Hi all,
Earlier this week I asked how those of you on a fixed schedule teach
research skills. It's been 6-7 weeks since I started my projects with
the kids and we are sick of doing them, but are not close to finished.
I was asked to post a HIT, but I'm afraid I didn't get many reponses.
Most were expressing the same frustration I feel. My own decision was
to grade the PROCESS, and not bother with a final product. I had given
them the rubric I would use to grade the process in the beginning, but
the original plan was that they would also create a product that would
be graded seperately.
Some of the kids are disappointed and I told them that they could do a
project and present it if they WANT to, but it will not be required. We
only have three weeks left, so time's running out.
Anyway, here are the resonses I received. The first one is essentially
the same thing I am doing, except I have the kids for 40 minutes.
I have been doing research with my fifth graders for the past two
months. It's absurd really to spend so much time on this one unit and
yet see themonly once a week. I see the kids for 30 minutes, once a
week, but have togive them time to browse, select books, and check out
in that 30 minuteblock. So for the past two months, if no other event
is scheduled duringtheir library time, they come to me and research
their topic. I startedthis project by one day explaining what and how
we were going to do it andgiving the kids time to brainstorm ideas for a
topic, one class was forcreating a bibliography and talking about
plagiarism, one week was devotedon how to locate and use the info found
in a book, and the remainder ofthe time has been on them locating
information. We have two more classesleft before the end of the year
and it still won't be enough time for thekids to create a project that
we all can be proud of. Many of them willfinish the work, but there
won't be time to edit and rewrite so the endproduct is what it should
be. maybe next year I should begin with 5thgrade research skills since
they have so much background knowledge alreadyabout how to locate books
by dewey.If you have any grand ideas about how to do this better, I
should wouldlike to know and decrease my frustration leve.l. I am a
new elementary librarian after teaching middle school for 11 years. I am
on the rotation in a fixed schedule. Our school has no computer lab for
classes to do research. When the teachers want their students to do
"research" projects, they come in and check out all of the books on that
subject and take them back to the room. I do not get to teach research
skills. I am a babysitter so teachers can get their 45 minute conference
period. I read to the students for 20-25 minutes, then they check out
books. I didn't think it would be like this. I had the 30 minutes once a
week situation and it drove me and the kids crazy. They'd barely get
started and it was time to leave. I now have them once a week for 60
minutes and our lives are much better. Some of the school s in our
district with less flexibility have the media specialist start the class
and a para supervising the kids the next 30 minutes. They can get
started and continue working, get something accomplished, and still
check out books. you might consider that during research units the kids
do just research and come in for 10 minutes at another time to sign out
books. This is an awful situation for everyone involved. Can you put it
to your principal in terms of best educational practices? I think 25
minutes twice a week for research is not doable for you or the kids. I
feel your pain. Molly Clark
Intermediate Librarian
Michael Maroun Elementary School
Phoenix, NY
mclark2@phoenix.k12.ny.us"What a school thinks about its library, is a
measure of what it thinks
about education." Harold Howe, former U.S. Commissioner of Education
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