ThinkTank is designed to help students develop a Research Organizer (a list of topics and subtopics) for reports and projects. Based on the subject assigned, the students can refine it by choosing from a variety of suggestions and by using a random subtopic generator. This helps students learn how to refine a subject so that it is more manageable for Internet research.
For those who have iPads, there is a free app as well by the same name. Essentially it "scrapes" a number of reliable web resources for information on a topic of choice. Then it puts the information together in what looks like a "Trade Book" found in the Non-Fiction part of your library, filled with engaging pictures and short summarized pieces of information. Finally, it reads the article to the user.
This is a tool that could help students not to simply copy and paste wikipedia articles as they are preparing research.
Into the Book is a reading comprehension resource for K-4 students and teachers. We focus on eight research-based strategies: Using Prior Knowledge, Making Connections, Questioning, Visualizing, Inferring, Summarizing, Evaluating and Synthesizing. Watch our engaging 15-minute videos and try the online interactive activities.
Behind the Lesson provides information and teaching resources for each strategy. Watch our 10-minute professional development videos and explore the Web site for lesson plans, video and audio clips, downloads, and more.