EVALUATING ONLINE RESOURCES PLAN

LESSON SAMPLE

LESSON TITLE

Is What I Research True or False? (Digital Identity)

ISTE STANDARDS FOR STUDENTS.

1.2 Digital Citizen Students recognize the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of living, learning, and
working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and
ethical.

1.3 Knowledge Constructor Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct
knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and
others.

FOCUS QUESTION

How do I properly utilize websites on the internet to research information on a topic?

RELATED QUESTIONS

Which websites were created using unbiased opinions?

What responsibilities do people have when using digital technology?

OBJECTIVE

Students will analyze research on the internet.

RESOURCES NEEDED

BrainPop Jr. video: Internet Safety

BrainPop video: Online Sources

Writing Notebook

Highlighter, pencil, and or pen

Google Docs

Canvas

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

For the lesson, the teacher will go through the BrainPOP Jr video first on internet safety, stopping along
the way to be sure students have a clear understanding of why it is important. Then, the teacher will go
through the BrainPOP video on online research, stopping along the way to be sure that students
understand what information found on the internet is real and what is fake. The teacher will then have
students turn to someone around them and discuss why it is important to use reliable websites when
looking up information on the internet and share with the class. The teacher will remind them that they
are researchers now and that they are going to apply their knowledge of internet safety and online
research to a topic of their choice.

Students will then brainstorm three things that are either important to them, things they would like to
know more about, or current topics that are relatable to them. Afterwards, students will circle which
topic they feel they would want to write an informational essay on. Then, students will create a web of
three things they would like to inform readers about on their topic. Using their research skills, students
will log into their Chromebook and look up the three things they would like to inform readers about.
Students will add another bubble to each web to include a quote they are taking away from their online
resource and will write it down including the author. After, students will type up their 5-paragraph
informational essay.

As a wrap-up, students will peer-edit their essay with a partner using a peer-editing checklist. The teacher
will then conference with the partners and use the teacher rubric to give them a grade based on the
rubric. The teacher will then rate them between 1 and 3, with 3 being the highest on their internet safety
and discuss why they received that rating. The teacher will then conference with the two students about
their scores and rating while discussing what can be improved the next time they research.

EXTENSION IDEAS

All students get the same topic to research and complete a research/informational essay based on that
topic. Students then evaluate the online sources their classmates used and rank them from 1-3, with 3
being the most reliable.

The teacher cuts up websites and students use their computers to sort the websites according to which
ones are reliable and which ones are not.

TEACHING TIPS

Third grade students struggle with looking up information on the computer which leads to their struggle
when writing an informational essay. I believe that writing on a topic of their choice will help strengthen
their interest in informational writing. As the teacher, the lesson set-up I would do is breaking down the
components of an informational essay: introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Students will be
taught that in each body paragraph, there should be citation from a source that provided you
information. I would then show them an example of an informational essay based off two passages.

ONGOING PLAN

• I will use a rating scale of 1-3 on the effectiveness of these lessons. Each scale rating will have a
breakdown of how safe students were during the research process. It will also include how they
analyzed whether the website had information based on facts or opinion based.
• I would communicate the effectiveness of research with parents and school communities so that
we are all on the same page in terms of research projects. Students are taking control of the
research rather than parents.
• After 2-3 informational essays based on research, students will complete a research project. I will
use these as end of unit activities for both science and social studies.
• I would collaborate with the STEM teacher to enhance students understanding of online safety. I
would have the teacher utilize third grade specials time to have students gain a better
understanding of reliable and unreliable sources.

RATIONALE

The reason I selected this lesson was because third grade students are now being required to create
multi-paragraph essays. Based on schoolwide performance with the three types of essays: opinion,
informational, and narrative, informational essays have the weakest performance. A lot of this is due to
not having supporting evidence or citing evidence from passages. I teach writing daily and reiterate to the
students that citing evidence is one of the most important things to do in your writing, especially since
that is a third grade skill they must master for the Georgia Milestones. So, I’m going to make sure that I
have established a learning culture that encourages a critical examination of online resources and
curiosity in what students are learning so that they have

REFLECTION.

It is important to evaluate online resources because what we should relay correct information to our
students when we teach them. Third grade is the year when research truly begins, and the foundation of
what websites are biased and unbiased are important for students to understand and take into
consideration when completing a research essay or project. Typically, students are provided 1-2 passages
on a topic and form an essay based on those articles. With how quickly education is evolving, students
now must know how to search for the articles themselves and evaluate the validity of them before
completing an assignment.
 EMOTIONS

I felt a little overwhelmed at first due to this being a challenge for my students. Third graders require
much more than when I was younger so the expectations with teaching this skill at such a young age can
make you feel overwhelmed. By the end of my lesson, I felt confident because students now have a
better understanding of internet safety when researching for essays or project.

PERSPECTIVES

I, the teacher, should ensure that each student in the classroom is aware of online safety when using a
Chromebook. I, the teacher, should also ensure that students are evaluating the validity of websites they
come across after searching a topic.

I, the student, should pay close attention to what is safe and not safe on the information and be aware of
everything that I search. I, the student, should evaluate each website before using it for research.

ADDRESSING DIVERSE LEARNERS

As a digital citizenship educator, I was able to consider the background knowledge of all of my learners by
introducing research techniques in whole group but redeliver it differently in small group rotations.
Students in my classroom that have learning disabilities met with both myself and my co-teacher daily to
be sure that they understood what they were researching and to check progress with how they evaluated
their resources. Students that perform on grade level meet with me or my co-teacher 1-2 times a week.
As a digital citizenship educator, I was not able to address the spelling errors that may come with
research, so each of my ESOL students struggle with spelling and what to type in the “search engine”
when researching. In their writing interactive notebooks, they have a “research stems” handout that tells
them how to start off searching something online. Then, I have them use Google translate to speak into
their Chromebooks on the topic they are researching. As a digital citizenship educator, I was able to
challenge my high-performing students to evaluate more than three sources online and reflect on if those
articles were biased or unbiased and meet with them in small group at least two times a week. Students
would then have to explain using the RACE Strategy, a constructed response, on why they believe that
about the article.

POSITION

As an educator, I value that we are the steppingstones in creating experiences for learners to explore and
examine online resources. I believe that teachers should mentor students in safe and ethical practices
when using online research tools.

ACTIONS

As a digital citizenship educator, I will implement this plan at the beginning of the school year, rather than
a few months in. Writing should be embedded across all subjects, so I will teach research skills and online
safety in both science and social studies. Once each unit ends, students must conduct a research project
based on the unit for science and social studies.