by Carla Pfahl
Quick Summary
In mid-August I gave a workshop to the teachers with Lincoln Elementary School in Ivanhoe, MN, just outside Marshall.
In mid-August I gave a workshop to the teachers with Lincoln Elementary School in Ivanhoe, MN, just outside Marshall. The teachers were enthusiastic to start the new school year and to learn about all the elementary resources available for their students within ELM. They mentioned that the 3rd – 6th graders were going to embark on a new research project that would take up most of the school year. The project, called Find Your Passion, invites students to find one thing they are passionate about and to learn everything there is about it. In the spring, the students will share what they’ve discovered at the Find Your Passion fair.
The teachers said ELM will play an important part for this project not only helping students to gather information about their topics, but also to help the students with putting the research project together. This will be the first research project the students will do and they will be learning about how to do research, search for information, write a thesis statement, and collect and share their findings. I showed them how ELM will help students understand the search words they use to find information, the quality of the information they find, citing their sources, downloading material, and organizing the information. ELM not only has articles, biographies, multimedia, but it also has guides on how to use the information they find for their research projects. This will be a key piece for the Lincoln elementary students. The teachers were very appreciative of knowing what ELM has to offer so when their students use the resources, they will have a better understanding of the student perspective and where ELM can help in their research process.
Do your students have an in-depth research project they will be working on this school year? Does your library have new staff unfamiliar with the ELM resources? Whatever the instruction need may be, contact us for more information on how a customized instruction session may help your organization: http://minitex.umn.edu/Reference/About.aspx or mtxref@umn.edu.
