in Grades K-5

College and Career Readiness Skills Aligned with TEKS

Cindy Nottage and Virginia Morse

PUBLISHED BY

Active Learning Systems, LLC P.O. Box 254, Epping, New Hampshire 03042 Tel: (800) 644-5059 Fax: (603) 679-2611 info@iimresearch.com www.iimresearch.com Master teachers Cindy Nottage and Virginia Morse are the founders of Active Learning Systems and the developers of the Independent Investigation Method, a research process for students in grades K-12. They have experience in classroom teaching, special education, staff development, reading consultation, and gifted and talented program development and coordination. Cindy and Virginia developed the Independent Investigation Method 27 years ago for use in their own classes and introduced it to all grade levels at their schools where it was extensively tested and refined. Because of the popularity of Double I.M., Active Learning Systems now publishes IIM materials and provides training for educators internationally.
Design and production by Design Point Studio, Salisbury, N.H. 603-934-4082 Agent IIM Illustrations by Kerry Lott Photographs: Can Stock Photo Inc.

I I M is a registered trademark of Active Learning Systems LLC 2013 Active Learning Systems, LLC. All rights reserved Printed in USA
The individual purchaser may reproduce the student forms for use in his/her classroom or within his/her teaching responsibility or job description. Reproduction of any part of this book for other teachers, entire schools, or school systems is strictly prohibited.

ISBN: 978-1-57652-067-3

MINI LESSONS

The Independent Investigation Method

IIM RESEARCH MODEL

A K-12 research model for all ability students

These classroom-tested mini-lessons give you the basics to help your students with the critical thinking skills inherent in inquiry-based learning the same skill sets that are necessary for college and career readiness. Each is referenced by the TEKS (RD: Reading; OWC: Oral & Written Conventions; WR: Writing; RSH: Research; LS: Listening and Speaking) that are being applied as well as a listing of key skills. By beginning with these fun lessons, you will give your students the confidence and knowledge to become ethical, independent learners.

These minis are based on the 7 Steps of IIM: Independent Investigation Method, a 7-step research model that has been extensively tested and refined in thousands of classrooms, but will work as stand-alone lessons for specific skills in any discipline or with any defined research process. Although specific IIM forms from Teaching Research Skills in Grades K-5 are referenced in the lessons, directions are complete enough to teach the lesson without them. You will also see the IIM terms Whole-Class and Independent which refer to research projects that are done using one topic for a classroom (Whole-Class) and individual or small group studies (Independent). Visit www.iimresearch.com for more information.
IIM BASIC LEVEL FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

Why do I need to teach research skills to my students when the TEKS and STAAR are taking so much of my time?

TEKS AND
A survey of the research on readiness for entry into the skilled workforce makes it clear that employers want their employees to be able to read and communicate well ... and to be able to think critically and adjust to rapidly changing working environments. Because these college and career readiness standards focus precisely on a strong foundation of knowledge and intellectual skills, including intellectual nimbleness and adaptability, they will serve equally well those students heading to college and to the workforce.
(Texas CCRS p.iv-v)

In order for educators to reach the goals of the TEKS, teachers will have to change the way they teach and students will have to change the way they learn. However, the authors of the standards purposefully avoided laying out the how of teaching these standards. Exhale! Smile! Rejoice! What you need is right in your hand! In IIM, the hidden skills of the research process are exposed and made practical and student-friendly in order to achieve the broad standards. Research is the 4th R, a critical subject area seldom directly taught. What better reason to use research as a platform for learning! In this book, you will find a proven model that unpacks the big boxes of the TEKS. IIM will empower your students to learn actively through research. They will gain content knowledge and process skills while meeting the standards through meaningful, interest-driven studies across the curriculum. You will have done your part in their development by laying the groundwork for your students to be successful in the classroom and beyond, even into college and career. You will help produce students who are able to: Demonstrate the ability to think independently. Connect reading to writing and thinking skills. Think critically about what they have read. Understand and use research methodologies. Know how to find a variety of sources and use them properly. Take in information, analyze it, and record that which is meaningful and useful. Carefully select the evidence used to support ideas. Use writing to communicate ideas, concepts, emotions and descriptions to the reader. (Conley 2003 p.17-27)

MINI LESSONS

The Independent Investigation Method

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prep Step Laying the Groundwork Introducing Students to the IIM Process................................................1 IIM Detective Oath..........................................4 What We Want to Know More About..........6
These fun lessons make learning the research process easy!

Topic Choosing What to Study Developing a Class Mind Map......................8 Making a Glossary........................................ 10 What Will My Topic Be?.............................. 12

Goal Setting Making a Plan Developing Class Goals for Our Study..... 14 The Question Is... ......................................... 16 Writing Good Questions............................. 18 Where Do We Get Our Information?....... 20

Research Discovering New Treasures Someone Plagiarized My Work!................ 22 Stamp Out Plagiarism ................................ 24

IIM BASIC LEVEL FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

How to Write a Quality Notefact............... 26 Writing Notefacts from Text ...................... 29

Organizing Making Order Out of Chaos Tasty Categories ........................................... 31 Organizing Detective Game ...................... 34 Naming Categories ...................................... 36

Goal Evaluation Looking Back What Did We Learn?.................................... 38 Loop of Knowledge...................................... 40 Writing a Quality Paragraph...................... 42

Product A New Creation Matching Audience to Product ................. 45 A Really Great Pretzel!................................ 47 How to Make a Quality Product................ 49

Presentation Show Time! Lets Work on Pronunciation, Enunciation, and Voice Quality................. 51 Using Good Manners at Our Presentation.......................................... 53 Fact- Gathering from Presentations......... 54

MINI LESSONS

IIM Mini-Lesson

Where Do We Get Our Information?

Process: Whole-Class or Independent Step 2: Goal Setting
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

Time: 30 minutes

RD/C: RSH/SI: RSH/SI:

Follow a research plan to collect data from a range of print and electronic resources and data from experts. Improve the focus of research as a result of consulting expert sources. Evaluate the relevance, validity, and reliability of sources for the research.

Key Research Skills

Your students will Understand that researchers use concrete, measurable goals for their study. Use a variety of resources to gather and compare information.

Materials

c Chart paper with Our Class Study Goals heading (CD Form 9) on the top c Copies of My Research Goals (CD Form 21, 22, or 23) with the teacher goals filled in c Blank chart paper c Paper strips c Markers and glue

Procedure

1. Explain that in Step 3: Research, the class will be gathering information about the class topic or their independent topics. The places they will get that information are called resources. 2. Brainstorm with them different resource types they might use to get this information, and have each student write an idea on a paper strip. Some possibilities include biographies, picture books, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, a field trip, guest speakers, posters, pictures, TV shows, videos, letters, models, etc. 3. Hold up the book you read during Step 1: Topic and ask what it is. 4. Write the word Book on the top of a piece of chart paper. 5. Have your students look at their paper strips, and if they have some ideas for resources that will fit under the category of book, have them glue them on the book chart.

20

MINI LESSONS

The Independent Investigation Method

Where Do We Get Our Information? (cont.)

6. As they think of other types of books, write them directly on the chart. 7. Write other resource categories on different charts: visuals, people, places, things, written (but not a book), electronic sources, etc. 8. Have your students take their strips and glue them under the category they choose, explaining what their resource is and why theyve chosen the category. 9. Add other resources your students think of or that you want listed. 10. Tell them that one important goal researchers have is to look in different places for their information. 11. Star the resource types they will be using for this study. 12. For a Whole-Class study, add the required types of resources to your goal setting chart along with the required number of resources, glossary words, and notefacts. 13. You can use this lesson when the students are doing Independent to help them identify different types of resources for their individual studies. At the end, give them their My Research Goals (CD Form 21, 22, or 23), talk about the required resources, and have them identify specific resources they might use for their independent topics.

Notes
You can write your students ideas as a class list and color code types. For very young children, just write a list of their ideas without categorizing. Fewer categories (book, non-book, electronic) will simplify the lesson. You can use a white board and magnets which will make it easier to move the strips around. If some students have written book (instead of a type of book) on their paper, ask them to tell a type of book and place that on the chart. With other entries that are too general, see if they can name something more specific.
SAMPLE RESOURCE TYPES Books: biography, fiction, nonfiction, picture books, etc. Visuals: posters, photographs, paintings, cartoons, coloring books, etc. People: visitor, re-enactment, interview, historian, etc. Places: museum, park, zoo, famous buildings, etc. Things: clothing, artifacts, etc. Written (not a book): newspapers, magazines, poems, speeches, letters, documents, etc. Electronic sources: the Internet, computer programs, DVDs, etc.

IIM BASIC LEVEL FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

21

The IIM Research Tool Kit!

Manual Student Booklet Mini-Lessons Bulletin Board Set

Students will learn critical TEKS to succeed in high stakes testing!

The IIM Teacher Manual and its companion pieces in the IIM Research Tool Kit Student Booklet, Mini-Lessons, and Bulletin Board Set will provide all the tools needed to help your students become active, engaged researchers. Once students have learned the IIM research model, they will be empowered to conduct research studies in any discipline or to pursue areas of passion. THE TEACHER MANUAL CONTAINS: Teacher and students steps for both the Whole-Class Process where students learn basic research skills and the Independent Process where students apply those skills in individual or small group studies TEKS for each step of the process Differentiation strategies for each step Library Media Specialist connections Tested technology sites CD with editable teacher, student, and assessment forms

The IIM Student Booklet gives your students an organized set of student workpages that guides them through the 7 Steps of their independent research project. It has key pages from the CD to help you get them started. The IIM Mini-Lessons have lesson plans to help you teach the key skills at each step of the process. The IIM Bulletin Board Set includes graphics of Agent IIM, the 7 Steps, and the process name and logo that keeps the language of the research process front and center in your classroom. All available at www.iimresearch.com
Epping, NH 800-644-5059

IIM is transformational in the teaching of research and critical thinking skills.

Principal, Midland, TX

ISBN: 978-1-57652-067-3

$14.95