• Do you understand the assignment questions and requirements?

• What are the expectations of the assignment?
  How will the assignment be graded?
  Is there a rubric?

• How much information is needed to complete the assignment?

• What will the final product look like? (PowerPoint?, Oral Presentation?, Essay?, Research Paper?, etc.).

• What types of information will you look for? (historical, current, popular culture, biographical, literary criticisms, in-depth, short answer, etc.).

Tip:

• What do you already know about the topic? What is your prior knowledge?

• What do you need to find out?

Identify and circle the assignment's keywords. Brainstorm any additional or alternative keywords.

• Determine the full range of possible sources of information(brainstorm – consider print, electronic, and human)

• Know the difference between the capabilities of various types of sources and select the best for the defined task.

o Identify various resources available in the SCHS media center and the Carroll County Public Library.

o Know the difference between online databases and Internet websites.  

Tip:

Complete the third two column of a KWHL Chart:

• How will you identify, locate and use the resources needed to answer your question or solve your problem?

Locate sources of information:

Properly use OPAC & indexes. and search engines.

Tip:

When conducting a
Google Search: try
domain searching
(e.g. site:gov) and
Title searching (e.g. intitle:carbohydrates);
put “ “ around phrases.
For more searching
suggestions, visit the
advanced searching
pages of all search
engines.

Properly use search engines.

Know how to extract information using online databases.

Look For "Quacks" in Your Information

To find credible information within sources.

Use criteria to evaluate research resources.

Tip:

You can check out great resources from the media center or public library to use
at home. Online databases can also
be used from home.

Use reading strategies to better understand the content in various sources of information.

Use a graphic organizer or note cards to take notes.

As you take notes, cite your sources on a works cited page.

Record information in an ethical manner, i.e. paraphrase and summarize the information that you find.

TIP:

Some ways to organize information are: chronologically, thematically, by category, alphabetically, and progressively (beginning to end, smallest to largest, largest to smallest).

TIP:

There are many ways in which information can be presented.

TIP:

During the final stage of the Big Six complete the last column of A KWHL chart: What did you learn from your assignment?

The judge the effectiveness of the research results.

Judge the efficiency and effectiveness of the problem-solving process.