Website Evaluation Lesson

Description:

My Name: Emily Ward Date: Oct. 9, 2012Cooperating Teacher-Librarian: Kathy Wickline Grade Level: 6th

School/City: Unity Jr HS / Tolono, IL Length: 90 min.

Purpose: When looking for information on websites, students need to be able to understand that all sites are not equally reliable. This lesson will help students interpret the quality of web content in order to productively conduct research by teaching them an easy-to-remember formula for evaluating websites.

Learning Outcomes: By the end of this lesson, students will:

…know the criteria for evaluating websites.…assess the quality/reliability of a website by asking the 5 W questions.…have the foundation to begin online research on a topic of their choice.

Standards: 1. Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy:

R.S.I.T. 6.8: Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.

W.S. 6.8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility an accuracy of each source.

2. AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner: 1.1.4: Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions. 1.1.5: Evaluate information found in selected sources on the basis of accuracy,

validity, appropriateness for needs, importance, and social and cultural context.

Materials: Needed by me:

State Farm commercial file Five Ws SmartBoard presentation Notes for presentation Website evaluation worksheets 5 Ws assessment slip Tree Octopus URL (http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/)

Needed by Students: Pen/pencil

Instructional Procedures:

Focusing Event: We will start in Mrs. Bickford’s classroom and I will share the short video clip, “State Farm – State of Disbelief Commercial” that highlights the fact that not everything on the internet is trustworthy.

Input From Me: In the classroom, we will go through my Five Ws presentation. I will hand out the

worksheet, and have students look at the side with the graphic organizer. First we will brainstorm using the Think-Pair-Share model, with the graphic

organizer, answering the question, “What makes a webpage useful for research?” I will give students one minute to brainstorm to themselves, one minute to share their answers with a partner, and then we will come together and share. Using the smart board, I will fill in the bubbles as students give ideas.

We will then go through the rest of the presentation, describing what each W question means more fully. I will ask students questions to develop each question, revealing the parts on the screen as they come up with the questions.

Guided Practice: We will all go down to the computer lab and go to the Tree Octopus website. Students will work through the checklist worksheet to see if this website is a reliable source for research.

Closure: At the end of the period, we will come back together as a group and review the worksheet, checking to see how many points they awarded the site. Finally, we will discuss whether or not this is a good site to use for research. (Even though it may have earned enough points, the students need to use their brains! The Tree Octopus is a scam!)

Differentiation: For the students that really have a hard time sitting still and need to be engaged kinesthetically, I might ask them to help me during the first half of the lesson with the SMART board. Instead of me doing all the writing and touching on the SMART board, I could have them come forward to do it instead. This would get them up out of their seats and active, rather than being required to sit quietly in their seats the entire time.

Assessment: When students come into the lab next to do research, I will provide them with a slip that asks them to review a website they selected for research using the 5 Ws. They will be expected to turn this in.

What’s Next? Students will be conducting research on African countries for the remainder of the week, using both print and online sources.