Teaching the Research Process

We all know how important it is to teach our students information literacy skills: how to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate information. There are several different research or information gathering models available for teaching the research process including the Big 6 and the FINDS model from Florida. However, I do not think you need to use a “formal” model as long as your lesson plans cover these important skills.

Teaching the Research Process Starts Here

Something to keep in mind is that a research project is more about teaching students the process of finding information, not so much the finished product. While language arts teachers might disagree, there are many ways to teach and assess writing skills. But with a research project, our students need to understand how to find relevant and trustworthy sources, read the information, and analyze it for their purpose.

If you look at this picture that focuses on what research is, you will see some important words. Words like ‘systematic investigation’, ‘establish facts’, and ‘conclusions’ are good words that remind us that the research process is not something we are born with. It’s our job to teach students, that systematic investigation of materials that will help them establish facts and draw conclusions.

The primary objective is to teach students problem-solving techniques and how to think critically. You want them to learn how to navigate through large quantities of information to find what they are looking for. Decipher what sources are reliable and which are not. We also want to make their job of research easier by teaching them how to identify information relevant to their topic.

But it doesn’t stop there! We must also show them how important it is to provide credit to the sources the information came from and how to avoid plagiarism. Throughout the years, our students will need multiple opportunities to present their research in a variety of different ways.

Teaching the Research Process: The Skills

Completing a research project is really the culmination of many different lessons. There are so many skills and processes you need to teach first before any research begins. By being intentional and working with classroom teachers, you can outline a scope of sequence that will allow your lessons to build throughout the year.

Most of the lessons I teach in fourth and fifth grade focus on these skills:

• Summarizing and paraphrasing information
• Nonfiction text features
• Copyright and plagiarism
• Creating a bibliography
• How to take notes
• How to use online encyclopedias or databases
• How to evaluate information found online
• How to perform an online search

But we can’t and shouldn’t wait until fourth or fifth grade to start this process. Even our youngest students can learn these skills and present information – even if we don’t call it research. For example, students as young as kindergarten can learn to identify important information through a read aloud. Just ask them to listen for an interesting fact and let them share at the end.

Creating a Timeline

Some of the skills students need to learn will be review, while others are brand new. It’s important to know where these topics fall so that you can plan how many class periods will be needed for each topic. Then schedule when during the year you would like to focus on these skills.

To make a plan, I like to start at the end – with the research project. I work with classroom teachers to plan when they would like the project to happen. For some the end of the year is perfect, while for others they want it to align with the teaching of a specific topic. If possible, spread them out throughout the year so that every grade is not working on them at the same time.

Once you know when the research will happen then work backwards to plan when you will teach each of the topics.

Teaching the Research Project: The Steps

Once we have taught our students the skills they will use in conducting research we should also teach them the steps for completing a research project. You know that a research project can be an overwhelming task. Let’s set students up for success by teaching them how to order the tasks so they can work efficiently and effectively.

This is a general overview of the steps I have my students follow when I am teaching the research process.

Select a topic

We always start with the topic. If a specific topic is not assigned I find that giving students some broad categories to choose from really helps. Otherwise, everything in the world is a possibility and that can be overwhelming. Once students choose a topic I have them brainstorm questions you have about this topic. Then I have them identify what questions they have that can be answered with research?

Explore the topic

Next, we explore the topic with a little more depth. I have students determine what they already know and what they want to know? We use this to narrow the topic so they can focus their research. During this step, I also teach them how to formulate a few research questions.

Create a plan of attack

Creating a plan instead of jumping right in is very helpful for students. I have them identify the sources that they think will provide them with the best information. This includes both print and online sources. Then they do a quick check to see if there are any sources they might have missed.

Gather your information

This is when students finally get into the research part of a research project. We talk about the need to take accurate notes without copying. In our previous lessons, students learned about plagiarism and the importance of paraphrasing. This is the perfect time for a reminder. I also remind students to keep their research questions in mind and to not take notes on information that is not directly related. One more important reminder in this step is to keep track of your sources. No one wants to have to go back and figure out where their information came from – or worse, start over.

Evaluate the information and check it for accuracy

Once students have gathered their information it is time to evaluate and analyze it. This is the higher level thinking phase of the research project. I encourage students to think critically about the information they have found. We also focus on how we going to use the information to answer our research questions.

Put it all together

It’s finally time to put everything together into the chosen presentation format. Complete some type of project to showcase your information. If this is not dictated by the classroom teacher, I like giving students options on how they want to present their research. A few ideas include a paper, a presentation board, a speech or verbal presentation, a digital presentation, and a brochure. Students will naturally gravitate towards an option they feel comfortable with which will make their final project that much better.

Resources to Help with Teaching the Research Process

I have put together lots of resources that I use when teaching the research process in my school library. Here are some that help make teaching the different skills and steps a little easier.

Ready to get started with the research project. Head over to this blog post for all my tips and ideas on completing a research project in the library.

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