Student Audience
This unit is tailored to be used in an average-sized 7th grade classroom in a large urban middle school with an above average number of students receiving free or reduced lunch. The students comprising this particular class (with a couple exceptions) are from a lower income area without a large parental presence at home, so teachers do not have much success when assigning homework. Also, many of the students do not have access to computers at home or somewhere else after school. Consequently, much of the work for this unit will need to be done during the school day. These students enjoy working on their own and in groups, however, sometimes they need to be prodded to stay on task. Once they are sure of the topic and requirements, they can work somewhat independently. However, it is difficult for them to decide on a topic or develop their own research questions pertaining to the topic. A limited list of topics or teacher approval for topics and mini-deadlines are incredibly helpful with this group. Projects that they have done and have claimed to enjoy have included ones associated with art, working in the computer lab, writing rap songs, writing diary entries. This lesson could be adapted for other classrooms with different student demographics. Using this with classrooms in a largely rural school would be a simple transition, since the student home computer access rates and the poverty level may be similar.
As far as Information Inquiry goes, these students have not had a lot of formal experience with it. They're definitely beginners. They have done some research, but mostly using sources from specific teacher-generated bibliographies. Although they enjoy creative projects, they have not had a lot of chances to do them. In this school, the school media specialist in very busy with day to day duties and does not have a lot of time for collaboration, so this project is very important. The school media specialist and 7th grade social studies teacher have set aside time especially for this project. In the beginning of the school year, the students visited the school media center/library and were taught basics such as searching the online catalog and the basic geography of the place. However, they do not get much time in the school media center/library or the computer lab, so several days have been set aside for that. The desired end result of this project is for the students to develop good research and searching techniques, be able to analyze and organize information effectively, and use various media to present a project. It is also hoped that this will make them more independent in the completion of projects and other homework, since much of the process is bestowed on the student individually.
Information Inquiry Role
The classroom teacher and the school media specialist sat down to develop much of this unit plan. Most of the unit will be led by the classroom teacher, however, the school media specialist will be on hand to help students with research, analysis, and developing their final projects. Special attention was give the the first couple days of the unit. They set the tone for the rest of the unit. Also, since they are done completely by the classroom teacher, there was a focus on incorporating information inquiry into them, since that is something not often done in that class. With luck, the classroom teacher will continue on with some of the aspects of information inquiry and keep those standards in mind.
Students must be not only content literate, but information literate as well. Aside from basic cultural literacy, a lot of information learned in Social Studies classrooms is soon forgotten, especially if not presented in an interesting and relevant way. This unit incorporates not only content literacy, but also information literacy (by conducting research), critical literacy (by proposing solutions to problems), media literacy (by examing various sources while in the research process), and technology literacy (by using technology in research and creating projects in various formats), and visual literacy (by using the map and videos in the beginning stages of the unit and by the resulting projects).
In the unit, students are also given some choice as to the result of their project. This is good for students who learn and express themselves in different ways. They were also able to select the country that they will research. This will enable them to use previous knowledge and learn about something that interests them. Also, since they choose the country after reading an article, watching videos, and examining an interactive map, they may choose one of the countries already mentioned. This may allow "over-achievers" to select a country that they know nothing about, thus challenging themselves and creating almost a tiered lesson so that the teacher does not need to. Including a self evaluation at the end of the project will not only aid the teacher in assessing how the student has done, but will also help them make improvements for their next collaborative project. Self-assessment, or basically self reflection, helps the student also become more of an independent learner, which is one of the goals of this project and of their education in general.
Standards for the 21st Century Learner
Information Literacy Standards
Indiana Academic Standards
Social Studies
Information Inquiry Model
The information inquiry model I am using is Ian Jukes' "5 As or Information Processing."
The 5 As
Pros and Cons of Inquiry Model
I chose the 5As Model because it seemed like a simple format. With students who have not had much experience with information inquiry, this was key. I liked the idea of the alliterration, it made it easy to refer to and remember. It also corresponded with the steps taken within the unit. One of the benefits of using this model is the focus on questioning in the beginning of the the process. I also like the "Analyzing" part of the model. Instead of just gathering information and using it, it makes students take a closer look at it before continuing forward. I also admire how it has students apply the information they have gained.
Something that was lacking in this particular model is an examination of students' prior knowledge. There is not that initial brainstorming that I like. However, I still incorporated that into the beginning of my unit. Annette Lamb's 8Ws has that particular feature. The "Watching" and "Wondering" steps would benefit this model. The 5A Model's "Analyzing" encompasses the 8W steps of "Wiggling" and "Weaving." However, another difference between the two is that the 8Ws require students to communicate what they have found to others. The 5As' "Applying" does not mention communication, however, I have included student sharing withing the "Assessing" step in my unit.
|