Not sure if everything you read on the web is true? 

Here are some resources for evaluating websites!

Digital Literacy Lesson Plan: Rationale

Over the years, I have heard students tell me about how they use the internet. A lot of EML students like to follow people who make videos on YouTube, or "YouTubers." Recently, a lot of EML students were "following" a Youtuber named, Logan Paul. Some students liked him so much, they even bought his merchandise! At first, students would come in to class and talk about the funny skits he put on his YouTube channel before getting to work. But after a while, the ways Mr. Paul was acting in these skits became more and more concerning. In one such episode of his YouTube show, Mr. Paul went to Japan and disrespected the people and the traditions there. He said things that were prejudiced and condescending toward Asian people. He also showed that he had no value for the lives of Japanese people. Mr. Paul's YouTube channel was taken down for a few months after this incident. During this time, I talked to the EML students who had shown interest in his channel and suggested the names of other YouTubers who celebrated culture. This helped. A lot of students stopped wearing Mr. Paul's merchandise and they started following other YouTubers that made videos with kindness in mind.

Sometimes, students will download apps to help them do their homework or classwork onto their phones. In the past, students have downloaded apps like DuoLingo, Quizlet, MyOn, KidsA-Z, and ClassDojo. These apps are approved by the school system as being educational. However, some apps that students download are attached to computer or video games they might play. Sometimes these apps have displays of violence or inappropriate language. When students are using school computers, I can tell them what sites are approved by the county to use for educational purposes. That's harder to do when they are using their phones.

Finally, some students find information in the internet that is not true. Sometimes, they come to class and share this information as if it was a fact. I try my best to correct the false statements I hear. However, there are a lot of instances where students believe an opinion as if it was a fact. Recently, a student told me that he didn't believe the information he was learning in class was true because it was "all about Black people." I understood his concern, but let him know that we celebrate and teach about all cultures at our school as we try to have a culturally responsive curriculum. I let him know that events like Hispanic Heritage Month, Black History Month, and Multicultural Night are all a part of sharing this culturally responsive curriculum with parents. After our conversation, he understood that we try to teach children about historical leaders who they could see themselves being like, but his comment is one that I have heard before. This concerns me because it was based on an opinion, not a fact.

In addition to teaching students how to identify facts and opinions in class, I wanted to provide a lesson plan that helped students check the information they find on the websites they encounter. I also wanted to provide students with resources about how to celebrate their own culture, and the culture of others. Finally, I wanted to provide information about the cultures that are most represented at our school. These cultures include Black American culture, Central American culture, South American culture, and Afro Latinx/Latine culture. 

The resources provided in this lesson plan are meant to help students learn about how to evaluate the information they encounter on the internet. However, they are also meant to help parents get the latest and most accurate information about how to evaluate these web resources for use at home. A lot of the resources provided in the lesson plan/below are resources that teachers use to help them find the most appropriate websites for students. I hope you like them and find them as helpful as I do.

Digital Literacy Lesson Plan & Hyperdoc:

About the Resources Provided:

In the lesson plan (linked above), I have provided several resources about evaluating websites, children's books that celebrate culture, the Afro Latinx/Latine cultural identity, and the celebration of one's own individual skin color. 

The web evaluation resources provided in the lesson come from the Nuseum's Educator's Webpage. These resources are made to help students (and parents!) evaluate a webpage for the Evidence it provides, the sources used to gather its findings, the context the information is presented in, the audience its intended for, the purpose of the site itself, and the execution of how the information was shared. I provided these resources in English and Spanish so the information can be accessed in the both languages that most of the EML students at our school speak. Feel free to use these resources to evaluate the web pages you and your child use at home.

I also provide several websites about where to find children's books and educational resources that celebrate culture. These websites include TeachingForChange.org, TeachingCentralAmerica.org, SocialJusticeBooks.org, Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org,) and ColorinColorado.org. To help students (and parents) evaluate this website, I have provided reviews of each site as well. After evaluating each site in the lesson, students will vote on which sites to use to buy more books for our bilingual classroom library. Feel free to look through each site and peruse its book lists to help you at to your home library as well.

In addition to the resources share in the lesson, I have also provided a pdf about how teachers evaluate apps for the classroom. Feel free to use this resource to help you decide which apps are right for your child to use at home. If you would like direct links to these resources, please go to the Digital Literacy Resources tab above.