Activities

1. Make a reference mini book explaining how to select a credible source.
   
   
2. Given a claim, several reasons, and evidence, match each reason with the supporting evidence. 

3. Given a claim, three relevant pieces of support, and two off-topic or irrelevant pieces of support, select the relevant support.
   
   
4. Given a topic and selected websites, identify the websites with credible information and reject the less-than credible websites.

5. Given a topic, write a claim and support the claim with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
   
   
6. Given a research topic and claim, find sources that would support the claim.  Explain why each source is credible.

Answer Key/Rubric

1. Student makes a reference mini book explaining how to select a credible source.
   Student understands and includes in the booklet:

• Credible information comes from a person or organization with authority or expertise. Credible information comes from people or organizations that have a reputation to uphold like a doctor, university or government agency.
• Credible information needs to be current. Due to scientific advances and new knowledge, information often needs to be current to be most correct.
• Credible information comes from understanding the author’s purpose for writing.  Knowing the author’s purpose will help the reader decide if the information is credible or is biased.  The reader should look for emotional words, opinions stated as facts, exaggerations, or information left out on purpose to detect bias. 

2. Given a claim, several reasons and evidence, student matches each reason with the supporting evidence.  Student understands that the accompanying evidence needs to match or support the reason or example given.  Using logic and comprehension, student correctly pairs evidence with the reasons given.   
   
   
3. Given a claim, three relevant pieces of support, and two off-topic or irrelevant pieces of support, student selects the relevant support pieces.  Student understands that for a claim to be convincing it needs to have examples and evidence that support the claim and are on-topic.  For example, if the student’s paper is about advantages of living in a city, he shouldn’t mention negative things like traffic jams or smog, which would be irrelevant support.  Student correctly identifies support that is relevant to the claim.  Student correctly identifies support that is irrelevant to the claim.
   
   
4. Given a topic and selected websites, student identifies the websites with credible information and rejects the less-than credible websites.  Student correctly identifies websites that are credible and rejects less-than credible websites.
   Student chooses credible websites based on the following criteria:

• Domains that are more likely to be credible, such as .edu  or .gov.  Students should be extra-careful of .com, .org and .net because these sites can be purchased by anyone.  Student understands that .edu is reserved for educational institutions and .gov is reserved for government entities.  These entities usually have a reputation they wish to uphold, although, the domain is only one factor in the credibility of the website.
• An author who has contact information and/or credentials that indicate he is knowledgeable or has expertise in this area.
• Primary source documents or secondary source documents with book, journal or scholarly article citations.
• Current information and dates indicating when information was published.
• Information free from bias.  Student understands that a website might be biased if it has emotional pleas, opinions stated as facts, exaggerations, or information left out on purpose.  Student should determine the author’s purpose when deciding if the information is credible. 
• A site that is professional in appearance and free from grammatical and spelling errors.

5. Given a topic, student writes a claim and supports the claim with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
   Student correctly writes a claim that is:

• One sentence
• An opinion
• Declarative
• Can be supported by evidence

Student gives clear reasons and explains their thinking with multiple sentences.  Thoughts are coherent, logical, well-explained, and support the claim.  The student does not write so briefly that the reader must imply needed information.  Student gives evidence that supports the claim and matches the reason given.  Evidence is provided in a logical place, usually before or after the support.  Evidence is cited correctly and in verbatim form.  Student gives two or more reasons to support the claim.  Student gives evidence for each piece of support.

6. Given a research topic and claim, student finds sources that would support the claim.  Student chooses sources that are relevant and helpful to the research being done.  Student locates credible print or on-line sources.  Student explains why each source is credible.
   The student understands that:

• Credible information comes from a person or organization with authority or expertise.
  
• Credible information comes from people or organizations that have a reputation to uphold like a doctor, university or government agency.
• Credible information needs to be current.
  
• Due to scientific advances and new knowledge, information often needs to be current to be most correct.
• Credible information comes from understanding the author’s purpose for writing.
  
• Knowing the author’s purpose will help the reader decide if the information is credible or is biased.  The reader should look for emotional words, opinions stated as facts, exaggerations or information left out on purpose to detect bias.

When looking at websites, students also look for:

• More credible domains such as .edu  or .gov.  Students should be extra-careful of .com, .org and .net because these sites can be purchased by anyone.  Student understands that .edu is reserved for educational institutions and .gov is reserved for government entities.  These entities usually have a reputation they wish to uphold, although, the domain is only one factor in the credibility of the website.
• An author who has contact information and/or credentials that indicate he is knowledgeable or has expertise in this area.
• Primary source documents or secondary source documents with book, journal, or scholarly article citations.
• A site that is professional in appearance and free from grammatical and spelling errors.