1

ICP: Colonial America ELA Lesson

Version 1-27-13

Name:

Literacy Lions

Subject of Lesson: Credible Sources

Time Estimate: 80 minutes

Grade Level: 7th

PLANNING AND PREPARATION

Central Focus: Lesson Purpose and Rationale
The internet can be a rich and valuable source of informationbut can also be a source for
misinformation. The focus of this lesson is to help students to identify the reliability,
accessibility, and credibility of sources for research.
Specific Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS)
RI.7.6-Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author
distinguishes his or her position from that of others.
RI.7.9- Analyze how two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their
presentations of key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different
interpretations of facts.

NY State Learning Standards and/or Professional Standards (if applicable)

Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate,
and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other
readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word
identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter
correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
Standard 3:

Standard 7: Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and
questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a
variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their
discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
Standard 8: Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g.,
libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to
create and communicate knowledge.
Lesson Objectives
Students will learn how to determine credibility on Internet sources.
Students will apply techniques and strategies for determining credibility, reliability and

2
accessibility of their research sources.
Modifications/Accommodations
Modifications:
Accommodations:
Research-Based Strategies
Anticipation Guide (pre-reading and post reading)
Whole Group Discussion / Freewrite
Small Group/ Collaborative Learning
Materials/Resources
Computer/Some form of technology with internet access
Anticipation Guide handout
A Visual Guide to Evaluating Sources on the Web handout
How Credible Is Your Source? chart
Arrangement of Physical Space and Students

INSTRUCTION (LESSON SCRIPT)

Steps
A. Introduction

Key Questions, Comments, Directions,

Assessments
1. Place the following questions up on the board:
How often do you get information from the Internet?
How much of it do you believe?
How reliable do you think Internet information is? How
does it compare to information from books?
- Students write answers on a separate sheet of paper.
Class discussion with answers.
2. Students fill out the Before Reading side of the
Anticipation Guide (handout)

B. Lesson Body (such as: content input,

modeling, scaffolding, assessments, 1.
guided practice, opportunities for
students to learn constructively)

Whole Class
Provide students with the handout from the website
http://www.whoishostingthis.com/resources/evaluatingweb-resources/
Discuss Evaluating sources on the web
2. Read through handout as a class discussing:
The URL
The author (who is accountable for the information)
Timliness (whether or not the source is outdated

3
Sources (how theyre cited)
3. On the board, complete the following search:
- Search: Colonial America New York
- Choose #2: A Brief History of the Colony of New
York,
1609 1692

4. Evaluate the following together as a class:

The URL
The author (who is accountable for the information)
Timliness (whether or not the source is outdated)
Sources (how theyre cited)

5. Next, review the How Credible Is Your Source? chart

Explain that in the far left box, write the sources title,
author and the year it was published
Check the boxes to the right if the answer is Yes,
leave the box blank if No
6. Complete a row of boxes for the source: Colony of New
York: Brief History
Small Group
1. Divide the students into small groups of 3 (or 4)
depending on class size. Provide the students with the
following list of websites:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/colonialhouse/
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/1
3colonies1.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_Colonies
http://ww2.valdosta.edu/~jsbranch/topic.html
http://www.history.com/topics/thirteen-colonies
2. In their small groups, students should search the
following websites and identify whether or not they
would be considered credible
Each student should be assigned a role: searcher,
documenter, announcer
Searcher: This student is in charge of the computer.
They are to type all of the URLs and search the
websites
Documenter: This student is to document all answers
and fill out the How Credible Is Your Source Chart for
the group.
Announcer: This student is to oversee the search
process, make sure that the answers are correct and
will then be the student to share the groups answers
with the class during discussion.

3. Provide the students ample amount of time to work

with their groups. Fifteen minutes should suffice.
4. Once finished, move from group to group and have the
announcer share the findings for a source.
* This should lead into the students own research and
finding sources for their chosen colony.
C. Closure

Individual
Students should be able to complete the After
Reading side of the Anticipatory Guide

D. Follow-up Activities
To follow up this activity, students will be completing
their own research and searching for credible sources
on their chosen colony. They will be asked to determine
whether or not their sources are credible by filling out
their own How Credible Is Your Source? chart
individually based on their research.

5
7th ELA

Name: ___________________________________

Anticipation Guide: Credible Sources

Before Reading

What does each domain stand

for?

.com = ___________________
.edu = ___________________
.mil = ____________________
.gov = ___________________
.org = ___________________

After Reading

What does each domain stand

for?

.com = ___________________
.edu = ___________________
.mil = ____________________
.gov = ___________________
.org = ___________________

Provide the definitions for the

following:

Provide the definitions for the

following:

Credibility:

Credibility:

Accessibility:

Accessibility:

Reliability:

Reliability:

6
7th ELA

Name: _______KEY_______________________

Anticipation Guide: Credible Sources

Before Reading

What does each domain stand

for?

.com = ___________________
.edu = ___________________
.mil = ____________________
.gov = ___________________
.org = ___________________

Provide the definitions for the

following:

After Reading

What does each domain stand

for?
.com =
____commercial___________
.edu =
___educational____________
.mil =
____military_______________
.gov =
___government_____________
.org =
____nonprofit_______________

Credibility:

Accessibility:

Reliability:

Provide the definitions for the

following:
Credibility: credible sources are those
that have proven their worth through
multiple review from other authorities
in the field
Accessibility: accessible sources are
those that are comprehensible based
on a readers background knowledge
and understanding
Reliability: reliable sources are those
that are related to the inquiry
question and provide accurate,
useful, and rich information on the
topic with connections to other

7
sources

How Credible Is Your Source?

Directions: In order to decide whether your source is a good source or not (credible),
you should evaluate for accessibility, reliability, and believability. Use the following
questions to help you decide how credible your sources actually are.
Is the
information or
source
recently
published,
copyrighted,
or updated?

Source Title:

Source Author:

Year Written, Published, or Updated:

Source Title:

Source Author:

Year Written, Published, or Updated:

Is writer an
expert, or did
the writer show
that he/she
researched the
topic?

Is the website
or the
publisher of
the website a
credible
resource?

Is the authors
purpose for
writing to
inform?

Is this source
and writer
believable?

Does the source go

into depth on the
subject?

8
Source Title:

Source Author:

Year Written, Published, or Updated:

Source Title:

Source Author:

Year Written, Published, or Updated:

Source Title:

Source Author:

Year Written, Published, or Updated: