1. Clarksville Middle School Clarksville, Maryland
INFORMATION LITERACY
Clarksville Middle School Clarksville, Maryland
Kathy Glascock, Media Specialist
Tammi Lynch, Special Education
Instructional Team Leader

2. School Facts Suburban Middle School 748 Students 90 Staff members
Located midway between Baltimore and Washington
91-94% of students met state standards over last three years

3. Information Literacy “A daily edition of the New York Times
contains more information than a 17th century person would have in their entire lifetime.”
Richard Wurman Information Anxiety, 1989
MONDAY, MARCH 27, 1989
How are we preparing students?

4. How do we build a consistent approach to problem solving?
Information Literacy
Information Literacy is the set of skills life-long learners use to locate, evaluate, synthesize, and communicate information for a variety of purposes.
Kathy –
In Howard County, Information Literacy is defined as…”the set of skills life-long learners use to locate, evaluate, synthesize, and communicate
Information for a variety of purposes.
How do we build a consistent approach to problem solving?

5. Information Literacy - The Big 6
• Task Definition Define problem. Identify information needed.
Information Seeking Strategies Determine all possible sources.
Location and Access Locate Sources and information.
Kathy-
The Big6 process is a common sense step-by-step process students can use, not only in the classroom, but outside. For example, “I want to go
to a concert.” Task Definition – what information do I need? Information Seeking Strategies – where can I find the best information? Location and Access – what information do I take out?
How do we handle teachers’
varied expectations and differing approaches?

6. Information Literacy Use of Information
Pull out the information and then take notes.
Synthesis
Organize information. Present the results.
Evaluation
Judge the result and the process.
Kathy –
Use of Information – what information answers my task? Synthesis – how will I organize my information? And Evaluation – how did I do? How did the process help me?
How do we handle teachers’
varied expectations and differing approaches?

7. Content Integration
6th Grade Reading Integrating and connecting research
skills with literature
6th Grade English Integrating into
Biography unit
7th Grade Reading/Math Stock project
Kathy –
6th grade reading was a natural fit with which to begin. I had a wonderful team of teachers who “bought in” to the process immediately.
Lots of dialog with administrators and other content teachers has taken the Big6 into many classrooms.
How can we naturally integrate
Information Literacy into the curriculum?

8. How do we help our students work smarter, not faster?
Process Integration
Kathy –
Integrating the Big6 involves applying the six step process to the subject content. This process, plus the subject knowledge equals learning.
The Big6 can also be seen in 8th grade Science, 7th grade Social Studies and all levels of reading.
Process
Learning
Knowledge
How do we help our students work smarter, not faster?

9. Knowing our Learners Accelerated Learners Special Needs
At Clarksville, we have a 6th grade Reading class of all gifted learners who take four GT content classes. In their Reading class, the GT Resource Teachers teaches extended research strategies with extended requirements, along with instruction in the same basic Big6 skills, language and process.
With the special needs students, we guide them, model, scaffold and then work towards independence. Because we are repeating language,
skills and process, they get the repetition they need for success.
How do we account for the
developmental needs of our students?

10. How do we manage obstacles faced?
Lessons Learned
Computer skills - responsible use of information
Online databases
Plagiarism
Copyright / fair use
Citing Sources
Kathy/Tammi-
As we have progressed year by year, we have learned that some of the students’ most important skills fit nicely with the Big6 process… responsible use of information when using the computer for online database material, addressing plagiarism and copyright use of materials, and the tedious skill of citing sources used.
How do we manage obstacles faced?

11. Positive Outcomes Students: think more before beginning task
have more confidence and less anxiety
have more focus
Consistent Language
Improved Process / Output
High school preparedness
County Initiative
Kathy-
We are extremely pleased with many of the success stories resulting from our use of the Big6 plus Technology strand. Students think before beginning their research strategies, are more confident and focused, and less anxious. They know and understand the Big6 language and are more prepared
going into high school, where they will see the process again in 9th grade language arts. And of course, seeing our hard work mirrored in the Howard
County Information Literacy initiative is a validation of best practices for Clarksville Middle.
How do we know we have been successful?

12. Future/County Initiative
Information Literacy has already
been incorporated into:
Kindergarten & 3rd
Library Media
Reading
Social Studies
Language Arts
Kathy-
A committee of curriculum coordinators and media specialists in Howard County has been formed as a result of our success at Clarksville Middle,
and Information Literacy has already been infused into benchmark units in kindergarten, 3rd, 6th, and 9th grades. Resources for embedding Information Literacy objectives into all grade levels will be developed over the next few years.
Where do we go from here?

13. Summary Points
Clarksville’s charge is to prepare our students for the demands of the 21st century.
… h o w e v e r …
Given the exponential growth rate of technology, how can we predict what our students will need years in the future?
Kathy/Tammi-
Developing general information problem-solving skills as well as proficiencies in specific technologies and research processes is a major focus in
Education today – The Big6 is a tried and tested approach to research information and technology skills instruction that classroom teachers and media specialists can use to make an immediate impact on student performance.
“This century will challenge humanity to our very limits.
Our role is to prepare the children of the world
for that challenge.”
~ Richard De Los Santos