How to identify search terms in an index

Students will learn to use the index to determine if the source has information about a topic and, if so, how to find the information.

A lesson plan for grades 6–8 Information Skills

By April Wells, Christina Klonne, Jennifer Tuttle, and and Julie Bingham

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Related topics

• Learn more about indexes, information literacy, research skills, and search terms.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• become aware of the importance of looking at a source’s index first.
• learn how to identify search terms that can be found in an index.
• increase their ability to independently search for information in a text.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

3 days, 20 minutes each

Materials/resources

• Cherokee Americans: The Eastern Band of Cherokees in the Twentieth Century by John R. Finger and copies of the index for each student
• Native Americans: The People and How They Lived by Eloise F. Potter and John B. Funderburg and a transparency of the index
• The American Indian in North Carolina by Douglas L. Rights
• Any other books about Native Americans in general.
• 5 question sheets for small group practice lesson

Technology resources

Overhead projector (or some other device to project pages from books)

Pre-activities

The teacher will model for the students how to use an index to find needed information. S/he will display the transparencies and then ask topical questions that information can be found about in the index such as information about culture, war, or way of life. Then the teacher should allow time for the class to brainstorm words associated with those topics that they think they will find in the index. Afterward, the class can check the transparencies to determine whether or not those terms are in the index.

Activities

Lesson One

• What: “Today you will learn to use the section at the end of a book called the index first when doing research to determine if the information you are seeking can be found in the book you are looking at or not. This strategy is called Using the Index.”
• Why: “Some of the books you will use while conducting research will have the specific information you are looking for and it will not be readily apparent from looking at the title or table of contents. By looking at a book’s index first you immediately determine whether or not the source will be useful for your purposes. Using this strategy will greatly reduce the amount of time you spend searching for information.”
• Show the class the book Native Americans: The People and How They Lived. Open the book to the back and show the index. Put the transparencies of the index on the overhead projector (or project the pages using a document camera). “This section of the book is called the index. The index is a list of terms, subjects, and people with corresponding page numbers where information about the word or name can be found within the book. We are going to use this section of the book to answer three questions.”
• Outline the strategy steps to use for doing this activity.
  1. Read the question.
  2. Brainstorm related words or names associated with question.
  3. Scan index for related terms.
  4. Go to pages within book to determine if it is the needed information.
• Example one: Write first question on the board: What kinds of things did North Carolina Indians make and for what purpose? Have a student read the question out loud to fulfill step one of the strategy. Suggest a possible related term to begin the brainstorming process. Start at the beginning of the index looking for the brainstormed terms and determining whether some of the terms found in the index would be related to the question. “Here is the word armor, wooden in the index. Is that another example of something the Indians made? What about a blowgun? Let’s look at the indicated page (57) to determine what that is and what it is used for. Now I want you all to try this with the next question.”
• Example two: Write the second question on the board: What kinds of food did North Carolina Indians eat? “The word food is in the index, but are there other terms that we should look for to fully answer this question? What about hunting and fishing? Scan the entire index to find terms related to food. Let’s look at the pages listed by food and see if there are any more types of food included other than those specifically listed in the index. Were you able to find the answers using the index? Did the strategy work?”
• Example three: Write the third question on the board: What are some facts specific to the Algonquians of North Carolina? “For this question do you know any terms related specifically to Algonquians that you can look up in the index? Probably not so in this case you can either use the index or the table of contents since a chapter title is The Algonquians to find the pages that cover this tribe.” Explain to the class the difference between the types of questions that require brainstorming ideas beforehand and those that do not to make using the index an effective process. Specific questions such as the one about Algonquians does not require brainstorming because you already know exactly what you are looking for, whereas questions like the first two are more general questions.

Lesson Two

• What: “Today we are going to practice our strategy of identifying search terms in an index. Remember this section of the book helps you find information for research.”
• Why: “Identifying search terms in an index saves you time when doing research because you find out quickly if the information you are looking for is contained in the book and gives you page numbers for where to find it within the book.”
• How: “Today we will use a book with a more complex index to practice our strategy. We will make some comparisons between the book we used in the last lesson that was simpler and the one we use today.” Show the book Cherokee Americans: The Eastern Band of Cherokees in the Twentieth Century. Review the four steps of the strategy.
• Example Questions:
  • Did Cherokee Indians participate during World War II? If yes, what was their role?
  • In what ways have the Cherokee Indians impacted North Carolina’s tourism industry?
  • What are some provisions that the United States government made for the Cherokee Indians?
• Finally, review what terms were used to answer questions and what pages information was found on. Was the strategy helpful in answering the questions you were given?

Lesson Three

• What: “Today you will work in groups with our new strategy of finding search terms in an index. Remember that using the index helps you determine whether the book will be useful for your research without having to read any of it. Today you will use this strategy to find information in books about Native Americans about topics discussed in The Education of Little Tree.”
• Why: Have students explain why this strategy is helpful for them when they are doing research.
• How: “I am giving each group a topic from the book The Education of Little Tree and you may use any of the books that we have in the classroom about Native Americans to find out if they have information about the topic in them. Remember to use all of the steps of the process so you find as much information as possible in the least amount of time as possible. Please write down the title of the book, the search terms that you used, and the pages where the information can be found in the book on one sheet of paper to hand in at the end. I will use these to determine if you understand the strategy that we have learned or if we need to practice it more.”
• Example Topics:
  • Sharecropping/farming
  • Education of Native Americans
  • Discrimination of Native Americans
  • Medicine
  • Use of nature

Assessment

As the students work in groups the teacher should circulate around the room to make sure that the students are using all the steps of the strategy. If a group is not, the teacher should have them write down the four steps on a sheet of paper and start over from the beginning. If individual students are having trouble the teacher can give them special attention. At the end of the lesson, the students’ answers should be collected to determine if the students have learned how to use the strategy properly. The strategy can be taught again if they are still having difficulties.