Sunday, July 24, 2016

Online Databases Intro

Once again I went a little freeform with this lesson because I want to see how the kids react and what they are capable of doing. Plus I did it during summer school so why not have a little fun?

I showed students how to use the Explora Elementary database that is available through EBSCO. As far as I know our elementary kids (up to sixth grade) have never seen or used a database. I typed in Stephen Curry and showed them that they could find images, videos, articles, and more. After showing the basics, students got to spend time picking their own topics and looking through their own articles.

Things I noticed as we searched were that they did NOT want to read articles and they were very stuck on people. I also found out they have no idea how to take notes or why they need to take notes. Students had a simple note page where they filled out the article title, author, and any notes they found important. Most had no idea what to write.

A couple ideas I had while we did this was to have a facts wall like I had in my third grade room. This should be a quick and fun way to get them interested in picking out fun details about people or things. Also, while we discussed which basketball player was better I thought it might be fun to do a people take on the "Who Would Win?" series. One of our research projects this year might need to be picking two people in a specific field and comparing them to see who would win. I'm thinking we should create ads...and the wheels begin to turn...

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