Note-taking in Primary

Note taking and research skills begin as early as first grade and sometimes even kindergarten- depending on the reading ability of the kindergartener. I am a library media specialist at Betsy Ross Primary School in Prospect Heights, Illinois. I consider my job to be multifaceted. I am a teacher, an information specialist, and an instructional consultant. In my role as a teacher and information specialist, I teach both students and staff information literacy skills and how these skills are essential part of the content and objectives of our curriculum.

As an instructional consultant, I assist both students and staff to identify, locate and interpret the information they find. However, it is not enough to just locate said information; once it is found the user needs to sift through it to determine which information is appropriate for their needs. This is where the note taking portion comes in. Teachers have a resource that is available to them that is often underused. This resource is their trained library media specialist. (LMS) This person can usually be found in the library, under the heading of librarian. But don’t be fooled, this librarian usually has more knowledge and information than most people are aware of. The process is very simple. Walk down to the library. Collaborate with the media specialist. Tell him/her what resources you need. Explain what information you would like your students to focus on this year. Clarify that you would like lessons that teach students how to find, cite, and use information from books, databases, and the Internet, without using Google or Wikipedia.

There are many models of ways to teach Information Literacy. For primary grades, (K-2) it is called the Super 3. The steps of the Super 3 are simple. They are: plan, do, and review. I have different worksheets and rubrics to help guide the students and teachers through the process. Teachers’ need to understand that as soon as children are instructed to find information in an outside source, they need to learn how to properly use that information once found. Our kindergarteners are already on-line; it is up to us to make sure they know how to find, use, and cite the information the proper way.

One of the Information Literacy models that I have used for the upper grades, (3-12) is called the Big 6. As with the Super 3, there are rubrics and worksheets that correlate to the steps in order to best assist the students with their research. The Big 6 Model covers: Task Definition, Information Seeking Strategies, Locating and Accessing Information, Usage of Information, Synthesis and Evaluation.

I believe that all students need to tackle research by using electronic journals, databases, and appropriate internet sites. I believe that Google can be a useful tool in certain circumstances; however, I do not feel that it belongs in a school environment. As a teacher, it is my job to show students different ways to find, use, and cite information, beyond the Google environment.

References
Big 6 Model: www.big6.com
Super 3: http://www.big6.com/kids/K-2.htm