LIBRARY MEDIA SKILLS OBJECTIVES The students will: -identify appropriate sources to locate information about a question that requires more than one kind of source -combine information found in more than one source to answer a question

MOTIVATIONAL OBJECTIVES The students will: -become interested in the research process -understand the value of information skills -gain confidence in research ability and accomplishment

RESOURCES: This activity requried many different print resources, including costume books, materials on the colonial history of the first states, and/or historical books that show artworks or pictures of people during this period of time in North America.

INSTRUCTIONAL ROLES -The introduction of the unit on colonial life may be completed by the teacher. This activity also requires time for small group research in the library media center with the assistance of the library media specialist. Instruction will focus on finding ways to solve the information question or problem

ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES FOR COMPLETION -During the unit on colonial life, the teacher may introduce the issue of how stereotypes develop about people of a particular time period. In this case, students may have seen illustrations of Pilgrims in black outfits. Not all colonists dressed in this manner, nor did the Pilgrims always dress in black. For this activity, students will look for more accurate portrayals of individuals during the colonial period. The teacher may explain that the students will illustrate the dress of a colonist in a particular daily life situation. -At this point the teacher will help students think about the components of this task. During a brainstorming and question-and-answer period, the students should be led to consider the following components of the problem: *Which Colonies? (There were colonies in different parts of North America) *Which time period? (The colonial period lasted for over one hundred years) *Which daily life situations? (Men and women engaged in many activities from farming to making candles) *Which parts of dress? (Many colonists tried to keep up with styles in Europe. The styles for men and women changed over the course of time) -As students identify the kinds of decisions they need to make, they may begin to think about what approach they might take. For example, the students might look a the costumes themselves. This might require costume books arranged by period. Students might look for illustrated materials that show early colonists in different kinds of situations. In this case, the students need resource materials that have authentic historical information.

Another option is for students to look at materials that deal with the colonies of a certain area, i.e., Massachussetts Bay Colony, New Amsterdam, Rhode Island, South Carolina, etc. -At this point, the students may begin to make choices and find a partner (or two, etc) interested in the same combinations as they are. The students will then schedule time in the library media center. -The library media specialist may select resources in the three categories identified and review how students might look for information. In some cases, students will begin with one type of resource and then use others to confirm what they think is correct.

For example, students might begin by looking at costume books and then use books or videos on a particular state's colonial history. The library media specialist may stress that for this assignment, students need to pay attention to the authors and illustrators in order to find evidence of accuracy and authenticity. -After students have collected the information they think will help them complete the project, they may decide how they will present their findings. They may select from several options: *dress a doll or paper doll *draw or paint illustrations *take pictures of themselves dressed in the styles (fabric or crepe-paper) -Based on their decision, students will collect the materials and use the sources to complete the project. The projects may then be displayed. Students will explain what they did and how they found the information. The teacher and library media specialist may ask students to comment on how they used multiple resources to solve the problem of the assignment.

FOLLOW-UP Students may: -compare dress in a particular colony over a period of time. (Students might want to talk about how colonists were aware of style.) -compare dress at the same time period in more than one colony.