Resource list for Media Literacy

Just finished a webinar on Teaching Media Literacy in the Classroom and teaching kids to be good consumers and creators of media. Got some great resources, including a lit handout and I wanted to post so I could refer back to them...

 One resource that was shared was Web Literacy for Student Fact Checkers by Michael Caulfield, which discusses teaching students how to evaluate media. This is a web-book and is a free resource.

Another resource was on PearlTrees (a forum I'm not yet familiar with, but will look into), and is a series of media literacy lessons created by another teacher-librarian .

Another resource was Admongo.Gov  , a resource for teaching students about how ads work, and helping to break down the process of creating ads in order to learn how to use them and how to be aware of the manipulations used. It's presented as a game format, and with interesting graphics.

The last article is actually a link to another webinar: Fake News and the Case for Media Literacy across Grades. It looks like a pretty good resource, and it's a recording of a webinar - to get PD credit, you have to take a quiz after the webinar. Seems worth the time investment though.

I'll  post the link to this webinar when its available in about 24 hours.

Review Journals and collection development Notes from webinar

Collection Development Workshop available at the RAILS CEU Website (RAILS Reaching Across Illinois Library System)

PW - focus towards book sellers. critical and positive reviews, not afraid to say not good, because they tell book sellers not to overstock on it. weekly reviews can get overwhelming.
Booklist - covers both YS and Adult, Reccommend only - they won't review a negative review
LJ/SLJ - good resources, news articles, big picture. fairly expensive, because LJ only covers adult
Kirkus - "weighty serious literature", less focus on pop fiction. very critical to the point of overly critical - genre books are disdained, more aimed at readers of serious literature

Read cover to cover or go directly to covered section, all have "starred reviews", LJ and Booklist will mark high demand items, read between the lines esp with key phrases "for larger public libraries" - don't spend money on that if you dont have the money. "for special collections" - too specialised for small to medium libraries
Booklist - freelance reviewers, editors decide what gets sent to reviewers - depends on who is publisher, author, publicity push, do I have a reviewer who can handle this. reference esp gets covered differently - ie law books can't be reviewed by just anyone, so editors had to review.

Consider publisher catalogs, booklists from bookstores and publishers, vendors guides and selection lists as starting point, but then read reviews after that (second check after they are on your maybe selection lists).

Be careful with Wilson Core Collections books - you know your patrons, they are a decent springboard, but don't rely on them alone. Booklist does have Core Collection list of 10 items in select categories of books published in the last year, but even that is suggestion only.

Blogs and Websites -" Readers Writers, Books, and Blogs" book related websites and blogs
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNMpPvzl3kA

Budget
avg price of book based on retail price, minus vendor discount plus processing fee
% of circulation should roughly match % of budget that section gets. BUT be flexible, and don't keep it the same year after year. example: every 4 years, the 300s and 900s explode with election cycle - because that is what people are asking for.
Switch money around as needed, and don't try to spend a set amount every month. 1200 total, 100 a month, really reaching at the beginning of the year, then middle and end of year, all of a sudden four new editions of something great comes about, and you only have the money of the month.
Fiction, rush of books out in Nov, Dec (by xmas) and April may june (for summer reading)

Hardcover is preferred format - paperback is popular size and format, even if they don't last as long, they are cheap to replace. Mass Market paperbacks - to catalogue or not - check them out, but aren't in catalog, considered a throwaway. Sometimes you just can't find a book in hardcover, even if you have to replace it every 6 checkouts, on series that are wildly popular, on the shelf where people can find it, instead of not checking out from a spinning carousel. Patrons are more likely to go straight to shelf, bypassing help at the desk and catalogue, going to where they think it "should" be

Audio- let tapes die a natural death, circ records will show if they are checking out. Cars were still being released in 2010 with tape decks.  Cds are still in flux (as are blue ray and dvds) - digital download is not for everyone.

Popular authors - auto purchase  (hold list to copies bought)

Weeding - You can't keep buying new items without getting rid of old items. Weeding articles on RAILS. or Booklistonline.com "Weeding Tips"(free). Do it as part of your weekly Desk tasks - do you have other items on topic, what condition is it in, when was last circulation date, how many times has it gone out, is there something to replace it if it is needed? No info is better than outdated info.

Community and Collection development and management - surveys (needs assessment) (quick surveys in back of books or checkout), working desk (patron interaction), Circ records and reports (look up who are the most popular areas and authors). Consider your primary demographic on library use - will the item circulate? Creating selections lists for branches when central purchasing is the way it goes. Community buy-in = fewer challenges. Weeding can be thorny topic - removing out of date materials vs preserving collection

Well written plan or policy is the way (policy board votes on and isn't changed very often, plan, is inhouse and for librarians, ebbs and flows, less formal) to handle challenges. Borrow  beg or steal  - georgetown texas school library procedures manual for school libraries. La Grange Public Library Plan - detailed and covering every base very updated. Doesnt need to be 20 pages long. review and update on a regular basis - every 3 years, revise at least once every 5 years (ex VHS tapes in CDP)
Section by section overview check out Morton Grove library - here is what we are buying and why (don't give $ because that changes every year), this is what we look for, this is how often we weed it and why. MUST INCLUDE: Donations and Materials and how they are handled (budgeting) , Weeding Justifications, process for weeding, dealing with challenges, special collections get special section on procedures.

Challenges - Having a publicly posted collection development plan, use reviews to back up and defend purchases, esp with YS and Teen mats. Language, Sex adult themes, reviews include that info, and despite the controversy, they still recommend the item. Have a neutral tone form for challenging, usually goes to board - move rather than remove (teen to adult collection), look at circulation (if more than one copy, it is because of holds) to help defend.

Video games - multiple formats and manufacturers, price hard to justify, legal issues surrounding circulation of software (which includes video games) - gray area - turbo tax did challenge and pull their product from libraries to prevent circulation. Dead or orphan collection as it becomes outdated in 2 to 3 years. If you have the money, and easy to buy, go for it

e-books : Amazon Kindle working with libraries, Kobe reader company bought overdrive, publishers can be difficult with number of circs for e-books. it needs to go in CDP, but keep it up to date. 3M cloud reader, Access 360 (from Baker and Taylor) are new possible market emergence. Library's purchasing own licensing agreements with Overdrive
Self-published book: in 2014, 40% of new self-published books are available digitally only. They are published digitally only. Differentiate self-published books between physical and eBook - esp since there is a grey area with eBooks that are self-publishing but some are physical books. How are patrons coming to asking for them? cover it in CDP, esp rationale for including in collection or not (reviewed books are easier to include). Local authors too.

STEM and STEAM for Girls

STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering and Math. It is an area where students, especially girls, need encouragement and fun projects to learn through exploration, but it is also an area where students (again, especially girls) need strong role models. Getting your "liberal arts students" excited about an area they feel less comfortable and confident in can be as easy as finding and recommending books about pioneers in the field.

While there are people whose STRENGTH lies in different areas, every student has the ABILITY to do math, science, engineering and technology. It's a matter of finding a spark and turning a key. Girls NEED to be encouraged in this areas, and not let the ideas of "science is for boys" or "boys are just better at technology and engineering" or "I'm just not good at math" fester until they become insurmountable obstacles erected by the student - self-fulfilling prophecies are just that.

Find subjects that appeal to your kiddo, and then the books to further spark an interest can develop into a love. A good overview book to start with is
Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World, by Rachel Ignotofsky. This book provides brief biographies of some of the most famous women in STEM, with insets about rates of women in STEM, lab equipment, and an illustrated glossary. Smaller text makes this book a better read-aloud for younger kids (it's recommended for grades 5 and up, ages 10 up), but a good starter book nonetheless. It covers a wide range of fields and the women who changed the course of science.


ANIMAL SCIENCE

The Elephant Scientist, by Caitlin O’Connell & Donna M Jackson. GORGEOUS photography, and the story of an american scientist who travelled to Africa to study elephants in their native habitat.

My Life with the Chimpanzees, by Jane Goodall - Who better to talk about studying animals than the woman who spent her entire life doing just that and advocating for the chimps she studied.
Who is Jane Goodall?, by Roberta Edwards. Great chapter book for 2nd and up! This is an incredibly popular series, and one that gets kids interested in history and famous figures. Jane Goodall is THE animal scientist, and the story of her life can spark interest in becoming a naturalist or animal scientist.

Adventures of Riley by Amanda Lumry and Laura Hurwitz. - For younger grades, pre-K-3 as read alouds, and grades 3-4 as independent readers, Riley and his Uncle Max travel around the globe to study animals. Each book focuses on a different ecosystem, and main animal, but also on the human impact on the habitat, why scientists are studying the animals and ecosystems/habitats, and more. This book makes a great cross-curricular study unit for science and social studies, but the main focus is the animal studies. These books include maps, glossaries, illustrations, photographs, inset boxes with information and interviews with famous scientists in the field
Some of the titles in this series:
Adventures of Riley: South Pole Penguins - studying Penguins
Adventures of Riley: Mission to Madagascar - studying a rare lemur called the Aye-Aye
Adventures of Riley: Outback Odyssey: studying Koalas
 Adventures of Riley: Polar Bear Puzzle: studying Polar Bears
Adventures of Riley: Amazon River Rescue: studying Orangutans
Adventures of Riley: Safari in South Africa: Studying Cheetahs
Adventures of Riley: Tigers in Terai: studying Tigers (my personal favorite of the books)

Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Biruté Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani  A graphic novel covering 3 of the leading naturalist scientists and their work with primates. Ottaviani's previous graphic novel on Richard Feynman was fabulous, so I feel confident in this selection

ASTRONOMY, STARS, SPACE, ASTROPHYSICS

Mae Jemison (Rookie Biographies Series) by Nancy Polette is a biography of a real Renaissance Woman - She became a chemical engineer, a medical doctor, a dancer, and a Peace Corp volunteer before becoming an Astronaut. She learned four languages, started several businesses and organizations. This book is aimed at early readers and easy chapter book readers
 There are SEVERAL great books about her, including one she wrote herself

Find Where The Wind Goes: Moments From My Life by Dr. Mae Jemison

Mae Jemison : Awesome Astronaut (Women in Science Series) by Jill Wheeler . This one is aimed at grades 3-7."Don't let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live." ~Mae Jemison.

The Girl Who Could Dance in Outer Space: An Inspirational Tale About Mae Jemison. (The Girls Who Could Series) by Maya Cointreau

Of Numbers and Stars: The Story of Hypathia, by D. Anne Love. A woman who lived in Egypt during the 4th century, who could not only read and write but also became a brilliant philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer. Her father, a university mathematician, insisted that she be educated "like a boy", so she learned to fish, row a boat, ride a horse, mathematics, philosophy,  poetry, and natural sciences. "Love presents factual information about Hypatia and does not fictionalize details about her personality or thoughts, about which little is known since few primary documents survive. With just a picture walk through the book, readers will understand how many subjects her education encompassed. Attractive paintings add life to a clear and captivating text that offers a unique contribution to units about Egypt, philosophers, or women in history." (SLJ)

 To the Stars: The First American Woman to Walk in Space  by Carmella Van Vleet and Kathy Sullivan. Aimed at grades 2-5, this picture book covers the life of the first American women to perform a space walk (go outside a space shuttle in a space suit). "A picture book biography of Sullivan, the first woman to do an extravehicular activity--more commonly known as a space walk--during her 1984 mission on the Challenger. Whimsical illustrations alternate between Sullivan as a young girl looking over her father's blueprints, daydreaming about seeing the world, and learning to fly and Sullivan as an adult training at NASA and riding the launch into space. The text supplies a subtle dose of girl power as readers witness Kathy succeeding despite sexist statements from friends and adults, such as "Girls don't like those jobs" and "Girls are supposed to teachers or nurses or moms." Back matter includes a note from Sullivan about how she dreaded being asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?," as well as a short essay with more information on her and other female space pioneers. However, only American women are featured here; others, such as Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, are not mentioned. The simple text makes this volume a good option for a group read-aloud during a unit on space or Women's History Month, but there may not be enough substance here for school reports. VERDICT A wonderful and inspiring addition to biography and space collections." (SLJ)

Look Up! Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Women Astronomer by Robert Burleigh. Tells the story of "a woman astronomer who made a significant discovery in the 1900s when most women in her field “were human ‘computers.’ Their job was to record. And measure. And calculate. The women were expected to ‘work, not think.’ ” Henrietta Leavitt didn’t comply. Working at the Harvard College Observatory, she closely observed photographs of stars and uncovered a way to measure their true brightness, paving the way for others to measure even greater distances to the stars.[...] An afterword about Leavitt and her discovery, glossary, bibliography, and other resources round out this attractive picture-book biography. Ages 4–8." (Publishers Weekly)

Women in Space: 23 Stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Gravity-Breaking Adventures by Karen Bush Gibson. These stories encompass women from all over the world, different cultures and backgrounds. Women in Space profiles 23 pioneers, including Eileen Collins, the first woman to command the space shuttle; Peggy Whitson, who logged more than a year in orbit aboard the International Space Station; and Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space; as well as astronauts from Japan, Canada, Italy, South Korea, France, and more. Readers will also learn about the Mercury 13, American women selected by NASA in the late 1950s to train for spaceflight. Though they matched and sometimes surpassed their male counterparts in performance, they were ultimately denied the opportunity to head out to the launching pad. You can read more about them in ...

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone. a fabulous book for grades 4-9 which tells the story of the women in the space race - women who were tested for the space program in the 1960's, who were pilots and just as qualified as the first men who went into space (sometimes more qualified). This book tells of the political and social fight that kept these women grounded, and how and why they were denied their chance for Space. This is another personal favorite, although it got a little heavy into the sexist politics of the time; it was necessary to the story.

COMPUTERS ROBOTICS AND ENGINEERING

Ada Byron Lovelace and The Thinking Machine by Laurie Wallmark is the story of the first EVER computer programmer - not just the first WOMAN . Although the computer she worked on doesn't look like any computer we know today, it was nevertheless a "real" computer, and the daughter of a famous poet was the one who understood it best. Ada worked with Charles Babbage, the inventor of the computer, realised that a computer can only do what it is told to do, and it needs instructions in order to do so. Ada wrote the world's very first computer programs to show off all the neat things the computer could do. This book, aimed at grades 1-4, shows what a love of mathematics can accomplish. This book is a great addition to a STEM lesson on coding or programming.

Robo World: The Story of Robot Designer Cynthia Breazeal (Women's Adventures in Science Series) by Jordan D Brown. This book is aimed at an older audience, with a lexile score of 1040, this one is for grades 6 and up. That said, younger audiences may enjoy this as a read-aloud by an adult. Cynthia works in the MIT Media Lab, where she and her students work to develop robots with amazing abilities. Using computer science and engineering skills, they build robots that have lifelike abilities. This is a book sure to inspire those with an interest in the field of robotics.

Grace Hopper: Computer Pioneer, by Joanne Mattern. Grace Hopper is acknowledged pioneer in the field of computers. She was the first one to use the term "Bug" and to develop a debugging program. This overview of her life makes a good companion to the Grace Hopper Debugging Hour of Code program. This book is aimed at students in grades 3-6 which is the same range as the Hour of Code lesson plan. 

Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor by Emily A McCully. This book, aimed at K-3 is a picturebook that tells the story of a famous women inventor, The first woman to receive a US patent, whose inventions are still in use today. "She once designed a foot warmer for her mother. Although it was never patented, Knights design for a safer loom saved textile workers from injuries and death. Later as an adult, she fought in court and won the right to patent her most famous invention, a machine that would make paper bags. Matties story is told in a style that is not only easy to understand, but that is also a good read-aloud. [...] most of these(sketches) are simulated, the actual drawings from the 1871 patent for the paper-bag machine are included. The text has some fictional dialogue that makes Mattie more real to young readers without compromising the facts. An authors note gives additional biographical information about this creative woman." SLJ

Mars Science Lab Engineer Diana Trujillo, by Kari Cornell. Grades 3-6. When Diana Trujillo was little, working for NASA was her greatest dream. She loved to gaze at the stars in the sky. She also enjoyed math and art. Then she learned that engineers use math and art in their work. So Trujillo decided to be a NASA engineer. Although she didn't speak English, she was determined to live her dream. This is a GREAT STEAM addition - and one of the few STEM books that does include Art.

 

Magazines for kids

I grew up with Cricket, and loved it, although it has gotten distinctly sadder (thinner, less fullsome, less magazine, less body) over the years. It was an awesome lit mag when I was younger

I've seen Ranger Rick, we got Highlights (outgrew that quickly), My Big Backyard was a nice one...

Zoobooks were fabulous and always a favorite - a lot of different levels of reading were contained in that one magazine, and I can remember reading it before and after trips to the STL Zoo. That is one I would consider getting for nieces and nephews, not just the library. I like that there are leveled versions of it as well - it lets the magazine grow with the kid.

New Moon Girls is a new one for me, and I'd like to put my hands on a copy before I ordered it, but from what I've seen online, I'm impressed. I like the positive msg it focuses on, and the way it lightheartedly encourages girls to be themselves. It's one I am considering ordering for my nieces, ages 10 and 12, since it is for girls ages 8-14. I think it looks like a great resource, and the book reviews were well written, the articles for parents and adult-allies of strong girls looked good, and it really isn't overly pricey (I've wasted 40 bucks on worse before - heck, going to see a bad movie costs that much these days). Looks like a  bi-monthly publication (once every two months), so 6 issues a year, with the choice for e-copies or paper copies, at about $7 an issue isn't too bad.

Sports Illustrated Kids seems to still be going strong.

Non-Fiction

Award lists are always a good place to start when building collections, but it isn't always as simple as typing the Award name in and going.

Note to self: in library, add a searchable line for award winners and nominees. This tag will help teachers, parents, and students find quality books for reading pleasure - or at least quality books!

One of the best awards for non-fiction is  the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Orbis Pictus award. It follows most of the same rules as the other ALA awards do (published in the last year, demonstrates excellence, american author, etc), but focuses on Non-fiction works - primarily narratives. Narratives are great because they teach elements of storytelling in addition to facts and timelines and chains of event - they can be treated in a very similar way to fiction, which we analyze a lot more frequently. It also means that these are going to be quality texts for English Teachers working on close readings of informational texts or non-fiction, as part of CCSS.

Some suggestions from the past winners and nominees of the Orbis Pictus Award are here: http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/About/Awards/OP2000-2010.pdf  and here:
http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/About/Awards/OP2010-Present.pdf
It's a good starting place.
I'm currently trying some books from this list - Almost Astronauts by Tanya Stone caught my eye and was available at my local library, and I was very interested in The House That Jane Built , also by Tanya Stone, but my library didn't have that one. Jane Addams is a fascinating woman. We'll see if I can find it in a store so Santa can bring it to me or to the nieces - I like giving them biographies about strong and awesome women.

Another award list is from the ALA (American Library Association)/ ALSC (Association of Library Services for Children) and is called the Sibert Award. It is also for informational texts, published in the last year in English.This award also suggests some great NF texts, including one I've recommended to a teacher friend for her civil rights unit for ELA 7th grade, Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom by Lynda Lowery - a story about the youngest marcher in the Bloody Sunday/ March from Selma to Montgomery, and her experiences demonstrating for civil rights.

Something else to consider is the movement towards primary sources in schools - Primary sources can bring history to life for students, IF properly applied. Students have to understand the mood of the country and the individuals involved to truly understand how a piece of history can teach them about what life was truly like. The Library of Congress has a lot of great lesson plans aligned to CCSS that make use of Primary Sources and exhibits/collections they've put together. They are worth checking out. Additionally, they have partnered with various states to develop lesson plans specific to the state standards -

The Digital Public Library of America also is home to some great primary source materials, and is easy to use. I highly recommend it to teachers. It is probably the most intuitive of the different sites. 

The Job of the Librarian - ISP and research projects

The job of the librarian is to provide access and assistance during an Informational Search Process - whether a patron is looking for a new series (reader's advisory interview) or seeking help on a project (reference interview). There are a variety of methodologies that cover different modes of carrying this assistance out. Suggested places for further reading are:

1. Nancy Pickering Thomas's book Information Literacy and Information Skills Instruction : Applying Research to Practice in the 21st Century School Library: Ch 3: Kuhlthau's Information Search Process.The ISP Model. This is a seminal work, and covers working on research themes with all ages from the young to the older patron - it covers the traditional research paper/project, provides an understanding of the process, and explains the librarian's role in where and how to plan activities for intervention to support and scaffold learning how to use the library's resources independently. The stages of the ISP are broken down into manageable steps for the researcher and the librarian, including suggestions of how to assist at each stage. This work is based on Vygotsky's Zones of Proximal Development, so that scaffolding to independent use is the target you are working towards.
   The stages of Kuhlthau's ISP are
   
   • Topic Initiation: assignment
   • Topic Selection: Self-selection of initial topic
   • Topic Exploration: Background (relevant) knowledge and investigation - the most difficult step and the step most often skipped by students who have decided they know "enough" about the topic
   • Focus Formulation: refining the topic to provide focus, create a thesis, form a personal view - time is often not allocated to this stage, but it the most important in terms of satisfaction with learning, engagement with learning, and avoiding plagiarism (under the mistaken belief the teacher wants the views of the authorities, not the student's views)
   • Resource Collection: gathering (pertinent) information
   • Presentation: organizing information into final presentation/writing stage
   
   
   
2.  The Irving Model
   Breaks the ISP into 9 steps, better suited for HS students who have more cognitive self-awareness and analytical skills. Not a beginners questionnaire. Made into 8 Core questions with an evaluation/reflection piece at the end
• Defining Tasks: What is the assignment "What do I need to do?"
• Considering Sources: ID and appraise info sources "Where could I go?"
• Finding Resources: locating individ. resources "How do I get the information?"
• Making Selections: Examine, select and reject sources "Which resources do I use?"
• Effective Use: Skim, Scan, Review resources "How shall I use the resources?
• Making Records: Note-taking what is important. "What shall I make record of?"
• Making Sense: Interp/analysis/evaluation, link to background knowledge "Have I got the information I need?"
• Presenting Work: shaping the presentation, choosing how to communicate the info "How should I present?"
• Evaluation: by teacher, peers, and self - includes reflection at each stage of the process
3.  The REACTS Model - Recall, Explain, Analyze, Challenge, Transform, Synthesize.
   Based on Bloom's Taxonomy which relies on tiered levels of instruction and understanding, based on the level of critical thinking required. The vocabulary used is VERY similar to Bloom's.
1. Recall: Fact-Finding - report, summarize, recall
2. Explain: Asking and Researching - 4 w's explain in your own words
3. Analyze: Examining and Organizing - why/how, cause/effect, compare/contrast
4. Challenge: Evaluating and Deliberating - judge info, determine authority, bias, signif
5. Transform: Integrating and Concluding - draw conclusion, create personal perspective
6. Synthesize: Conceptualizing - create original solutions to problems posed.
4. BIG SIX Model
   Can be broken into the little 12 or melded into the super 3. The most universal of the methodologies, and the basis for most steps, this aligns with Kuhlthau’s 6 steps, and is more useful for a younger audience – these are the most basic steps into research that can be taken. This is the cleanest of the ISP models, and the easiest to differentiate instruction while using. 
   
   
   
   5. ISEARCH Model
   Loosely based on Kuhlthau’s model, which chronicles the importance of the journey, this method is less formal and more narrative than the other research models. Reflections are included in the final product, and are part of the product as a whole. This method is often used in editorial journalism to great effect, but I foresee more problems with topic selection among students who are not good at time management than would occur with the other models. Self-starters would have no problems with this method though. Often a prompt serves younger students better, and allowing self-selection within a context still increases interest and investment among students.
   6. Pathways to Knowledge Model
   Same basic model, pre-research, search, use, produce, but a sort of a halfway point between the I-search model and the other models in that it relies on students being the driving force behind the research and topic selection. This method would be a good start into the I-search methodology, as it relies on the basic steps of the guided research project while allowing more freedom to the students.
   Conclusion
   Each system has its strengths in that they are grounded into the same four basic steps (with evaluation/reflection occurring as part of the end process). The methodology used to the greatest effect, aside from the Big Six Step process, which I feel is the most basic and easily understood approach, is going to depend on the students in the class and their strengths, skills, and ages/levels of maturity/development. Some of these methods are clearly meant for students capable of more self-awareness than the average third grader can possess. That is not a bad thing, in and of itself, and it certainly makes the monitoring of the ISP development process easier on the teacher if a student is capable of this type of reflection, but it should not be expected in the lower grades – it is an unrealistic expectation. At the high school level, however, when students are expected to be college and career ready and begin more independent learning modules, the reflection step is a necessary component of the process and should be evaluated for understanding and completion.
   To present these methodologies to students, I would choose to use a table in order to demonstrate that regardless of how you break the process down into steps, the basic steps do not change.

   Define Search and Topic	Understand what you are looking for, determine where you should start your search, determine that you understand what is being asked in terms of assignment
   Search and Locate sources	Determine where your sources are and start locating them. Pre-research to understand where more searching will be needed and to form your basic understanding of the topic as a broad category. Locate sources in a variety of locations or determine alternate resources.
   Read and Evaluate sources	Read, Understand, Note-take with sources. Interact with the sources. Use the sources to examine the topic. Follow basic scaffolding of Bloom’s Taxonomy to utilize higher levels of critical thinking and examining sources. Analyze information.
   Synthesize conclusions and create product	Take the information and make it your own. Form your own conclusions or personal stances/viewpoints based on the knowledge gleaned from research . Organize the research and create a final product (paper, project, etc). If reflection has not occurred in other steps, include reflection over product here.