Friday, April 10, 2009

thing 5a

i just read the link in Lett's Musing about teaching children to check facts and beware of information from the internet. "The Future of Reading: In Web Age, Library Job Gets Update" The average 5th grader believes if it sounds important, it is important. As in Wikipedia is the same as an encyclopedia. That one concept has been a trial for many this year in completing their research projects. As technology literate as many of them have become, that is one site I have had minimal luck convincing them of its unreliability.

Tailoring research expectations to the students has been a challenge.  Making things doable and motivating without making it toooooo simple or to complex is tricky with 5th graders.  They are all capable of finding information on any topic but picking out what is relevant and NOT copy and pasting into their presentations has been hard for many.   They enjoy looking and accumulating the facts.  They mistakenly believe that the computer will make it all come together.  Some of my best teachable moments have been in seeing them learn what information to select and knowing they have to learn it, build the presentations and present it! 
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1 comment:

  1. Caroline Bucky-BeaverApril 17, 2009 at 5:03 PM

    "The average 5th grader believes if it sounds important, it is important. As in Wikipedia is the same as an encyclopedia. That one concept has been a trial for many this year in completing their research projects."

    And that's a valuable lesson that has to be incorporated into the research process. Information literacy skills are important for our kids to learn, but how to teach them is the crux! I'm hopeful that as we develop Technology Literacy Standards for K-5, we'll be better able to address these needs.

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