This video lesson follows Emily Koch as she teaches her middle school class about the trustworthiness of websites. She first reviews some new vocabulary that will act as scaffolding for the lesson - such as, trustworthiness, evaluate and biased. The lesson requires the class to search for articles discussing the pros and cons of all-year-around schooling. Ms. Koch provided a worksheet/checklist for the students to fill out for some websites they find. The worksheet gives the basis for what may or what may not be a trustworthy, unbiased website. Ms. Koch chooses a topic that is controversial and engaging for the students; many of them do not like the idea upon first exposure. She closes the class with a quick questionnaire about what could be red flags for a non-trustworthy website and why its important to exercise these skills while conducting research.
This is a vital skill for any student or adult to be a valuable member within a democratic society. People need to be able to recognize a relatively unbiased source from a very biased source. Within the realm of social studies, this skill is always important given the often divisive nature of some topics. Using this teaching technique will be helpful as a refresher for high school students, but also as scaffolding to further shape students research skills. I would pair this lesson with a class teaching about vetting a source, author or publisher. Students must be able to uncover these details in order to fully understand where a view or stance is coming from. I will ask my students to present evidence of a valid source of information cited in an article, where the information came from and whether they trust it.
This lesson is important for all students in all grades; I will feel responsible as a social studies teacher to constantly improve this skill in my students.
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/analyzing-websites-with-students
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