Hi, Roman, Maybe elementary school students do small-scale forms of research that do not lead to any culminating project or paper like research usually does. Would you consider reading non-fiction texts about topics such as sharks for the purpose of learning more as researching? In later elementary I remember doing research on states and animals to create research projects, but I agree that research is not as large a part of the curriculum or reading process in lower grades. Unless research can be conducted without using a research tool or text. . . . Maybe looking at a book, reading, could be considered research if we think about the fact that when they do it students are absorbing and categorizing in their minds information about word meanings, sentence and text structure, etc. Every time a person opens a book they are conducting informal research of sorts on reading and text because reading books will always give you more knowledge about the reading process and the construction of texts. (Did that make sense?) Also, I am curious: Do you think that the vocabulary tests seem to be effective in helping the kids learn the words as well as assessing them? --Erin M
Oh, and to add to my earlier ramble, reading books gives us information about the world around us, too. It is like a review of literature -- the stage in the scientific research process when scientists do research and read all the material about their topic and garner information about it. Every book we read is a step in an informal research project that adds a little to our knowledge about the world, life, and humanity. Or do we have to have the intention of researching in order to conduct research? -Erin
I don't know if you are still in my discussion group (the lists are different on different docs) but I'll comment anyway :)
Good point about note taking and researching. I wondered the same about "summarizing". They might be doing these activities - or at the very least mimicking them - but are they developed enough to understand, or derive value from those activities?
Is passing a test the only way to know that students "know" a word? Erin asked a similar question. If a student is NOT able to spell a word correctly, does that mean she doesn't "know" the word? If a student is able to spell a word correctly, does he "know" the word? Does passing a test help them to learn the word? We will start to get into the concept of reading and assessment so these are good things to think about. j
You bring up a good point, Erin. I had always assumed if you read something for a purpose (such as a paper, project, etc) then it's research. However if you read for no other purpose, then it's not research, but learning. After reading your post I reconsidered my beliefs and read through a few different definitions of "research" and I've changed my mind. Research CAN be part of an ECE reading program.
And Jill, your points regarding spelling a word vs knowing a word made me regret saying "passing a (spelling) test is the only way we can find out for sure if a kid knows a word."
Thanks to all of you for helping to keep me on my toes!
Hi, Roman,
ReplyDeleteMaybe elementary school students do small-scale forms of research that do not lead to any culminating project or paper like research usually does. Would you consider reading non-fiction texts about topics such as sharks for the purpose of learning more as researching? In later elementary I remember doing research on states and animals to create research projects, but I agree that research is not as large a part of the curriculum or reading process in lower grades. Unless research can be conducted without using a research tool or text. . . . Maybe looking at a book, reading, could be considered research if we think about the fact that when they do it students are absorbing and categorizing in their minds information about word meanings, sentence and text structure, etc. Every time a person opens a book they are conducting informal research of sorts on reading and text because reading books will always give you more knowledge about the reading process and the construction of texts. (Did that make sense?)
Also, I am curious: Do you think that the vocabulary tests seem to be effective in helping the kids learn the words as well as assessing them?
--Erin M
Oh, and to add to my earlier ramble, reading books gives us information about the world around us, too. It is like a review of literature -- the stage in the scientific research process when scientists do research and read all the material about their topic and garner information about it. Every book we read is a step in an informal research project that adds a little to our knowledge about the world, life, and humanity. Or do we have to have the intention of researching in order to conduct research?
ReplyDelete-Erin
Hi Roman,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you are still in my discussion group (the lists are different on different docs) but I'll comment anyway :)
Good point about note taking and researching. I wondered the same about "summarizing". They might be doing these activities - or at the very least mimicking them - but are they developed enough to understand, or derive value from those activities?
Is passing a test the only way to know that students "know" a word? Erin asked a similar question. If a student is NOT able to spell a word correctly, does that mean she doesn't "know" the word? If a student is able to spell a word correctly, does he "know" the word? Does passing a test help them to learn the word? We will start to get into the concept of reading and assessment so these are good things to think about.
ReplyDeletej
You bring up a good point, Erin. I had always assumed if you read something for a purpose (such as a paper, project, etc) then it's research. However if you read for no other purpose, then it's not research, but learning. After reading your post I reconsidered my beliefs and read through a few different definitions of "research" and I've changed my mind. Research CAN be part of an ECE reading program.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jill, your points regarding spelling a word vs knowing a word made me regret saying "passing a (spelling) test is the only way we can find out for sure if a kid knows a word."
Thanks to all of you for helping to keep me on my toes!