Fact Gathering from Multiple Sources
ELAL Learning Outcome (Knowledge) - Factual Information can come from a variety of digital and non-digital sources, including people, places, print, images, observations, ...
This activity teaches students how to gather information from multiple digital sources. When performing a google search, students learn what to look for on the page - images, videos, etc. - for gathering information.
Lesson:
Objective: Factual Information can come from a variety of digital and non-digital sources, including people, places, print, images, observations, ...
Media sample:
Using this opening page for a Google search, teachers can show students how to click on multiple media sample types at the top of the page (All, Images, Videos, News,... and in More, Maps, Books,...) to locate the types of media information they want to use to research. Further down on the page, students can find different types of sharks as well as questions that people ask about sharks that might align with their own questions.
Key Questions:
Using this page, what kinds of information can you find out about sharks? What tools or key words help you to find this information? How is the information organized? Is it helpful? Why might it be important to get our information from more than one source? (ease of use or preference, different perspectives or ways of presenting the information). Grade 1 students will likely prefer images and video. Point out that gathering information from many images and videos gives us a more well-rounded understanding of the information.
Application:
In pairs, students choose a topic and perform a Google search. Using the elements on the search page, they find and discuss the information they are able to locate on that page. What questions were they able to answer? What new questions might they have?
In a larger class discussion, students identify what they found the most helpful? Least helpful? What types of media they prefer to use for their research? What new questions can they ask about their topics?
Follow-up:
When completely further research tasks, review with the students the elements and tools available on a Google search page and which ones might be useful for the new search topic.