Overview

Your child will explain their understanding of the task that was given. S/he sets their goals for completing the project, and determines the best methods to accomplishing these goals.

If your child is also using ePEARL, s/he should connect their goal to his/her general goals that were previously set.

Parent Tips

• Assess whether your child has a correct understanding of the task.
• Ask your child "What do you need to accomplish in order to complete this task?" "What are your own personal learning goals and what strategies will you have to use to reach these goals?" "Who can help you?" "How can I help you?
• If they are also using ePEARL, remind your child to link their Task Goal to a General Goal that they had previously set.

1 Define

To learn how to define a Big Question.

Objective of this step:

1. Select an appropriate research question, and write it in the form of a Big Question.

Overview

Your child establishes the guiding question for the inquiry and determines how important this question is. The guiding question is determined by the task description.

Parent Tips

• Ask your child "What is an interesting aspect of this topic that you wish to learn more about?"
• Consult reference material such as dictionaries and encyclopedias as these are great places for background information on a topic. They may also introduce your child to some sub-topics associated with the topic.
• Confirm the Big Question is relevant to the task and warrants research.
• Ask your child "Why do you feel this question is important?"

2 Brainstorm

To learn how to identify what is known, what isn't known (Little Questions), and what doesn't need to be known about the Big Question.

Objective of this step:

1. Identify what is known about the Big Question
2. Identify what is not known (the information gap) and requires research ➩ create Little Questions
3. Identify what may be related to the Big Question but is irrelevant to the task at hand

Overview

Your child establishes three key aspects to answer the Big Question; "what is known", "what is not known", and "what is not need to be known". Using the "what is not known" section, Little Questions are established for the inquiry. This helps your child focus on appropriate sub-topics and not be distracted by irrelevant information or topics to the task at hand.

Parent Tips

• Draw a diagram with the Big Question written in the center of the page. Ask your child "What do you know about this topic?" and write each sub-topic around the central topic. Make links between related topics. Try breaking down the sub-topics even further.
• Ask your child "Of each of these sub-topics , what do you know and what do you need to learn about?"
• For each Little Question ("What I need to know") encourage the use of clear and concise language. Vague words should be avoided.
• Jot down a couple of related sub-topics that are not part of the task as they will help to avoid getting off-task when conducting the research in Phase 2.

3 Keywords

To learn how to identify the key concepts within each of the Little Questions.

Objective of this step:

1. Identify the key ideas for each Little Question
2. Define each key idea in the form of a Keyword
3. Determine appropriate synonyms or related terms for each Keyword (as appropriate)

Overview

Your child identifies the key concepts for each Little Question, and articulates these in the form of Keywords. Identifying appropriate keywords (and there related terms) is critical for the Search phase.

Parent Tips

• Discuss the main concepts within each Little Question and help suggest ways they may be represented in the form of a Keyword.
• Try not to introduce too many different concepts (maximum three) for each Little Question.
• Ask your child "Are there any other terms that you can think of that are related to this Keyword?"
• When looking for related terms, discourage words that are only somewhat related and try to avoid homographs (words that have the same spelling but different meanings).

4 Search Strings

To learn how to establish the relationship between the Keywords to create a search string for each Little Question

Objective of this step:

1. Establish a relationship between similar (or related) Keywords (use of OR)
2. Establish a relationship between different Keywords (use of AND)
3. Create a search string for each Little Question

Overview

Your child establishes the relationship between the similar and different Keywords, using the logical operators "OR" and "AND" respectively. Creating logical search strings will greatly support the Search phase as these may be refined and used as search strategies.

Parent Tips

• If your child is having trouble understanding the difference between AND and OR, try the following activity: Ask your child to "Look around the room and count all the objects that are:
  1. Brown." Answer:
  2. Brown OR blue." Answer: Should be higher than 1
  3. Brown AND made of wood." Answer: Should be lower than 1 and much lower than 2
  4. Compare the results. Ask your child "Does OR increase or decrease the results?" (Answer: Increase) "Does AND increase or decrease the results?" (Answer: Decrease)
• Remember that the more Keywords that are ANDed, the more your child will be restricting the number of sources found.

5 Resources

To learn how to decide what type of information is needed to answer each Little Question and identify the source and best location to find this information.

Objective of this step:

1. Determine the type of information (definition, fact, opinion, etc.) needed to answer the Little Questions
2. Identify the appropriate source (i.e. reference, book, newspaper article, website etc) to locate a specific type of information
3. Identify appropriate places (i.e., School Library, Internet, Community) to search for the information
4. Create an Action Plan for the Search phase

Overview

Your child considers what type of information they need to answer each Little Question. Once they know what kind of information they need, they are asked to determine the best type of sources they should use to find that type of information. IS-21 indicates which location they are likely to find those types of sources.

Parent Tips

• Review each little question and discuss the type of information that is best suited to answer each one.
• Remind your child that not all sources are best suited for specific types of information. For example, indepth information can more easily be found in a non-fiction book on the topic, background information can readily be found in a reference book, experts or survivors may provide a more interesting account of a historical event, opinions may be found in newspaper articles or blogs, etc.
• Encourage your child to look for information beyond the Internet and to use a variety of information gathering strategies.