Online Resources to Support BIG6™ INFORMATION SKILLS
	OVERVIEW of BIG6™ RESOURCES for EACH BIG6™ STEP BIG6™ RESOURCES TO DOWNLOAD BIG6™ PROJECTS & ORGANIZERS TECHNOLOGY and the BIG6™ BIG6™ RESOURCES on SCHOOL SITES OVERVIEW of BIG6™ Big6™ Home Page - Visit the Official Big6™ Home Page to get an overview of the process from its co-developer, Dr. Mike Eisenberg. You'll want to visit this site often to explore the wide range of resources for teaching and learning with the Big6™ around the world. Big6™ Kids' Site - Part of the Big6™ Home Page, these pages lead kids through the 6 step information process. Specific sections for grades K-2, 3-6, and 7-12 are provided. Return to Top RESOURCES for EACH BIG6™ STEP 1. Task Definition 1.1 Define the information problem 1.2 Identify information needed to complete the task (to solve the information problem) Question Brainstormer - Joyce Valenza provides a framework for developing essential questions. Questioning Toolkit - Questioning strategies from Jamie Mackenzie. A Taskonomy of WebQuest Tasks - This site does a great job of explaining the different types of tasks that can be explored. It's useful for getting ideas for research projects, even if you're not developing a WebQuest. Also look at the Top, Middling, and New matrices at the WebQuest Portal site for ideas. Topic Triangle - Good instructions for narrowing/broadening a topic. General-to-specific triangle KWHL Chart 2. Information-Seeking Strategies 2.1 Determine the range of possible sources (brainstorm) 2.2 Evaluate the different possible sources to determine priorities (select the best sources) Brainstorming - A technique and example for using brainstorming with students. Keywords: Starting Points - A public library site with a good strategy for developing keywords for searching. 3M Keyword Method - From the WebQuest site, a method for determining keywords and setting up successful Internet searches. Primary and Secondary Sources Web page Evaluation - An excellent tool for determining the value of a web page. Includes a downloadable format. OSLIS Elementary: How to Search the Web OSLIS Secondary: How to Search the Web Boolean search tips Rockwell Schrock's Boolean Machine Kid's Tools for Searching the Internet Choose the Best Search for Your Information Needs Read•Write•Think lesson plans for selecting best resources (grades 3-5). Research Building Blocks: Hints About Print Research Building Blocks: Selecting Electronic Resources 3. Location and Access 3.1 Locate sources (intellectually and physically) 3.2 Find information within sources Pathfinders John Newbery Elementary School Information Pathfinders - Locally developed pathfinders for K-5. Pioneer Middle School Pathfinders - Locally developed pathfinders for 6-8. Walter Johnson High School Research Pathfinders - A treasure trove of pathfinders for high school students. Homework Pathfinders - From the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Library system. Includes several well-organized pathfinders for school projects. Lakewood Public Library - Class Assignment Pathfinders (Lakewood, Ohio) for Elementary, Middle and High School. Online Databases UMI Proquest - The ProQuest® online information service provides access to thousands of current periodicals and newspapers, many updated daily and containing full-text articles from 1986. eLibrary Elementary eLibrary K-12 Great places for teachers to find WWW sites and resources to support school projects 42Explore - This amazing site has preselected Web resources and activities for multiple topics. American Memory Collection - from the Library of Congress. If you teach social studies, you need to visit this page. Click on Learning Page for lessons and resources. Librarians' Index to the Internet KidsClick - Sites selected by librarians. Includes reading levels. Yahooligans - Kid friendly sites from Yahoo for kids. Check out the teacher section. Thinkfinity - Links to top sites in many disciplines, professionally developed lesson plans, classroom activities, materials to help with daily classroom planning, and more. 4. Use of Information 4.1 Engage (e.g., read, hear, view) the information within a source 4.2 Extract relevant information from a source Note-taking - Techniques for note-taking can be found at these sites: The Trash-n-Treasure Method of Teaching Note-Taking - This is our favorite method for teaching/learning notetaking skills. Notemaking - This site has downloadable graphic organizers plus multiple methods for teaching notemaking. Graphic Organizers provide a way to organize information for note-taking, brainstorming, presentation and more. Several excellent graphic organizers can be found at these sites: Graphic Organizers - A great collection of downloadable GO's. Laura Chandler's File Cabinet - Graphic Organizers - 3 quality GO's to download. Graphic Organizer Index - Examples and suggestions for use of GO's. NCREL's Graphic Organizers- Great examples and explanations of GO's from NCREL. SCORE's Graphic Organizers WriteDesign On-Line - Graphic Organizers Graphic Organizers - Download and print several GO's. Graphic Organizer graphic organizers concept... Inspiration- Software for creating graphic organizers. Download a trial copy. Includes Kidspiration for younger kids. Citing Sources - Sites for creating bibliographies include the following: NoodleTools - A subscription service for generating a bibliography. Landmark Citation Machine Classroom Connect Community - Connected Teacher Copyright and plagiarism - Copyright & Multimedia Productions Plagiarism - An online resource for checking sources. Summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting - Read the explanations from Joyce Valenza's site. Copyright for Kids 5. Synthesis 5.1 Organize information from different sources 5.2 Present the information Project Product Ideas Products and Assessments - Elementary Products and Assessments - Secondary Graphic Organizers - GO's can serve as the final product as evidenced by the student work presented at this site. 6. Evaluation 6.1 Judge the product (effectiveness) 6.2 Judge the information problem-solving process (efficiency) Discovery School.com - Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - Links to many areas of assessment. RubiStar Maker - Make your own rubric by selecting different categories from this excellent online tool. Project Checklists - Customize your own checklist for project based learning. Assessment Tools for Elementary Assessment and Project-Based Learning Return to Top BIG6™ RESOURCES to DOWNLOAD   Return to Top BIG6™ PROJECTS and ORGANIZERS Consider putting your project online for students to access from school or home. The following sites provide ideas and Web page templates: CyberBee: In the Hollow of a Tree American History Organizer Return to Top TECHNOLOGY and the BIG6™ Applying Big6 Skills™, Information Literacy Standards and ISTE NETS to Internet Research by Janet Murray Big6 Web Guide Return to Top BIG6™ RESOURCES on SCHOOL SITES What is Information Literacy? - An excellent guide to the Big6 Process for secondary students. Research Skills - A guide for a high school Science class. Big Six at Lufkin High School - This is an awesome site with support for everything to do with a research paper for secondary school staff and students. The Big6 : Information Literacy - A pathfinder to print and non-print resources about Big6. IMC Big6 - Looking for the Big6 in Spanish? You'll find that and much more at this site. Research Buddy - This site takes elementary students through every step of the Big6 and provides valuable support materials. The Super3 _- The Big6 for very young children. Introducing the Super3 - The Super 3 discussed by Mike Eisenberg. Big6™ Skills Guide at John Newbery Elementary School Library Return to Top Updated June 2009 Newbery Home Page Questions or comments? E-Mail Jeanne Barnes, Teacher-Librarian WSD Home Page
	Big6™ Skills Approach was developed by Michael B Eisenberg and Robert E. Berkowitz. The phrases "Big6 Skills" and "Big6 Skills Curriculum" are all copyrights of Michael B. Eisenberg and Robert E. Berkowitz.