During November 2019, the students in Mr. Smerka's seventh grade Social Studies classes spent over a week in the library for a research project. During this project, groups of 3-4 students researched Early American topics and presented their findings to their classmates.
Student groups chose from topics such as: Northern Colonies, Middle Colonies, Southern Colonies, Sons/Daughters of Liberty, Salem Witch Trials, and The Lost Colony of Roanoke. These topics were very broad and open-ended, meaning that the groups had the flexibility to take their research in many directions. This made for a challenging task for the groups. Not only did they have to comb through sources to find relevant and interesting facts, but they also needed to present their information in a way that was organized and engaging.
The first few days of the project were devoted to introducing students to the various resources available for research. Students spent time using nonfiction and reference books available in the library. There were close to 150 library books on these topics, so every group found interesting information when browsing the books. They recorded their research on MLA note sheets, which helped them to stay organized and avoid plagiarism. Later this year, students will learn how to make MLA formatted works cited pages during an ELA research project.
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| Note Sheets help students to stay organized during the research process. |
Once students exhausted the information found in the books, we moved on to using web resources to gather more facts. Credible websites were displayed in a Symbaloo organizer found on the middle school library website. Students were also encouraged to find their own sources through internet searching, but were instructed to evaluate sources for credibility prior to use. As with the book sources, students filled out MLA note sheets for all of their web resources.
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| The Symbaloo organizer displayed helpful websites for the project. |
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| MLA note sheets kept the students' research organized. |
At the end of the third day of research, the students completed an online "Research Check In" form that was posted on the library website. This check in allowed Mr. Smerka and I to see if students understood the importance of using reliable sources and if anyone was experiencing issues with the research process. The data gathered from this was extremely helpful. Students that might not have been comfortable telling us that they were having problems researching felt comfortable letting us know on the form. Over the next few days, we were able to provide targeted assistance to those students.
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| A check in page via Microsoft Forms was distributed to all students. |
The groups then worked on PowerPoint slides in order to provide a visual for their presentation. The majority of these projects were well organized and utilized advanced features such as hyperlinks and transitions.
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| Students worked on research and PowerPoint presentations while in the library. |
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| Student groups prepared to present to their classmates. |
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| The flexible seating in the library allows students to work in comfort. |
The last few days in the library were devoted to presenting the group projects. Students received a grading rubric prior to presenting, so they had a clear idea of the assessment criteria. The presentations were wonderful! Many student groups displayed tremendous creativity (and the groups that brought snacks were much appreciated!).
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| Mr. Smerka instructs students on effective presentation techniques. |
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| One group made Johnnycakes (a colonial recipe), and even brought in a sub tray! |
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| The sub tray was a wonderful treat the day before the long weekend! |
Having Mr. Smerka's students in the library made for a very enjoyable week and a half. Most importantly, students were able to practice their research, teamwork, and presentation skills. The seventh grade teams will return to the library for an ELA project in January where they will continue to hone their skills.
