Gwenny wrote:How do you all handle this box? It's independent and they are to "answer one or more of the following questions from your research".
The first day of research in CTC uses the Bible as a resource, but most of the other days of plans for research use an encyclopedia of your choice. We used Wikipedia because it is free, and Carrie checked each of the topics there to be sure they would come up. I always think it's good to keep in mind the purpose of the activity when determining accountability. In this case, the Introduction of CTC mentions that...
Students use an index or a search engine to skim to find answers, and to formulate information from the answers they've gathered..."
So, going off of that thought, I sit by the kiddos when they first type in the research topic, making sure they type it correctly and actually get to the right information.

Wikipedia usually has an index/table of contents, along with blue live links for various subtopics, so the next thing we do is skim the index/table of contents, and I point out how each of portion of it has its own paragraph/section/page, that they go in order as listed, and that many of them have blue links to go to other more detailed pages of information about the topic. We briefly look at the questions, and try to determine the sections that the answers may be found in, and we practice clicking on a few. I mention (for the 100th time usually

) at this point that we must be careful about straying from the main page, as clicking on multiple sites gets us further and further away from the main topic, as well as closer to finding something not related (and sometimes not good) on the Internet. Then, I either stay in the room or have another child in the room with them while they research, just for accountability. If I can come back and hear their answers orally fairly quickly, I do that and consider that the best option. However, sometimes I can't do that as I am working with another child. In that case, I have them jot their answers in very short phrases, just enough to jog their memory when we discuss it later. When we meet later, they can reference their jotted down notes as I ask the questions. I don't require an answer to every single question, but rather the majority of them. Having sat near them and helped, I know the majority of the answers, and I also know that every single answer may be difficult to find, taking far longer than the suggested allotted time.
This is just one way to go about doing this, and it certainly isn't the only right away. I just share the details as it has been very successful in helping our older dc achieve the purpose of the activity. It has also helped me know the answers to pretty much all of the questions, helped me delay hearing their answers if that fits better with the way our day is laying out, and it has helped them realize how to use the Internet as a resource while being aware of their responsibility to use it properly. I did this Wyatt and then with Riley. Wyatt is now in high school and researches very adeptly and responsibly on the computer, and Riley is doing RTR and enjoying the research in this manner again, only in that guide it goes one step further and students need to write their answers, or some of their answers, in postcard format in their student notebooking pages. HTH!
In Christ,
Julie