Information Literacy Session on: Evaluating Online Sources
Bonus Lesson: Analyzing an Author’s Argument(s)
A few main concepts covered:
Essential Question: How is the author trying to persuade?
Guiding Questions: What is an argument? What are the parts of an argument?
Standards
Note: To address college readiness, several state and national standards have been selected, emphasizing related skills and concepts. However, while this lesson touches on several of these, not all of these will be assessed here.
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Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework Frame(s): Authority Is Constructed and Contextual; Information Creation as a Process; Information Has Value; Research as Inquiry; Scholarship as Conversation; Searching as Strategic Exploration Knowledge Practices: explore the concept of authority; assess info product's fit to your info. need; be aware of how info. is published/make informed online choices; formulate questions for research...; identify contribution of specific authors/info sources; determine scope of info-seeking task Dispositions: keep an open mind when evaluating info; assess info product's fit to your info. need; accept ambiguity/value of info. creation expressed in emerging formats or modes; respect the original ideas of others/see yourself as a contributor to the info. marketplace; research as exploration; research as ongoing conversation; exhibit mental flexibility and creativity |
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American Association for School Librarians (AASL). National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries (AASL Standards) https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180206-AASL-framework-for-learners-2.pdf Domain(s): Think, Create, Share, and Grow Shared Foundation(s): Inquire, Include, Collaborate, Curate, Explore, Engage Think (2. Adopting a discerning stance toward points of view and opinions expressed in information resources and learning products. Etc.); Create (2. Collecting information representing diverse perspectives); Share (2. Involving diverse perspectives in their own inquiry processes.); Grow (1. Performing ongoing analysis of and reflection on the quality, usefulness, and accuracy of curated resources.). Etc. |
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International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Standards for Students and Educators https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students
ISTE for Students- Knowledge Constructor. 3b. Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or other resources. Innovative Designer: 4a. Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems; 4d. Students exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance and the capacity to work with open-ended problems. |
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Texas School Library Standards Strand 1: Information Literacy 1.2.4 show evidence of the ability to evaluate and validate information for: • Authority • Bias • Credibility • Currency • Relevance |
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Lesson Objectives/What am I learning? The information literate student…
Learning Outcomes/Why did I learn this? [Demonstration of Learning] At the end of this lesson, my students will be able to break down information by identifying the parts of an argument. |
Lesson Cycle
Part 1. Engagement: News Article/Video
Teaching Strategy/Instructional Procedure: Conversing
Learning Strategy/ Procedure: share out
Instructions: Do your parents ever tell you “don’t argue?” What is an argument? Let’s watch this and discuss:
Weise, E. Sep. 23, 2019. 'How dare you?' Read Greta Thunberg's emotional climate change speech to UN and world leaders. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/09/23/greta-thunberg-tells-un-summit-youth-not-forgive-climate-inaction/2421335001/
Part 2. Direct instruction: Modeling argument analysis
I do: I model how to break down a statement into argument parts using the Toulmin Model
We do: We will look at an issues article and figure out what argument it is making.
Teaching Strategy/Instructional Procedure: Toulmin Model
Learning Strategy/ Procedure: Toulmin Model
Instructions: Use the Toulmin Model
Part 3. Guided Practice:
Elaboration: You do- Watch this video on whether students should have homework, and analyze it using the Toulmin method: http://neatoday.org/2014/05/13/should-schools-be-done-with-homework/
Part 4. (Individual / Independent Practice): Work on your homework assignment.
Part 5. Evaluation: Closing/Demonstration of Learning
Ask for help, or feedback. The librarian can review concepts that are unclear. Find a resource you have been looking at and try to condense the information into an argument by breaking it down into argument parts.
Homework: Now that you have more information on analyzing arguments, continue searching for information on your topic and use an evaluation method on it.
Essential Question: How do you consider different points of view?
Guiding Questions: How can you tell between fact vs opinion? What is an argument? What does it mean to have bias?
Credits:
"Lesson Plan Worksheet" borrowed (and adapted) from Colorado State University, at https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/esl/plansheet.cfm, and DIDS.org, Instructional Resources, at https://www.dallasisd.org/Page/46749
- by Adrian M. Spring, 2020
