The Research Process
Rachel Reinwald
March 2014
PARCC & CCSS
Background Information (Pre-Reading)
• Standards
• Analyze Content (RL/RI.6.2-9; SL.6.2-3)
• Conduct discussions (SL.6.1)
• Report findings (SL.6.4-6)
• Activities:
• Give One, Get One
• K-W-L Chart
• Background Reading
• Picture Walks
• Encyclopedia
Vocabulary & Key Concepts
Vocabulary & Key Concepts
• Books are full of words that might not be used in ordinary conversation and
they provide a rich context for understanding word meaning (Yopp and
Yopp 2007).
• When children experience repeated read-alouds, accompanied by direct
attention to words, they can show significant growth in vocabulary (Graves
and Watts-Taffe 2008).
• Children benefit from exposure to new words in many contexts and their
exposure should involve engagement in meaningful discussion (Caldwell
and Leslie 2009).
• “Connecting words to literature, the world, and life experiences helps
children to make the necessary connections needed to make the new word
theirs” (Strickland 2005, 62).
Concept Map
Frayer Model
Previewing Text
Previewing Text & Assignment
• Demonstrating a reading process gives students
a predictable way to decipher complex text.
• Set a purpose by looking at the assignment.
• EX: Volancoes: location, elevation, age, type
(cinder, shield, composite), last eruption,
dormant/active, a picture, 5 facts
Previewing: Key Word Cloud
Previewing: Structure
• List
• Description
• Chronological
• Cause / Effect
• Problem / Solution
Preview: Text Features
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Table of Contents, Index
Glossary
Headings
Captions
Pictures
Graphs / Charts / Maps
Keywords / bold or italic text
Extras: timelines, text boxes
Main Idea
• Standards: RL/RI.2-9; SL.2-3
(K-6)
• Important vs. Non-essential
(coding a text)
• What ideas / words are
important and why?
• If each sentence is not
connected to the main idea in
some way, our main idea
sentence may not be
accurate or complete.
Essential Details
Essential Details
Activity: Essential Details Post-Its
1. Write one sentence on each chart paper.
2. Students move around the room with postits. They have make a case for whether or
not that sentence is an essential detail.
3. Students stick their argument to the chart
paper.
4. Students go around room until they’ve
looked at all chosen sentences.
5. Share arguments with class.
6. Decide as a class which sentences are
essential details and why (filling out the
FRAME graphic organizer as you go).
Questions to ask students:
• Where to find supporting details?
• Does this fact support the main ideas? Is it
essential? WHY??
• If I took this idea out, would the paragraph
still make sense?
Active Reading Connections
Active Reading Connections
• Comparison Charts:
• Venn Diagram
• Cause / Effect
• Timeline
• Semantic Features (and other connection charts)
Writing to Texts (W.6.1-6, 10; RL/RI6.1-10)
Analyses
• Opinion: Should you move to where that volcano is? What Indian tribe would
you join?
• Explaining: What essential details back up the main ideas? What were some
interesting facts you found?
Narrative
• Convey experiences: text-to-text, -self, -world. (One time you were afraid of a
natural disaster happening.)
• Convey events: What is the story of your volcano and its eruption? (The Night
Mt. Fiji Exploded…)
• Convey procedures: How to build a teepee; How to prepare for a volcanic
eruption.
Fish
X
X
X
Amphibian
X
X
x
Reptile
X
x
Bird
X
X
X
Mammal
x
x
x
X
x
Produce Milk
Feathers
Fur or Hair
Scales
Smooth Skin
Lungs
Gills
Endothermic
Ectothermic
Backbone
Feature Terms
Semantic Features Chart
Category: Vertebrates
x
x
x
x
x
Scavenger Hunt:
 Picture
 Elevation
 Age of volcano
 Type (cinder, composite, shield)
 Last eruption
 Dormant or Active
Encyclopedia
• Why encyclopedia?
• What is a specialized encyclopedia? Why would I
use it?
• How to find information in an encyclopedia.
• Guide words
• Index (sometimes in volume format)
• On the Library Catalog search
Books
• This is your extended text
• Students will use reading strategies here, but with post-its.
• They will copy their facts that answer research questions into graphic
organizer or personal notes.
• Sometimes there is not a specific enough book for the students
• Remember 5 finger rule (yes, still)
• Kids don’t have to read the whole book unless teacher says to
News/Magazine Articles
Why?
• Complex text
• Super current, puts in
world and local context
with events
• Oriented to kids
• Pictures aid reading and
are informative
• Magazines are just plain
fun
• Articles are written by
experts
Databases
• Updated often / current
• Written by experts
• Includes magazine articles, newspaper articles,
encyclopedia entries, pictures, videos, and sound
• There are databases for specific topics (like biomes and
Native Americans and state facts and science)
• They are easily searchable by keyword (students just
have to type it in)
• School library and public library have different databases
(you need a LVDL card to access LVDL databases)
Internet
Essential Question: Why is it important to evaluate the
source and validity of the information found on a website?
ISBE Standards and Performance Indicators
• Students use technology to locate, evaluate and collect
information from a variety of sources.
• Research and evaluate the accuracy, relevance,
appropriateness, comprehensiveness, and bias of
electronic information sources concerning real world
problems.