Here are four organizers developed for four different classroom assignments:

The Maine Criminal Justice Academy teaches a “Methods of Instruction” course for law enforcement officers who need certification to teach courses at their own agencies. The course is taught about four times a year. Within that course Beverly Klemenc, Librarian for the Maine Criminal Justice Academy’s Media Resource Center, is responsible for teaching a two-hour module on research techniques and bibliographic citation. Read more!

Check out the Big6 kids team at Lower Merion School, Pennsylvania. Students showed their Superintendent how to buy a car using the Big6 approach!

Critical thinking skills are a major part of the learning experience, and students soon learn that making sense of vague assignments is part of a college education. This article describes how the reference interview can lead higher ed students through confusion to Big6 success.

This article describes how to help your students create a “blueprint” for a successful project.

This article explores how Big6 #1, Task Definition, can help students achieve content, information literacy and national technology standards.

Related Big6 Skills: Big6 #1 – Task Definition

Purpose: The purpose of the Memory Minder tool is to aid students in remembering – before they go home at the end of the school day – what information or materials they need to complete their homework.

Learning Contexts: This tool is applicable across subject areas in Grades 3 and up when students may have difficulty preparing for successful completion of their homework assignments.

Discussion: Teachers often assume that students understand immediately the teacher’s expectations when they are presented with assignments and know automatically what materials are necessary to complete those assignments. Students typically are reluctant to ask for clarification, and rely instead on memory or on other students for further information. This tool was created as a reminder about assignments and necessary materials to encourage personal responsibility. By using this tool, students practice and become familiar with asking themselves the questions necessary to prepare to successfully complete their homework. The ultimate goal is for students to practice repeatedly until they become self-sufficient in understanding the process of clarifying homework assignments and preparing the materials necessary for completion.

Sample in Context: The teacher gives an assignment verbally either with or without a handout. Students record the assignment on their agenda (calendar/planner) where the Memory Minder is attached. The student is prompted by the tool to again define the assigned homework, self-check for comprehension of the assignment’s parameters, decide whether or not to ask for clarification from the teacher, and to self-check for materials necessary to successfully complete the assignment. Repeated practice should make the student adept at self-checking and help him or her to consistently reach success in completing assigned homework.

Memory Minder:

This lesson introduces the Big6 as a useful tool for research and problem solving; and motivates students to approach research with a positive and curious attitude.

This instructional unit provides students with the opportunity to study the powers of the President, and the growth of Presidential power over the years. Through library research and the use of their textbook, students access information to be analyzed, evaluated and applied to a simulated situation. Students are required to prepare both written and oral products to demonstrate their knowledge.

• Continue reading

Stew, Do, Review can be used by students who have the ability to think through a project from start to finish and imagine that the project is completed before they even begin. It is an exercise of the imagination in learning.