Here's a basic format for high school instruction. Different high school groups will have different priorities (and different time allotments), so feel free to structure the session as makes sense.
- Warm up activity (see "Warm Up Activities" section for ideas)
- Give log-in information
- Instruction activities (See "Instruction Activities" section for ideas)
- Try to embed instruction in activities
- If lecturing, try to regularly intersperse lecture with activity/discussion
- Tour of the library homepage
- Especially useful if they need books
- Most will automatically use the Quick Search
- Citation tools
- In databases or in EDS
- 5 minutes
- Saving work
- It's useful to give students a few minutes to figure out how they're saving work. You may even need to show students how to download an article to the desktop and transfer it to their device. Permalinks do not work once they are off-campus.
- 5-10 minutes
- Free work time
- This is an important part of many high schools' visits. Note: If finding and scanning book chapters is a priority, consider structuring the session so students do this right away. Otherwise, it's easy to run out of time.
- 15 minute warning
- If people are still scanning chapters, you may need to give a half hour warning instead