Encyclopedias as a Component Of Research

3rd grade was introduced to encyclopedias and actively used them to research this past week.  The lesson started with a video explanation of how one might go about using an encyclopedia from Discovery Education.  This short clip was a segment from "Discovering Language Arts: Primary: Research."  The video covered how encyclopedias come in volumes and that you needed to check the spine of the book for the specific letters in your subject that you seek.  Exactly what I wanted my students to know.

Before they went on to their task, I introduced them to World Book Online.  The school district is kind enough to pay for a subscription.  After students finished their first task, they went on to work in groups of four answering questions about a specific topic using the online encyclopedia.

Each student was given a web graphic organizer and asked to choose a topic, find the encyclopedia that matched and write 6 facts about their topic of choice.  Some classes chose subjects right away and got to webbing, while others had to be encouraged and nudged to finally choose a topic.  In one class, the encyclopedia index was used several times!  

I'm excited about the progress students made because they will get to use their new found skill for their upcoming Black History Month project.