Common Core Reading: Informational Text Standard 7

For College and Career Readiness Anchor Standard for Reading 7 (CCRA.R.7), students must learn to "integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words." Here are the Reading: Informational Text standards for third, fourth, and fifth grades:

• RI.3.7 - Use information gained from illustrations (e.g. maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).
• RI.4.7 - Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.
• RI.5.7 - Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.

Notice how the Common Core again steers us toward student-driven learning. Younger students must independently notice and integrate all text features to gain understanding about a topic. As they get older, they move toward multiple text features in multiple formats. By fifth grade, children are asked to "quickly" locate and integrate resources to answer questions and/or solve problems.

Yes, they will use print resources, but for the quickest answers, students will turn to the Internet. How can we help them to become expert searchers and researchers? Webquests, web scavenger hunts, and web-based assignments are a good place to start. Check out Nellie's English Projects for access to a variety of webquests for students aged 9-12. Kathi Mitchell offers Internet Scavenger Hunts for Kids. Making web-based assignments is relatively easy too. Just find a site that offers information about a topic your class is studying and give students tasks that require students to use multiple features of each website they search.