Lesson Plan

Critical Source Evaluation

historic photograph of church facade
Grade Level:
High School: Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade
Subject:
Literacy and Language Arts,Social Studies
Lesson Duration:
90 Minutes
State Standards:
Arizona College and Career Readiness:
6-12.RH.1, 6-12.RH.2, 6-12.RH.5, 6-12.RH.6, 6-12.RH.8, 6-12.RH.9
6-12.RST.2, 6-12.RST.5, 6-12.RST.8, 6-12.RST.9

Essential Question

What are good practices for critical source evaluation?

Objective

Students will be able to:

Define "citation"
Name at least three criteria by which a source can be evaluated
Use deductive and inductive reasoning to draw conclusions
Evaluate the credibility of a variety of sources online and in the world

Background

The vast resources available on the Internet in the 21st century can be a treasure trove of information but can also be difficult to navigate.  What is true and what is untrue?  When is an author practicing sound research techniques?  How do we determine whether a source is reliable or not?
The National Park Service preserves information in all types of forms (people, objects, documents) that can bring us closer to the primary sources we seek and that can verify or inform conclusions that we make.
 

Preparation

Evaluating Sources Worksheet

Download

Materials

Evaluating Sources Worksheet

Download Evaluating Sources Worksheet

Procedure

Before a research project, introduce your students to the attached Evaluating Sources worksheet.  This form can be used for a variety of materials including articles, websites, diagrams, personal interviews, etc.  Make sure that students understand all the vocabulary included on the worksheet.

As a trial run, use the following sites on the Tumacácori National Historical Park website to test out the evaluation tool.

Images
Mission records
Reports
Articles

You can explore the many reaches of Tumacácori's website for addition source information or plan a field trip to encounter more.  The church itself is a primary source, as are the tortilla demonstrators, the river corridor, and the many artifacts in the musuem.

Vocabulary

source, citation, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, primary, secondary, correlation, causation, bias, persuasion

Contact Information

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Last updated: March 7, 2019