Conduct Research: Determine Source Credibility | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA 2019 G6:M2:U2:L9

Conduct Research: Determine Source Credibility

In this Lesson

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Focus Standards: These are the standards the instruction addresses.

  • RI.6.1, RI.6.7, W.6.7, W.6.8, SL.6.2

Supporting Standards: These are the standards that are incidental—no direct instruction in this lesson, but practice of these standards occurs as a result of addressing the focus standards.

  • RI.6.10, W.6.10
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can determine the relevance and credibility of possible sources. (W.6.8)
  • I can conduct research to answer questions about another design solution that solved a critical problem. (W.6.7, W.6.8)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Opening A: Entrance Ticket (W.6.7)
  • Work Time A: Gist on sticky notes
  • Work Time B: Design Solution: Research note-catcher (RI.6.1, RI.6.7, RI.6.10, W.6.7, W.6.8, SL.6.2)
  • Closing and Assessment A: Dance card protocol (W.6.8)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engage the Learner - W.6.7 (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Read The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Chapter 14 Excerpt - RI.6.7 (15 minutes)

B. Mini Lesson: Determine Relevance and Credibility - W.6.8 (20 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Small Group Discussion - W.6.8 (5 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Independent Research Reading: Students read for at least 20 minutes in their independent research reading text. Then they select a prompt and write a response in their independent reading journal.

Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

  • W.6.7 – Opening A: Students complete an entrance ticket in which they determine the relevance and usefulness of three sources based on short blurbs extracted from search engine results and practice refocusing their search as needed.
  • RI.6.1 – Work Time B: Students participate in a mini lesson in which they use textual evidence from a research source to support their determination of whether that source is credible and relevant.
  • RI.6.7 – Work Time B: Students participate in a mini lesson to evaluate the credibility and relevance of research sources presented in diverse formats.
  • W.6.7 – Work Time B: Students participate in a mini lesson to help them determine the relevance and credibility of sources they use to complete their research projects.
  • W.6.8 – Work Time B: Students evaluate their sources for credibility and use their note-catchers to explain what makes the sources credible.
  • SL.6.2 – Work Time B: Students interpret their sources, presented in diverse media and formats, and evaluate them for their credibility.
  • W.6.8 – Closing and Assessment A: Students participate in a small group discussion to describe a source they found and explain why it is relevant and credible.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

  • Students who have experience with any of the research steps should be authorized as experts on those steps and allowed to teach or mentor the class or individual students on the steps.
  • An optional Mini Language Dive, intended for use after students read the chapter 14 excerpt in Work Time A, is available in the supporting materials download. ▲

How It Builds on Previous Work

  • In the previous lesson, students learned to determine the relevance of the sources they found. In this lesson, students continue their research by evaluating the credibility of the additional sources they find.
  • Students continue to build understanding of the final stages of the design thinking process as they approach the conclusion of the anchor text in chapter 14.

Support All Students

  • Note that there is a differentiated version of the entrance ticket used in Opening A in the supporting materials download. ▲
  • Evaluating source credibility is more difficult for students with limited language proficiency. By focusing on one TED Talk as an example, ELLs can develop a clearer and more grounded sense of what makes a source credible. If there is a classroom “Research Wall,” encourage students to work together to write a few key tips for determining credibility of a source, and add these tips to the wall. ▲
  • Support students at varied reading levels by recommending databases for different reading levels (e.g., Newsela or Gale). ▲
  • Continue to monitor students to determine if there are issues surfacing as a result of the content of this lesson that need to be discussed as a whole group, in smaller groups, or individually.

Assessment Guidance

  • Circulate to monitor students’ ability to evaluate the credibility of their sources and add to their note-catchers.

Down the Road

  • In the next lesson, students will learn how to properly paraphrase and quote from their sources, as they continue fleshing out their Design Solution: Research note-catcher. Students continue to build understanding of the final stages of the design thinking process as they approach the conclusion of the anchor text in the second half of chapter 14.

In Advance

  • Read chapter 14 in advance to identify plot points and vocabulary that may require clarification or sensitivity.
  • Review the student tasks and example answers to get familiar with what students will be required to do in the lesson (see Materials list). Specifically, read through the steps on the Researcher's Tool Box; find examples of non-credible sources to make this distinction for students.
  • Prepare copies of handouts for students, including the entrance ticket (see Materials list).
  • Post the learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Work Time A: Connect a computer to a large, external monitor, such as a Smartboard, for modeling the process of determining credibility of sources.
  • Work Time B: Provide computers or tablets for each student to continue the research process.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 6.I.A.1, 6.I.A.2, 6.I.B.6, 6.I.B.7, 6.I.B.8, 6.I.C.11, 6.I.C.12, 6.II.B.5, 6.II.C.6, and 6.II.C.7.

Important Points in the Lesson Itself

  • To support ELLs, this lesson connects to previous lessons by teaching students to evaluate the credibility of sources they encounter during their research. Students have the opportunity to glean insights from a model exercise with the whole class before applying their learning independently. As a source of additional support, the Researcher's Tool Box handout, first introduced in Lesson 6, provides specific tips that students can use to evaluate source credibility.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to determine credibility of a source, especially if they come from environments with academic practices or attitudes toward intellectual ownership that differ from those in most classrooms in the United States. Challenge students to iterate the reasons why credibility is an important factor in determining which sources to use when conducting research.

Vocabulary

  • credibility (A)

Key

(A): Academic Vocabulary

(DS): Domain-Specific Vocabulary

Materials from Previous Lessons

Teacher

Student

  • Text Guide: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (for teacher reference) (from Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time C)
  • Gist anchor chart: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (example for teacher reference) (from Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time C)
  • Work to Become Ethical People anchor chart (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time A)
  • Design Solution: William note-catcher (example for teacher reference) (from Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 13, Work Time A)
  • Equity sticks (optional; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time C)
  • Researchers Do These Things anchor chart (one for display; from Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 5, Work Time B)
  • Researchers Do These Things anchor chart (example for teacher reference) (from Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 5, Work Time B)
  • Model Design Solution: "Bridges to Prosperity" note-catcher (one for display; from Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 6, Work Time A)
  • Discussion Norms anchor chart (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 13, Work Time B)
  • The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (text; one per student; from Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time A)
  • Vocabulary logs (one per student; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Work Time B)
  • Researcher's Tool Box (one per student; from Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 6, Work Time A)
  • Design Solution: Research note-catcher (one per student; from Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 6, Work Time A)
  • Device for internet research (one per student)
  • Dance cards (one per student; from Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 5, Closing and Assessment A)
  • Independent reading journal (one per student; begun in Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 6, Work Time B)

New Materials

Teacher

Student

  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 9 (answers for teacher reference)
  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 9 (one per student)
  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 9 ▲ 
  • Synopsis: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Chapter 14 (one per student)
  • Sticky notes (one per student)

Assessment

Each unit in the 6-8 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize students' understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

OpeningLevels of Support

A. Engage the Learner – W.6.7 (5 minutes)

  • Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as previous lessons to distribute and review Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 9 or optional Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 9 ▲. Refer to the Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 9 (answers for teacher reference) for possible responses.
  • Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as with the previous lessons to review learning targets and the purpose of the lesson, reminding students of any learning targets that are similar or the same as in previous lessons.

For Lighter Support

  • N/A

For Heavier Support

  • During Opening A, invite students who need heavier support to use Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 9 ▲. This resource includes partially completed sentence frames and a bank of possible answers.

Work Time

Work TimeLevels of Support

A. Read The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Chapter 14 Excerpt - RI.6.7 (15 minutes)

  • Explain to students that chapter 14 is an especially long chapter; they will read the first half in this lesson and finish in the following lesson. Today students will read from the beginning of the chapter on page 242 and ending at the paragraph break on page 252 at "' . . . you're going back to school.'"
  • Repeated routine: Read the excerpt of chapter 14 of the text, using Text Guide: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (for teacher reference) for comprehension and vocabulary questions as needed. Students who are ready to read independently or in small groups should be released to this independence. Students continue to record the gist on sticky notes, unpack and record unfamiliar vocabulary, and reflect on their reading as they choose. Refer to the following resources as appropriate to support this section of the lesson: Gist anchor chart: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (example for teacher reference), Synopsis: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Chapter 14, vocabulary logs, and Work to Become Ethical People anchor chart.
  • Gist: William's windmill gets international attention from journalists.
  • Turn and Talk:

"How did William use the skills he had learned to help others?" (Student responses will vary, but may include he used his strengths to help others grow by starting a science club at Wimbe Primary and building a windmill for the school.)

  • Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning target.

For Lighter Support

  • In Work Time A, after students read the chapter 14 excerpt of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, invite students to participate in a Mini Language Dive in small groups to interpret words as they are used in the sentence and examine how connotations of particular words affect overall meaning (RI.6.4, L.6.5c). The Mini Language Dive also presents a short extension that invites students to compare the sentence to photos that depict the same event, enhancing their understanding of the sentence (RI.6.7).

For Heavier Support

  • N/A

B. Mini Lesson: Determine Relevance and Credibility - W.6.8 (20 minutes)

  • Remind students that, in the previous lesson, they practiced choosing effective search terms, determining the relevance of a source, and skimming and scanning for information that matches their research question.
  • Explain that once researchers have identified relevant sources, they have to determine the credibility of a source. Explain that credibility means being believable.
  • Ask students to retrieve their Researcher's Tool Box handout and draw their attention to the Choose and Use Credible Internet Sources section. Read aloud the first bullet (about the publisher), asking students to follow along.
  • Using a search engine, such as Google, search for "Bridges to Prosperity," the company discussed in the Avery Bang TED Talk that has been used as a model for this research project.
  • Model using this criterion to evaluate the relevant sources on the results page. Invite students to join in evaluating the credibility of the sources.
  • Click on one of the sources and read aloud each of the other bullet points from Choose and Use Credible Internet Sources, using them as a checklist to verify the credibility of the source. Invite students to join in evaluating the credibility of the source. If students need additional support or practice, display several different sources and ask students to work together to label them as credible or not.
  • Add these steps to the Researchers Do These Things anchor chart. Refer to the Researchers Do These Things anchor chart (example for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Display the Model Design Solution: "Bridges to Prosperity" note-catcher and ask students to retrieve their Design Solution: Research note-catcher. Focus students on Part II: Source Information. Remind students that they already filled in the bibliographic information for their sources (the TED Talk and the source found during research time in Lesson 8).
  • Model filling in the row labeled "Explain what makes this a credible source."
  • Check for understanding using a total participation technique, such as Thumb-O-Meter.
  • Ensure each student has a device connected to the internet and is able to access to the internet. Release students to find credible sources that enhance their understanding of their chosen topic and how the innovator used design thinking to solve a critical problem.
  • Three minutes before the end of the time, ask students to pause their research and put away their devices. Then refocus the group and invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.

For Lighter Support

  • During Work Time B, challenge students to break down and engage the word credibility in multiple ways to improve comprehension and metacognition. These tasks could include the following: deconstructing the word into its root and affixes; identifying related words in English and in students' home languages (e.g., creer, which means to believe, in Spanish); locating useful synonyms; and using symbols to separate syllables and identify spoken emphasis.

For Heavier Support

  • N/A

Closing & Assessments

Closing

A. Small Group Discussion - W.6.8 (5 minutes)

  • Explain that students will describe a source they found that they intend to use and explain how they knew it was credible and relevant.
  • Invite students to retrieve their dance cards. Name a dance partner group for students to join.
  • Reminding students of the Discussion Norms anchor chart, invite students to begin sharing information from Part II of their Design Solution: Research note-catcher.
  • Invite students to reflect on the habits of character focus in this lesson, discussing what went well and what could be improved next time.

Homework

Homework

A. Independent Research Reading

  • Students read for at least 20 minutes in their independent research reading text. Then they select a prompt and write a response in their independent reading journal.

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