PD: Research Strategies pK-2

Post date: Feb 12, 2018 3:41:13 PM

On a recent late arrival Wednesday, district librarian Amy Ryder led a workshop on simple ways to incorporate research strategies with our youngest students, even pre-readers. Here are some of the strategies she shared:

Flood your space: Before beginning a new unit, fill your room with nonfiction books, photos, and media on the new topic. Give the students time to explore and then collect what they learned. Even pre-readers can look at photos in books and use the photos to find basic information.

Anticipation guide: Before reading or watching media where you want students to pay attention to certain facts, ask students questions about what they will learn. For instance, if you are planning to read a book about parrots, you can ask them how long they think parrots live, if all parrots are colorful, or how big or small they think parrots can grow. This can be through a chart, worksheet, or discussion. Then after reading, compare the real information you learned with your guesses.

Photo Sort: Collect photos of a concept you are teaching, and ask student to sort them according to a category you define or to identify their own category. An example is, if you are teaching seasons, have small photos cut out of outdoor scenery during each season with identifying characteristics such as fall leaves and snow. Ask students to sort them by season. For an easier version, ask them to sort into winter and not winter.

Simple things to keep doing:

* Tell students the author and illustrator of the books you read to them. This begins to set the stage for citations and academic honesty.

* Practice reading and following directions.

* Read lots and lots of nonfiction.

Want to know more? You can view my full presentation here! Contact me anytime FMI.