Module 4: Information Literacy & Primary Sources

For this assignment, Lily and I created a HyperDoc for a 12th grade US Government class. We centered our lesson around the standard GOVT.16: The student will apply social science skills to understand that in a democratic republic, thoughtful and effective participation in civic life is characterized by f) keeping informed about current issues.

HyperDocs are a Google Docs template that allow teachers to create a totally virtual lesson plan that students can access anywhere they have WiFi. This document allows the teacher to link many different resources, as well as lets students make a copy and edit their own document.

Our lesson teaches students about the importance of current events and how being aware of what is going on in the world makes you a better citizen. Students are given a video to watch and reflect on, a partner activity that involves online research, and an article to read and reflect on using Padlet. Students then create a social media post about a current event of their choice that will go on a digital slideshow of the whole class' work. At the end of class, we will have a group discussion about the current events that each student chose to research.

By doing their own research on a specific current event, students will gain skills on how to research and determine the value of sources. They will also demonstrate their ability to create succinct, informative social media posts.

For this lesson, students will receive a copy of the CRAP Checklist below to aid them in evaluating their sources.