Background Information
In elementary school, students begin spending a lot of time
searching for information on the internet. In their technology classes,
students are exposed to different ways to determine the validity of a
website. To promote cross-curricular connections, I have created this
lesson to supplement the information learned in technology using the
3rd grade social studies curriculum.
In the 2nd quarter Social Studies curriculum, students are taught
about immigration. The lesson that I have created incorporate website
evaluation of websites that teach about immigration with a web-based
activity using a kid friendly and reliable website to learn more about
immigration.
Using the navigation tabs to the left of the screen, you will find
a link to the lesson plan, the actual student website for the activity,
and some more valuable resources for website evaluation and
immigration.
Rationale for Choosing Websites for Use with the Students
Due to the fact that the websites chosen for this project were for
an educational purpose, not soley for teaching critical literacy
skills, considerations were based one how the website could be used in
the classroom. Research was done to find these sites, however it was
hard to find information about what other people had to say about those
websites. I chose websites that were used in many lessons, which lead
me to believe that there was an educational benefit that came from
those websites. I have found that finding websites to use with
elementary school aged children that have been reviewed is a hard task.
Below I have gone into detail about why each particular website was
chosen, specifically how they relate tto web evaluation.
Through my research on immigration sites, I found the world book
online webpage. This website is paid for by our county, and is
considered a credible source for information. According to their
website, they are "tailored for students in elementary and middle
schools. They include all articles from the print versions of World
Book Encyclopedia, plus thousands of additional articles, learning
resources and research tools." It also has "thousands of links"
selected by World Book editors and expert contributors. I trust this
website because it has an author/editor that is well known and
credible. As an educator, I also like all of the teacher features of
the site.
This website was a website that came up frequently when researching
websites to use with elementary students. The website is sponsored by
Scholastic, which is a well known site in the education world. I found
many different classroom websites and activities where this website was
the basis for their research. There are even webquests, like the one
created by Michelle Henry (download
here) that have been created based soley on this site. I chose to
use this site because it was credible, used by many educators, and
student friendly.
This website was created by students, for student use. It was meant
to be one of the websites that students don't find to be as credible as
the websites created by World Book and Scholastic. They can find
information about the authors, and how to contact them, but it is easy
to see that they might not be an expert on the subject. The design is
very basic, but has interlinking pages with information and pictures.
There is also a resource page. It does have many of the items the
students are looking for, so it might be recommended for use by the
students for research.
This website is the offical website of Ellis Island, so it is a
source that can be trusted by the children. When you go directly
to the site above, the students may find the site hard to use. In the
navigation tabs at the top of the page, students can find a lot of
information about Ellis Island. The students may be distracted by what
appear to be ads and links to outside websites. The "about us" section
gives information about the creators of this site, so students should
feel that the site is credible. Many projects, such as the thinkquest
project completed by students above, use this website as part of their
research.
This website was chosen as a site that I felt would not meet many
of our ABC's of web evaluation qualifications. The site was last
updated in 2007, and we don't have much information, other than the
name, of the author. We do have contact information for him, and could
ask information about where he found his information. If the students
look at the website, they can see that it is not hosted by an offical
organization, but that it is a member page, which they understand
anyone can create. There are links to what appear to be other websites,
but most of the links just link to another page created by the same
author. There are also ads to outside sites, and the page loads slowly.
There are not many websites that use this website as a souce, which is
important to note.
I thought this website was a perfect resource for use by my
students. It is written in kid-friendly terms, and has many colorful
graphics and pictures. The site is easy to navigate. PBS is a reliable
website that is used by many educators. PBS even has a website for
teachers, http://www.pbs.org/teachers/,
that has teacher resources. According to their website, they "provide
high quality, preK-12 educational resources." They also provide
"thousands of lesson plans, teaching activities, on-demand video
assets, and interactive games and simulations. They are correlated to
state and national standards and are tied to PBS award winning
programming." The students are not using this site for the critical
information part of the assignment, but purely for information about
immigration. This website is also used by many educators when teaching
about immigration.
About the Lesson Plan
Going beyond the lesson:
Once students have completed the lesson, they will be more prepared
to evaluate websites in the future. This was written for 3rd grade
students, so I would expect that as the students get older, they would
be instructed to further look into websites to evaluate their
credibility. I have provided links on the resources page that can be
used to go beyond this lesson. I think that constantly looking at the
ABC's of website
evaluation when visiting other websites as a class will help keep the
information in their mind when visiting websites outside of the
classroom. I also think keeping posters up in the computer lab will
keep the ideas fresh in their head, as well as help educate other
students who visit the computer lab.
Possible shortcomings of the lesson:
When incorporating this lesson with your class, you need to
consider your student's knowledge of websites and website credibility.
This is not a lesson that should be done without any background
knowledge of the subject. It might be a good idea to go through the
lesson before you teach it with your technology teacher at your school
so that they will be able to support the language you are using with
your students in her lessons with them. You also need to be aware of
the time
involved in completing this lesson, it will take at least four, hour
long time periods to complete. It might take additional time if your
children don't have quick web navigation skills or if you have to log
in and out of the computers, or if you need to turn the computers on
when you get to the lab or shut them down as you leave the lab. You
also need to consider the section where students are asked to work
cooperatively. If your students don't work well with partners, you may
need to make modifications to the project to allow them to complete it
individually (which would also add to the time needed to complete the
project). Also, when using the Google Docs form provided on the site,
all responses will be sent to the creator of the document. If this were
to be used by another teacher, they would need to create their own
Google Docs form, and link it to the page, which I am not sure how to
make possible right now.
