Guided Research in Middle School

Gr 5–8—New school librarians will find value in this soup-to-nuts unit on how to teach research skills. It comes complete with lesson plans, 21st-century learning standards, scripts, and reproducible handouts. Collaborative teams of librarians and teachers will find much useful information in eight jam-packed lessons. The only remaining challenge will be finding the time to implement them. Should one like to teach using mnemonic devices, the author invented the acronym ANTHILL to help students remember the steps to research. For those who revel in puns and wordplay, she also chooses her words brilliANTly in an effort to constANTly reinforce her theme. In a chapter called "Unit Summary," each lesson includes approximate class periods required. An organizational chart that presents the unit more visually and a blank sample for future use follow these pages. Each lesson provides an instructional plan, which includes learning objectives, strategies, modifications, and assessment suggestions. Harrington also shares 12 concise slides to adapt for visual presenting. Though the title is aimed at the middle school, the gimmicks skew to fifth or sixth graders; the elementary tone will have older students rolling their eyes. The handouts are a bit wordy and crowded-much space is devoted to making the page look like a notebook. There's plenty to adapt, though. While this revision of the 2006 edition doesn't stand out in a crowded field, it will have appeal if the style fits.—Brenda Kahn, Tenakill Middle School, Closter, NJ