The Simple Four

Student Learning

Instructional Activities and Strategies

PLAN: Planning means the students are

engaging the topic or assignment and deciding what they want to know about the topic and/or the information they need for their assignment.

Students will ask themselves:

• Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning. (1.1.6)
• Read widely and fluently to make connections with self, the world, and previous reading. (4.1.2)

• Use pictures and words to make predictions regarding a story read aloud. (K-1.1)

• Understand that a narrator tells the story. (K-1.2)
• Carry out independent reading for pleasure. (K-1.8)

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ACT: As students ACT on their plan, they must prioritize their list of possible sources of information, find those resources, engage the resources to extract the relevant information and then evaluate the information for credibility, authority, and relationship to the topic or assignment.)

Students ask themselves such questions as:

Where can I find the information I need to answer my question or for my research topic?

Which information source(s) will be the most helpful in answering my question? Which information source(s) will be the most helpful for my research topic?

What search strategy will work best for each information source (e.g., book, online encyclopedia, web site)?

Now that I’ve found some information what do I do with it?

• Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning. (1.1.6)
• Seek information for personal learning through multiple resources in a variety of formats and genres. (4.1.4) (4.2.1)
  
• Recognize that resources are created for a variety of purposes. (4.3.2)

• Understand how the author’s choice of words affects the meaning of the text. (K-1.5)
• Use relevant details in summarizing stories read aloud. (K-1.6)

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ORGANIZE: When students ORGANIZE their information, they are making decisions about that information and their assignment or research topic. During this phase, students will write their report, create their multimedia presentation, complete the assignment, and submit their work. During this phase students must demonstrate what they learned.

Students ask themselves such questions as:

How can I put my information together to show that I answered my question?

How can I show what I learned?

• Respond to literature and creative expressions of ideas in various formats and genres. (4.1.3)

•   Use creative and artistic formats to create original works as a means of group expression or to express personal learning. (4.1.8) (1.b)

• Generate a retelling that identifies the characters and the setting in a story and relates the important events in sequential order. (K-1.4)
• Recall the characteristics of fantasy. (K-1.9)

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REFLECT: When students REFLECT on their work, they are evaluating their product as well as their research process. During this phase, students’ work may be submitted for peer review. Also during this phase, the teacher and/or library media specialist will reflect on the students’ work and using a grading rubric, evaluate the students’ work for assigning a grade.

Students ask themselves such questions as:

How will I know if I answered my question?

• Identify own areas of interest. (4.4.1)
• Recognize the limits of own personal knowledge. (4.4.2) 

• Carry out independent reading for pleasure. (K-1.8) 

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