Autumn Field

M4.A2 Information Literacy Lesson Plan

Title: Evaluation of Online Resources

Instructional Level: 5th Grade

Resources:
● Chromebooks
● Google Classroom document with links
● Pre-created worksheet
● Internet access
● Pencils
● Power point slide show
● Green/Red Cards
● Brainpop Video on Online Resources
● Reliability Checklist Chart

Texas Standards:

5.25 Research/Synthesizing Information. Students clarify research questions and

evaluate and synthesize collected information
5.25(A) refine the major research question, if necessary, guided by the answers
to a secondary set of questions
5.25(B) evaluate the relevance, validity, and reliability of sources for the research

Instructional objectives:

The students will be able to evaluate the quality of online resources.

Direct Instruction:
The teacher will introduce the concepts of validity and reliability by using an anchor
chart with the definitions displayed. The librarian will show a Brainpop video that further
explains these concepts. The teacher will discuss why we need quality resources in our
research. The teacher states, that in order to provide reliable information that can be
taken seriously, you must pull information from sources that are reliable. The librarian
will then introduce the “Reliability Checklist” that the students will use to evaluate the
quality of the online resources. The librarian will talk about how we need to know who is
behind the information and the importance of looking if there is an author listed or if a
company is trying to sell something or push a certain agenda (for example, the Flat
Earth Society may write articles about how the earth is flat, but there is no scientific
evidence to back up this claim). The teacher will discuss the use of inflammatory
 Autumn Field

language vs. dry (research-type) language and how if the article contains “fiery”
language that may just be there to get attention, the research may not be quality. The
librarian will discuss how using other research can help with the validity of an article.
The teacher will talk about the importance of currency of information.

Reliability Checklist

Who is behind the information?

(Is there an author listed? Is it a company that is trying to sell something?)

Does the author use language that sounds factual?

(Research language usually sounds “dry” and does not have a lot of flare)

Is the author using research and data to present information?

(Does the article include references?)

Is there a date of publication?

(Is the information current?)

Modeling:

The librarian will begin by Googling “The Civil Rights Movement”. The librarian will click
on several different sample Google results and go through the reliability checklist to
determine the quality of each resource.

Guided Practice:

The teacher provides the students with the following scenarios. The students will
answer “Quality” with a green card or “Not Quality” with a red card. After each question
is asked and answered, the teacher will call on a student for the reasoning behind their
answer and further explain where needed.

Q: In an article, there was not a specific author listed. Is this quality or not quality?
Not quality

Q: The author states, “Video games are bad for you” and there is no research or data
included to back up this statement. Is this information quality or not quality?
Not quality

Q: At the end of an article, the author cites 10 different resources. Is this quality or not
quality?
Quality
 Autumn Field

Q: An article states, “video games rot the brains of children”?

Not Quality

Q: An article has a date of publication listed. Is this quality or not quality?

Quality

As the students answer and give verbal justifications, the teacher and librarian have the
opportunity to correct any misunderstandings. The students will understand that if the
answers are mostly green, then the website or article is a quality source.

Independent Practice/Assessment:

Students will be given an online Google document within Google Classroom that has
four links to various resources within the open internet. On a pre-created worksheet,
students will use the reliability checklist to evaluate each resource and provide three
reasons why the resource is a quality resource or why the resource is not a quality
resource.

We choose this form of assessment because it requires students to analyze and draw
conclusions on the quality of several resources. This form of assessment also requires
students to defend their decision by citing specific reasons and examples from the
resource.

Worksheet Example:

Resource #1: Is this a quality resource? Yes No

Provide three examples from the resource that

defends your decision.

1.

2.

3.

Resource #2: Is this a quality resource? Yes No

 Autumn Field

Provide three examples from the resource that

defends your decision.

1.

2.

3.

Resource #3 Is this a quality resource? Yes No

Provide three examples from the resource that

defends your decision.

1.

2.

3.

Resource #4 Is this a quality resource? Yes No

Provide three examples from the resource that

defends your decision.

1.

2.

3.
 Autumn Field

References:

Brainpop. (2019). Online Sources. Retrieved April 11, 2019, from

https://www.brainpop.com/technology/digitalcitizenship/onlinesources/

Teaching Tolerance. (2019). Evaluating Reliable Sources. Retrieved April 11, 2019,
from https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/tolerance-lessons/evaluating-
reliable-sources