Fact-Checking Program

Preparation

Step 1. Gather books that include facts about bees. They can be poetry books, picture books, and field guides to insects and bees.

Step 2. Select a picture book title to read aloud. I’ve used The Honeybee Man, by Lela Nargi, as well as Doug Florian’s UnBEElievables: Honeybee Poems and Paintings.

Step 3. As preparation to the program, read the title and identify facts that may come up in discussion. If the writers don’t offer any facts or are shy, you might prompt with “How do we know there’s a queen bee?” Illustrated informational picture books like About Bees, by Cathryn Sill, can also be prompts for a fact-checking workshop.

The Workshop

Step 1. Read the book aloud.

Step 2. Solicit facts gleaned from the text, and write them out on chart paper. You may have to start with an observation of your own to model. Then lead a five-minute discussion around the question “How do we know something is true?”

Step 3. Define fact-checking. The goal is to prove something is true by looking in other sources for confirmation. If the group contains children of ages nine and up, you might include information about the authority of the writer. And you can point out parts of a field guide, including the index and table of contents.

Step 4. Model how to find a fact in an informational book.

Step 5. Divide children into groups of three or four and hand out bee books and field guides. If you have access to computers or technology, provide database links for fact-finding.

Step 6. Give the group 15–20 minutes to find the facts, assigning one fact per group or letting the writers choose. They can write the facts on sticky notes or bookmark the page where the fact was found.

Step 7. Regroup, and solicit the confirmed facts. Model the importance of noting the book page information for each fact .

Step 8. Ask “How did the research process go? What it easy or hard? Were there any surprises?” A technique for this discussion can include KWL: What did I know? What did I want to know? What did I learn?

Step 9. Give a five-minute warning for cleanup. Remind children when the Writing Boxes are available to use in the library. Clean up the area, put away supplies, and put the books back onto the shelving cart.

Step 10. Take a few minutes to allow children to select informational books of interest or share their findings.