Curriculum
Research and Information Fluency: Grades 2-3
Using Keywords
Download Student Sheet(s) for printout in PDF format.
Read a Letter to Educators about Internet research and information fluency from CyberSmart!
Overview
Keyword searching is an effective way to locate information on the World Wide Web. Students learn how to select keywords to produce the best search results.
Objectives
- Describe the function of keywords and keyword searches
- Follow a step-by-step procedure for selecting suitable keywords
National Educational Technology Standards for Students © 2007
Source: International Society for Technology in Education- Research and Information Fluency
- plan strategies to guide inquiry.
- locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.
- Critical Thinking, Problem-Solving & Decision-Making
- identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation.
- plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project.
Home Connection
Download the Home Connection sheet related to this lesson.
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Materials
- Activity sheets (2)
- Chalkboard or chart paper
- Online computer access
Introduce (offline)
- Explain to students that they can find answers to all kinds of questions on the World Wide Web.
- Ask: What would you like to know about pets? Record questions on the board or chart paper.
Teach 1 (offline)
- Distribute the activity sheets.
- Read "Learn About It" with students, allowing them to share their knowledge of and experiences with guinea pigs.
- Explain that a keyword is used to find relevant Web sites and pages. Optional: Have students analyze this compound word. Explain that "key" has more than one meaning; here it means "important."
Teach 2 (offline)
- Help students complete "Try It Yourself." Make sure that students' sentences and questions are reasonable. (For example: Do guinea pigs make good pets?)
- To ensure successful search results, guide students to include "guinea," "pig," and "pet" among their keywords.
Teach 3 (online)
- Have students follow the directions on Activity Sheet 2 to go to www.becybersmart.org/students, click on the blue square, and locate the links for this lesson. You can go to the same page as the students by clicking Student Links in the left navigation of this page.
- After students complete their last step, review the printouts of their search results to determine if they entered their keywords correctly and obtained reasonable results.
- Help students link to sites likely to answer their questions. Students will enjoy looking at the photos and reading about the advantages of guinea pigs as pets.
Assess (offline)
The following items assess student mastery of the lesson objectives.
- Ask: What do you have to remember when you use keywords? (how to write questions, to check what kinds of words are important, and checking spelling)
Extend (online)
The following activity can be added for students who completed this lesson in a previous grade.
- Have students apply their keyword skills to search for facts related to a topic they are studying in language arts/reading (such as a children's book author), social studies (such as the tallest mountain in their state), or science (cloud shapes).
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