 Middle School Activity
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Middle School -- Hammurabi Project emphasizing steps 2, 3, and 5 of the Big Six© Process The goal of the project is to teach students problems solving strategies following the Big Six© format developed by Eisenberg & Berkowitz in 1988 with internet resources. The problem solving processes to be emphasized are Step #2: Information Seeking Strategy -- brainstorm all possible sources, and select the best source. Step #3: Location and Access -- locate sources, and find information within source. Step #5: Synthesis -- organize information from various sources and present results.
Project Summary:
Students at the sixth grade study ancient civilizations and their influence on modern day life. The focus of this project is Hammurabi’s Code of Law. Two classes participated in the project. Working with a 6th grade teacher we planned an ancient civilization unit using the Big 6 approach. The Code of Hammurabi was to be the focus (you can substitute any topic for Hammurabi). Students, teacher and librarian discussed the 6 basic steps to problems solving (research). We focused on search strategies by lising topics with possible synonms to use is starting a search for information. The librarian gave students a general introduction to the library and basic reference tools. Students completed a blank map of the library where they labeled the areas of the library. A The video, Research on the Internet produced by Holt, Rinehard and Winston, was used as an introduction to Internet searching. Student preview sheets asked students to identify the things they know about the Internet. Watch the video and identify the things they learned. A class discusson on the importance of validating the information was also done. The next step was an introduction to the computer lab and search techniques (boolean searching) on any topic chosen by the students. We compared the number of hits using different key words and we looked to see who was responsible for the information on the page. The teacher then did a classroom introduction to the topic of Hammurabi. The classes then came to the library in small groups to begin their research on Hammurabi's Code of Law with the intent of selecting an example and applying it to our current school situation. The projects created were clay tablets with rules for our school. . I, as the librarian, established a folder of sites for them to search and gather information (this was to expedite the project and lessen the time students spent on searching and evaluating sites). An emphasis was given to evaluation of the site – accuracy, authorship, currency, and point of view. All of these points are emphasized in the video. |
