Success in Teaching Teens

To Search the Internet:

Playing a New Google Game

Pennsylvania School Librarians Association

33rd Annual Conference
Hershey, PA
May 4–6, 2006

Presented by
Katrine Watkins, Librarian
Shaler Area Intermediate School
Glenshaw, PA
islib@sasd.k12.pa.us
 ___________________________________
___________________________________
Why Teens Like Google
“[Teens] prefer clean, modest—but still
___________________________________
cool—designs.”
www.google.com ___________________________________
Ishizuka, Kathy. “Teens Are Tech Wizards? Not!”
School Library Journal Apr. 2005: 24.
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________

___________________________________
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Why Librarians Can Like
Google, Too ___________________________________

“‘The ultimate goal is to have a

___________________________________
computer that has the kind of semantic
knowledge that a reference librarian
has,’ says Google’s directory of
___________________________________
technology Craig Silverstein.”
Levy, Steven. “All Eyes on Google.” Newsweek 29 Mar. 2004: 58. ___________________________________
___________________________________

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A Few Things About Teens
___________________________________

“[They]…achieved a success rate of 55

___________________________________
percent on Web tasks compared to 66
percent for adults in a previous Nielsen ___________________________________
study”
because they have…
___________________________________
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 ___________________________________
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A Few More Things About
Teens ___________________________________

*“insufficient reading skills,

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*less sophisticated research skills,…
*a dramatically lower patience level…. ___________________________________
[and last, but not least,]
___________________________________
___________________________________

___________________________________
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difficulty wading through
*…

and making sense of a lot of ___________________________________

complex information”
___________________________________
(Ishisuka 25).
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________

___________________________________
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The Goal:
Simple Search Strategies
___________________________________
School Librarian ___________________________________
And Teacher Collaboration
___________________________________
Satisfied Teen Patrons

___________________________________
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Our Guidelines: ___________________________________

& Teens are impatient

___________________________________
Use initial search box, not Advanced Search
___________________________________
& Teens like to keep things simple
Teach only a few key strategies ___________________________________
& Teens want to be engaged
Make the lesson interactive
___________________________________
___________________________________
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The 10-Word Limit
or ___________________________________

1 2 3 4 5
___________________________________
Searchterm “search term” –searchterm site:edu
___________________________________
+ 5 more possible search terms

___________________________________
___________________________________

Google Search Tips ___________________________________

„ double quotations (“ ”)
use to look for words in exactly the order in which you enter them
“human rights”
___________________________________
“affirmative action”

„ minus sign (-)

use to exclude a word from your results
___________________________________
vikings –minnesota

„ site:edu ___________________________________
site:org
site:gov
use to limit your search to pages published by certain groups
teens site:edu ___________________________________
teens site:org
teens site:gov
___________________________________
___________________________________

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Depression (mental disorder) ___________________________________
searched March 2006
___________________________________
Search Terms # of results
„ depression 169,000,000 ___________________________________
„ depression –great 108,000,000
„ depression –great seasonal 3,020,000
___________________________________
„ depression –great seasonal FAQ 1,100,000

15,700
„ depression –great seasonal FAQ site:gov

„ depression -great seasonal FAQ site:gov symptoms 502

___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________

The Great Depression (historical event) ___________________________________

searched March 2006

Search Terms # of results

___________________________________
„ the great depression 66,500,000
„ “the great depression” 13,200,000
___________________________________
„ “the great depression” site:edu 545,000
„ “the great depression” site:edu “black blizzards” 47 ___________________________________
„ “the great depression” site:gov 98,000
„ “the great depression” site:gov “black blizzards” 9 ___________________________________
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Playing the Google Game ___________________________________

„ With a partner, use the searching techniques

___________________________________
you have learned to answer the following
questions. ___________________________________
„ Record the search terms you use and the
number of results for each search. ___________________________________
„ The team with the fewest number of results ___________________________________
wins!

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 ___________________________________
___________________________________
Question #1:
Can you explain how the author has used the ___________________________________
raven as a symbol in Edgar Allan Poe’s poem
“The Raven”?
www.google.com ___________________________________
“Edgar Allan Poe” raven symbol site:gov (160 results)
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________

___________________________________
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Question #2:
How was Edgar Allan Poe related to Virginia
Clem, and what is the lowest number of results ___________________________________
you are able to get when doing a search about
their relationship?
www.google.com
___________________________________
“Edgar Allan Poe” “Virginia Clem” site:gov
(1 result) ___________________________________
“Edgar Allan Poe” “Virginia Clem” site:org
(9 results)
___________________________________
___________________________________

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One Hit! ___________________________________
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What Our Students Say: ___________________________________

& I have always been annoyed with search engines

___________________________________
because I could never get the websites I wanted on
the topic I wanted…until yesterday. Becoming
more familiar with search engines was very helpful
___________________________________
for me.
___________________________________
& I thought the activity yesterday was very useful. I
think it was very cool to learn that you can put in
exactly what you want and find it without having to ___________________________________
go through so much material.

___________________________________
___________________________________

What Our Students Say: ___________________________________

& The internet information was VERY useful to

___________________________________
me. I went home and looked up things. I
used what we were taught, which narrowed ___________________________________
my search down. I found exactly what I was
looking for in less than 10 minutes, which
normally would take me about an hour. I
___________________________________
think the technique should be taught to other
classes, so it will help them like it did me. ___________________________________
___________________________________
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 References

Calishain, Tara, Rael Dornfest, and DJ Adams. Google Pocket Guide.

Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly, 2003.

Ishizuka, Kathy. “Teens Are Tech Wizards? Not!” School Library

Journal Apr. 2005: 24-25.

Levy, Steven. “All Eyes on Google.” Newsweek 29 Mar. 2004: 48-

58.

Milstein, Sarah, and Rael Dornfest. Google: The Missing Manual.

Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly, 2004.

Watkins, Katrine and Kathleen Elder. “The Google Game.” School

Library Journal Jan. 2006: 52-54.

 
 
 
 

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 Google Search Tips 
 
double quotations (“   “) 
use to look for words in exactly the order in which you enter them 
      “human rights” 
      “affirmative action” 
 
minus sign (‐) 
  use to exclude a word from your results 
      vikings ‐minnesota 
 
site:edu 
site:org 
site:gov 
  use to limit your search to pages published by certain groups 
      teens site:edu 
      teens site:org 
      teens site:gov 
 
depression (mental disorder) 
Search Terms  # of results 
depression  169,000,000 
depression –great  108,000,000 
depression –great seasonal      3,020,000 
depression –great seasonal FAQ       1,100,000 
depression –great seasonal FAQ site:gov           15,700 
Depression –great seasonal FAQ site:gov symptoms                502 
 
the Great Depression (historical event) 
 
  Search Terms  # of results 
  the great depression    66,500,000 
  “the great depression”    13,200,000 
  “the great depression” site:edu         545,000 
 
“the great depression” site:edu “black blizzards”                  47 
 
“the great depression” site:gov           98,000 
 
  “the great depression” site:gov “black blizzards”                    9 

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Question:  Can you explain how the author has used the raven as a symbol 
in Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” ? 
 
Search terms  # of results 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 
Answer:  
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________ 
 
 
Question:  How was Edgar Allan Poe related to Virginia Clem, and what is the 
lowest number of results you are able to get when doing a search about their 
relationship?  
 
 
Search terms  # of results 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 
 
Answer:  
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________ 

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