GoalUse synonyms, then evaluate, choose and organise what I find for a short report.
New words
synonym · a word with almost the same meaning as another wordevaluate · to decide if information is useful and trustworthyorganise · to put things in a clear orderoutline · a short plan of what each part of a report will say
Explanation
Sometimes the words we choose do not find what we want. Try a synonym: a word with almost the same meaning. ‘Big’ can become ‘large’ or ‘huge’; ‘kid’ can become ‘child’. After the search, do three jobs. Evaluate: is this useful and from a trusted source such as a school book or a site your teacher suggested? Select: keep only the facts that answer your subtopic. Organise: put the facts in order, and make an outline for a short report. An outline has a title, an opening sentence, one short paragraph for each subtopic and a last sentence. At the end, think about which strategies worked best.
Search with key words→Try a synonym if needed→Evaluate→Select useful facts→Organise into an outline
Worked examples
Jana searches ‘huge desert animals’ and finds little. She tries the synonym ‘large’ and gets better pages. Synonyms gave her a second chance.
Nour finds two facts about camels. One is in her school book. The other is on a page with no author and many adverts. She keeps the first and does not use the second. That is evaluating.
Mina’s report outline: Title – ‘Camels’. Opening sentence. Paragraph 1: food. Paragraph 2: homes. Paragraph 3: helping people. Last sentence. The outline helps him write one paragraph at a time.
Class activity
A mini-project on paper. Choose a topic for a younger friend or relative (for example ‘how bees help flowers’). List three subtopics, five key words and one synonym. Write two sources you would trust (a school book, a library book) and one you would not (a page with no author). Then write an outline with a title and three short paragraphs. Last, write which strategy helped most.
Practice
1
What is a synonym of ‘huge’?
For example ‘very big’ or ‘enormous’.
2
What does it mean to evaluate information?
To decide if it is useful and trustworthy.
3
Name the three jobs after a search.
Evaluate, select, organise.
4
What parts does a short report outline have?
A title, an opening sentence, a paragraph for each subtopic and a last sentence.
