Curriculum
Research and Information Fluency: Grades K-1
Good Sites
Download Student Sheet(s) for printout in PDF format.
Read a Letter to Educators about Internet research and information fluency from CyberSmart!
Overview
Children explore and evaluate a children's Web site, concluding that people's opinions about the quality and usefulness of a site will vary.
Objectives
- Rate features of an informational site
- Explain that not everyone will rate a site the same way
National Educational Technology Standards for Students © 2007
Source: International Society for Technology in Education- Research and Information Fluency
- locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.
Home Connection
Download the Home Connection sheet related to this lesson.
Site Preview
Materials
- Activity sheet (1)
- Markers or crayons
- Online computer access
Introduce (offline)
- Have children identify something about their school with which they are all familiar - for example, the color of walls in the school cafeteria.
- Ask: Do you like the color of the walls? Have children who wish to answer "yes" raise their hands. Then have children answering "no" raise their hands.
- Point out that people can have different ideas about what colors, stories, movies - or even Web sites - they like.
Teach 1 (online)
- Take children to www.becybersmart.org or www.cybersmartcurriculum.org, click on Student Links, and then click on the circle.
- Explore one of the sites with the class, inviting children to tell what they like and do not like about it.
Teach 2 (online)
- Distribute the activity sheet, telling children they will use it to record what they like and do not like about the Web site.
- Explain that for each question, children should trace and color the happy face if their answer is "yes" and the sad face if their answer is "no."
- For "Do you like the words?" tell children to think about how well they can understand the text when it is read aloud.
- Follow the same procedure with the remaining four criteria. Help children consider whether the pictures are helpful and provide new information, if the colors and patterns are pleasing or jarring and distracting, how many links work or lead to dead ends, and whether they would recommend the site to friends.
Teach 3 (online)
- When children have finished rating the site, ask: How many happy faces did you give this site in all?
- Explain that children may have different ideas about the Web site and this is why children's totals will vary.
- Download the home page of the site and make a copy for each child to staple to his or her activity sheet.
Assess (offline)
The following items assess student mastery of the lesson objectives.
- Ask: What does it mean if you give a Web site all happy faces? (It means the Web site is very good.)
- Ask: Will all children answer the questions in the same way? Why or why not? (Probably not, because not everyone likes the same things.)
Extend (online)
The following activity can be added for students who completed this lesson in a previous grade.
- Ask: Do you think you will like some Web sites better than others? Have children explore and evaluate two other sites selected for this lesson, using a copy of the activity sheet to record their responses. Then have them compare the total number of happy faces they awarded each site and conclude which site they liked best.
- Have students review the Activity Sheet and ask: What other words might describe a good site? Allow students to dictate additional questions to answer when evaluating Web sites.
CyberSmart! Online Workshops
Find out about earning continuing education and graduate credits with facilitated CyberSmart! Online Workshops.
Free CyberSmart! Educator Toolbar
Save time. Search smart. Access essential information resources for educators. Download the free CyberSmart! Educator Toolbar. It's always on your desktop at home and/or at school.