Mrs. LeBlanc's House of Wonders!

Description:

It is easy to make the assumption that the nonfiction written word is reliable and accurate. This is not the case on the Internet, which is laden with faulty information. The fact that many inaccurate sites have such a “truthful” appearance adds to the difficulty of distinguishing fact from fiction in this context.

This lesson introduces students to the idea that a Web site can’t be judged by its appearance. It also teaches students how to evaluate a Website using specified criteria. It will be used in preparation for a research project for which students will be expected to select legitimate Web resources.

Goals & Objectives:

Learning Objectives:

Students will use given Web evaluation instrument to evaluate four given Websites.
Students will discuss their findings with class, and be prepared to defend their answers using their responses to the evaluation instrument.

Materials & Sources:

Web evaluation document: Please see "related media"

Web Sites:

(True) Mike the Headless Chicken: www.miketheheadlesschicken.org

(False) Tree Octopus: http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

(True) Fainting Goat: www.webworksltd.com/webpub/goats/faintinggoat.html

(False) Jackalope: http://www.sudftw.com/jackcon.htm

Procedures:

INTRODUCTION:

LMS will present students with game show style introduction : E.g., Welcome to Mrs. LeBlanc’s House of Wonders! Behind door number one we have the amazing jackalope…” The LMS chooses a different student, whom she gives a 5x7 card with animal information on it, to enthusiastically announce each animal. E.g.,“Known by the ancients as "deerbunnies", it wasn't until the early 1960's that the modern more fearsome name of "jackalope" was adopted.” (http://www.sudftw.com/jackcon.htm) Behind door number two is the amazing fainting goat…etc. With each introduction LMS will present an image of each creature on the smartboard or projector.

After presentation, LMS will ask students whether or not they think these creatures truly exist, and coax the discussion:

LMS will play devil’s advocate: “Well, I got all of this information from the Internet, so it MUST be true!” And, “But the Web site looked real!”

LMS will explain to students that all of these wonders exist on Web sites, and it is up to them to discover which ones are true and which are false. They will do this by evaluating the reliability of these Web sites, in groups of two or three, using the Web evaluation guide hand out.

LMS explains to students that they will be sharing their conclusions with the other groups, and reminds them to be prepared to defend those conclusions with evidence.

LMS reminds students that they will be using the same Web evaluation guide to evaluate Web sites which they will select for their upcoming research project.

LMS conducts initial informal class poll to determine which animals the students believe to actually exist.

Technique

Methods: Stimulate curiosity, questioning, informal poll, generate information question that needs solving.
Media: Smartboard or projector
Material: Digital images of creatures

BODY:

LMS hands out evaluation worksheet, one to each student. The LMS demonstrates the evaluation process using the worksheet by going to first Web site. During the evaluation process she:

Demonstrates where to locate information on a Web page to answer each question

Discusses reasons why each criterium is important

Models her reasoning/thought processes by speaking them aloud

Emphasizes that all questions won’t always apply to a single Web site

Summarizes her reasoning behind her final decision about the reliability of the Web site.

Students then pair up, three more worksheets per group, and go to work on the computers.

Technique

Methods: Direct instruction, group work

Media: Smartboard or projector for LMS’s review of evaluation checklist, computers

Materials: Web sites, handout: Revised Web Evaluation List.doc

CONCLUSION:

Students contribute their opinions about whether or not to trust each Web site as well as their reasons for their decisions.

Individual points and their degree of importance (weight in decision process) are discussed. Which questions were more relevant to these Web pages than others? Which were the most important?

Alternate methods for evaluation, e.g., checking other sources, are discussed.

Question: If in doubt about a resource’s validity, should you still use it?

Technique:

Methods: Information presentation, group discussion, debriefing

Media: Smartboard to show each Web page being discussed

Material: Listed Web pages and evaluation worksheets for review

Assessment:

Students’ understanding of Web evaluation process will be assessed by LMS through her observations and interactions with groups as they complete the evaluation process.

Students’ understanding of Web evaluation process will be assessed through their contributions to the summative discussion.

Sources:

Kathy Schrock's Web Evaluation Checklist for Middle School Students, at http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/eval.html.