IS 551Melissa Robeson & Craig

CasteelDecember 5, 2006

Information LiteracyKids InfoBits:

Utilizing the Teacher Toolbox

Kids InfoBits:Teacher Toolbox

• Presentation directed at elementary teachers

• Goals: – Introduce features in the Teacher Toolbox

– Bring awareness to Kids InfoBits

TN Benchmarks – 4th Grade Writing

• 4.2.spi.1. Choose a topic sentence for a paragraph.

• 4.2.spi.6. Complete a graphic organizer.

• 4.2.spi.8. Identify the most reliable sources of information for preparing a report.

• 4.2.spi.10. Select details that support a sentence.

• 4.2.spi.14. Supply a missing piece of information in a simple outline.

• 4.2.spi.16. Select an appropriate concluding sentence…

Resources Needed

• 1 Laptop and LCD Projector

• One Computer per 2 teachers

• Packets of Teacher Toolbox Worksheets

Teaching Strategies

• Lecture/Powerpoint

• Partners – Exploring Kids InfoBits

Teacher Toolbox

• Located above the search bar

• Wrench and hammer symbols

• Next to Help and Dictionary

Teacher Tools

• Tools for Getting Started– Choosing a Topic, Judging Information, Creating a Web, Creating an Outline, How to Write a Topic Sentence

• Tools for Wrapping Up - Organizing a Report, How to Cite a Source, How to Write a Conclusion, How to Create a Visual Representation

Teacher Tools: Worksheets

• All tools have worksheets

• Download or print worksheets

• Some tools have worksheets at different levels

Choosing a Topic

• First part of the process

• Examples included

• Asks students to write the assignment in their own words

Judging Information

• Asks students for copyright dates

• Asks students to rate the reliability, details, and up-to-date information of each source used

• Asks students to decide if a site is useful

Creating a Web

• Used after information has been gathered

• Helps organize ideas

• Choose a simple template– Offers a topic and simple details

• Choose a complex template– Offers extra lines to add several details

Creating an Outline

• Used as an alternative to a web or as reinforcement

• Demonstrates a simple outline

• Students brainstorm, sort information, and create an outline

How to Write a Topic Sentence

• Defines and explains topic sentences

• Offers practice

• Integrates earlier webs and outlines

• Students create their own topic sentence on the worksheet

Organizing a Report

• Use worksheets with or without webs

and outlines

• Teaches students how to break a report

into three parts – introduction, body,

conclusion

• Offers tips throughout the section

How to Cite a Source

• Discusses plagiarism in terms of stealing

• 3 things to do when citing a source– Provide the name of the source– Provide the title of the source– Provide the date of the publication

• 2 ways to cite sources– Identify sources in the report– Create a simple bibliography

How to Write a Conclusion

• More detail than Organizing a Report

• Offers strategies– Use highlighters to mark main ideas – List strong words to use in restating the main point.– Write several possible conclusions.

• Provides examples of good verbs, adjectives, and adverbs to use in a conclusion

How to Create a Visual Representation

• Demonstrates the use of graphs in Presentations

– Pie Charts– Bar Graphs

• Offers a help icon to assist those inexperienced with graphics

Assessment

• Provide teachers with a survey– Give to teachers after they have had time to use Kids InfoBits with students– Ask for observations of student writing after exposed to the database– Ask teachers their opinions of the Toolbox

• Conduct informal interviews with students as they come into the library

QUESTIONS ???

SOURCE: Kids InfoBits via the Tennessee Electronic Library