I am finally in the home stretch of History Day--yeah! It's due this week, and I am ready to see the products of months of work. Anyway, teaching students research is always an interesting process. Most students come to us only using the Internet to research --and that's really all they do. If it's not on their first Google search, then it must not exist and they need a new topic--at least that's what they say. I have to say that's one thing that History Day has been great for--pushing students out of their element and making them search a variety of sources. Once students start using databases, it can be an amazing light bulb turning on moment. I'm wondering if this process of using a variety of sources could start ealier. I am kind of concerned that students come to high school and can only research by using google. It can be a great starting point, but I believe rsearch skills need to be taught earlier.
I have taught my students a variety of types of databases and how to use them. One of my favorites for them was Historical Newspapers.This is a fairly cool site, because it can show you actual papers of the time-they have been scanned in. This is an awesome place to show students how to look for primary sources, because these are actual artciles of the time period.
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Research skills are actually taught over a student's entire K-16 experience. Some 9th graders are just better at connecting their prior knowledge to the current task at hand! The best ways to teach research skills are through repeated practice and integration across all disciplines over an extended period of time. We hope to give them a solid foundation of skills in K-12 but I know they will continue to refine their research skills as they advance through college-level courses.
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