3. Identify Information to Research
Let's put these skills into action.
Activity 3a: Read the following
Let's refer back to the Martin Luther King Jr. example from section 1 of our unit.
Student Sally is assigned a project where she will research a leader who has made a significant impact on U.S. law. She has chosen to research Martin Luther King Jr. The question now is, what does she want to know about Martin Luther King Jr.? Will she be writing a biography on his life? Will she need to focus her research on his impact on the Jim Crow laws? Is she looking for an excerpt from his famous "I Have A Dream" speech?
The first step to finding good information for her project is to identify what she is looking for.
Let's say Sally's research will focus on King's impact on the Civil Rights Movement and Jim Crow laws.
Sally can refine this even further by brainstorming specific questions she would like to address. One example may be, "What are the Jim Crow laws?" if Sally isn't sure. From there, she can ask additional questions about King's participation and impact on changing these laws.
Activity 3b: Practice asking questions
Brainstorm at least three good questions that Sally can use to focus her quest for information. On your student sheet, find section 3b and record the questions.
Activity 3c: Think about it
It is important to note that Sally's list of questions may be short at first. Then, as she learns more about King and the Civil Rights Movement through the research process, she will likely think of more questions to ask. (The more you know, the more questions you have!)
Think about the following questions:
What is the benefit of defining questions at the beginning of a research quest?
What criteria will Sally use to identify her first set of questions?
Activity 3d: Think about it
Refer back to the graphic organizer introduced in Section 2. Think about the overlap of the 3-step process, specifically how learning new information from reliable Internet resources causes a learner to a want to know more, thus identify additional questions to research.
