Building Blocks of Language V

Research

In almost all the genres of writing referred to above, you’ll need to do some amount of research. Cultivating good, thorough research habits in your students will take time, but their writing will benefit from it greatly as will their organizational skills. With so much information online, today’s students face the double-edged sword of having a lot of knowledge at their fingertips and having to ferret out the worthwhile stuff. Let’s review some research basics:

Ask the Right Question

Make sure that you have a clear focal point for your research. Striking a balance can be tough—is a question too narrow? Or, is it too broad for the assignment at hand. For example, when helping 4th graders formulate a research question about the causes of US involvement in World War I for a two-page paper, you want to keep the query rather specific. An example might be: What was the Zimmerman telegram? This query will keep the focus on an important event but also allow them to explore some of the context. You can see how this would work better than “What were the causes of US involvement in World War I?”

Get a Plan

Your students may get overwhelmed with the amount of information out there, especially when taking on the World Wide Web. Narrow their search field for them if you think they need it. Many Web sites, such as www.yahooligans.com, are geared for student research and learning. These cul-de-sacs on the Web will be more helpful for students than the Autobahn of the whole internet.

Use a Variety of Sources

Help your student get fluent in their research as well as their writing. They should be comfortable using reference books, atlases, dictionaries, card catalogs, Web searches, magazines, newspapers, and other materials. Many sources have their own proprietary way of organizing information (the Dewey Decimal System, for one). Help them learn these codes that will unlock the information they need.

Cite Sources

Giving credit where credit is due is especially important where research is concerned. Stress the importance of citing sources properly, no matter what style you choose.

Give Them Mnemonic Strategies

Help them learn how to help themselves in remembering material. Teach them the strategies of rehearsal (using repetition of material to remember it), elaboration (relating material to their own experiences), outlining (organizing material in a hierarchical way to remember the most important themes and the evidence that supports them).

Review

• Good writing starts with the physical act of writing—use a variety of strategies to help younger students develop their dexterity and confidence in putting pen (or crayon) to the page.
• Good writing and good reading are inexorably linked. Helping them read means helping them write and vice versa.
• Know how to employ dialogue journals, conference writing, guided writing, and other strategies to help more advanced students.
• Be familiar with and be able to promote good research habits in your students.