Identifying High–Quality Sites Critical Literacy in Action This lesson is adapted from Common Sense Media,

Essential Question: When can you trust what you find on the Internet?

Warm-Up: Hurricane Sandy 2012 What kind of role do you think the Internet played in helping people learn about Hurricane Sandy? View slideshow at the bottom of the webpageslideshow NASA

Tomb of the Unknown Solider FACT: This photo was taken during a storm in September 2012, in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This picture was part of a Tweet that someone shared during the hurricane. Caption: “AMAZING PHOTO: Even a hurricane won’t keep the honor guard from the tomb of the unknown solider this morning.” Discuss: What if I told you that this photo wasn’t actually taken during Hurricane Sandy? Taken out of context, the photo went viral online and was even picked up by major news outlets like NPR and the Washington Post! People misinterpreted it to be a snapshot of the hurricane.

More Fake Hurricane Sandy Photos This is often credited as Hurricane Isabel, but Snopes says it is not so: Its provenance is not known but some think it was a 2003 tropical cyclone in Australia.*Snopes says it is not so

A photoshop job of the Statue of Liberty and a supercell thunderstorm from 2004 taken by photographer Mike Hollingshead.Mike Hollingshead.

This image is from a video called "Flooded McDonald's" once part of a French* art installation by the Danish Group Superflex. Not the real thing.Superflex

This Manhattan skyline fake has been floating around Twitter and Instagram today, but was originally on a Wall Street Journal post from 2011.originally on

Crazy satellite picture...of Hurricane Ike.

Perfect Storm. From the movie.the movie

Twitter jokes.

Instagram jokes.

Facebook jokes.

This picture is from the movie: Day After Tomorrow

Can anyone be an author? publish – to present a finished piece of work to the public How is the process of publishing printed material (newspapers, magazines, books) different from publishing on the Internet?

Anyone can be an author! trustworthy – accurate and dependable

NY Times Article A 15-year-old kid increased the value of a stock by sending messages on the Internet with advice such as "the most undervalued stock ever.” He bought the stock at a low price, “pumped” up the talk which increased the price. Then he sold the stock for a profit – “dump.”

Discussion: Name an article you might want to write for a school magazine or website for kids. Are you qualified to be the author of that article? Why or why not? – To be a reliable author: Advanced degrees? Important job? Know a lot about the subject? Trustworthy sources Check facts

Test Before You Trust! evaluate – to carefully examine something to figure out its value criteria- standards on which you base a judgment or decision

Watch Video Click here to watch a video about how to evaluate a website before you trust ithere

C.R.A.P C – Currency R – Reliability A – Authority P – Purpose/Point of View

Currency Last updated? Time sensitive –Technology –Science –News –Research

Reliability Does the website provide any citations? Information without documentation is not much better than just expressing an opinion or point of view. Do the facts make sense? Spelling mistakes? Grammar mistakes?

Authority Anyone can publish anything on the WWW Authority comes from the credentials or expertise of the author, editor or institution –Education –Years of experience –Reputation

Purpose/Point of View Ulterior Motive? Educate? Inform? Explain? Persuade? Entertain?

C.R.A.P C – Currency R – Reliability A – Authority P – Purpose/Point of View

Research Project You will need to find trustworthy sources that discuss the positive and/or negative effects of social networking on teens. Let’s go to the lesson website and get started…

Test Before You Trust Activity Work in pairs Evaluate 3 websites based on a 30-point test Choose one from each of the listed categories Score the website Discuss results

What do you notice about your results? A websites – should have Good ratings B websites – should have OK ratings C websites – should have negative/bad ratings

Wrap-up: How do you know whether you can trust the information you find on a website? Why should you be careful to evaluate websites before using the information in research projects? Do you think that you could apply what you have learned to sites that aren’t just for school research, such as a site about your favorite singer or sports team?

Assessment