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Using Brief.ly for Online Research

Using Brief.ly for online research with primary students

My last post, Internet Research for Grades 3-5, got me thinking about research skills in the younger grades. It is a hard skill to hit at that age, especially for those children who have not developed the literacy skills needed to learn new material. Our school district has a subscription to PebbleGo which is an incredible site for research and listening to readings. Another way I have included research skills in the younger grades is by using Brief.lys. Brief.ly is a free online service that allows you to combine multiple websites/urls into a single url. You can create a collection of videos, images, and appropriate websites for children to access with just one click! You can even customize the url address AND the site provides a QR code for you. Your students can scan the QR code or just type in the web address and ALL of the websites will pop up in one location.

Here is an example of a Brief.ly I created about the Water Cycle: http://brief.ly/smithswatercycle/
This is what it looks like:

Super easy to use and a great way to touch upon research skills with the younger ones by finding easy to read websites and other age appropriate resources!

Do you have an inquisitive class this year? Do you have a lot of early finishers that need something "academic" to do? Why don't you set up a "Research" computer/iPad center for your kids to practice their research skills and learn something new at the same time. Here is a set of 20 different research topics your kids can choose from if they have a hard time coming up with a topic of their own. Click the images below to take you to this product in my TpT Store: