Activities on How to Use an Encyclopedia
Encyclopedias are a valuable resource--one that children should learn to utilize as early as possible. Encyclopedia's can seem daunting to many children at first, but making a fun experience that deals with topics they are interested will both teach and encourage children to fully understand and use encyclopedias. An understanding of encyclopedia use will also give children a better grasp of how Internet searches can also provide relevant information.
-
Reports
-
Instruct students to determine three topics they are interested in and to write a few paragraphs on each based on information they can find in the encyclopedias. Encourage them to look up any topics they come across in their research that they are unfamiliar with. Instruct them to write a three- to five-paragraph report on the subject matter, encouraging them to dig as deep as they'd like into their selected subject matter.
Scavenger Hunt
-
Games are a great way to get children interested and involved. Engineering a scavenger hunt game around encyclopedia use is easy to do and will be a big hit in the classroom. Give the children clues relating to what information needs to be found then provide a question about each encyclopedia entry that will correlate to part of a message. Once the message is completed by looking up each topic, the students will know where the prizes are hidden or the secret message they need to speak to the teacher.
-
Image Searching
-
Ask students to look through an illustrated encyclopedia until they find an image that interests them. Challenge them to give a quick one- to two-minute presentation on the subject after learning about it. This will engage them by allowing them to pick something they are interested, but challenge them enough to learn something about the subject that is interesting enough to discuss. Allow the classroom to discuss each topic further, if conversation is started, to keep them excited about the subject matter and the method by which they obtained the information.
Random Pages
-
One day each week, give an encyclopedia to each student. Choose one or two random page numbers and have each student write a three- to five-page essay on one of the subjects on those pages. This will allow the students to stumble across subjects they may not have normally been interested in or exposed to but may instill interests in new things.
-
References
- Photo Credit Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
