Dissecting a Bibliography

Every student finished the lesson with a bibliography that looked like this one above

Last week, I described how we began the research process with 6th graders by learning how to create a bibliography. I was happy with that lesson, but I felt concerned that the students did not really understand the elements that went into making each citation. I taught them how to create a citation using Easybib. This meant that they did not have to find the author, title, publisher, etc. because it was done automatically for them. I had an idea to go one step further with bibliographies to make sure that the students understood the process that we had done the week before. 

I took resources that the students had used to create their own bibliography with four citations and created a sample with eight citations. The teachers posted the document in Word on their online agendas so the students could each open a document that they could edit. The first thing I did was talk about MLA format and how the beginning of the paper should be formatted. We edited the heading, and the students inserted their name where my name had been. See the picture below.


The next step was to actually dissect the bibliography. All of the students were in Word, and I showed them how we were going to use the highlighter. We began by highlighting all the titles in yellow, then the databases in lime green, the publisher in magenta and so on. We did this step by step so that every student would end up with a matching document that they could save and submit for a grade. You can see my colored document at the beginning of this blog entry. Who knew that coloring a page on the computer could be so engaging. The students loved the activity. I know that they might not remember all the rules for MLA, but I am pretty sure that they now know that there are rules and that there are tools out there to help them follow those rules. 

We will continue the research process next by finding sources to read and to begin learning how to take notes on what we read. 

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 8, 2015 at 2:03 AM

    Every research paper in the liberal arts and humanities disciplines must have an MLA format annotated bibliography to cite the sources used to write the paper. Most students cannot recall MLA guidelines by memory. Students always need help while writing such bibliographies. annotated bibliography helper

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownNovember 23, 2017 at 7:25 PM

    Helpful post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownNovember 30, 2017 at 11:15 AM

    Helpful post.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Holidays from BRiMS and Bookmarked

I run two book groups at Patrick Taylor. My high school book group, Bookmarked , was created in the fall of 2007 which was my second year as librarian at the school. The students really wanted a library club, but the square footage of the library was so small that I could not imagine how any students could do any actual library work. Instead I created a book discussion group. Not only did we meet to talk books, but I tapped these students to help me with fundraisers and special programming like Teen Read Week. Helping me with these special activities seemed to appease the members. I waited until February of 2009 to institute a book discussion group for my middle school students called BRiMS, or Books Rule in Middle School . Both of the groups meet during lunch, and this year, the school added a third lunch. Now BRiMS is made up of only 6th and 7th graders. Bookmarked has 8th-12th grade students. This has actually worked well because in 2014 and 2015, Bookmarked lost a lot of members w
Read more

Banned Book Week: Students Make Comments Pro & Con Censorship

Image
This blog post is being designed as a lesson for the English I students at PFTSTA. The teachers and I have collaborated on an activity to celebrate Banned Book Week (BBW). Many times in the past during BBW, I have invited the 8th graders into the library to discuss the banning and challenging of books in schools and libraries. I usually show some videos and share books owned by our library that have been banned or challenged somewhere in the US. This activity always spurs great discussion among the students and teachers. This year we wanted the students to create a written response to the presentation. We thought there was a real world connection if we had the students post their opinion online as a comment to someone writing about censorship in schools. The teachers and I want the students to learn how to compose a well thought out comment that is supported by evidence and concrete details. How more real world could it be than having the students comment directly on their librar
Read more

Students Weigh in on Banned Books and the Freedom to Read

Image
Every year, for Banned Book Week, I prepare a lesson for our 8th graders. It was always teacher directed with discussion until last year . The English I teachers and I created a lesson for the students that included research and writing. I pulled the materials that I wanted them to read, and the students would write a very short essay declaring their belief in the need for teens to be able to exercise their freedom to read what they want to or the need for certain books to be taken off the shelves of the library or pulled from the English curriculum.  Above is the slide presentation that I have made for the students. Included in the slides are several videos that I thought would get the students thinking. There are slides with links to specific articles that we want the students to read and use for the concrete evidence to support their stance. A rubric is included at the end so the students know exactly what is expected. The teachers and I want the writing to have a rea
Read more