S.O.S. for Information Literacy

Searching and Evaluating a Website using Google

Description:

This is a one-class section of a multi-day unit for 8th grade English students gathering research for a research paper on a social issue. This 80-minute class fine-tunes a student's ability to be an effective searcher for information on the internet using the search ingine Google, introduces the elements needed to evaluate a website, and then 'tests' students critical thinking as they try to determine whether particular websites are "real" or "hoaxes."

Goals & Objectives:

- Students will learn effective search strategies for using Google.

- Students will use several assessments for determining the quality of websites.

Materials & Sources:

ELMO/laptop/prjector

Classroom set of computers

Handout Packet

Procedures:

1. In lecture-discussion formal, go over "Searching Topics on the Web," discussing and showing examples of searches using tips listed on that handout.

A. Key students into different parts of search - results page: # of hits, website address, summary, # of pages, etc.

B. Have students volunteer to come to ELMO and present theri sample searches on handout for critiquing by class. Note different resluts with slight changes in searches.

2. Go over "Evaluating a website" using as a sample website.

A. What is an authority?

B. Why is it important to evaluate a website?

C. To make six elements easier to understand, fit them into 5 W's. Who, What, Where, When and Why.

3. Students log onto computers, and as a class, us the "Can you Be Fooled" websites and "5 Ws" to determine whether websites are "Real" or "Hoaxes."

Assessment:

Use class reactions to "Can You Be Fooled?" to determine whether individuals are "getting it." Use follow up individual resarch time for individual discussions on website authority.

Sources:

Print this Lesson Plan

Presented By: Lorry Chwazik