Seventh grade writing teachers at my middle school recruited me to dress up in order to kick off their research projects -- all about the 1960s! Students were able to pick a topic they were interested in and also pick the ways in which they presented the information. I love projects that support student choice.

I also snuck in some handy tips about navigating our state's amazing online database resource, Tennessee Electronic Library.


I showed them how to find primary sources on the databases as well as the nifty feature that automatically generates their citations for them. They were pretty pumped about that one.

It's been so interesting to check in with the students as they discover more about their topics as they research.

Happy teaching!