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General Activities

Use these activities as a frame for an English 105 information literacy session that covers multiple stages of the research process, including topic development, keywords, and database searching.

Activity Repositories

Find lesson plans, activities, and other resources linked in these online library instruction sites.

Ed Tech Tools

The instructional technology tools found here can be used with a variety of lesson plans.

      • PollEverywhere
          • Tool for gathering instant feedback from students. Ask questions like, “What do you want to learn during this session?” and “What questions do you have about the library and doing research?” For access to premium features, you can sign up for a Poll Everywhere Instructor Account.
      • Mentimeter
          • An alternative to PollEverywhere with lots of options for live quizzes and polls. Unlike PollEverywhere, it cannot be embedded in Google Slides.
      • Socrative
          • Tool that can be used for assessing what students already know, and to gather feedback on what they learned during the session, as well as questions they still have. Great as an online “exit ticket.”
      • Kahoot!
          • A game-based student response system; very engaging way to assess what students know coming into the session, or to review content that you covered during the session.
      • Padlet
          • An online bulletin board. Users can move and arrange Padlet notes, and they can add links, videos, files and images. Great way to have small groups share their findings, or to collect feedback at the end of class.

Collaborative and Active Learning Techniques

      • Strategies for Engaging Short-Term Audiences
          • Developed by Suzy Wilson, University of Maryland Libraries
      • Think-Pair-Share
          • Pose a question for students to think about on their own, and then discuss with a classmate.
          • Can used during any part of the session and with any information literacy concept.
          • Created by Dr. Frank Lyman
      • Reflecting on Your Active Learning Practice
          • This is a great list of low, medium, and high complexity active learning strategies from the University of Michigan.
          • The low complexity strategies are easy to implement and a good starting point if you’re new to teaching  or active learning.

Subject-Specific Resources