Transcript:
My name is Melissa Benoit and I’m a high school English
teacher at Allegan High School in Allegan, Michigan.
I teach mostly Senior English. The focus of Senior English
is leadership, and has students think about their role in society and how to be
an effective citizen. We spend a lot of time analyzing characters in our novels
and discussing if they have qualities of leaders.
One big project we do asks students to think about a world
issue or problem and how they can get involved in solving the problem. The goal is to create a final presentation
using a web 2.0 tool of their choice. It involves lots of research, which
students struggle in completing accurately, especially how to cite their
sources.
I wanted to figure out what previous knowledge students had
about citing sources. I wanted this to
be an informal conversation. I decided to use a Poll Everywhere, so students
could answer honestly. It also allowed me to get the information quickly and
discuss it with students the same class period. Most students no idea how to do
it or couldn’t remember how.
After the initial questionnaire, I gave a PowerPoint about
why it’s important to cite credible sources. The PowerPoint covered how to find
the sources and then how to cite them. We discussed the CARRDSS method of
finding reliable sources and then what it means
to “cite” sources and what information they would need to do this
effectively. Students worked together
and talked about some places they visit frequently and if they would be
considered credible. They got in small groups and brainstormed before we
discussed as a class. Then they had a chance to visit some websites and decide
if they were credible or not, by filling out a sheet. Students were also able
to tell if they were reliable because when they went to cite the, the
non-credible websites didn’t have the necessary information to cite it
correctly.
Students spent time in the lab practicing how to find
sources, determining if they are credible, and citing them. We came back and had a discussion about what
they learned and found. This helped me gauge what students needed more help
with and what they understood.
Finally, students picked a topic for their research project
and looked for credible sources on their own. They had to fill out a sheet for
each piece of research to determine if it was credible. They worked through
finding sources and citing them correctly using various websites like
easybib.com and citationmachine.org. I was able to monitor their progress as
they looked for sources and cited them to make sure they were on track.
When they went to put their projects together, students had
to find creative commons pictures and also site them correctly. We talked
through the process and I gave students multiple resources to help them with
the process. I posted all of these resources on the wiki, so students were able
to access them from anywhere. I was impressed by how well they did with these
new tools. They took the information from before and applied it to this new
task.
The majority of students did an excellent job finding
credible sources and citing them. They were even able to find creative commons
photos and cite those in their projects. I was proud of students for their hard
work. I could tell they had learned the process of citing sources, both
websites and photos. They also had come up with professional looking projects
they could be proud of.
At the end of the trimester, I wanted to make sure students
had retained the information and could successful cite sources. I gave them a
research survey to check their knowledge and remind them about some aspects of
citing sources.
I was impressed by how much they had retained from the
previous activities, but I wanted to see if given a project, could they
successful cite things without worksheets or constant guidance. I still
explained the expectations clearly and told students they needed to cite their
sources, but I let them work on their own. The project I used was for the novel
we just finished, The Catcher in the Rye.
Students had to find sources and images and successful implement them in the
projects. When I saw finished projects, I knew students had mastered the
concept and left on their own were able to cite successfully.
By having students complete the assignment multiple times
the cognitive perspective learning theory was implemented. Students were able
to re-experience the correct method by remembering what they did before. Along with this, social perspective learning
theory helped students take an authentic activity like the research project and
apply the credible source lesson. By helping students through the process
multiple times, I was helping scaffold the skill. Eventually, I let students
complete the task on their own.
The different learning theories helped me teach my students
how to find and cite credible sources. Overall, the lesson was a success J
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