Monday, September 26, 2005
~~Wiggling~~
Wiggling, according to Dr.Lamb can often be the toughest "W" in the 8w's model(Information Inquiry). I tend to agree. I have discovered some aggravations just writing about the very idea of "wiggling." I have to wiggle through the vast information I have found. This in any project, past or present, I always find daunting. According to Dr. Lamb, the wiggling phase consists of, "Students evaluating content, along with twisting and turning information looking for clues, ideas, and perspectives(Information Inquiry).
I am wiggling through my three books on Halloween right now. All three of them have almost identical background information on the origins of Halloween. I believe this is good because I can begin to organize my information into checklists or guides. I believe reception scaffolds would be useful for students in organizing and evaluating their information. As a teacher or media specialist reception scaffolds of various sorts can aide the student in creating projects as well as lesson plans for the teachers.
I have personally created a timeline since I am dealing with historical aspects of Halloween. This is one aspect of a reception scaffold.
The timeline consisted of when, where , and whom, and sometimes what. For example, the "what" would be the different festivals of ancient times that began the essence of Halloween.
According to Dr. Lamb's wiggling process, these different guides are indeed helpful to the student. Dr. Lamb states, "When planning for a research project, some students need assistance with narrowing a topic, developing research questions, identifying key words, taking notes, and synthesizing information. You may want to provide research organizers to help students in their project planning. For example, the guide might include a sheet that contains the words Who, What, When, Where, How, and Why to help the student plan a newspaper article. Another project might include an empty chart that will help students in a comparison of political parties" (Information Inquiry).
In addition to a time line, I also decided to create a note taking form like the one located in the back of Harada and Yoshima's book, Inquiry Learning through lIbrarian-Teacher Partner ships.
I also fine-tuned my timeline into a research guide. My research guide consisted of a table with who, when, where, and what listed across the top of a table that I created in MS word. The overall question was based on the origins of Halloween to present day Halloween. I, then proceeded to fill in the blanks, consisting of the cultures, time periods, countries, and what functions each group held. I found this to be useful in order to keep myself organized with facts on my topic. However, I would have to admit I am usually not this type of researcher. Thus, I can see students like me not willing to adapt to this process. A teacher/media specialist could convince students to implement these tools by creating a rubric not only grading the final project but grading and assessing the students process of developing the project, much like we are doing now. The teacher can also guide the students through the project process by creating guides/worksheets and developing a scheduled format. For example, a worksheet outlining different reception scaffolds could be handed out and the student would be required to choose one.
Evaluating the information proved to be easy for me. This is only because I have years of experience and have been taught how to locate authentic information from secondary as well as primary sources. The internet is a touchy source indeed when it comes to legitimate information by authoritative sources. For this, a teacher/media specialist can supply the student with websites that guide the student to authentic sources. I used a website that refreshed my memory on authentic sources before I began( http://www.collectionscanada.ca/education/008-3010-e.html).
Once I found my sources, I began to delve into the information itself. I had to evaluate what information I would need and what I could throw away. I quickly eliminated several sources because I had way too much information. Students would also go through this process which can be overwhelming.
A teacher/media specialist may use several tools to guide students to assessing information. For example, the teacher can provide mini lessons on how to locate, retreive, and analyze information, on how to take notes through example, and coaching students as they sift through mounds of information(Harada 122). Students could also break into small groups and aide each other in the process of information evaluation.
I placed the website sources that I did keep into my "favorites" area of AOL so that I could access them when needed. I used MS word to type notes from my book sources before developing my research guide. I also used information from magazine sources. Ironically, I used none of the magazines I had previously purchased at the stores. The information was basically superficial and of no use to me since I was delving into a more historical study of Halloween. This, again is an area of information evaluation.
Note taking seems usually the best way for me to evaluate and assimilate the information before me. I found a common pattern when looking for information on the history of Halloween. Because of this, I was able to provide myself with fine-tuned questions that took me back through webbing and wondering process. I even decided at this point to use a pathfinder. http://42explore.com/topic.htm
This site had a wealth of information but it did not provide any new or applicable information for me so I did not use any of its sources. However, it helped me to finalize my information retreival and what I wanted to say in my final project.
As I neared the end of wiggling, I felt a sense of relief as I was half way through the process of the 8w's.
Sources:
Harada Violet H. & Joan M. Yoshima. Inquiry Learning through Librarian-Teacher Partner ships. Ohio: Linworth Publishing, 2004(122).
Lamb Dr. Annette. C 2005 Information Inquiry:Wiggling.
http://www.eduscapes.com/info/topic71d.htm
I am wiggling through my three books on Halloween right now. All three of them have almost identical background information on the origins of Halloween. I believe this is good because I can begin to organize my information into checklists or guides. I believe reception scaffolds would be useful for students in organizing and evaluating their information. As a teacher or media specialist reception scaffolds of various sorts can aide the student in creating projects as well as lesson plans for the teachers.
I have personally created a timeline since I am dealing with historical aspects of Halloween. This is one aspect of a reception scaffold.
The timeline consisted of when, where , and whom, and sometimes what. For example, the "what" would be the different festivals of ancient times that began the essence of Halloween.
According to Dr. Lamb's wiggling process, these different guides are indeed helpful to the student. Dr. Lamb states, "When planning for a research project, some students need assistance with narrowing a topic, developing research questions, identifying key words, taking notes, and synthesizing information. You may want to provide research organizers to help students in their project planning. For example, the guide might include a sheet that contains the words Who, What, When, Where, How, and Why to help the student plan a newspaper article. Another project might include an empty chart that will help students in a comparison of political parties" (Information Inquiry).
In addition to a time line, I also decided to create a note taking form like the one located in the back of Harada and Yoshima's book, Inquiry Learning through lIbrarian-Teacher Partner ships.
I also fine-tuned my timeline into a research guide. My research guide consisted of a table with who, when, where, and what listed across the top of a table that I created in MS word. The overall question was based on the origins of Halloween to present day Halloween. I, then proceeded to fill in the blanks, consisting of the cultures, time periods, countries, and what functions each group held. I found this to be useful in order to keep myself organized with facts on my topic. However, I would have to admit I am usually not this type of researcher. Thus, I can see students like me not willing to adapt to this process. A teacher/media specialist could convince students to implement these tools by creating a rubric not only grading the final project but grading and assessing the students process of developing the project, much like we are doing now. The teacher can also guide the students through the project process by creating guides/worksheets and developing a scheduled format. For example, a worksheet outlining different reception scaffolds could be handed out and the student would be required to choose one.
Evaluating the information proved to be easy for me. This is only because I have years of experience and have been taught how to locate authentic information from secondary as well as primary sources. The internet is a touchy source indeed when it comes to legitimate information by authoritative sources. For this, a teacher/media specialist can supply the student with websites that guide the student to authentic sources. I used a website that refreshed my memory on authentic sources before I began( http://www.collectionscanada.ca/education/008-3010-e.html).
Once I found my sources, I began to delve into the information itself. I had to evaluate what information I would need and what I could throw away. I quickly eliminated several sources because I had way too much information. Students would also go through this process which can be overwhelming.
A teacher/media specialist may use several tools to guide students to assessing information. For example, the teacher can provide mini lessons on how to locate, retreive, and analyze information, on how to take notes through example, and coaching students as they sift through mounds of information(Harada 122). Students could also break into small groups and aide each other in the process of information evaluation.
I placed the website sources that I did keep into my "favorites" area of AOL so that I could access them when needed. I used MS word to type notes from my book sources before developing my research guide. I also used information from magazine sources. Ironically, I used none of the magazines I had previously purchased at the stores. The information was basically superficial and of no use to me since I was delving into a more historical study of Halloween. This, again is an area of information evaluation.
Note taking seems usually the best way for me to evaluate and assimilate the information before me. I found a common pattern when looking for information on the history of Halloween. Because of this, I was able to provide myself with fine-tuned questions that took me back through webbing and wondering process. I even decided at this point to use a pathfinder. http://42explore.com/topic.htm
This site had a wealth of information but it did not provide any new or applicable information for me so I did not use any of its sources. However, it helped me to finalize my information retreival and what I wanted to say in my final project.
As I neared the end of wiggling, I felt a sense of relief as I was half way through the process of the 8w's.
Sources:
Harada Violet H. & Joan M. Yoshima. Inquiry Learning through Librarian-Teacher Partner ships. Ohio: Linworth Publishing, 2004(122).
Lamb Dr. Annette. C 2005 Information Inquiry:Wiggling.
http://www.eduscapes.com/info/topic71d.htm
