Introduction | Session Materials: K-16 IL Checklist & Lesson Plans
Introduction:
Librarians at all grade levels experience the same basic frustration teaching information literacy to students. No matter how creative our teaching method, or how carefully planned our objectives and outcomes, our students go through their school years thinking that research = asking Jeeves or googling. Our information literacy instruction just doesn’t ‘stick’.
K-16 CLOC librarians believe that the problem lies in the scattershot, hit-and-miss nature of information literacy instruction at all grades, K-16. Since there is no planned program of K-16 information literacy instruction integrated into the curriculum, the best we can do is convince teachers, one-by-one, to include meaningful research assignments in their classes. The result is that we never teach info literacy to some students, and we see most others too sporadically to make an imprint. Information is a life-long learning skill that builds incrementally, yet it is taught in uncoordinated fit and starts.
The ideal of a K-16 information literacy program embedded in the curriculum is a long-term goal. The first step in advocating and building such a program is for K-16 librarians to see and understand the whole spectrum of information literacy, grade-by-grade, and become familiar with typical teaching methods at each grade level. This presentation and supporting handouts attempt to provide this information for the greater Athens area.
Session Materials: K-16 IL Checklist and Lesson Plans:
K-16 Information Literacy Checklist Website (Draft)
This DRAFT website uses the Big 6 format to show information literacy skills grade-by-grade. It borrows heavily from Information Literacy Toolkit: Grades Kindergarten-6. and Information Literacy Toolkit: Grades 7 and Up, by Jenny Ryan and Steph Capra, ( Chicago : American Library Association, 2001) as well as ACRL’s Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.
Lesson Plans: These four sample lesson plans (for 5th, 8th, 12th and college) all deal with the subject of Civil Rights. The K-12 plans are tied to both GPS standards and the K-16 Information Literacy Checklist.
Fifth Grade: Civil Rights Biography Project (Sharon Mitchell, Benton Elementary School )
(Abstract coming soon….)
Eighth Grade: Social Studies Unit - Georgia’s Role in the Civil Rights Movement (Mindy Doler, North Oconee High School )
(Abstract coming soon….)
Twelfth Grade: Civics Unit - The Roots of American Democracy, The Constitution and the Bill of Rights (Ginni Edwards & Melissa Wood, Madison County High School)
This high school civics lesson is an expansion on the Roots of American Democracy unit. Students are researching a landmark court case on Civil Rights and will utilize primary and secondary source documents to produce a short paper or multimedia presentation
College Freshman Class Research Exercise (Nadine Cohen, University of Georgia )
This exercise can be used for courses in many disciplines and is based upon an assigned reading for the course. The purpose is to improve the following information literacy skills: developing a workable research question; translating that question into a database query, initial evaluation of sources; and coherent oral presentation of findings.
Senior History Seminar: Race Relations in the South
This Senior Seminar, created by UGA History Professor John Inscoe and taught fall semester 2006, includes a segment on Civil Rights and is an excellent example of a course that requires undergrads to use extremely sophisticated research skills. Since these seniors are working independently, librarians provide extensive handouts during their in-person presentation. Handouts: GALILEO Secondary Sources for HIST 4990; GALILEO Primary Sources for Hist 4990; Primary Sources in the Russell Library for HIST 4990.
