Chatham College Education Department

Lesson Plan Format

Subject: English
Grade Level: 8

PA STANDARD(S)
1.8.8 Research
B. Locate information using appropriate sources and strategies.
 Determine valid resources for researching the topic, including primary and secondary
sources.
 Evaluate the importance and quality of the sources.
 Select essential sources (e.g., dictionaries, encyclopedias, other reference materials,
interviews, observations, computer databases).
 Use tables of contents, indices, key words, cross-references and appendices.
 Use traditional and electronic search tools.

NETS-S (ISTE) STANDARD(S)

3. Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students:
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry.
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a
variety of sources and media.
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to
specific tasks.
d. Process data and report results.

OBJECTIVE(S)
Student will identify valid web based research materials
Student will compare websites to assess validity of the information
Student will know how to correctly assess validity of websites by reading information in
the URL of a website, as part of an ongoing study on website verification

MATERIALS/RESOURCES
SMARTboard or projector
Computers with Internet access
Examples of good and bad websites

PROCEDURES

1. BEGINNING
Show students the tree octopus website (http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/), allow
them read and discuss it for a moment. Introduce the idea that the website may be
a hoax, allow for reactions and more discussion. Explain why it is important to
understand how to verify the validity of websites from which we gather
information for research and in general.

2. MIDDLE
 Based on chapter 3 of Alan November’s Web Literacy for Educators teach
students steps to use in order to begin to determine if a website is valid. Show
students how to look at the domain name of a URL to see if they recognize it—is
it a business name they have heard of, such as Kraft; a university name, like
Chatham; or is it a less familiar name, like Gutenberg. Discuss common
extensions associated with many URLs (.gov, .edu, .com, .net, etc.), the meaning
of the extension and whether or not we may give preference to one over another
for credibility purposes. Finally, give students information on how they might
determine if the website is personal in nature, by showing them to look beyond
the first part of the web address (does it contain a “~,” does it say “personal,”
etc.).

Show and discuss examples.

Students will then compare the following websites at their computers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Conrad
http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521197991
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/conrad.
html
http://www.wsu.edu

3. CLOSING
Discuss, as a class, how students were able to determine if websites were or were
not reputable.

EVALUATION
Students will begin to gather valid websites for the next book we will read (Joseph
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness) in order to gain background.

DIFFERENTIATED ACTIVITIES
Students may present their findings to the rest of the class
Students may be paired according to ability rather than work independently

Plan B
If the internet is not available to all students, a handout can be used instead, which lists
the URLs students are to compare. They can then make guesses as to the validity of the
material based on what they see. The students can gather websites for our upcoming
reading at home or in study hall.

Plan C
We can view the websites as a class and the students can gather websites for our
upcoming reading at home or in study hall.