TARGET: MID: comparing Deborah Stanley's "Practical Steps to the Research Process for Middle School" to Big Six model

[Carol Valdez <cvaldez@UNITED.ISD.TENET.EDU>]

Hello, everyone:

Is anyone familiar with "Practical Steps to the Research Process for Middle
School" by Deborah Stanley?  I just read it recently and I am trying to
compare this with the Big Six model.  I really liked her approach and I plan
to use it in collaboration with one of our English teachers.  However, it
seems very specifically geared toward a "traditional" research paper (which
is not necessarily a problem).  I really like Big Six, also, but it seems
more generally inclined toward almost any type of information problem.

This is good, on one hand, for information problems that do not require a
research paper approach.  On the other hand, I really like the way that Ms.
Stanley has spelled out the research paper process.  At this point, I see
myself using Ms. Stanley's approach with research papers and the Big Six
with other, more general information problems.  Any comments out there?
Post to me off-list.  If anybody would like a "HIT", just let me know and
I'll send it to you.

By the way, for those who are not familiar with "Practical Steps", I want to
provide it a ringing endorsement.  It's wonderful -  I wish I had been
provided this type of instruction when I was in school!  When I had to do
research papers in college and graduate school, the professors assumed I
already knew how to do one so they didn't teach the process.  I made it
through intuitively but I would imagine not everybody can.

One aspect of this book I particularly like is the way everything is
directly taught to the students.  She's even "scripted" typical interactions
throughout all the steps to illustrate her approach.  I think it would be a
wonderful guide to research papers for our middle school students.  I really
liked the way she divided the steps into manageable chunks for the students.
I feel that they have a good chance of internalizing this skill which can
seem so daunting, even to those of us in graduate school.

When I discussed doing this process with one of our teachers yesterday, she
was a bit hesitant to try a "traditional" research paper; she didn't feel
comfortable with the notecards since this gathering-information skill had
not been taught to her.  That is another aspect of this book that I like -
this skill is directly and thoroughly taught.

I'm excited to think that I will be able to have a hand in providing these
information literacy skills to our students.



Carol Valdez, Librarian
Salvador Garcia Middle School
499 Pena Dr.
Laredo, TX 78046
956.724.4113
fax: 956.724.6566
cvaldez@uisd.net
http://www.united.isd.tenet.edu/middle/sgm/

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