Kentucky Virtual Library offers two excellent guides for K-12 students on how to do research for a project, paper or presentation. For younger students, grades 3-6, there is a graphic guide. For older students, grades 7-12, there is a modular guide.
The How to Do Research Guide for kids uses an engaging, colorful flowchart. It creates a step-by-step walk-through of the process. And it has lots of useful tips along the way, such as the five-finger test for figuring out if a source is a good one for a student’s reading level. It provides kids with lots of ideas for different ways they can share what they’ve learned in their research,
The How to Do Research guide for teens provides a modular, detailed walk-through of the six steps:
- Choosing and narrowing a topic
- Searching for reliable resources
- Taking notes and citing sources
- Creating an outline
- Planning, thinking and writing, and
- Creating alternate products
The modules for each of these steps is very detailed, with an accompanying interactive outline of the process.
Although the site is centered around the Kentucky Virtual Library, you can use these research ideas for your own local library and Internet sources. This site is a Gold Web Award winner.
