Developing Safe, Savvy Searchers

   
     The close examination of the Reference section in my Library made me realize that I had been neglecting it. I had done a cursory weed – deleting old, sad looking French and English dictionaries and removing reference books that had not been used since my having taken over the librarianship in 2012. I also realized that many of the resources that Riedling included in the Reference section were actually located in the general non-fiction collection in my Library. In my mind, if a student is interested in reading the information in an almanac, I think they should be able to sign out the resource and read it at home!

     Recently, wanting to clarify the definition of Reference Services, I came upon a research paper by Rabner and Lorimer on how the definition of "reference services" had changed and expanded through the years. It was an interesting read, and I found many definitions that resonated with me, but my favorite one was written in 1876! S.S. Green identified the following 4 components of reference services:

1. Instruct readers in the ways of the library
2. Assist readers in solving their inquiries           
3. Aid the reader in the selection of good works
4. Promote the library within the community

These are, simply stated, my goals in the library! It is broad because it is SO simple! This final project is aimed at helping students "solve their inquiries" and "in the selection of good works" in this case, reference materials.

     My final project is a scope and sequence of information literacy lessons organized in a logical manner. There were a few factors which prompted me to choose this as a project and I will try to explain how I arrived at this decision.

                                         Let me set the scene...

     Two years ago, the grade 6 teachers were part of a Tech cohort that was given a Chromecart and in-servicing with the District Technology expert. The students produced amazing work using various new programs. However, I think certain key digital literacy lessons may have gone by the wayside in favour of teaching new skills. The proof is in some of the silly things this year's grade 7's are doing: from copying and pasting information (written using vocabulary and sentence structure that is beyond even my abilities) to posting pictures (some not so nice) of each other without permission. And the list does go on... So I feel that a targeted approach to digital literacy skills needs to happen in the grades prior to gr. 6 since that year seems to be somewhat of a vacuum...

     We have had a shift in teachers this year, with the gr. 7 teachers being new to this grade and more willing to accept my offer to teach certain lessons. I hope this will continue next year. That way I will have the opportunity to reconnect and reteach key lessons to their students.

     Teachers in our school are avid supporters of Heritage Fair. The students spend months researching, gathering information, note-taking, organizing their information, writing paragraphs and displaying their finished product.

My son and his Heritage Fair project 2012

     Research skills need to be taught early in the year for those classes participating in Heritage Fair and in the Heritage Stamp contest. We often have 6 or 7 classes all wanting Canadian content print resources and I do not have enough to satisfy everyone! So having the skills to find trustworthy, reliable digital resources is an asset and a necessity!

     Whenever the students are in the computer lab, I try to have a quick reference interview "on the fly"... no comfy chairs or quiet setting as recommended by Riedling! It is more like "drive-through-interview"! I try to make keyword suggestions and offer different approaches to their research topics. If very little information is available, I am happy when students make the decision to change research subject.

     Through observations, I have come to the conclusion that a concerted effort must be made on my part to promote the lessons, connect with teachers and teach Information Literacy skills, beginning with the little ones and building every year. 

     As a starting point, I am using a Digital Literacy plan created by a group of Teacher Librarians (and myself) in our District that focused on students in grades 4 and 8. We chose those grade levels because they are transition years: from primary to intermediate and intermediate to high school and the information literacy expectations increase dramatically from the previous year.

     I decided to build and expand on this project. Our project had a broader focus - it included all aspects of digital literacy, but I only included the lessons that focused on:

• Information Literacy (if they are going to use the Internet, they need to be able to be efficient searchers to quickly find what they are looking for)
• Privacy and Security (they need to be safe online and know what information they can share)  
• Creative Credit & Copyright (they use media without attribution and they cut and past without a second thought!)

     I have pulled lessons from Common Sense Media and from Media Smarts. I have used Media Smarts, but there were certain lessons that I did not really like and I found some of their worksheets...icky! 

     I have put grades together for the first year of the plan and after the first year, I would expand it to have different lessons for each grade, pulling from different sources so the exact lessons (using different examples, links, and sites) are not the same.

     I am open to suggestions of activities, sites, and information that I can add. Feel free to make a copy of this Scope and Sequence ☺ The links should all be live.

     
     There are aspects of digital literacy that I have not included in this plan but hope to expand the lessons in my plan every year. Digital Footprint and Reputation; Relationships and  Communication; Cyberbullying and Digital Drama and, Self-image and Identity as units that are in the Common Sense program. I believe those lessons need to be taught as well, but perhaps the classroom teacher could include them as part of their Physical and Health Education program. 

     Creating this scope and sequence has helped clarify the skills that I want the students to have as they move forward in their search for information. Please note: these are at this point stand-alone lessons. I am hoping to piggyback on what is being taught in class. Teaching a lesson on how to cite sites is only valuable if it is embedded in a research project. I really like the Inquiry Process from Scholastic and of course, the Points of Inquiry from the BCTLA. Whenever possible, I will also be focusing on the databases purchased by the District when teaching some of these lessons. Promote, promote, promote!

     Hope you find this a useful tool to help your students be S3 : safe, savvy searchers!

                           Cheers!

                                         

"Digital & Media Literacy." Digital & Media Literacy. Media Smarts, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <http://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy>.

http://education.scholastic.ca/productlist/EXPLORONS-LA-SCIENCE

Point of inquiry http://bctf.ca/bctla/pub/

Rabner, Lanell, and Suzanne Lorimer. Definition of Reference Service: A Chronological Bibliography. Rep. American Library Association, 2002. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <http://www.ala.org/rusa/sites/ala.org.rusa/files/content/sections/rss/rsssection/rsscomm/evaluationofref/refdefbibrev.pdf>.

Riedling, Ann Marlow, Loretta Shake, and Cynthia Houston. Reference skills for the school librarian: tools and tips. 3rd ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Linworth, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2013. Print.

"Teachers: Teach Digital Citizenship and Discover the Best Apps, Games, and Websites Rated for Learning." Common Sense Media. Common Sense Education, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators>.