Research in the Lower School in one
word: kaleidoscope.
The range of skillsets, prior
knowledge, teacher applications and expectations, and scope is wide and always
shifting. One place where I can create consistency is in the writing of a
bibliography. I apply a few basic principles in my teaching of this essential part
of a complete research experience.
I. All Lower School students can appreciate the power of MINE, YOURS and OURS.
Figure 1 Venn diagram retrieved from Wikimedia.com
Developmentally, Lower School students can fully appreciate
what belongs to whom. Giving credit to someone for their hard work is well in
the grasp of our youngest learners. Bridging understanding from the physical book
to the work that went into it by one or more authors can be compared to an art
piece a student just completed, or a fiction story just written. All Lower
School students can appreciate their own hard work! When we do research, we are
using previously published material to create something of our own. We are
borrowing the work of others. Writing the Bibliography as a part of the complete
research experience is a great way to show sharing and caring for the work of
the authors.
Figure 2 Overview image of hurricane retrieved from pexels.com
II. Do we really expect Lower School students to write bibliographies? You bet!
Ready to dive into the eye of the storm?
Bibliographies contain the sorts of material that our youngest learners have
little or no connection to other than TITLE and/or AUTHOR. The copyright page
is nearly always in font sizes you need a magnifying glass to read, and is
largely passed over in early reading experiences. As has been posted previously
on the blog, teaching
the vocabulary of a bibliography is a natural and necessary first step. I
have made it a point to embed lessons that include awareness around AUTHOR, TITLE,
PUBLISHER, CITY OF PUBLICATION, COPYRIGHT DATE.
Figure 3 Figure with magnifying glass retrieved from Pixabay.com
III. Lower School students relish being a super sleuth.
Developmentally, students in the Lower
School are curious seekers and love a challenge. When beginning bibliography
lessons, I first turn it into a game. I start with the easiest information
first, then mix it up until we get to what I have found to be the most
challenging: publisher.
Once I have introduced vocabulary, here
is a framework I use:
PK, AUTHOR, TITLE: even though not fully reading, PK students can look at the front of most
nonfiction books and point to where the title is and where the author’s name is
located.
K, AUTHOR, TITLE: emerging readers, K students can look at the front of most nonfiction
books and point to where the title is and where the author’s name is located,
and can occasionally read this information.
Grade 1, AUTHOR, TITLE, COPYRIGHT DATE: emerging and beginning readers, Grade 1 students can
find the author and the title, and when shown the copyright page, can find the
copyright date.
Grades 2-5, AUTHOR, TITLE, CITY OF PUBLICATION, PUBLISHER, COPYRIGHT DATE: students aged 7 and up can find all
of this information with varying degrees of support.
At each age and stage, I provide a
simple way to record the information except for PK where we create a group
bibliography, as the research is usually done at the class level. In K, my
students can copy the author and title onto paper and include at the end of
their report OR the tech integrator can assist with having them type it into a new
document. In Grades 1 through 5, I have created graphic organizers that
stair-step up with developmental stages.
Figure 4 Rainbow check mark retrieved from publicdomainpictures.net
IV. Checking it once, checking it twice!
When recording information for a bibliography, I encourage
students to trade their organizers and assist in the super sleuth checking.
When we are finished, these organizers go back to the classroom for the
students to connect to their completed research project. My faculty especially appreciates
the collaboration because of the hybrid need-hate relationship most have with
this step of the research process. However, it is ESSENTIAL to build these
habits young, and with relative ease of use, so that the task is less daunting
as an older student – and seen as an
essential, credible part of the research experience.
Share your Bibliography
experiences in the comments below!
