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Technique |
How... |
| 1 |
Select an encyclopedia that is "at the right level". It might be a book version, software or an online version of an encyclopedia.
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For pictures only, the reading level does not matter much. But for reading, try to find something a little hard for the child but not too hard (e.g., the child could read and understand about 80-90% of the material without your help). |
| 2 |
Look up a topic of interest.
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A child might ask a question that could be answered by looking it up, or you might decide it's a good day to start talking about reference material and ask the child to choose something. Or, you could help the child with a topic they might have to research for homework. |
| 3 |
Talk about the organization of the information in whatever form you are using. Don't forget that this is not always obvious.
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For example, discuss the alphabetical organization of topics, outlines if they are there, images, references for further information, bibliographic references, etc. |
| 4 |
Look at the first paragraph and discuss its structure and role in the article.
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For example, how does it introduce the topic, how does it differ from a first paragraph in a story, how is it similar, what does it make you think will come next? |
| 5 |
Summarize the first paragraph.
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Talk about thinking about what is read, and note taking when doing research. Think about what questions you think will be answered in the article, and also what might NOT be there that you thought might be when you started. |
| 6 |
Repeat the process with subsequent paragraphs.
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Ask questions (see the section on comprehension) and ask the child to make predictions and inferences. |
| 7 |
Make an outline of the article.
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Talk about how the information is organized. Is there a beginning (introduction), middle (details), and end (summary)? What questions might you have for further research? |
| 8 |
Read once more.
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This is recommended just to reinforce the content. Think of it as trying a dance movement after all the steps have been explained and gone over slowly. |
| 9 |
Talk again about what was learned and what new questions might have arisen.
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Talk about branching to some of the references for more information, use of the library, web, and other resources... |
