For instance, many students can develop useful questions about their topics and can find materials in the library or online. However, other more subtle stages or sub-stages are often more difficult and are skipped or downplayed. Without this evaluation action, students seem to rove among their sources without getting to the main information in any source. Figure 1 shows an Evaluation Chart that was developed to help students assess sources and decide the order in which they will view their sources. This example is for the third graders working on animal reports.
Students write yes, no, or a more specific comment in each box.
Student are using the resources, but only to gain some insight into the value of the resource for later in-depth use. For example, the students must actually read a portion of the text to tell if it's easy to read. Showing third graders a three-inch portion of text on a page or computer monitor helps them to gauge what should be a manageable but sufficient amount of text. The chart can be modified for older students and other topics. Is this source well organized for my needs, but the fifth grade students probably do not need to consider the usefulness of illustrations.