Reflection Journal Entry #1: Credible vs. Non-Credible Sites

When asked whether a site is credible or non-credible many different ideas pop up into my head. I initially check to see if the site is organized and professionally done. However, even if the site doesn't look completely professional but the content looks alright I check to see if the site has a publisher (name, contact information, company, etc.) that can be looked up. If there are no sources for me to look up and to check for validity then I usually do not use the website. If there is a publisher I then look at the copyright date to make sure the information is pretty recent and not from fifty or more years ago. After I check for and approve the validity and source of the website I then proceed to reading the first line or two of the page (if there is content) or I look for something on the site that will give me information to check and see if the grammar and spelling are correct. Lastly, I check to see if the site have any links to references or sources for the information shown on the site. If the links are referencing other sources that I know are scholarly, I know that the site can be trusted. However, when sites with facts don't have links to references but are published by a professional organization specializing on the topic of the website I can trust the information.

Lesson Plan: 2nd Grade Researching Dinosaurs with Credible and Non-Credible Sites

Objective

• To introduce students to researching on the internet and to distinguish between credible and non-credible sites through exploring the topic of dinosaurs
  

Materials

• Computer with internet access
• White board (for brainstorming)
  
• Worksheets with questions
• Handout with credible and non-credible websites
  

Outline:

• Create a worksheet with questions asking about different facts on dinosaurs (What are dinosaurs? What are plant eating dinosaurs called? What are meat eating dinosaurs called? When did dinosaurs exist? Did humans and dinosaurs live together? How did dinosaurs communicate? etc.)
  
• Write the questions from the worksheet on the white board and have students respond to what they believe are the answers.
• Then hand out the worksheets and explain to the students that they are going to use the internet to research the questions and find the correct answers.
  
• Use the computer (internet) to explain to the students how to type in websites and look up facts about certain topics (in this case, dinosaurs).
• Show the students the difference between a credible and non-credible site by showing them examples and having them share their ideas about the differences. Write these ideas on the board so they can see the differences and tell them to use this as a guideline when researching for their assignment. Also share with them the actual facts about credible websites, such as: having a professional publisher, having links to other references and sources, having good grammar and no spelling mistakes, etc.
  
• Give them a handout of sites (both credible and non-credible) to use but do not let them know which ones are which:
  

Credible

• http://www.kidskonnect.com/content/view/20/27/
• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/allabout/
• http://www.fieldmuseum.org/sue/index.html
• http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dinosaurs/
• http://www.search4dinosaurs.com/index.html
• http://www.billybear4kids.com/dinosaurs/long-long-ago.html
  

Non-Credible

• http://the-office.com/bedtime-story/dinosaurs.htm
• http://www.webmasternow.com/humor/dinosaurs.html
• http://www.storyplace.org/eel/activities/dinosrock.asp?themeid=17
• http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/matt1999/alien/dino.html

• Partner up the students and let them explore these different sites in order to find the answers to the questions on the worksheet but also have them mark which sites they think are credible and which ones they think are non-credible.
• Come together in the end and go over the answers to the worksheet and also to the credible and non-credible sites exercise.
• Let them share their feedback about what they thought was challenging, interesting, fun, etc.