Practical Steps to the Research Process for High School »

DEBORAH B. STANLEY is Library Media Teacher, Riverside Unified School District, Riverside, California, and she frequently speaks on the research process.

These hands-on lessons for teaching the research process will help you effectively teach information skills, while implementing current national information literacy standards. Stanley offers strategies that connect standards to content area units of study, sharing dozens of successful collaboratively planned and taught research lessons. Detailed learning activities for each of the six research skills demonstrates how this process meets the needs of today's students as well as the requirements of many current educational trends and reforms-technology integration, literacy, critical thinking, collaborative instruction, and adaptations for second language learners as well as learning disabled students. The book includes guidelines for planning and preparing for research, scripted lessons with accompanying instructor directions, application and accountability procedures, and writing and technology extensions.

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The heart of this book is a four-day diary of scripted research lessons based on authentic teaching experience. Stanley has not included any information about her qualifications or background, but a dedication indicates that she worked at Hanover High School in the Glendale Unified School District (CA) in 1997-1998. Charts and forms outline the practical series of lessons. These can be used as handouts or viewed on the overhead. To make these graphic aids truly useful, a CD-ROM could have been included so that they could be customized. The focus is on the use of sub-topics and note-taking as the "missing links" of the research process. The assumption is that a teacher will allow the librarian to take three days to teach the research process, which may be a hard sell in some settings. However, there are some very good practical suggestions regarding collaboration, creating sign-up calendars, and using multiple formats and sources. This is a good effort that will be useful for librarians looking for a way to integrate information literacy skills into the curriculum. 1999, Libraries Unltd, 230p, bibliog, index, 28cm, 99-050169, $29.00. Ages Adult. Reviewer: Rita M. Fontinha; Lib. Media Spec., Norwood H.S., Norwood, MA, September 2000 (Vol. 34 No. 5)