Kellie Doyle

TCH 414
Fall 2014
Collaborative Information Literacy Lesson Plan

Description
Grade level: 10th grade
Location (Where you will teach the lesson): 21st Century chemistry classroom
Length/number of lessons: Multiple lessons over the course of the academic year. For the
purpose of this assignment, I will focus my efforts on one, 50-minute lesson and describe the
long-term objective.
Topic (Central focus): After instruction, students will be able to apply evaluative criteria to print
and/or nonprint materials to determine the relative value of the information: relevancy,
suitability, authority, objectivity, currency.
Collaborating teacher: Mr. Watters, chemistry teacher

Purpose and planning

Mr. Watters is a well-liked teacher in the science department at Lakes Community High School.
He employs technology to heighten engagement among his students during instruction. You
should see his classroom: television screens are mounted on every wall, and each screen
contains information relevant to the days lesson. No matter where the student is sitting, he or
she knows what is expected of him or her that day and is reminded about upcoming due dates.
Mr. Watters has implemented a program called Genius Hour that allows students to select a
topic of interest to them that also relates in some way to chemistry. They spend the semester
researching that topic and giving weekly informal presentations to their classmates. These
presentations require students to be metacognitive about the research process. Each phase of
the project requires them to practice a different research technique in preparation for the
culminating research project second semester.
Whats missing from this project so far is me. I plan to propose to Mr. Watters a collaboration in
which I visit his classroom regularly throughout the semester, or maybe year, to instruct his
students in information literacy and assess them on their growth. While his focus might primarily
be on content, mine could primarily be on the information literacy skills. After all, hes the
chemistry expert, and Im the information literacy expert. This would be valuable not only
because of the skills his students would practice, but also because they could begin to view me
as additional resource in the building. Many of his students visit the library during their study
halls anyway; I hope this would encourage them to seek me out for guidance for this project
and others while they are there.

Information Literacy Outcomes

I realize my long-term intention for this project is ambitious, so for the purposes of this assignment I will
only focus on probably lesson two or three of the series: After instruction, students will be able to apply
evaluative criteria to print and/or non-print materials to determine the relative value of the information:
relevancy, suitability, authority, objectivity, currency.

Standards
ISAILStandard 2: Evaluate information critically and competently
Common CoreCC.9-10.W.8: Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and
digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in
answering the research question ; CC.9-10.RH.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support
analysis of primary or secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of
the information; CC.9-10.RH.9: Compare and contract treatments of the same topic in several
primary and secondary sources.

AASL1.1.4: Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions; 1.2.2:
Demonstrate confidence and self-direction by making independent choices in the selection of
resources and information; 1.2.6: Display emotional resilience by persisting in information
searching despite challenges; 1.2.7: Display persistence by continuing to pursue information to
gain a broad perspective; 1.4.1. Monitor own information seeking processes for effectiveness
and progress, and adapt as necessary.
NET-S3. Research and Information Fluency: Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate,
and use information. Students (b) locate, organize, analyze, evaluate information from a
variety of sources and media (c) evaluate and select information sources and digital tools
based on appropriateness to specific tasks.

Context
Students already will have learned how to select a topic, narrow that topic, and formulate a research
question. These are skills they already would have practiced in Mr. Watters class with my help.
Students chose their own chemistry-related topics to researchtopics that Mr. Watters approved
meaning they already have a natural vested interest in the project. The goal of this lesson is to improve
upon students critical thinking and research skills. This scaffolding, along with formative assessment
conducted by Mr. Watters and me, will help them to be successful for a more significant project next
semester. Mr. Watters and I also will frequently remind students how these skills will translate to their
work in other classes and in the real world.

Instructional resources & materials

Pollyeverywhere.com
Class set of Chromebooks
Google Doc handouts/worksheets containing a topic, a research question, three links to
sources/articles pertaining to the topic, and questions students must answer in which they
evaluate the three sources and determine which one is most appropriate for their purposes.

Instructional strategies and learning tasks (Active Learning)

o Focusing event: I will ask students to use their personal or classroom devices to respond
to a Polleverywhere.com free-response question displayed on the screens in the
classroom. The question: What are some ways you can quickly determine if a source you
find will be worth your time? Their answers will appear on the screen as they submit them.
Then, we will discuss their answers. Both Mr. Watters and I will chime in to respond to their
answers or pose follow-up questions or additional ideas for them to consider. This will take
about 10 minutes.
o Input from you: I then will introduce the activity by giving the instructions. Mr. Watters
knows he may interject to add to the explanation or clarify instructions.
o Guided practice: Students will receive a handout (preferably electronically) with one of five
or six different topics and research questions at the top. The handouts also will contain
links to three possible sources. Questions on the handout will ask them to evaluate the
effectiveness of each source based on the posed research question. After theyve visited all
three sources, they will need to rank them in the order of their effectiveness. This will take
about 20 minutes (?) for the to complete individually. With the remaining time, they will get
into a small group of three or four with other students who were given the same research
question. The small group will discuss their rankings and explain their rationale. They then
will come up with a consensus of which source was most effective for their purposes, and
collaboratively write a 3-5 sentence explanation. This will take 15 minutes. During both the
individual and group time for the activity, Mr. Watters and I will float around to answer
individual questions and monitor conversations.
o Closure: Group statements and their individual handouts will serve as their exit tickets for
the day; Mr. Watters and I will collect those as we close the lesson by asking students to
raise their hand and provide quick examples of strategies they use to determine if a source
will be helpful to them or not. We will also explain tomorrows follow-up activity:

representatives from each group will share their research question and summarize the
discussion their group had in determining why one source was better for their purposes
than the other two. The students then will put these skills into practice by selecting three
appropriate website sources for their pre-selected topic and research question.

Differentiation
Students will be given topics and research questions of varying difficulty depending on their ability
level, as determined by their performance thus far in the class, their IEP, and other factors.
Additionally, struggling students or students who require accommodations according to an IEP might
only be asked to evaluate one or two sources instead of three.

Assessment / Evaluation of Information Literacy Learning Outcomes

Mr. Watters and I will assess the students understanding of source selection and evaluation
based on our impressions of the opening class discussionthe one where students submitted to
polleverwhere.comour monitoring of small group discussion, and their individual handouts. We
will issue each student a check, check-plus, or plus to indicate his or her understanding, with
pluses meaning the student has a good grasp of the concept. Mr. Watters and I would be sure to
have a conversation about the students progress prior to the next class meeting, and we might
discuss how to continue to offer differentiated activities to students who did not receive a checkplus. See handout below.

Whats next? The Whats next? was explained in previous sections of this form.

Name: ___________________________
Period: __________________________

Selecting Appropriate Sources for Your Research
Instructions: Read the topic and research question below. Then, read each of the three sources and answer the
questions to determine whether or not it is an effective choice for your research. After you have evaluated each source,
rank them in order of effectiveness, with 1 being most effective and 3 being least effective. Be prepared to share your
rationale with a small group.
Topic: Topic goes here
Research Question: Research question goes here

Source A:
Is this a credible source? How do you know?


Copy and paste below any keywords, phrases, or sentences from the source that relate to your research question.


What information would you like to know that is not provided?


Overall, how would you rate this source for your research?
1

not worth my time

5
excellent source

If you ranked the source a 1 or a 2, give an example of a research question that this source would be effective in
answering:

Source B:
Is this a credible source? How do you know?


Copy and paste below any keywords, phrases, or sentences from the source that relate to your research question.


What information would you like to know that is not provided?


Overall, how would you rate this source for your research?
1

not worth my time

5
excellent source

If you ranked the source a 1 or a 2, give an example of a research question that this source would be effective in
answering:

Source C:
Is this a credible source? How do you know?


Copy and paste below any keywords, phrases, or sentences from the source that relate to your research question.


What information would you like to know that is not provided?


Overall, how would you rate this source for your research?
1

not worth my time

5
excellent source


If you ranked the source a 1 or a 2, give an example of a research question that this source would be effective in
answering:

Overall Ranking
1: _________________________ (most effective)
2: _________________________
3: _________________________ (least effective)

Small group statement