Information Literacy – grade 3 personal Inquiry

The New Literacies framework at IICS provides strands to guide us as we work developing Information, Community and Tool literacy with our students.

A group of grade 3 students are using their reading time to pursue personal inquiries. The students select their own topics and work in the library, creating inquiry questions and then locating and reading information that will help them to find the answers.

Our first step was to create great questions using brainstorming, mapping our ideas and discussion. Brainstorming helps the students recall what they already know about their topic. The mindmap is created from the brainstorm and allows the students to organize their ideas. Every student was able to identify good research questions through the mindmap and our discussions. These skills and strategies link into our New Literacies document in strand 2 of Information literacy 2. Generate appropriate questions for investigation. Be aware that questions can and should develop and change throughout the investigation.

The students then used the laminated keys to write down the key words they would use when searching for books and website on our Library Catalogue. The key provides them with the main key word and then alternative words whcih will expand the information search or narrow it. Using key words when searching for information is an important strategy no matter what source is being used. This relates to Information Literacy strand 4. Explore key search terms and how they can assist with locating information in a variety of sources.