Enrich Social Studies Exit Project with Technolgoy Using TrackStar for Exit Project Research iLearn Social Studies Session 3 of 8

Focusing Questions What is TrackStar and why is it an important resource for student research? How can TrackStar be customized by the teacher to help students focus on select Web sites for their Exit Project research?

Instruction

Framing The Session In this session we will be exploring TrackStar, a Web site that helps teachers structure student research on the Internet. TrackStar allows the teacher to pre-select Web sites with appropriate content and readability to create a library for student research. Teachers can search the Internet for relevant Web sites around a research topic and create a track, or they can select from several pre-made tracks on a particular topic.

Teaching You can search for existing tracks: >by keyword or by author; >by themes and standards; or >by subject and grades. You can see the top tracks and the month’s track-a- day. You can also type in the track number for a previously created track. You can also create your own track using a list of Web sites.

Guided Practice 1.Create a list of websites to include in your track. 2.Register for a free account in TrackStar. 3.Once your have registered click on ‘Make a New Track’. 4.Give your track a title. 5.Write a description of your track. 6.Enter your websites. 7.Add annotations.

Work Time

Getting Started Using the TrackStar library, take the next 30 minutes to research the topic you began brainstorming in the last session (or another related topic). Copy and paste any URLs that you find onto a MS Word document, and begin categorizing the links. Focus on: >searching the TrackStar library >categorizing the Web sites you find >developing guiding questions for each Web site you find

Work Time Register and create a free account in TrackStar: Create a track for your research question on “The Civil Rights Movement.” Search the TrackStar library for three to five Web sites on your research question. Develop guiding questions for each Web site you find.

Share

Have participants to share their work. What is the value of TrackStar as a resource for structuring student research? How can TrackStar be customized by the teacher to help students focus on select Web sites? Share

What did you do? Share

How does this work address the questions that began the session? TrackStar is a tool that can be used to guide and organize student research.

For more information Office of Instructional Technology