To protect young people from questionable content, many schools limit access. This resource suggests that because learners can so readily avail themselves to unrestricted Internet access, it is vital for 21st century...

All sources are pretty much the same, right? If this is how your class views the sources they use for writing or research projects, present them with a media literacy lesson on smart source evaluation. Groups examine several articles,...

While this focuses on Ancient Rome, the objectives are improved research and information evaluation skills. In one class period, class members narrow their topic, research it, select the best information, log useful sources, and discuss...

Newspapers, television, social media ... how do people get their news? Using the informative resource, scholars locate and verify credible sources of information. Working in small groups, they discuss strategies for evaluating the...

Sixth graders strengthen their understanding of what a high quality website is composed of. Learners evaluate three websites for accuracy, credibility, and reliability by completing a chart.

Invite your learners to research three different websites that pertain to a topic focused on in your syllabus. Students fill out a chart by answering questions about each site. Then, they compare how useful the sites are to one...

A lesson plan instills the importance of locating reliable sources. Scholars are challenged to locate digital sources, analyze their reliability, search for any bias, and identify frequently found problems that make a source unusable. 

Discuss ways to determine if the information middle and high schoolers gather online is accurate. Using the Internet, they cite two sources that show conflicting points of view on a subtopic of conservation. They summarize and analyze...

Middle schoolers evaluate websites after gathering information from various search engines.  In this Civil War lesson, students browse the web and find strategies for rating websites.  Middle schoolers choose the best sites in...

Pupils examine how to evaluate a website. They discuss a graphic organizer, conduct Internet research, and apply a checklist of criteria to various websites.

Students determine how to critically evaluate visual and medias aspects of web sites. They examine the purpose of assigned web sites.

Fake news. Alternative facts. Internet trolls. In an age of Newspeak, it's increasingly important to equip 21st century learners with the skills needed to determine the legitimacy of claims put forth on social media, in print, and in...

Here is an excellent set of five short lessons and activities intended to help learners not only gain an understand of current issues in Africa, but build critical thinking, synthesis, analysis, expository writing, research, and...

Adult learners, examine the Internet to answer life skills, use an online dictionary, evaluate web sites and fill in online forms. They will also write about web sites in this series of activities.

Students study the criteria for evaluating web sites and use information found in authoritative web sites to create questions for a game of Jeopardy. They evaluate three different web sites, some with minor errors and some with major...

Pop-ups, banner ads, grammar mistakes ... these are all signs of an untrustworthy website. With the handy Legit-O-Meter poster, scholars can now double-check their sources to ensure accurate, reliable information. The color-coded poster...

How do you decide what sources are credible when researching online? Evaluate sources with a focus on researching health issues. After brainstorming common health concerns and how they would try to diagnose these problems, class members...

Students analyze several web sites for the five indicators: authorship, purpose, URL, currency and design. they Recognize the differences between a credible Web site and a questionable one.

Students explore a class inquiry project, collecting Web-based resources for further study during the course or for more in-depth projects. Students use Internet search engines and Web analysis checklists.

Designed to inform high school freshmen about the ramifications of sharing personal information through social media, this lesson focuses on sexting. Investigators first check the validity of websites using a Website Evaluation Tool....

It's tough for high schoolers to assess what is a credible resource and what is not. A helpful resource prompts class members to research a particular topic and record two facts—and create one lie—while documenting the sources. They...

Watch out for clever advertisements! Using the instructional activity, scholars learn how to identify online ads and respond to them critically. They then use what they've learned to develop a list of strategies to evaluate web pages.

Sophomores use a website evaluation tool to determine if their selected websites are valid and reliable. They read about and list three behaviors about taking and sending photos of minors that qualify as Class 1 misdemeanors in their...

An essential skill for 21st-century learners is to know how to find reliable sources of information. Two activities help high schoolers learn how to determine the reliability of health-related news from websites, TV, magazines, or...