Vandrasik

=Library Reference – Mrs. Johnson’s 3rd Grade Class=

**Pre-Assessment:**
After having met with Mrs. Johnson, we determined that her class would benefit from a lesson on reference materials. Every year, her class does a report during Black History Month on an assigned historical figure. Mrs. Johnson wanted to know what, if anything, the students knew about reference materials, including how to find a reference book in their library, and how to locate information within that source, in order to assist the students in their upcoming report. The students were given a pre-assessment consisting of 6 multiple choice questions to evaluate their existing knowledge of the subject. Here were the results:

From this, you can see that the majority of the class got half of the questions wrong. Upon further examination, I could see that out of the six questions asked, three of them were missed more than the rest, and two questions were only missed by two students.

This information helped me determine which objectives to focus on for my lesson.

**Standard(s) / Goal(s):**
Goals: - Learn what reference material is available - Learn what information each type of reference offers - Locate the reference section in his or her own library

Standards: TN State Standard #4 Research - 0301.4.3 Use reference materials (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, and encyclopedia). - 0301.4.4 Visit the library/media center as a source of information for research

AASL-2007 Standards - AASL-2007 1.1.4 Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions - AASL-2007 1.1.6 Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning.

**Instructional Objective:**
After a lesson on reference material, the learner will answer 5 or more of the 6 post-test questions correctly.

Materials, Media, and other Resources:
Teacher will need: - Post test papers - Scavenger Hunt sheets - Reference Source Checklists - Pencils - Library Reference Materials (dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas, thesaurus) arranged on desks to accommodate 4 groups of students - Power point presentation

Set Induction:
We will start the lesson with a question-and-answer type discussion involving past experiences with reference materials and reasons why a person might need to find information. This will give me a better idea of where to focus my attention, as well as help the students understand why the information we are about to cover is important for them to know. If the students understand why this information is useful, they will be more likely to put forth the attention needed to learn and retain the material.

Instructional Sequence:

 * 1) Hold question/answer discussion
 * 2) Present power point to familiarize the students with the basic sections of their library, reference books, and types of information found in those reference books.
 * 3) Go to the library and familiarize the students with the reference section and how the different sources are housed.
 * 4) Split into four groups and complete a reference worksheet – Each group will be assigned one of the four reference sources we are discussing (encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and thesauruses). Within their groups, they will be asked a series of questions such as, “What is the main purpose of this book?” Once they have completed their sheet, we will take time to share with the entire group the information each team collected.
 * 5) Play a game of Reference Scavenger Hunt, where the students will be given an item to find, and they will be asked to show me where they found the information before I sign off on that item for that group. Not only will this give them experience using the different types of reference books, but it will also help them learn how to find information within the source itself. I will model an example for the students before we begin. While they are playing, Mrs. Johnson and I will be roaming and assisting the students in following proper techniques, such as using the index to locate the exact page number desired.

6. Return to the classroom to take the post-test.

Closure:
The closer activity for this lesson is the Reference Scavenger Hunt. The activity will bring everything they just learned together and will allow them to practice what was learned. They should now know where the reference books are located, what type of information each book provides, and how to find information within each source.

Adaptations and Extensions:
This lesson was designed for the lowest third grade reading group. Taking that into consideration, I did not want to create any activities that would involve higher-level reading and writing skills. I had a lot of information I wanted to cover in a short amount of time, so I was sure to read all the instructions before setting them free to complete the activity. In addition, Mrs. Johnson had warned me that if they had to do any writing, the activity would take much longer to complete, so I made my worksheets in a check-off box format instead of fill-in-the-blank. I was also aware of several students who have trouble concentrating for long periods of time on the same subject or in the same setting, so I tried to vary the location of instruction and balance lecture time with hands-on activities. Finally, there were three students who scored better than the others on the pre-test, I made sure that these students were put into separate groups, so they could help their fellow classmates.

Assessment:
As you can see by the chart below, all of the students who could improve, except for three, did improve by at least one correct answer; some improved by two or more correct answers. Although this did not meet my objective of the learner answering at least five of the six questions correctly, I am happy with these results. I will expand upon this in the reflection section.



Reflection:
This lesson involved more information than I would normally teach in an hour. Although keeping such a fast pace kept the children focused and well behaved, it was a lot to take in, especially for a low reading group. Mrs. Johnson was pleased with the post-results considering the amount of information we covered. She is more familiar with her students and how much time they usually need to master an objective. Considering the fact that she believed they did well, and considering the fact that, overall, their scores improved, I feel the lesson was successful.

However, there are some things I would do differently next time. If I were to present this lesson again, I would start by including more questions on the pre-test. If I could safely narrow the specific information that the students would need to know, I would be able to better allot my instruction time. In addition, I would cover the material over a period of time, spending less time per sitting but covering only one type of reference at a time.

I enjoyed seeing the students’ faces when they mentally walked themselves through the process of first deciding where to look, and then finding the actual page for which they were searching. Being able to participate in their success helps motivate me to find better ways to reach them and help them achieve success more often.