Emily Sales

Litr 630: 21
st
Century Literacy and Technology
Online Reading Assignment
June 23, 2014














1. Standards:
CCSS RI 6.7: Integrate information presented in different medias or forms
KTS 6.1: Use technology to design and plan instruction, KTS 6.2: Use
technology to implement instruction that facilitates student learning, KTS 6.3
Integrates student use of technology into instruction that enhances student
learning outcomes and meet diverse student needs.
IRA 1.2 Candidates understand the historically shared knowledge of the
profession and changes over time in the perceptions of reading and writing
development, processes, and components, IRA 2.2 Candidates use appropriate
and varied instructional approaches, including those that develop word
recognition, language comprehension, strategic knowledge, and reading-writing
connections, IRA 2.3 Candidates use a wide range of texts (e.g., narrative,
expository, and poetry) from traditional print, digital, and online resources.\
ISTE 3b:Locate organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize and ethically use
information from a variety of sources and media 3C: Evaluate and select
information sources and digital tools based on appropriateness to specific tasks,
2. Grade Level: 6
th
ELA
3. Time needed to complete assignment: 2 45-minutes classes.
4. Materials: computers with internet usage, one classroom computer with a projector for
demonstration purposes.
5. Learning Targets: I can apply search strategies and skills by researching a variety of
topics.
6. Procedures:
1. Discuss students' experiences in searching for information on the Internet. Have students
describe the kinds of things they have searched for on the Internet, and then ask them
Were they able to find what they were looking for?
What frustrates them when they are searching on the Internet?
What strategies seem to work well for Internet searches?
What search engines do they like to use and why?
What strategies do they apply when using a search engine? (Write these on the
board.)
Use this discussion to encourage students to start thinking about how they do research on the
Internet. Also use students' responses to gauge their level of expertise, which is likely to vary
considerably across the class. Based on this information you can determine which strategies
you should refer to later in the lesson, as background for introducing more sophisticated
search techniques.
2. Using your computer and the projector, open your Internet browser. Point out the URL box
at the top of the page and explain that this is where the webpage address or Uniform
Resource Locator for the current webpage is displayed. Explain to students that this box
should not be used to search for information, but it can be used to go directly to a particular
website if they know the URL. Provide one or two examples, typing in www.pizzahut.com,
your school's Web address, or a similar easily identified address.
3. Type the address of the search engine students will use, such as kids.yahoo.com, into the
URL box on your screen. Show students the Search text box at the top where keywords are
entered on the search engine home page.
4. Explain that you are going to search the Internet to find out "What happens in the Chinese
New Year?" Type Chinese New Year into the search box of kids.yahoo.com. Go through a
few of the results and read each of the hyperlinks (which are in blue) and the descriptions (in
black). Explain how the URL can provide information about the source of the website,
through domain names such as .gov, .org, and .edu; and country codes such as .tw and .ca).
5. Explain to students that it is important to read the website descriptions and not to just click
on the first search results. In this Yahoo! Kids search, the first result hyperlink says Chinese
New Year Calendar and the description reads, "See when the Chinese New Year begins for a
particular year, and what animal sign will rule it." This website will show a calendar.
However, since you are looking to learn more about the Chinese New Year in general, you
can probably find a better website for your research. Continue reading the links with students
until you get to the link Chinese New Year Info. Read the hyperlink and description. Explain
to students that this looks like a good link for your search because the hyperlink name and
description answer the question you started with.
6. Click one of the search results and scan the information on the page. Also explore any links
from the page that seem relevant to your original question. If you feel students need to
review how to navigate the Web, show them how to move between websites using the back
and forward arrows, and how to click on links within a website that lead to other relevant
webpages. If your browser allows for tabbed browsing (Firefox or IE7), show them how to
open each site in a new tab and navigate between tabs. (With an older browser, demonstrate
how to open a site in a new window, and how to toggle between windows by minimizing a
window or using the keyboard shortcut Alt-Tab.)
7. Show students how to refine a search by adding keywords. Explain that to focus a search
they should use at least 3 keywords, and for many topics they will do better with 5 or 6. For
example, if they are only looking for how the Chinese New Year is celebrated in America,
they can add the word America to the search. Perform this search to show how the results
change, so that the first website listed is now more relevant to the topic.
8. Explain that efficient keyword searching uses primarily nouns, eliminating unimportant
words such as the, and, what, or in. As an example, in the Yahoo! Kids search box, type the
question "What happens in the Chinese New Year?" Show students that there is now only
one result, the Chinese Calendar, that seems to relate to the question they are researching.
Read through the other search results on the first page. Point out that when you used the full
question, the extra words prevented the search engine from focusing on the main topic of the
search.

Note: There are a few search engines such as brainboost.com that break this rule and only
allow the searcher to type in a question. However, all of the major search engines such as
google.com, yahoo.com, msn.com, and even ask.com require users to simplify their searches
to better focus on the specific information they are looking for.
9. Explain to students that correct spelling of keywords is important. As examples, try
searching for hurracanes or cougers, and then repeat the search using the correct spelling.
On the other hand, capital letters are not important-search engines are not case-sensitive. The
search results will be the same if you type Earth or earth.
10. Give students the handout Using Keywords on the Internet. Using the first example, explain
that sometimes they may have to change search words to make their search more effective.
In this sample search, the word popular was added to make the search more specific, and the
word eat (a verb) was changed to food (a noun) to maximize the search results.
11. Have students work in pairs at computers to finish Section A of the handout. Ideally, more
computer-savvy students can be paired with students who are less comfortable using
computers.
12. After all students have finished, work as a class to compile a list of keyword combinations
that students thought yielded the best search results. Recognize that students may produce
equally effective searches using different keywords. Ask students to identify the strategies
they used to refine their searches. Students may say they omitted unimportant words, or
selected more focused synonyms, or added additional keywords to improve search results.
13. Collect the handout for assessment of Section A, and use students' written responses as a
formulative assessment tool to determine whether students understood the lesson's
objectives. Evaluate their handouts and give constructive feedback.

Session 2: Using Search Strategies for Research
1. Return the Using Keywords on the Internet handout to students and instruct them to
complete Section B. Have them first write in the three topics they have selected, and then
write keywords and phrases they think would be effective in researching these topics.
Remind them that effective searches use between three and six keywords.
2. Using a computer lab or classroom computers, have students research their essay topic.
Note: The reason for selecting three topics is that the kid-friendly search engines may not
provide enough information on some topics for an essay. In this case, you can help students
broaden their topics or encourage them to try another of their three topics.
3. Circulate around the classroom or computer lab to help students refine their searches.
Remind them that they should follow appropriate links within websites, particularly if the
website seems to be a good source of information. Also remind them to seek out the most
relevant websites, the ones that seem to best match the information they are looking for.
4. Have students take notes about all three topics. They will probably discover that they can
find more information on some topics than on others. Remind students to copy the URLs of
the websites where they get their information, so they can properly attribute their sources if
they quote or paraphrase any of the sites in their essays.
5. At the end of the session, have students circle the topic on which they have the most
information for their essay. Collect the handouts and students' notes to assess whether they
have
found information directly relevant to their topic
employed the search strategies learned in the previous session
noted the URLs where they found their information
6. Ask students to share aloud which topics they chose and why. Also have them share what
search strategies they used to find their information.

7. How students will be assessed:
To assess whether students understand how to structure effective keyword
combinations that return relevant information, check their written responses in
Section A of handout. Perform an internet search using the keywords they
suggested for an effective search and see if the answer to the question appears
within the first three to five results.
To verify that students understand the difference between effective and ineffective
keyword combinations, examine their ineffective search answers in Section A.
Ineffective keyword combinations will be too general or will contain unimportant
words such as articles and pronouns.
Using Section B of the handout, assess whether students are learning how to vary
their keywords combinations to yield more relevant information on a topic. If
students are not using effective keyword combinations, be sure to give them
constructive feedback and provide suggestions of other keywords they might use.
8. Accommodations and Modifications:
One accommodation I would make in this lesson would be to conscientiously pair up my
students into pairs where one reader is stronger than the other. This would ensure that through
collaboration, the students would use partner work to read, evaluate and synthesize the sources
they encounter. This accommodation would help all students reach the benchmark of
understanding what criteria make up a strong internet search.
This assignment addresses the IRA standards in a variety of ways. First and
foremost1.2 In addition, this lesson tackles IRA 2.2 by using a varied approach (i.e. online
readings and internet searching) to help develop their word recognition, language
comprehension, strategic knowledge and reading-writing connections. By refining their
internet searches with stronger key words and realizing what strategies of key word lead to
weak searches, students are bolstering all facets of this particular standard. This lesson also
strongly aligns with Standard 2.3 by giving students a wide array of sources to digitally read.
This lesson connects to two of the International Society of Technology Education (ISTE)
standards, The first is 3b: to locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize and ethically use
information from a variety of sources. Through the lesson, students are organizing their topic
searches, analyzing and evaluating what wording is effective and synthesizing this
information into an effective internet search. Additionally, the lesson hits on 3c: Evaluate and
select information sources and digital tools based on appropriateness to specific tasks. Both
of these standards fall under domain 3: Research and information fluency, which strives to
have students use digital tools to gather, evaluate and use information. This main digital
tool in this case is the internet.
The internet source lesson also addresses the Kentucky Teacher Standards in a variety of
ways. It obviously hits on KTS 6.1 by using technology (the internet) to design and plan
instruction. It also addresses 6.2 by using the technology of the internet to facilitate student
learning of how to effectively complete an internet search. Finally KTS 6.3 is fulfilled by
having students use the internet to explore the topic of effective internet searches. Because
they are able to use the internet instead of simply reading a handout, student learning is
enhanced by giving them a hands-on experience. This hands-on experience helps students
learn interactively, while addresses the multiple-intelligence of the kinesthetic learner.
My lesson connects to literature on technology in a variety of ways. Leu et all cited in
Toward a theory of new literacies emerging from the Internet and other Information and
Communication Technologies that Knowing how, when, and where to locate useful information
on the Internet will become an increasingly important component of the literacy curriculum,
especially because the availability of information resources and search technologies is expanding
rapidly, increasing the importance of effective search strategies. Through my lesson, students
evaluate the usefulness of information is the vast world of the internet. By setting their own
standards for whether searches lead to useful information, they are taking control of using the
Internet as a truly effective search strategy. Leu also asserts that New skills and strategies are
required in this context to successfully comprehend information such as how to search for
appropriate information; how to comprehend search engine results My lesson serves to give
students a virtual toolbox of new skills and strategies to use the Internet in an effective and
responsible way.
My lesson on Keywords for Internet Searches also tackles the TPACK from all angles. The
technology component of the lesson is student use of the internet. The Pedagogy is approached
through a variety of methods: class discussion, lecture, partner work and independent practice. And
finally, the content of my lesson is to teach students to use effective keywords for searches on the
Internet. This lesson aligns all facets of TPACK and provides a sound lesson that implements
technology into my literacy classroom.
Finally, the lesson addresses the Common Core State Standard RI6.7. Students will integrate
information presented in different media or forms. This different media is the online reading itself.
Leu asserts that in order for our children to be fluent readers, definitions of literacy must move
beyond being located in only paper-printed media. This approach to a new media creates more
fluent readers who are able to integrate information from a variety of sources.