Hot on the Trail
Creating Topic Hotlists for Student Research

Session 1 - Creating a Hotlist

Session 2 - Riding to a Higher Trail

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1. Overview

1. To gather, sort and sift the most effective web pages for your topic activity
   
   
2. To create a topic hotlist of pre-determined links for inquiry-based student research
   
   
3. To provide time for building the topic hotlist
   
   
4. To provide strategies for managing computer research using a topic hotlist
   
   
5. To look at next steps by scaffolding your hotlist into a complete inquiry-based lesson

Definitions and Curriculum Progression

A Hotlist is a personal topic directory of "pre-determined links" created for basic student research.

"TrackStar" created by the High Plains Regional Technology in Education Consortium uses an annotations frame allowing teachers to write questions or instuctions about a specific link from a hotlist or track.

Example: KelpQuest HotList

BiqQuestions is a inquiry-based lesson that students use to research a "Big Idea" using essential questions in a defined task. Standards and an assessment rubric are addressed in this web published research lesson.

2. Giddy Up with Hotlist Examples

• California Missions - A Filamentality Hotlist
  
  
• The Case of the Missing Desert Tortoises - TrackStar with Annotations
  
  
• This Month's Track-A-Day - Tracks that match special days, events and seasonal themes
  
  
• Top Tracks - Selection of best Tracks by the TrackStar staff

3. Creating a Topic Hotlist Using TrackStar

Before you begin to make your track (hotlist), make the following Dinah Zike Layered Look Book from Page 70 of her book Big Book of Books and Activities. This note taking book will help you organize your track account during the registration process and help in choosing:

• the content standard your Track will address
  

• the topic
  
  
  
• the questions you want your students to be able to answer by reading the links on your Track

* The Layered Look Book is a great tool for students to use during their research of the Track that you will be creating.

Once you have your topic, you might want to browse Trackstar to see if there are similar tracks online to help you with ideas, questions, links, etc.:

1. Go to "Trackstar Home."
2. Click on "Find a Track."
3. Click "by keyword"or "by themes & standards."
4. If you find good links for your topic within an existing Track, add these pages to Favorites in your browser.
   

If you haven't made a Track before, you must register now to make or edit Tracks. This will make it easier for you to find and edit your own Tracks. This information will not be sold or given to others, and TrackStar is still a free service. After you register, click on "Make a New Track."

Trackstar searches for Tracks through key words in Track titles. Use key words, or phrases, in your description that invite people to visit your site, i.e., "Trekking Through the Rainforest" instead of "Rainforest," or "Satellite Sleuth--Track a Bat in Arizona" instead of "Bats."

Two examples from a search on the word "rainforest:"

To help others in using your Track, be sure to include the following in your description:

1. a brief explanation of your lesson
2. the age or grade level its appropriate for
3. the subject (i.e., science, social studies, etc.)
4. major standards addressed
   
   
   

1. Use a Directory or Search Engine to find links.
2. To jump-start your Track, you may want to start with 42eXlore, an online subject directory with pre-screened links and lesson ideas for over 100 thematic topics. Or choose an existing WebQuest and scale it down to fit your classroom instructional needs.
3. Save the links you find by adding pages to Favorites. For review, see Organizing and Saving Your Favorites.
4. Decide which order you would like your links to be accessed by your students, or readers. A good strategy is to start with general, background information and concrete facts and end with more abstract, big ideas or essential understandings.
5. Decide on a title for each of your links. Link titles can be the name of the website you are using or your description of the website.
   
   
   

• By following the example above, you will need to have two Explorer browser windows open at the same time. Open a second browser screen by going up to the File window and selecting New Window. Now, align the two window so that they look like the example above.
  
  
• The left window will be your Favorites folder with the Favorites tap selected. You may shrink the window so that only the Favorites tab is showing.
  
  
• The right window will be the TrackMaker Page from TrackStar.

1. Click on your first link in your project folder from Favorites.
2. This will put the URL in the Address box. Click on the @ symbol in the Address box and then Copy the link from the Edit menu.
3. Paste the Link over into TrackMaker in the Link URL.
4. Name the Link with a short title.

1. Using TrackStar's Annotations for Key Questions and Fact Finding

• The Case of the Missing Desert Tortoises - Lesson and handouts by Beverly Ward Trust
  
  
• Back to your lesson - Second draft of your annotations
  

2. Classroom Strategies

Here are some tips in preparing your students for the web and your classroom setup of using one or more computers.

• Get Hyper... Learn to Navigate the Web!
  
  
• Get Hyper... Read the Web!
  
  
• Classroom Computer Management

3. Next Steps

Moving your hotlist activity to an inquiry based lesson plan linked to standards and evaluation rubrics.

• InformationQuest Workshop

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