Research Begins in First Grade at Beach, Havens, and Wildwood

Starting in the first grade, students begin to use the resources in the library to access, evaluate, and interpret information in meaningful ways. PEF grants funded three complete sets of the Heinemann First Encyclopedia for Beach, Havens and Wildwood Elementary Schools. Heinemann First Encyclopedia is a twelve-volume set that is designed and written for students in first, second and third grades. Students find the new encyclopedia easy to use in their research projects.

Our teacher-librarians had this to say:

“Our primary grade students use this encyclopedia set. Every spring our first graders make a special visit to the library with their teacher. They are always excited about being a "researcher" and coming to collect facts from the encyclopedia. They work together in pairs, reading to each other and writing notes together. This has been so successful, we are planning to use the Heinemann First Encyclopedia with the second graders when they work on their insect research project.”

“It is so important to teach our children to begin with authoritative information. This is a key information literacy skill. Having different sets of encyclopedias written for various reading levels allows us to give this message even to the youngest students. It has been especially gratifying to watch first graders navigate through a research process they will use throughout their school career and beyond.”

Barbara Flores
Teacher Librarian
Havens School

“The first, second and third grade students at Wildwood love the Heinemann First Encyclopedia. Since there isn’t another encyclopedia designed for emerging readers, it is a very valuable resource. It has already been used by the first grade for research on birds and the second grade for research on mammals. Each topic is given a one page spread with photographs, fact boxes, text, and diagrams. It is the perfect introduction to reading non-fiction resources for information. Once students know it exists, they come in on their own to browse the pages.”

Ellen Reed
Teacher Librarian
Wildwood School

“Heinemann First Encyclopedia provides a primary level reference text that is visually attractive and packed with information for the young reader. The single page articles are just perfect for class research projects or for independent information seeking in the school library setting.”

Robin Ludmer
Teacher-Librarian
Beach Elementary School