Instructional Goals: Students will be able to use simple boolean logic to search an online database.

Learning Objective: Using keyword and simple boolean search strategies, sixth grade students will execute a successful search using the "and" command to find links containing children's plays/scripts.

Motivational Goals: While taking on the role of research detectives, students will become excited and build confidence as they expand their searches using keyword and boolean search strategies.

Introduction: As students enter the media center and find a seat tell them that today they will become research detectives! Remind the students that after their study of famous authors in their English class, they will be writing/producing a short play for English class about an author. Further explain that today's mystery is to find example scripts that will help them write their own play. Brainstorming: Ask the students where they might find clues that will lead to information information about plays. Examples might be books, internet, magazine, card catalog, etc. After generating ideas, inform the class that their mission today will require them to search the internet. Logistics: Divide class into smaller search teams (approximately 5 to a group). Have the students choose a team leader to collect a detective kit for their team (given by the teacher).

Ask the student leader to bring the kit back to their team and keep it under their chair. Discussion and Modeling: Ask the students how many detectives have used the library catalog to find resources in the library (show of hands). Then ask them how many have tried searching on the internet (show of hands). Talk about ways the students might begin their search. Briefly discuss the concept of a keyword; for this lesson they will become clue words. Invite the students to think of some clue words for searches topics they might be interested in searching. Using guided-learning enter student generated keywords on a pre-selected, kid-friendly site (www.yahooligans.com, Searchasaurus, etc.) and share as a group using the CPU. After establishing the term keyword/clue word, inform the students that there is one little word that will help them to be super sleuths, or detectives. write the word AND on the board, refer to it as today's secret code.

Give examples of searches using clue words (given by students) and the secret code. Group Work: Instruct search team leaders to open their detective kits and hand out the contents to each member of their team.

Mission 1: Instruct them to open their detective notebooks. In groups direct them to brainstorm keywords that might help them locate plays (remind them that they should be on a children's level). Using the CPU, try some clue word searches with the words that students have come up with as a group. From the clue words the group should discover that there are too many hits or the information found does not apply to plays or scripts.

Mission 2: Obviously the one-word search is very broad. Now, students will need to use their secret code to help the group perfrom a successful search. Again, from the group generated results sample a few combinations of searching with the clue words and the secret code. Print out or save links that the group decides they might like to look at.  Closure: Explain that even though you are out of time for today, they will explore these websites during the next class and receive

Mission 3. Conclusion: The lesson will be broken into several segments. The next library session will again include a detective kit with a copy of the class-generated list of links and criteria to consider when looking for a script. Review criteria and ask students if there are any other items that should be added. Students will pair off and search these links (based on the print out and description of site). Print out scripts that are found and compare in small groups and then as a larger group. Students will take their new found knowledge back to their English class, where groups will write their own original script and create a short play. Groups will return to the media center one at a time (preferably during off-periods in the media center) to have their final presentation video taped.

After working hard, it will be a relevant reward for individual groups to be excused from class to visit the media center. Once all videos are compiled students can watch each other's final product.