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Collaboration Template
Finding Database Sources
Kristina Scott, Library Media Specialist
English Teachers: Mrs. Bates (GHS) & Mrs. Greenway (EHS)
Librarians: Rachel Nally (EHS) & Angie Locke (GHS)
STANDARDS
Standards for the 21st Century Learner:
Kansas College and Career Ready
Standards
3.1.6 Use information and technology
Reading Informational Text
Key Ideas and Details:
RI.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual
evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn
from the text.

ethically and responsibly.

3.3.7 Respect the principles of
intellectual freedom.
Library Media Standards:

Writing
Research to Build and Present
Knowledge

Standard 4: Teacher (knowledge of learners and

learning): The librarian and information teacher uses
effectively instructional practices to teach students to
W.9-10.8 Gather relevant information from
become enthusiastic readers, critical thinkers,
multiple authoritative print and digital
sources, using advanced searches effectively; skillful researchers, and ethical users of information.
assess the usefulness of each source in
answering the research question; integrate
information into the text selectively to
maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding
plagiarism and following a standard format
for citation.

UNIT OBJECTIVES
1. Students will use EBSCO Student Research Center or SIRS to locate 3 relevant articles
to the students topic.
2. Students will identify the parts of a citation including author, article title, journal title,
date, and pages.
3. Students will use Easy Bib to create a works cited page in MLA format.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
1. How do you select relevant authoritative sources in answering your research
question?
2. Why is making a works cited page necessary when writing a research paper?
3. What are the parts of citation in MLA format?
COLLABORATIVE TEACHING PLAN
Together the Library Media Specialist and English 10 Teacher Will:

1. Establish goals and objectives for the unit.

2. Select a culminating project that meets the goals and objectives of the unit.
3. Break the project down into several lessons and assign dates for completing each step.
4. Locate and print or copy (if necessary) the materials and resources that will be used.
5. Decide which lesson(s) each team member will teach and evaluate.
6. Communicate to each other the progress being made or roadblocks encountered via email
(we do not share a common plan time or start and end time to our school day).
*Because I had access to both high school librarians and English classes, I was able to
collaborate in two different settings and merge the experiences to bring together one unit plan.
Session one is the lesson I collaborated and taught with Ms. Nally and Mrs. Greenway, but took
advice in planning from Mrs. Locke and Mrs. Bates as well.
Session two is a lesson that I collaborated with Mrs. Bates to design and plan, but did not teach.
Session three is a lesson that I planned with Ms. Nally, but did not teach.
Library Media Specialist Will:
Session 1:
1. Review SIRS and EBSCO
Student Research Center
databases.
2. Monitor student use of databases
and assist students as needed to
rephrase search terms.
3. Help students print 5 6 articles
for research as well as the
citations for each.
Print

English 10 Teacher Will:

1. Assign topics to students.
2. Outline assignment expectations.
3. Guide students in writing an introduction,
thesis statement, how to structure supporting
arguments, and a conclusion.
4. Grade the finished project.

RESOURCES
Electronic

Mrs. Bates English 10 Research Booklet

(for my own reference) including her
guide to color coding references.

EBSCO Student Research Center

SIRS
Easybib.com

Mrs. Greenways List of Research Topics

Equipment

Other

Library laptop computers

Screen capture software

You Tube Videos:

What is Plagarism? and How to Avoid It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmab92ghG0M
Acceptable/Unacceptable
https://youtu.be/8Bx5DAqTPhU
Plagirism Rap (Cite Your Sources)
https://youtu.be/bT6S4ERI0o8

Culminating Learning Project

Persuasive research paper.
Session 1
Model for students
using screen capture.
10 minutes

LEARNING RESULTS
Assessment Overview
Research paper rubric.
TEACHING PLAN
Review of EBSCO Research Center
& SIRS

Students will go to the EHS Library Homepage. Click on the PINK

Research Tab, and EBSCO Student Research Center.
Explain to students that this database is paid for by the state of Kansas
and free for us to use at school and home. Resources here are the kinds
of resources students might choose for free reading of current events
including People, Sports Illustrated, and Time.
Model selecting full text and entering key word search terms.
Remind students of the need to refine search terms.
Example: teens, teenagers, adolescents could all be used depending on
the author of the article.

Practice
15 minutes

Students are required to cite 3 sources so students should find 5 6

articles about their topic.
Demonstrate how to print including finishing tab options (print front
and back, staple, and/or hole punch).
Give students time to search for their articles. Help students rephrase
their search terms as needed.

Model using SIRS

5 minutes

Instruct students in logging in to SIRS (Usernames and passwords

provided). SIRS is a service the high school pays for yearly.

Practice
15 minutes
Evaluation

Give students time to search for their articles. Help students reframe
their research questions as needed to find sources.
Mrs. Greenway has a class roster checklist for marking how many
articles each student found at the end of the session.

Session 2
Introduction

Citing Sources
What is Plagarism?
Show clip: What is plagirism and How to Avoid It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmab92ghG0M
What is acceptable use of another persons work and what is
unacceptable?
Show clip: Acceptable/Unacceptable
https://youtu.be/8Bx5DAqTPhU
Here is an example of how to give credit to another work.
Show clip: Plagirism Rap (Cite Your Sources)
https://youtu.be/bT6S4ERI0o8

Remind students that they must give credit to the sources of

information they have found when writing their final project.
Activity

Using the database articles found in session 1, identify the parts of the
citation including author, article title, journal including volume, issue,
and page number, database, medium of publication, and date of access.
Using colored pencils, underline each part of the citation in their
assigned color.
Session 3
Using Easy Bib
Model Easy Bib
Go to Easybib.com.
Select MLA.
Choose Database.
Enter information as found on the database articles we printed in
session one and color coded in session 2.
Click create citation.
Copy and Paste into Works Cited
Practice Easy Bib
Students add their own information for the information found using the
databases, create their citations, and copy and paste into their Works
Cited.
Print and hand in completed Works Cited.
ASSESSMENT OVERVIEW
ASSESSMENT RESULTS
Student Results
Teacher Feedback
Students came in to these lessons with some
prior knowledge of how to use the databases, The English 10 Teacher appreciates having the
but continue to want a quick and easy answer expertise of the Library Media staff to aid in the
instruction of databases, having extra staff to
and want results with the first search terms

they enter.
Most students tend to give up easily if their
initial search did not yield immediate results
and really struggled to rephrase their terms or
think of synonyms to help them search.
It also seemed that students were more
interested in how long their article was as
opposed to how relevant the information in
the article is in supporting their thesis
statement.
Student Feedback
No students had the 5 6 articles suggested
which would allow them to choose the 3 that
best supported their thesis statement.
Most students were successful in finding at
least 3 articles during the first session in the
library. However, because of time, they left
not knowing if their articles would truly be
something they could use.
Students who were invested in their topics
enjoyed doing the searches and were excited
when they found information that matched
their topic.
Students who had trouble finding information
became easily frustrated and wanted to
change their topics.

guide students in rephrasing search terms, and

answer questions as they arise. Using the
library as an extension of the classroom allows
students a real life experience with research.
However, time is always a factor in
collaboration and it definitely takes two willing
participants for a successful collaboration.

Librarian Reflection
This was difficult for me from the standpoint
that I didnt have control over what happened
before or after my lesson, but I think that is
because I had one isolated shot at this since I
was limited to the times I was in the building on
randomly spaced days!
There are several things I would do differently
if I was doing this in my own library where I
had access to the classes and the collaborating
teacher on a regular basis. First, I would have
like to be a part of the lesson that came before
mine, where the students selected their topics so
that I could have helped students preselect their
keywords, come up with alternatives, and have
time for them to think about what their research
question really was and meant before sitting
down to search.
The second thing I would have done differently
is to have the students have a second session in
the library computer lab to continue searching.
One session didnt seem long enough to model
the use of the databases and have students
gather their information. Many students only
had a couple of articles and when they left, still
didnt even know if their article would be one
they could use in their project.

The English teacher expected any students who

didnt have their articles to find them at home
and to have all their articles read and
highlighted by class the next day. This seemed
like a lot for the students to accomplish in one
night and not an equitable assignment for
students who may not have access to a
computer, Internet, or printer from home.
I also thought because of the time constraints,
the focus of finding good articles that would
be used to support your thesis was lost and the
message was sent that it was better to hurry up
and find something than to analyze if what was
found was the best information out there on the
subject.
On a brighter note, I genuinely enjoyed helping
students learn the databases, figure out their
search terms, and talk to them about their
topics. Honestly, this surprised me because
writing research papers is not my favorite thing
to do, so I was shocked at how fun it could be
to help someone else do it!
I also had the Aha! moment of seeing
Kuhlthaus Information Search Process play out
in miniature with these students! We had
students at all points in the process from task
initiation (those who had been absent on the
days prior when the English teacher was
assigning the task). Most students came ready
for Exploration which is what our lesson should
have been about. Instead, I feel like we rushed
and tried to accomplish Exploration, Focus
Formulation, and Information Collection all in
one step.
Overall, there is a lot about the lesson that could
have been improved, but I feel like I learned
more about teaching and student learning than if

Challenged Learners:

the lesson had been perfect.

ADAPTATIONS AND EXTENSIONS
Extensions:

Two of our classes had an inclusion para

for support of students with learning
disabilities and were able to provide
additional assistance to these students
including paraphrasing the articles for
students with lower reading levels.

Students who were easily able to find their required

number of articles went on to find additional sources
and began to read and summarize their findings.
Students who had taken either debate or
communications in previous semesters were already
adept at using these resources and were ready to use
the advanced features of Boolean operators.