LM_NET: Library Media Networking
I want to thank everyone who took the time to respond to my query about how
to teach 2nd graders to use an OPAC. I'll begin teaching in roughly a week,
and will use several of your suggestions in my lessons. THANK YOU!
Several people wrote and asked me to post a HIT, so here it is.
When I start with young children using the catalog I usually have them
research animals. "How do you think you would you find five facts about
pigs?" is one questions I have used successfully (each group of three is
given a different animal to research). Working in groups they discover
how to find books about pigs. I ask questions and let them search
rather than give a lecture. When they come up with the list of titles
about pigs we copy the Dewey number on scrap paper. Children are
familiar with the concept of street address so it is easy to equate this
to a house number. All books about the same subject are in the same
location like a big apartment building. Walking the shelves from 000 to
999 helps them see the way the numbers get higher and where the shelves
continue.
They bring several books about their animal to a table and work together
to find the facts and write them on an experience chart paper. When
they finish they return the books to the same places on the shelves
where they found them. They give a short oral report as a group to their
class. They are usually so eager to do this they practice on their own
without encouragement.
We use keyword next (the best keyword search is "scary" books), followed
by title and author searches. By not having to know alphabetical order
and working in pairs or triads this is not hard for even first graders
to use. Peer teaching is good for this too with each one teaching one
until everyone feels competent.
Good luck, Linda Bryniarski, Bridle Path Elementary, Lansdale, PA
This sounds as if you are teaching in a school which is very aware of the
elements needed for an effective teaching situation. Groups of 9 students
with 3 terminals and 30 minutes sounds like a great opportunity for you and
the students to learn.
Just as in any research, you first need to find out how much these students
allready know. How much experience have these students had in working with
computers? Have they used First Connections or other electronic reference
resources? Is this their first foray into using the computer to locate
information? Are you going to be teaching them basic computer skills, or can
you start with how the terminal can be used to access the library collection?
Knowing the Dewey Decimal isn't important, but do these students know that
books in a library are located according to topic? Do they know where
non-book materials are located in this library? Or will you need to include
instruction in locating the materials once the students have found the
citation?
You need to make yourself quite familiar with Kids DRA and the data base from
which it draws its information. How tolerant is DRA of misspellings? What
kinds of help are available from the interface?
What keywords are indexed in the data base? Only traditional subject
entries, like "Cats" or can you make a full entry search so that "Kittens"
will bring up "Three Little Kittens?" And how complete are the entries? (We
unfortunatly are stuck with a lot of MARC records which have no contents
notes, which about halves their utility.)
Play with the OPAC enough so that you think you are thoroughly at home with
it. (The students will find a strange feature you never thought of, for sure,
at least they always do for me.)
Have a clear idea of what your objectives are in presenting the OPAC to these
second graders. Is this to be a "get acquainted" class, with the basic goal
that of making students aware that there is a way to locate materials beyond
reading the shelves?
Most students enjoy locating books with which they are familiar, so if you
want to teach them to look for materials by title or by author, you might
want to have a few favorites in mind. You can get the same sort of smile you
get when a second grader sees a picture from a book they love posted on the
wall. Students need to know the conventions of the screen, so they can
identify the author, the title, and the contents description.
If you are working with students looking up topics, have a list of subjects
from which they may choose. And make these subjects you have tested yourself.
(This is no time to have to explain to students that the best catalogs have
glitches.) If you can, ask their teachers for a few subjects they are
studying and enjoying in their classrooms. The Titanic is big with many
second graders, but much of this is regional and seasonal.
It is important for you to know how tolerant the OPAC is of misspellings,
and how well the catalog with which you will be working is oriented toward
these students -- that is, how many keywords are available? If a student asks
for Kittens will Three Little Kittens come up? If DRA requires exact
spellings, you will want to teach students to bring a paper with the subject
correctly spelled to the terminal when they begin a search.
Can students print out a list of items they have found in their search?
When you do a subject search, are you going to teach students to select from
the total list which items might be of use to them? (One can get an awfully
long list of dinosaur entries.) And are you ready to explain some of the
items which come up which don't seem directly related to their search?
Can they identify the call number as the number which gives them the address
of this item? And can they identify it on the print out (or on the screen if
they need to copy information from the screen.) And do they know how to move
from that call number to find the item in the library? (I have found that
many students want to copy only the call number, and it takes a while for
them to realize that more than one book may have the same call number -- they
need an author and a title as well. That may be something best learned by
getting stuck -- but however clearly you teach it, that surely will follow
for most students.)
Start with a clear idea of what skills these students need to use the catalog
at a level approriate for their needs. Is this an introductory session to be
followed up by opportunities for purposeful guided practice?
I hope you have a lot of fun with these students. Second graders can be
unbelieveable.
Helen Seagraves Hood River, OR Hcgraves@aol.com
I do this very simply at the beginning of the year with my second
graders. I tell the person at the keyboard to type in the first part of
a title like "Mouse" for Mouse and the Motorcycle. Then they go find
it. Since three kids are at terminals at the same time they all go find
the book together. When they find it, we do an author search like
Cleary. Then we do a simple subject search like airplanes. Each child
gets a turn at the keyboard. If you teach too much they tune you out, so
just introduce it then let them have the rest of the library period
playing with it for their own interests in books. I don't feel that 2nd
graders are very good at locating non-fiction, so I just provide slips of
paper in a basket by the computer, have them write the call number, then
locate the book with them.
Mary Lynne Jarvis, Librarian, grades K-6
Ozark South Elementary School
Ozark,MO
mjarvis@mail.orion.org
Matthew - When I worked with second graders, I used an LCD panel with an
overhead on they could watch on a big screen what to do. I used authors
they were familiar with, titles they knew and subjects that were high
interest to them. I stuck to only a vocab that almost all could read -
cats, dogs, Green Eggs and Ham. I had already done several lessons on
call numbers, sections of the library and we had had a couple call number
hunts. Still, they are young and not all of them grasped the catalog. It
has now been several weeks and as they see other kids using it, they ask
for me to show them again. One on one works very well and with 9 kids and
3 computers, I think you will have quite a good success rate. :) Good
luck.
Melinda Miller-Widrick, LMS K-12
Colton-Pierrepont Central School
Colton, NY 13625
miller-w@northnet.org
As you can see, I had responses from several wonderful media specialists. I
hope others will find their advise to be as valuable and useful as I do.
Matthew Beall, Student
Catholic University School of Library and Information Science
Washington, DC
LM_NET
Archive Home