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Research Skills in the Elementary Classroom

Today’s learners need to know how to ask and answer their own questions. They need to be independent thinkers and not always given questions provided by teachers. By stepping back and providing your students with tools to begin generating their own higher-order questions and then analyzing the researched information, our youngest learners will be well-prepared for their future. Keep reading to learn a few simple steps to get your students excited about the new content and formulating their own questions throughout the research process.

Google-able vs. Non-Google-able

Young students need to understand what a good research question looks like. I always introduce the difference by having a discussion about “Google-able” questions and “Non-Google-able” questions. “Google-able” questions are simple questions that one search engine can answer in one quick step. “Non-Google-able” questions take time and many resources to find the answer. I then show a short youtube video about a nonfiction topic (Galapagos turtles is always a big hit!). Students watch the video and write down as many questions as they can on post-it notes. Once students are finished, they sort and label their questions into “Googleable vs. Non-Google-able.” Then, for Day 2, I partner my 3rd graders up and they choose a nonfiction book to read with their partners. As they read their book, they use PostIt Plus app to record questions while reading. This is such an amazing app because they can color code their questions right within the app and post-its don’t get lost. They stay organized on their iPads.

Analyzing the Answers to Generated Questions

Now that students understand how to generate good research questions, I step back and let them choose a topic of choice to research. This is when our Genius Hour starts. Students think about a passion that they have then think about what breaks their heart about that passion. For example, a student that loves football may have a heartbreak that players can get hurt playing football. Then, students will formulate questions to ask that will ultimately lead them to a creative project that solves the problem.

Students use the Bookmark feature in Safari to save reliable sources into a folder named Genius Hour. This will be useful when they need to cite their evidence in their final projects.

As students begin to find answers to their questions, I show them how to keep the information organized using Notes on their iPads. Within Notes, they start a Folder and create categories for their research. For example, a student researching an animal may have notes on Habitat, Diet, Life Span, etc. By creating separate notes, students learn how to analyze their learned information and to categorize it. These are all skills that students MUST be able to do to be prepared for their future.

Creation Time!

I always tell students that the best research questions are answered by their own brain using the new learning they gained from researching. Once students have done the research, they then choose a way to present their learning to an authentic audience. Check out our Padlet from my latest Genius Hour class of 3rd graders for ideas on creation methods and research topics. 

 

The best part of the research process is sharing with an authentic audience! We invite parents, families, and school personnel to come in for our Genius Hour presentation days.

 

Katey Hileman is a 3rd-grade teacher and Technology coach. She has led many Professional Development sessions within her school district and at numerous conferences in Indiana. She is a Google Level 1 Educator, an Apple Certified Teacher, and a Seesaw Ambassador. She has been a guest blogger for Kidblog.org and is active in the Twitter community. You can follow her on Twitter @kateyhileman. She is always excited to share meaningful lesson ideas and learn from others!

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Keynote is just a slide-creator…isn’t it?

Nope. It’s not.

Of course, you can create slides with Keynote. In fact, I would argue that it is one of the most user-friendly and satisfying tools for doing so, particularly on an iPad.

But it can do so much more, as my 9th-grade students recently discovered in our Technology Foundations class, a required first-semester 9th-grade course at St. Mary’s Academy in Portland, Oregon.

In an effort to break students of ingrained habits, I started our unit with a quick “Create Your Logo” assignment designed to help students explore Keynote shapes. By layering, recoloring, shading, and shadowing various shapes, students created their own personal logos that they are using in other assignments during the term.

Then we moved to our “Six-Word Keynote Story” assignment. The activity was inspired by Apple Distinguished Educator Don Goble’s multi-touch book, Six-Word-Story, Six Unique Shots, in which he describes a video project where students told a visual story in six scenes.

My instructions to my students were simple:

    • Write a six-word story.
    • Tell the story using three Keynote slides.
    • Each slide must include a transition and at least one animation. Bonus points to those who use Magic Move transitions to create added meaning.
    • All visuals on the slides must either be your own creations or combinations of shapes from Keynote.
    • Set the slides to auto-advance.
    • The completed project must feel like a complete, uninterrupted narrative.

Over the next two class periods, I interspersed work time with “mini-lessons” about layering and editing shapes, Instant Alpha, and Magic Move.

The resulting Keynote stories were inspiring, funny, creative, intelligent, and thoughtful. Many of my students went far beyond my minimal instructions, creating rich tapestries that they were excited to share with each other on our lesson showcase day. And through their story choices, I learned about what my students enjoy, think about, and worry over.

Not only did this assignment open students’ eyes to unexpected possibilities within the Keynote tool and enrich their work on later assignments for me, it helped students learn about creating visual narratives in a way that also immediately influenced their work in other classes.

Don’t let Keynote’s simple interface fool you. It’s simply a masterpiece waiting to happen in your hands.

 

 

Alyssa Tormala
Instructional Tech Coach
Teacher
St. Mary’s Academy
Portland, Oregon

 

 

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