Learning Unit

Huey Louie and What's His Name: Using Your School Library

 

Title: Huey, Louie, and What's His Name: Using Your School Library

Author: Nancy A. Navarra

Grade Level: 7

School Address: General Brown High School
Cemetery Rd
Dexter, NY 13634

Subject Area: English

School Phone/Fax: 315-639-6233

Content Knowledge

Declarative

Procedural

Understand how fiction, non-fiction, and
biographies are arranged in a library

Use OPAC (Online Personal Access Catalog) to search for a particular
book and be able to answer questions using a citation

Understand terminology regarding the library

Use reference books to locate information

Understand the relevance of a library to a student's life

Use on-line reference sources to locate information

Understand the parts of a book

Search for items in a school library

Understand references, both in text form and on-line

Use MAS (Magazine Article Summaries)

Understand the rules of the school library

Use the parts of a book to understand more about the book itself and how
to retrieve information from it

Be familiar with the arrangement of the school library

 

 

Essential Questions

How could you research a topic if you were unable to use the library or online sources?

What sources in your school library can aid you in researching a topic?

How can the resources in your school library be of benefit to you?

Initiating Activity

Students will be asked to write the name of their favorite sports star, movie star, or recording star. The teacher will ask students to write some questions that they would like answers to, regarding that person. The teacher will suggest that by the time students have completed this unit, they will have the knowledge not only to research their favorite personality, but they will also be able to locate an address to which they can send a letter.

 

Culminating Performance

Students will be assigned a project where they will choose the name of a prominent person and research that person's life in order to write an obituary that could be printed in a newspaper. Several model obituaries will be discussed in class, pointing out their similarities. Students will be allowed to use their imaginations in plotting the person's death. The students will begin by doing searches of their person, using the various resources available. Students must print out their search results as part of their project. Students will then go to the library, locate, and sign out necessary resources. Students will take notes on all readings done. Note sheets including bibliographical information will be included in the project. Students will write a rough draft of their obituary and peer evaluations and class discussion will take place. Students will edit their articles and prepare for their final copies. Final copies will be done on Microsoft Publisher. The teacher will provide a template file for all students to use. The file will provide a newsletter format. A quick lesson on using the features of Microsoft Publisher will be given, and then students will be given class time to type their final copies. Students will also be given instruction on how to put together a bibliography for their project.

 

Connection to Standards

Standard: English Language Arts Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

Benchmarks: Students will read and write about the library and use this information to construct a culminating project.

Standard: English Language Arts Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction

Benchmarks: Students will work in pairs in their school library and will also participate in a peer conference.

Standard: Math, Science, and Technology Standard 2: Information Systems

Benchmarks: Students will use Microsoft Publisher to construct a culminating project.

 

Learning Experiences
Declarative Knowledge

What declarative knowledge should students be in the process of acquiring and integrating?

As a result of the unit, the student will know or understand . . .

What experiences or activities will be used to help students acquire and integrate this knowledge?

What strategies will be used to help students construct meaning, organize, and or store the knowledge?

Describe what will be done.

Vocabulary will include the following terms which will be addressed as each of the concepts is taught:

  1. fiction
  2. non-fiction
  3. biography
  4. Dewey Decimal System
  5. table of contents
  6. index
  7. periodical
  8. call number
  9. annotation
  10. citation
  11. on-line catalog
  12. publisher
  13. copyright date
  14. atlas
  15. almanac
  16. encyclopedia
  17. biographical dictionary
  18. Reader's Guide to Periodical

Literature

  1. MAS
  2. OPAC

textbook

library booklets created by teacher

 

Learning Experiences
Declarative Knowledge

What declarative knowledge should students be in the process of acquiring and integrating?

As a result of the unit, the student will know or understand . . .

What experiences or activities will be used to help students acquire and integrate this knowledge?

What strategies will be used to help students construct meaning, organize, and or store the knowledge?

Describe what will be done.

Concept 1:

Fiction, non-fiction, and biography books are arranged differently on a library shelf.

Vocabulary terms:

  • fiction
  • non-fiction
  • biography
  • Dewey Decimal System

Assessment:

Quiz on arrangement of fiction, non-fiction, and biography books. Students will be given a graphic representation of three library shelves and a list of book titles and authors. They will be instructed to "place" the books on the proper shelf and in the proper order.

 

 

 

textbook

Fiction/Non-Fiction Booklet

handouts

 

 

Prior knowledge

Construct meaning for vocabulary terms

graphic organizer

Discuss student's prior knowledge of the library from experiences in elementary and public libraries. Read in the text about the 3 types of books and how they are arranged on a library shelf. Use the Fiction/Non-Fiction Booklet for discussion of the Dewey Decimal System and practice in placing book titles within the appropriate groups. Do the practice in the booklet on arranging fiction book titles according to the author's last name. Discuss additional problems in arranging books when titles begin with a, an, and the, and numerous titles written by one author. Discuss the arrangement of biographies according to the last name of the person that the book is written about. Do the practice in the booklet on arranging biographies. Do the graphic organizer on arranging books. This will be done in groups. Do the homework ditto in arranging the three types of books on shelves that are diagrammed on paper.

 

Learning Experiences
Declarative Knowledge

What declarative knowledge should students be in the process of acquiring and integrating?

As a result of the unit, the student will know or understand . . .

What experiences or activities will be used to help students acquire and integrate this knowledge?

What strategies will be used to help students construct meaning, organize, and or store the knowledge?

Describe what will be done.

Concept 2:

A book is composed of many parts.

 

Vocabulary terms:

  • table of contents
  • index
  • publisher
  • copyright page

 

 

 

textbook

handout on table of contents and index

 

 

reciprocal teaching

concept attainment process

Read about the various parts of a book in the text. Refer to these parts in the student's own English text. Divide the class into three groups and inform them that one group will use only the table of contents, one group will use only the index, and the third group will use the page-by-page method of locating the answers to specific questions that the teacher will read. Students will be able to determine which methods are most and least efficient in finding information. Have students do the Guided and Independent Practice which follow the lesson in the book. Have students do an additional handout on using the index and table of contents of their English book. Stress the importance of the table of contents and index in locating specific information in a book. This will be especially true when students are researching for information.

 

Learning Experiences
Declarative Knowledge

What declarative knowledge should students be in the process of acquiring and integrating?

As a result of the unit, the student will know or understand . . .

What experiences or activities will be used to help students acquire and integrate this knowledge?

What strategies will be used to help students construct meaning, organize, and or store the knowledge?

Describe what will be done.

Concept 3:

Students will be familiar with their school library and the rules which

govern it.

 

Assessment:

Students will be given a written quiz including questions about the parts of a book and their school library.

 

Concept 4:

The on-line catalog allows students to locate information about a book.

Vocabulary terms:

  • call number
  • annotation
  • citation
  • on-line catalog
  • OPAC

Our School Library Booklet

includes the following:

copy of school map with numbered locations

list of items to be located in library

list of school library rules

 

 

TV-ator presentation of on-line catalog

On-line Catalog Booklet

includes the following:

handout of labeled citation from

on-line catalog

question sheet on using the on-line catalog

list of common call numbers

create a physical representation of the school library on paper

reciprocal teaching

Students will read over a list of the school library rules and discuss them with the teacher. Working in pairs, students will go to the school library and match the number of the item on their library map to the name of the item on the corresponding list.

 

 

 

Students will be given a TV-ator demonstration of the on-line catalog features offered by their school library. Students will receive a handout of a labeled citation from the on-line catalog and a list of commonly-used call numbers. Students will go to the computer lab and do a worksheet which asks questions about a number of books.

 

Learning Experiences
Declarative Knowledge

What declarative knowledge should students be in the process of acquiring and integrating?

As a result of the unit, the student will know or understand . . .

What experiences or activities will be used to help students acquire and integrate this knowledge?

What strategies will be used to help students construct meaning, organize, and or store the knowledge?

Describe what will be done.

Concept 4 Assessment: Students will be given a quiz which includes 3 sample citations from the on-line catalog and will be asked to answer questions about the books.

Concept 5:

References can aid a student in doing research. This will include reference books and on-line resources.

Vocabulary terms:

  • atlas
  • almanac
  • encyclopedia
  • biographical dictionary
  • Reader's Guide to Periodical Lit-
  • erature
  • MAS (Magazine Article Summaries)

Assessment:

Written quiz on using actual references to answer real questions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TV-ator presentation of on-line references

Reference Booklet

Current Biography

World Book

World Book Information Finder

World Almanac

World Atlas

Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature

MAS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hands-on use of references

 

 

 

 

 

 

Students will first read about reference books in their textbooks. Copies of these references will be shown in class and discussed. A TV-ator presentation of on-line references will be given and specific references will be discussed. Students will work through the Reference Booklet which provides practice on reading tables, charts, graphs, study guides, and other aids used in reference books. Students will work on a series of worksheets which include questions to be answered from actual book references and on-line references.

 

Learning Experiences
Procedural Knowledge

What procedural knowledge will students be in the process of acquiring and integrating?

As a result of the unit, the student will be able to:

What will be done to help students construct models, shape, and internalize the knowledge?

Describe what will be done.

Locate fiction, non-fiction, and biography titles on the proper shelves and be able to explain their arrangement.

Use OPAC to find a citation for a particular book.

Locate a variety of books and sources of information in their own school library.

Use the parts of a book to locate information.

Use references to research information. This will include text and on-line references such as encyclopedias, atlases, biographical dictionaries, MAS, and World Book Information Finder

Graphicorganizer

 

 

 

Demonstrate and practice variations

 

 

 

Students will use a graphic organizer constructed by the teacher who uses spine-look cards showing a book title and call number. Students will be asked to arrange these in correct order.

Students will go to the Computer Lab and use the OPAC program to access citations for books in their school library. Using a series of questions from a worksheet provided by the teacher, students would be able to answer these questions.

Students will be assigned a culminating activity which will involve locating and utilizing a variety of resources studied in class.

Students will do several activities to evaluate their understanding of the parts of a book.

Students will utilize and search for answers to questions in a variety of reference sources. Teacher will provide a worksheet of questions.

 

Learning Experiences
Extending and Refining

What knowledge will students be extending and refining?

Specifically, they will be extending and refining their understanding of . . .

How to research a topic using a variety of sources.

 

What reasoning process will they be using?

ÖComparing

Classifying

Inductive Reasoning

Deductive Reasoning

Error Analysis

Analyzing Perspectives

Constructing Support

Abstracting

Other

Describe what will be done.

Students will be given 2 topics that could be researched in the library and will be asked to explain how their search for information will be different for each topic and why.

What knowledge will students be extending and refining?

Specifically, they will be extending and refining their understanding of . . .

 

Citations of books and parts of a book

What reasoning process will they be using?

Comparing

ÖClassifying

Inductive Reasoning

Deductive Reasoning

Error Analysis

Analyzing Perspectives

Constructing Support

Abstracting

Other

Describe what will be done.

Students will be asked to write a citation for one of their textbooks as it might appear in an on-line catalog.

Students will have to understand how to use the parts of a book to help them find the necessary information to be used in the citation.

 

Scoring Rubric

Element

4

3

2

1

Content

Contains all of the required information with additional facts regarding the prominent person's life.

Contains all of the required information.

Contains most of the required information (5-7 facts).

Contains fewer than 5 required facts.

Organization

Project exhibits a logical organization of information in presenting the obituary with additional material including photos or sketches.

Project exhibits a logical organization of information following the suggested obituary format.

Project presents most of the required information in logical organization, but it does not follow the suggested obituary format.

Project does not use the format of an obituary.

Mechanics

Project exhibits essentially no errors in punctuation, capitalization, spelling, grammar, usage, and paragraphing.

Project exhibits only occasional errors in mechanics.

Project exhibits errors in mechanics which may hinder comprehension.

Project exhibits frequent errors which make comprehension difficult.

Required Materials

Project includes all required materials with more than the required number of sources used.

Project includes all required materials.

Project includes 4-6 of the required materials.

Project includes fewer than 4 of the required materials.

 

Overview

This unit takes approximately 2-2 1/2 weeks to complete excluding the time spent on the Culminating Activity. Class periods are 40 minutes in length and some double periods greatly enhance the productivity of particular lessons. Two complete days were spent in the Computer Lab discussing the on-line catalog and then taking a quiz using the on-line catalog. An additional day was spent in the Computer Lab discussing the on-line references and then doing a worksheet using these references. Two days were spent in the School Library. One day was spent working on the map with a partner. The second was an orientation given by the school librarian to go over the map and the library rules. Students were allowed to sign out books for the first time in their new library. Since the student text contains very little information about the library, I constructed several booklets to teach particular concepts (Fiction/Non-Fiction Booklet, Our School Library Booklet, On-line Catalog Booklet and Reference Booklet). These booklets contained teacher-made instructional sheets and exercises as well as exercises "borrowed" from a workbook on study skills.