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| Date: From: Subject: | 8/7/2008 10:01:38 AM Home School Legal Defense Association HSLDA's Homeschooling Thru High School Newsletter -- August 2008 |
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#=====---------------------------------------------------------------- HSLDA's Homeschooling Thru High School Newsletter Teaching Research Skills ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Friends, It's August! Summers go by quickly, don't they? We hope your summer has been a pleasant and relaxing respite from the busyness of the school year. While you are wading in the ocean, hiking in the mountains, or swinging in the hammock on your back porch, we pray that the Lord is using this downtime to prepare you for another school year. Although we hate to interrupt your summer with thoughts of school (!), we'd like to use this month's newsletter to provide you with helpful information, websites, and resources to teach your teens research skills. THE NECESSITY OF RESEARCH SKILLS Research is the ability to investigate, discover, and explore a topic. Knowing where to locate information is important when writing a research paper, searching out answers of personal interest, investigating training needed for a specific occupation, finding a recipe, fixing a washing machine, or identifying birds in the back yard. Academic research skills are essential no matter what future endeavors your teen has in mind. Research is needed in high school (and later in college) when writing essays, preparing for debates, or outlining a speech. But, research is also required in various occupations when searching out new clients, preparing reports for the boss, or learning what permits are required for a home remodeling job. THE RESEARCH PROCESS Having a plan of attack is important when preparing for battle. Similarly, developing a plan for the research process will give your teen a clear and detailed path. The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School website details 21 steps in the research process beginning with selecting a topic and ending with evaluating the finished product (http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5352). Tip sheets are included for each step (http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5353). The site also provides an outline maker that will help your teen think through the various sections of his paper and how it will all fit together (http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5354). And, last but not least, if your teen needs assistance in separating a large assignment into smaller segments while adhering to a deadline, the University of Minnesota's assignment calculator is a useful tool: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5355 . Try it out! RESEARCH TOOLS Information may be garnered through many different sources such as encyclopedias, books, films, atlases, maps, dictionaries, magazines, newspapers, almanacs, and of course, the internet. To help with internet searching, the University of California-Berkeley has designed A Teaching Library Internet Workshop that offers a five-step search strategy (http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5356). In light of the many varied sources of information, it is helpful to learn how to assess the usefulness, importance, or validity of a source. The University of Maryland provides a checklist to use in evaluating websites, http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5357, books, and periodicals (http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5371). Another website (produced by the Springfield Township High School Virtual Library) provides many online activities that promote information literacy including how to evaluate an author http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5358 , practice in ranking sources, http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5359 , and the differences between summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting, http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5360 . In addition to the websites, you may want to peruse the book An Educator's Guide to Information Literacy: What Every High School Senior Needs to Know by Ann Marlow Riedling, http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5370 . It sounds particularly helpful for students transitioning from high school to college. Lessons, checklists, and assessments are given as well as ideas for integrating information literacy skills into your curriculum. If you feel incapable of or do not wish to teach writing and research methods, then be encouraged to know there are other venues for your teen to learn these skills. He or she may take courses online, at the community college, or even through co-op classes. For example, WriteAtHome offers a research paper online workshop (http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5361) and Write Guide offers a research paper as one of its project options (http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5362) . Other providers of writing courses, http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5363 , may include units on research skills. A TOUR THROUGH THE LIBRARY To assist your teen in finding information quickly from newspapers, magazines, and other sources, plan a visit to your local library. Ask the librarian or an aide to give your child a brief tour of the reference room. Although much research can now be done online, being familiar with the major sections of a reference room including subject bibliographies, periodic guide and indices for magazines, general and specialized encyclopedias, directories, handbooks, dictionaries, atlases, etc. is a useful tool. Some resources may be on CD-ROM or microfiche. In addition, the Information and Library Services Department of the University of Maryland offers several modules that provide tutorials in using the library to find books, articles, and websites, http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5364 . CHIN UP (NOT DOWN!) As with all of the information we present to you, never feel that you need to incorporate everything! If the very thought of a research paper or teaching research skills is enough to send you to the loony farm, please stop and take three long breaths. :) You may choose to use only one or two of the items we mention above (or none at all), but whatever materials you have the time and energy to include in your planning will enable your teen to improve upon his research skills and aid him to be a better writer. Tuck away this information and keep it handy in case one day you are looking for help in this area. Dare we say it was fun to do the research for this newsletter? Well, it was--and we learned a lot that we're glad to be able to pass on to you. Join us next month as we encourage you to continue the journey through high school. Jump in the pool one more time for us, and we'll see you in September, Becky Cooke and Diane Kummer HSLDA High School Coordinators AT A GLANCE New on the HSLDA Homeschooling Thru High School website Revamped testing section with information on achievement, PSAT, SAT, SAT Subject tests, ACT, AP, CLEP, GED and career interest tests http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5365 Worldview/Apologetics resources http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5366 Check out our blog containing tips, ideas, and new resources http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5367 MP3 sets of HSLDA High School Symposium seminars "Essentials of Teaching High School at Home" for sale http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5368 BECKY AND DIANE'S SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS October 10, 2008 Map Your Future Indianapolis, IN http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5369 (Becky and Diane) November 10, 2008--Chapelgate Home Education Program (CHEP) Marriottsville, MD Contact: Lisa Hamby zhamfam@verizon.net (Diane) March 27-28, 2009-- APACHE (Peoria, IL) http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5372 (Diane) April 2-4, 2009--MACHE (Minnesota) (Becky & Diane) http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5180 May 22-23, 2009--CheNH (New Hampshire) (Becky) http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5181 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Is customer service an art or a science? For us, good customer service is both an art and a science -it should appeal to our members and be effective. Consider what our members say about us: We're thankful for the support HSLDA membership provides us. We'd never homeschool without them. We highly recommend HSLDA to all homeschoolers. - North Tonawanda, NY I cannot imagine our homeschool journey without HSLDA's strong leadership, protection, and guidance. God bless HSLDA! - Alta Loma, California More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1940 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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