Created by Mrs. Angela Gilchrist

What is the Big6?

The Big6 is a process that helps you solve a problem.

Big6 Problem-Solving Process

1. Task: “WHAT”

2. Strategy: “HOW”

3. Locate: “WHERE”

4. Use: “LOOK”

5. Synthesis: “SHOW”

6. Evaluation: “WELL?”

STEP 1: Task

WHAT?What do I want to know?

STEP 2: Information Solving-Strategies

HOW?How can I find some ideas?

Hmmmm….

STEP 3: Location & Access

WHERE?Where would I go to look for these ideas?

STEP 4: Use of Information

LOOK!Read, listen, or look. There’s people,

TV, books, the internet, and more.

STEP 5: Synthesis

SHOW!Make something to show what I learned.

STEP 6: Evaluation

WELL?Did I get what I needed? Did I do my job well?

Big6 #1 Task DefinitionWhat am I supposed to do?

• If Joshua could find out what George Washington ate for breakfast, his grandmother promised to cook him the breakfast.

Big6 #2 Information Solving Strategies: How will I begin to find the facts?

• Joshua went to the library and asked Miss Begood, the librarian, for help. Miss Begood directed Joshua to the encyclopedia. The answer to his question was not in the encyclopedia. Next, Miss Begood showed Joshua the library’s online catalog.

Big6 #3 Location & Access:Where will I find the facts?

• Joshua located the call numbers for several biographies using the online catalog. He began to borrow every biography on George Washington from the library.

Big6 #4 Use of Information:Look and read, look and write.

Joshua took the books home and, with his parents’ help, read each one. His grandmother informed Joshua that she would cook the breakfast, but she would not look in the books.

Joshua, his parents, and Miss Begood read all the biographies in the library. They found what people in Colonial Virginia typically ate for breakfast, but they did not find out what George Washington ate for breakfast so they started over with a different source.

So, time to loop back ---- back to:

Big6 #2: Information Seeking Strategies:What are some other sources?

Joshua and his parents decide to visit Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home. They stopped en route in Washington, D.C. at a Smithsonian museum. Joshua counted the buttons on Washington’s uniform and studied a display at the museum.

Big6 #3 Location & Access: Where will I find the facts?

He visited the kitchenat Mount Vernon wherehe could imagineservants preparingbreakfast in hisimagination. Joshuastill did not find outwhat GeorgeWashington ate forbreakfast.

Big6 #3 Location & Access (cont’d)

When the family returned home, grandmother and Miss Begood were waiting for them. Discouraged by his family’s desire that he give up the search, Joshua climbed the steps to the attic of his house. In the attic, Joshua accidentally found an old book of American history.

Big6 #4 Use of Information:Look and read, look and write

This book described Washington’s breakfast as three small Indian cakes and a cup of weak tea.

Big6 #5 Synthesis:Show facts learned to others.

An excited Joshua, rushed to tell his grandmother that he had found his answer. Grandmother hesitated. She was glad that Joshua had found the answer, but she had an information problem. Grandmother did not know what the Indian cakes were. So……Joshua looked for the Indian cakes in the dictionary. The description of Indian cakes helped Grandmother and Joshua create a recipe. Grandmother cooked the Indian cakes.

Big6 #6 Evaluation:Well, did I do a good job?

Joshua ate the Indian cakes, but he was still hungry. Surely, he wondered, George Washington would have been hungry too.

Hmmmmmm……

What would George Washington have eaten for lunch?

Big6 Problem-Solving Process

1. Task: “WHAT”

2. Strategy: “HOW”

3. Locate: “WHERE”

4. Use: “LOOK”

5. Synthesis: “SHOW”

6. Evaluation: “WELL?”

Bibliography

• www.big6.com

• Eisenberg, Michael B. and Robert Berkowitz. Teaching Information & Technology Skills: The Big 6. Worthington: Linworth Publishing, Inc. 1999.