Big6 and Super3

[Mike Eisenberg <mike@ERICIR.SYR.EDU>]

Hi.  RE the question about the Super3, here's a short article that I wrote
for the first issue (Sept/Oct 1997) of the Big6 Newsletter.  It is followed
by a brief explanation of the Big6 itself.

Mike Eisenberg

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So--What About Working With The Very Youngest?

We are often asked whether you can really teach Kindergarten and pre-school
students the Big6.  For example,  Audrey Daigneault, Pleasant Valley School
Media Center Groton, Connecticut e-mailed the following request:
"Mike, I've been using Big6 this year with great success with upper grades.
 The teachers I can't seem to crack are our first grade.  They think it to
difficult for their students.  They won't agree to try flexible scheduling
at all.  Every other grade level will try it for at least once a year.  I
need some first grade examples of success stories from other schools.  I
heard Bob speak at AASL about a Super Three for primary grades.  Did you
two ever work on that?"

Well, Audrey, yes we did work on a "Super3."  In working with kindergarten
children, we found that six stages is sometimes a little too much to
remember.  But, they can still think in terms of a process.  The Super3 is
simply focusing on the process as having three steps: a beginninga middlean
end.Young kids can easily relate to this.  We like to tell them that
whenever they have a job to do-say making a picture of signs of Spring-they
should do it as if they were living in a story.  In a story, there are
usually three parts (a beginning, middle, and end).=20

So, when you get an assignment or a task, BEFORE you start doing
anything...at THE BEGINNING - you should think, "what am I supposed to do
and what will it look like if I do a really good job?"  Then, in THE
MIDDLE, just do it-find the information, put it all together, make the
picture, whatever.  And finally, before you turn your work in, at the END,
stop again and think, "did I do what I was supposed to do and do I feel ok
about this? Should I do something else before I turn it in?"That's
it-that's the Super 3: THE BEGINNING: think about what I'm supposed to do
THE MIDDLE : do it THE END:  think about what I did.

Kids should be able to relate their story at any  point in time-at the
beginning, when they are starting out, in the middle, while they are doing
it, or at the end, when they are done or about to finish.  Kids can tell
the story by making a picture about it, making a story book, telling each
other or a number of other ways.So, try this with the little ones.  And if
you are a library media special or technology teacher working with
reluctant or skeptical teachers, just start by talking to the kids when you
see them about what they are doing in class.  You can do this without
flexible scheduling if necessary.  By the way, when we explained about the
Super 3 on the BigSix listserv, some contributors noted that it sounded a
whole lot like the PLAN-DO-REVIEW model.  Well, we agree-it sure does.  In
the beginning-PLAN, in the middle-DO; and in the end-REVIEW.  We've tried
to track down the origin of this model and find that it appears in a number
of places including the Effective Schools movement.


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The Big6

The Big6 Skills comprise a unified set of information and technology
skills-including the ability to define an information need; to identify
sources; and to locate, use, synthesize, and evaluate information.  With
the Big6, students learn how to recognize their information needs and how
to progress through a series of stages to solve information problems
effectively and efficiently.

The Big6 is a systematic process that can be used any time someone is faced
with an information problem or with making a decision that is based on
information.  Students encounter many information problems related to
course assignments.  However, the Big6 is just as applicable to personal
lives.

Whether tackling personal or academic information problems, information
problem-solving is the game plan.  The Big6 model encompasses six skill
stages, each containing two components.

---------------------------------
The Big6=99 Skills Process Model
to Information Problem-Solving

1. Task Definition
  1.1  Define the problem
  1.2  Identify the information needed

2. Information Seeking Strategies
  2.1 Brainstorm all possible sources
  2.2  Select the best sources

3. Location & Access
  3.1  Locate sources
  3.2  Find information within sources

4. Use of Information
  4.1  Engage (e.g., read, hear, view)
  4.2  Extract relevant information

5. Synthesis
  5.1  Organize info from multiple sources
  5.2  Present the result

6. Evaluation
  6.1  Judge the result (effectiveness)
  6.2  Judge the process (efficiency)

c Eisenberg and Berkowitz, 1987

---------------------------------------

From experience and research, we found that successful information
problem-solving does require completing each stage at some point in time:
defining the task; selecting, locating, and using appropriate information
sources; pulling the information together; and deciding that the task is in
fact completed. It's not necessary to complete the stages in order, however
all the stages must be completed for overall success.

M. Eisenberg
1998

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Date:    Thu, 26 Feb 1998 21:43:42 -0800
From:    Kathleen Ragone <kjragone@IX.NETCOM.COM>
Subject: Big Six and "Super Three"

Dear Group,
I have a lot of info re the Big Six, but have now encountered something
referred to I believe as the "Super Three".  This is basically intended
for primary grades and may make my job of introducing this concept easier
to the staff involved.  If you can direct me to reading material I would
be eternally grateful.
TIA
Kathy Ragone, Librarian
Hawes Elementary School
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
kragone@ridgewood.k12.nj.us
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          |           Mike Eisenberg   <mike@iis.syr.edu>            |
          |         Professor, School of Information Studies         |
          |       Director, Information Institute of Syracuse        |
          |      Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-4100        |
          |         Phone: 315/443-4549   Fax: 315/443-5448          |
          |                                                          |
            |      RE: Big6 Newsletter, email:  NewsLin@aol.com        |
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