stanford supports that charge). Troubled by this state of affairs, you may find yourself tempted to return to your old ways of teaching research and put your students in the driver’s seat of finding their own sources right from the start. Resist the pressure. There is a better way! If you are working through IEW’s units at the pace of about one a month, Unit 6: Summarizing Multiple References is just peeking up from the horizon. It is one of my favorites! Unit 6 helps students learn to filter and fuse information. Using this method, teachers provide the sources in the beginning so that students only have to filter what is actually in the source, not filter the sources themselves. Just as students begin driving in a parking lot and gradually progress until they are skilled enough to enter that on-ramp to the highway, they need to proceed in a similar manner with the research paper by taking measured, incremental steps towards autonomy. Yes, students will eventually need to learn to filter the sources themselves. The question is— is today that day? Read on to learn more about how to decide when that time should be. Limit the students to sheltered texts to give them time to discern fact from opinion. Ideally, upper elementary teachers should provide source texts to their students so that they could focus on the skills of filtering facts on a topic and fusing them into a cohesive paragraph without needing to practice discernment about the source itself. If you are using our lesson plans and student materials or our File Box Source Texts to create your own lessons, you have exactly what your students need! Limiting the sources you give to students is like providing a roadmap that they shouldn’t wander from. They need to focus on the task at hand—filtering and fusing. Extending the students’ skill set beyond those foundational basics, fifth graders who are already experienced in Unit 6 could begin learning about how and when to cite their work. In Andrew’s talk, Developing the Essayist, he suggests the order of how to teach citation skills, which you may find helpful in your lesson planning. Another potential concept to introduce during this time would be to provide a variety of different media types so that students could learn how to cite different types of sources. Give them a magazine, a video, or an article from the digital database at the library. Let them use an online tool to format their citations. Provide lots of opportunities to practice! Once students have established the skills of filtering, fusing, and citing, they are ready to leave the parking lot! At this point the temptation to let them take off independently is strong. Again, resist! They are not yet ready to enter the interstate highway that is the Internet. It will overwhelm them, as their discernment skills are still insufficient to navigate that terrain. They will continue to need you to help them navigate by filtering their sources for them. But how should you accomplish this task? Limit students to the library to give them time to discern credible sources from unreliable ones. This article from the Smithsonian suggests that history teachers are the remedy for detecting fake news. While that is one good solution, you should also consider the library and the librarian as the place to go to let your students practice spreading their wings. By limiting their sources to resources contained in the library, you are able to coach them to recognize the dark alleys of unreliable sources before they turn in to them. This bears repeating, as it is so very important! Do not let your students begin the journey of finding their own sources until they have had enough experience in the skills mentioned above, even if you teach middle school or high school. Skills students gain by harnessing the power of the library and librarians include learning How to find a variety of different sources such as magazines, audio files, and digital databases The difference between a card catalog and a browser How to check and verify facts How librarians use their training and education to assist the researcher How to utilize different strategies for tackling pure research versus applied research How to distinguish between print and electronic resources, academic and non-academic sources, and primary and secondary sources How resources are categorized, organized, and stored How to recognize and incorporate trustworthy sources over unreliable sources in their research in various media forms By initially limiting the students’ sources so that they can practice distinguishing between fact and opinion, students are gently and gradually prepared to discern credible and unreliable sources in the library. When they have been thoroughly trained in these skills over an extended period of time, they will not struggle to distinguish between fact and fiction in the real world and even on the Internet. The key is to give students responsibility incrementally. With discernment and responsibility cultivated, students are free to go where the research takes them. The open road awaits!    Janet Spitler, IEW's Schools Division Director, heads up our efforts to support full-time schools with ongoing training, teacher mentoring, telephone contact, and classroom-specific materials. With abundant classroom experience, Janet shares her experience of building a linguistically rich environment to develop a love for language and a community of learners. While she cherishes the time she spent influencing students and parents, today she applies that same dedication to the classroom teachers who use this method. She is accredited as an IEW ® Instructor at the highest level. Log in or register to post commentsJanet Spitlers blog Log in or register to post comments Thank you for this review Permalink By gardenerinthesandJan25 Thank you for this review onresearch skills. What strategy would you suggest to learn the listed skils if a family does not have access to a library/librarian? Rebecca Log in or register to post comments Research Roadmap Permalink By Janet SpitlerJan26 I'm so glad you found this post informative. If you do not have a public library in your community, I think it is worth driving to the closest  town with a library. You could call ahead to let them know you will be spending the day there. Send them the list of skills above so that they are ready to help. They will feel appreciated because you recognize their value. Log in or register to post comments Here is another viable option: Permalink By Jennifer MauserJan30 http://www.freelibrary.org/ It's a link to the Free Library of Philadelphia, although free doesn't necessarily mean free if you don't live in the area. The cost for an annual card has  been steadily rising. When I first discovered it, I believe a card cost $15.00. Now it's $50.00. Still, it is well worth the money if you don't have access to a library in your area.   For research, databases can be a wonderful solution. The Free Library has access to many. Additionally, librarians are available to assist patrons. Many local library online databases are available to people who live in a county. Go online and find the one closest to you and see what types of online resources are available. This may be the best (and cheapest) option for a family.   Log in or register to post comments