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The Dr. Cook Detective Series!
What are the 5 W's and why are they just as important as the 3 "R's"
By Christopher W. Cook, Ph.D.
Sponsored By: TCR
Homeschool Edition
 A recent report by the National Commission on Writing report, found that
75% of high school seniors never receive writing assignments in social studies, and do not perform long-term projects. The same report found that 50% of high school freshman are "unable to analyze or synthesize information."
This trend is especially disturbing, given the increasing importance of higher-level thinking, research, and writing skills. Beyond reading, writing and arithmetic, we must arm our children with the advanced research skills they will need for success in a rapidly changing world.
Research is a Process!
Any educator will acknowledge that research skills are difficult to teach. They are different from spelling and math facts which have only one correct answer. They are different from reading for the 5 W's (Who? What? Where? When? Why?) in which the answers may be directly stated in the passage. Research is a process.
What Are the Important "Research Skills"?
The best known educational methodologies for teaching the research process focus on these essential critical skills:
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- choose an interesting and important topic
- identify a problem to solve or question to answer
- identify the sources of information necessary to answer the question
- locate that information
- organize the information
- evaluate the information
- draw original conclusions
- communicate effectively (writing, speaking)
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Tips for Homeschool Parents: Six Powerful
Strategies . . .
While there are entire books written on the subject, here are six great teaching strategies for helping develop these higher-level thinking skills with your children:
1. Brainstorm ideas together before getting started. This activates the child's prior knowledge and helps reveal more interesting related topics.
2. Figure out a good research question that requires original thinking (there is not a right or wrong answer).
3. Involve the child in selecting the right sources to answer the question.
4. Use sources other than the good 'ole encyclopedia. Use newspapers, photographs, editorials, books, electronic as well as print, etc.
5. Involve the child in selecting the type of project they will do.
6. Involve the child in creating a checklist of all the things an excellent project will include (e.g. good title, different sources, accurate spelling, reasonable conclusion). The child can use this for planning, and it can also be used for assessing the project together in a way that gives much more helpful feedback from improvement than the old letter grades we received in school!
About
TCR Homeschool Edition
TCR Homeschool Edition offers a rich collection of online research
projects that help children apply their knowledge to solve real-world problems in every subject area.
TCR saves you time by connecting all the pieces that are so important in a high-quality research
project... step-by-step activities, an online research library, tools for organizing information, and assessment checklists for many types of writing and research projects. Our engaging projects for grades 1-12
follow a proven educational research methodology for developing critical thinking, research, and writing skills.
Take a look at TCR Homeschool Edition
About Dr. Cook:
Christopher W. Cook, Ph.D. is Vice President of Curriculum Development for TCR/NewsBank,
Inc. He has presented at numerous conferences on the subject of research and thinking skills for the 21st Century. TCR/NewsBank is a Homeschool.com partner.
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