Phase 2: Search

The Search phase consists of three steps. In this phase, your child follows through with the Action Plan they developed in the Plan phase. They do this by exploring different resources, evaluating their Action Plan, scanning and organizing the sources they are finding, evaluating the appropriateness of those sources, and finally selecting sources based on their quality and relevance.

The Steps

In the second phase, your child will locate credible sources, and evaluate if they are useful for their inquiry. This phase features the following 3 steps in guided mode:

6
Explore
Investigate and determine the most appropriate retrieval tools
7
Select
Conduct effective searches and mark potentially useful sources
8
Review
Scan each source and using established criteria, evaluate its quality and relevance

Parent Tips

Ask your child to reflect on Phase 1. Ask your child "Were there any steps that you did not understand or that you would like to revisit?" "What was one aspect of this phase that you enjoyed? What did you learn?" Suggest entering this reflection into the Reflection feature of IS-21.
Review the Action Plan together with your child.
Revisit the original schedule with your child and decide if it should be revised.

If some Little Questions can best be answered with a book or reference material, schedule a day to visit the public library with your child.
If your child is using the Internet to locate information, encourage them to use age-appropriate retrieval tools such as Directories or Search Engines designed for young students.
Remind your child that valuable information may be found in many different sources beyond the Internet.

6 Explore

To learn how to explore different places (such as the school library, the Internet, and community resources) and to discover how to construct effective search strategies using the retrieval tools for each

Objective of this step:
1. Explore different retrieval tools depending on the type of information that is needed to answer each Little Question
2. Learn how to scan search results to form quick judgments about the relevancy and usefulness of the retrieved sources.
3. Determine the best retrieval tool that helps answer each Little Question.
Overview

Your child learns how to search within the school's Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) and different Internet retrieval tools (such as Directories, Search Engines), and how to use Community Resources (experts, public institutions) to determine the best source for relevant information to answer each Little Question.
Parent Tips
- Revisit the Search Strings steps to ensure that appropriate keywords are identified for each Little Question. Ask your child " When you search using this Keyword, do you think it will bring up any unwanted sources?" "Is it too general?" "Off-topic?" "What other related term may also be used to describe this concept?"
- Consider adapting each search string for each resource that is being explored. For example, the Keywords will not be necessary for an interview with an expert or for browsing within an Internet Directories etc.
- Encourage your child to ask for assistance when exploring the various resources (i.e., their teacher, school pr public librarian) or to consult the Help for the online resources.
- If your child is using the Internet, review the IS-21 Help for searching Directories and Search Engines to ensure the successful use of these tools.

Step 6: Explore Description | Overview | Parent Tips

7 Select

To learn how to identify and extract the bibliographic information for different types of material that may be used to answer each Little Question.

Objective of this step:
1. Refine search strategies to obtain more precise results.
2. Mark potentially useful sources to answer the Little Questions, by entering the bibliographical information of each source into a form.
3. Create a Working Bibliography of potentially useful sources
Overview

Your child creates a detailed list of potentially useful sources to answer each of their Little Questions. Unlike the previous step, your child may need to refine his/her search to obtain detailed information about each source, such as its location. Also, your child creates a working bibliography of all the relevant sources.
Parent Tips
- When reviewing a potentially useful source, ask your child "Does this answer any other Little Question?"
- There may be a source that looks useful but doesn't directly answer a Little Question. Suggest putting this source in the Parking Lot for later use.
- When marking books, use the book's title page to locate the bibliographic information.
- When marking web pages, scan the Help within the Web form for tips on how to find the bibliographic information. For example, it can be tricky locating the author or date for a web page.
- Help your child form quick judgments about the relevancy and quality of sources found on the Internet by scanning:
  - The title and brief description looking for relevant Keywords.
  - The URL (or web page address) and avoid commercial sites (those with .com).

Step 7: Select Description | Overview | Parent Tips

8 Review

To learn how to evaluate the quality and relevancy of each potentially useful source using established criteria.

Objective of this step:
1. Evaluate each marked source using established criteria
2. Select appropriate sources to be used in the final product.
Overview

Your child must read and review each source and determine its Credibility, Reliability, Accuracy, Currency, and Relevancy (CRACR). Based on this evaluation, s/he will determine if they want to Select the source.
Parent Tips
- Encourage your child to use critical thinking skills when reading each source by prompting them to question what they are reading.
- Help your child evaluate the relevancy and quality of a source by discussing the difference between:
  - The authority of an author of a newspaper article, an encyclopedia article, a non-fiction book, a personal website.
  - Fact and opinion.
  - Unpublished sources found on the Internet and published sources found in a library.
- Guide your child when scanning each source and point out signs (or indications of quality) that will inform their CRACR evaluation.
- Review your child's ranking for each of the criteria for a source and ask them to justify their selection.

Step 8: Review Description | Overview | Parent Tips

Phase 2: Search

The Steps

Explore

Select

Review

Parent Tips

6 Explore

Objective of this step:

Overview

Parent Tips

7 Select

Objective of this step:

Overview

Parent Tips

8 Review

Objective of this step:

Overview

Parent Tips