Elementary Workshop Refreshed

Especially for those who teach younger students, the Elementary Workshop is a user-guided resource that may be used to introduce and reinforce concepts and skills in information fluency in the elementary grades.

An assortment of hands-on learning activities and games, with and without computers, is included in the workshop:

Speculative Searching

• ways to search
• queries
• homing in
• search challenges

Investigative Searching

• find the author
• find the date
• fact checking

Citing the Source

There's enough material to insert into mini-lessons throughout the school year. Check it out here: https://21cif.com/rkitp/course/elementaryworkshop/index.php

Elementary Fluency

I've been asked by a program director at Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development to think about creating online tutorials and assessments for students in grades 3 - 5. 

This is a challenging project: what do students in elementary grades need to know, what skills should they possess to prepare them for middle school information fluency?

A couple years ago I created an elementary workshop to address these needs. That workshop may be found here. 

Creating a bridge that builds on those ideas and connects with Information Investigator 3.0 and 3.1 could make an interesting project. Information Investigator 3.x represents our latest thinking about information skills that middle school and high school should possess.  There is surprisingly little difference between the capabilities of middle school and high school students. I'll outline that in an upcoming report based on a study of over 900 students conducted this summer.

If you are interested in having conversations about materials and activities that position learners in elementary grades to be more fluent upon entering middle school, I'd like to work with you. 

Let me know if you are interested!  We will move the conversation to CoolHub.IMSA where we develop projects like this. Email me directly at carl@21cif.com.