ABSTRACT
As Part II nears its end, let me leave you with some last thoughts. Children need to be at the controls when it comes to using reference and indeed all information texts. We encourage this by making critical reading important from the earliest stages so that children can develop their own viewpoints and their own ‘voice’ when they speak and when they write. Of course we need to provide children with quality resources and teach them the study skills and abilities that young researchers need. But we want them to know that ‘the facts’ are extended and amended constantly, as are our attitudes towards them. New theories about why the dinosaurs died out are constantly emerging and the discovery of new planets and stars modifies what is known about the universe. We want children also to come to realize that some texts are better than others for particular tasks. Children and adults often turn to internet encyclopedias – Wikipedia for example – for help with finding information and this sometimes helps. But many classrooms have a shelf or basket of print non-fiction encylopedias and books and, for many kinds of information gathering, perhaps checking a timeline for a historical figure or seeking a succinct definition of a phenomenon or concept, these prove quicker and better. This is why many teachers ask the class which resources they found most helpful at the end of a project or a series of lessons.
