Internet Search Lesson Plan: Digital Literacy

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Internet Search , and supports the standard of understanding and using effective research strategies to locate information and other resources online. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Pose the following scenario: You are trying to find information about a topic for a research project for school. Ask students some or all of the following questions:

• How do you start the research process?
• Where can you look for information on the Internet?
• How do you generate a good search?
• What are some strategies you use to make sure you find the information you are looking for?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

• Read the description on the Internet Search topic page .
• Play the Movie , pausing to check for understanding.
• Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the following articles: “In Practice” or “In Depth”. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS

Assign the Internet Search Challenge and Quiz , prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about Internet searches while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

• Make-a-Movie : Produce a tutorial video that teaches strategies for finding the most relevant and reliable sources when conducting online research.
• Make-a-Map : Create a concept map that tracks the process of an online search starting from entering the search term and ending at finding the best search results. Remember: Internet searches may take multiple iterations to get the results you are looking for.
• Creative Coding : Code a sorting game where players sort queries as either good search terms or bad search terms to determine which terms or phrases would generate the most relevant search results.

More to Explore

Digital Citizenship Unit : Continue to build understanding around digital citizenship with more BrainPOP topics.

Teacher Support Resources:

• Pause Point Overview : Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas.
• Learning Activities Modifications : Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
• Learning Activities Support : Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.

Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).

Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.

Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.

Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).

Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).

Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.

Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in presentations to clarify information.

Analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study.

Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points.

Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.

Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.

With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.

Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.