Teaching Students Effective Search Skills

Frey, Fisher and Gonzalez (2010) state, “There is more information at our fingertips today than ever before” (pg. 33). Technology has vastly changed how we gather information. While books and other texts in print are still valuable, the Internet has provided students with a myriad of options to obtain information. In fact, it can be quite overwhelming at times. Simply typing some keywords into the search bar in Google can yield thousands upon thousands of results. Consequently, our students need to be taught how to effectively search and sift through this overabundance of information.

One way teachers can guide students to developing and practicing effective search skills is to teach them about Boolean Operators. Boolean Operators come in handy when you have a fairly broad topic and need to narrow down the results. Simply adding quotation marks, a plus sign, using the words “or,” “and, “not,” or the minus sign can greatly reduce the amount of websites the search engine gives the researcher. In addition to teaching students about Boolean Operators, teachers need to introduce students to specialized search engines. These search engine are specifically created to produce results about a given topic.

Another helpful tool that will aid students in finding information are Web feed tools. These are tools that will search the Web for postings or websites that are related to the person’s interests. (Frey, Fisher & Gonzalez, 2010, p. 46).  These tools are extremely beneficial because they bring the news to the student; the student does not have to go out and continually search, remember to revisit, or bookmark a site. It collects all the information and displays it in one place.

Once students have learned how to effectively research, teachers must teach them how to determine if the information is credible. Anyone can post anything on the Internet. Just because it says it on the Internet, does not make it true. It is the responsibility of the researcher to do their due diligence to ensure that the information they are reporting is accurate. The CARS (Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness, Support) Checklist for Information Quality is a great resource to guide students in their thinking as they evaluate a website (Frey, Fisher & Gonzalez, 2010, p. 43). Providing students with an evaluation tool based on CARS would be very beneficial, especially at the beginning stages of becoming an effective researcher.

It is imperative for teachers not to overlook the importance of teaching our students these skills. We can not assume our students know how to do these things just because they are so inundated with technology on a daily basis at such a young age. Today’s students need to learn how to effectively search the Internet and determine the credibility of such information in order to be successful users of technology in this digital era.

Reference:

Frey, N., Fisher, D., & Gonzalez, A. (2010). Literacy 2.0: reading and writing in 21st century classrooms. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Literacy in Content Areas

All teachers, no matter what subject they teach, are literacy teachers whether they know it or not. Alber (2010) states, “Content is what we teach, but there is also the how, and this is where literacy instruction comes in” (para. 7). There are many ways to incorporate literacy instruction into content areas. Teachers must take it upon themselves to find and implement these lessons consistently and effectively. There are many digital tools that can assist in this endeavor.

Students should be doing some kind of reading and/or writing every day in every classroom. Not all writing has to be formal. Some informal writing activities that can be easily incorporated into content areas are activities like quick writes, stop and jots, one-minute essays, etc. (Alber, 2010, para. 14). Google Docs is a great resource for this type of assignment. It allows students to share the document, collaborate and communicate in a quick, efficient manner. Padlet is another great resource to accomplish this. You can post a discussion prompt on your subject matter and have students brainstorm, reflect, or demonstrate their understanding. The use of a school’s learning management system (LMS) is also a great tool to use. Many LMS’s, like Schoology and Canvas, have a discussion board that provides students an opportunity to write in a manner that they find interesting and fun.

“The days of believing that we could hand informational text or a novel to a student and assume he or she makes full meaning of it on their own is a teaching mode of the past. Whether we like it or not, regardless of the content we teach, we are all reading instructors” (Albers, 2010, para. 17). Last week, I blogged about a resource called Rewordify. Rewordify would help content teachers make reading an often difficult text easier for their students. Students, parents and teachers can use Rewordify as needed. It allows the user to copy and paste a challenging text, and it will reword it in a more understandable way. In addition, teachers of all content areas could use graphic organizers to aid students in their understanding of texts. They can use brainstorming tools such as Bubbl.us. This would be great for reading and writing.

Simply put, Heller (2017) suggests to teachers, “They also must teach their students to read and write and communicate like mathematicians, historians, scientists, literary critics, and educated members of society” (para. 3). No matter our content area, we should be equipping students with the knowledge, vocabulary and tools that will allow them to be a successful 21st century learner. While content teachers may not be specifically teaching the basics of reading and writing, they should be asking students to apply these skills on a daily basis within their subject area. The use of digital tools makes this an easily attainable task.

References:

Alber, R. (2010, August 04). How Important is Teaching Literacy in All Content Areas? Retrieved May 15, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/literacy-instruction-across-curriculum-importance

Heller, R., Ph.D. (2017). Teaching Reading and Writing in the Content Areas. Retrieved May 15, 2017, from http://www.adlit.org/adlit_101/improving_literacy_instruction_in_your_school/teaching_reading_and_writing_content_areas/

Literacy 2.0 Tools

Frey, Fisher and Gonzalez (2010) state, “In literacy 2.0, we need to equip students with the cognitive tools that allow them to produce and share knowledge - using sounds, images and texts - and the technological tools that provide them the means to do so” (p. 72). Technology should enhance student learning. Simply offering students one way to complete a task, following step by step directions, completing the same task, and leading them to the outcome is no longer sufficient. Now, students are expected to problem solve, think and produce evidence that they understand what has been asked of them. How they get to the final product may look different from student to student. We need to encourage students to be in control of their own learning, to innovate and to create. Below are a two tools that allow students to do just that.

Tool #1 Description: Rewordify

Rewordify is a digital tool that allows students to enter a piece of text that was hard for them to understand and will re-word it so it is easier to understand. It also has a vocabulary component. It will choose difficult words in a text or allow you to choose the words and will provide you with the needed information. For example, you can ask it to reword it with easier vocabulary or highlight it and click on the word to see the definition. Rewordify allows teachers to easily differentiate for students. They can select the text and words. Students can also choose how the site works for them. There are many options in the settings. They decide what style best suits them. Rewordify also allows students to chart their progress.

Strategies and Methods to Incorporate into Reading and Writing Curriculum:

I really like everything Rewordify has to offer. As a sixth grade teacher that is beginning the transition to project based learning, Rewordify will make that process a lot more manageable for me. It will allow me to work one on one and in small groups with students while they are working on reading assignments and vocabulary that they are able to manage on their own without any explanation/help from me. It truly allows them to be independent and in control of their own learning.

Unfortunately, there are students that are not reading on grade level, but are constantly exposed to grade level texts. In addition, even proficient readers encounter difficult/unknown words or struggle with sections of a text. Rewordify will allow them to read through a text successfully by providing them with the information they need to make sense of it. As the teacher, I can let them choose the text, or I can supply it. Then, as they work through the text, they identify what is challenging to them and work on individualized lessons accordingly. Rewordify will let teachers differentiate student practice of reading and vocabulary skills that will customize to the students needs and abilities. In addition to using Rewordify in the classroom, students could use it as a tool at home if they are struggling to understand any text.

Tool #2 Description: BrainRush

BrainRush is a tool that provides students the opportunity to learn, practice and assess their knowledge on various ELA skills. It sorts it by subject, grade level and even common core skills. It’s very easy to search within. BrainRush has reading practice skills such as plot, literary genres, prefixes and roots, figurative language, author’s purpose, and many more. It also can aid students in their writing. For example, it has some games, practice and assessments for word choice. In these activities students learn new words to replace overused/dull ones. A feature that I really liked about BrainRush is that it differentiates as the student works. As they are learning and practicing, it keeps track of the ones they miss and will automatically keep assessing them until they have it mastered.

Strategies and Methods to Incorporate into Reading and Writing Curriculum:

I absolutely LOVED BrainRush. I was very impressed with the wide variety of options it offered. Currently, our school district does not have a resource for teaching grammar, language and mechanics skills. It’s very hard to find good, meaningful practice of these skills. BrainRush would be a great resource that would allow teachers to provide differentiated instruction to students that meet the new Literacy 2.0 guidelines.

After I introduce all the parts of speech, sentences, language and mechanics topics, BrainRush will be the tool I can use to have students refresh, practice, apply and assess their understanding. These skills are already hard to make “fun,” and BrainRush would allow just that. I would simply attach the link to the BrainRush skills I want my students to practice to Schoology, our learning management system (LMS). There, they can participate in the activities. Students can do these activities with or without an account. However, if they don’t have one, they will be unable to monitor their progress, but still reap all the other benefits. A bonus to BrainRush is that students can practice what they want, when they want.

For reading, I would assign BrainRush activities as a way for students to practice new skills taught. I could even use it as an attention getting exercise as a way to introduce a new topic/skill. It would allow students to learn, explore and practice before I teach a mini-lesson. That way they would be engaged in their learning and have a little prior knowledge that could aid in their understanding of the skill/concept as a whole. I would just be there to assist and/or supply further information. BrainRush could easily be used in the “flipped classroom” model.

After completing the BrainRush activities, students will be well-versed in their reading, writing, grammar, etc. skills. It is an effective tool that will help meet the Literacy 2.0 needs of 21st century learners.

Reference:

Frey, N., Fisher, D., & Gonzalez, A. (2010). Literacy 2.0: reading and writing in 21st century classrooms. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.