Digital Literacy Lesson 1/2

Materials: projector, white board, computers, handout Digital Literacy Google Search Strategies

1. Full class instruction. Pass out 2-page handout Google Search Strategies.
2. Demonstrate usage of the search strategies using example topics.

Symbol Explanation Example

Brainstorming keywords and having thoughtful word designer shoes
order is important. vs shoe designers
For phrases. Show difference b/t search with and w/o burnaby south
quotes for Burnaby South. secondary
AND Looks for both topics together on same page/item. A Football OR
narrower search. Demonstrate with venn diagraph. baseball
OR Collects all hits on each topic together in one search. A
broader search. Demonstrate with venn diagraph.
Football OR
baseball
~ put this symbol before a word to look for synonyms or
similar meaning
~popular

put this symbol before a word, for a word that you DONT
want in your search
sports

site: to specify a particular site or domain. Try site:.gov

site:https://www.nfb.ca/ "Canadian history"
filetype: to search for specific file types (jpg, pdf, doc, PPT) Filetype:pdf
.. looks for a range of numbers or amounts. Demonstrate
with keyword camera
$200..$350

@ Finds topics on social media sites books @twitter
hockey
# #facebook
shakespear*
Acts like a wildcard or unknown word best * in
* Canada

3. Your turn! Students will research an example topic (like the importance of sleep for
teenagers) while demonstrating their willingness to try the strategies. As they go, theyll
collect examples from a variety of media types: website, article, video, meme, Powerpoint,
PDF, etc.

4. Students will present their learning by creating accounts at https://elink.io and creating a
curated collection of 6-10 items from their search. Each item requires a title and a brief
description, written by the student.

5. Students can turn in their work by copy/pasting their elink into a Google doc, prepared by
the teacher. This assignment is homework if not completed by the end of class.

Kathleen Yan and Stephanie Vande Kraats 2017

Digital Literacy Lesson 2/2

Materials: projector, white board, computers, handout ABCs of website evaluation

1. Briefly review search strategies from yesterday using a white board and student responses.

2. Allow 15 minutes for students to finish their homework at elink and paste their web link to
the Google doc.

3. Pass out 1-page note-taking sheet ABCs of Website Evaluation

4. Show presentation The ABCs of Website Evaluation http://bit.ly/2pmuMZ0

(see thumbnails below) Ask students to record strategies for each category on their handout.

5. Students go to their computers and access their elink pages. They will now assess each
item they have collected using the ABC strategies. Students will re-sequence their links in
order of most reliable to least reliable. They will edit the description of each link in order to
provide their reasoning for why they have sequenced each item as #1, #2, etc.

Slide thumbnails of the teachers ABC presentation at Piktochart.

Kathleen Yan and Stephanie Vande Kraats 2017

Name:______________________________________ Date: ____________ Block ___________

Digital Literacy Google Search Strategies

From Common Sense Media and ReadWriteThink.org

Tip: when entering the search strings, do NOT put any spaces before or after the symbols.

Symbol What it does Example
Brainstorming keywords and having thoughtful word order designer shoes
is important. vs shoe designers
to narrow your search by looking for exact phrases burnaby south
secondary
AND Looks for both topics Football OR
baseball
OR Looks for either topic Football OR
baseball
~ put this symbol before a word to look for synonyms or
similar meaning
~popular

put this symbol before a word, for a word that you DONT
want in your search
cat

site: to specify a particular site or domain site:.gov

filetype: to search for specific file types (jpg, pdf) Filetype:pdf
.. looks for a range of numbers or amounts $200..$350

@ Looks for topics on social media sites books @twitter
hockey
# #facebook
shakespear*
acts like a wildcard or unknown word best * in Canada
*


Internet Search Activity

Step 1: Create your elink account

Go to the Library blog from the schools home page. Click on Library.
Put your mouse over Research Tools Digital Citizenship click on Google Search
Strategies Activity
Click on the green elink link and create an account. If you dont want to use your last name,
use South as your last name in the registration box.

Kathleen Yan and Stephanie Vande Kraats 2017

Step 2: Collect keywords
Research topic: How does having too little sleep impact teenagers and their learning?
Brainstorm useful keywords for your Google search and record them below.

_____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

Step 3A: Create searches (note: youll be doing step 3A & step 3B at the same time.)
Review the search strategies on page 1.
Use your keywords & search strategies to create strong Google searches for your topic.
Record three of your specific search strategies below.
Example: labrador retriever AND ~toxic AND ~food* site:.gov
a) _____________________________________________________________________

b) _____________________________________________________________________

c) _____________________________________________________________________

Step 3B: Collect resources

At the same time as 3A, you will be collecting the URLs of things you discover online. You
will store these URLs at your elink page. Have your elink page open in a separate browser
tab, beside your search tab. You must have 6 to 10 sources in a variety of media
formats. See suggestions below.

website article pdf video jpg or tif

When you find a good source, copy the link to your elink page and compile a list of sources.
For each source, add a title and write your own short description.
Save your sources on elink and follow the NEXT steps to publish and get a link.

Step 4: Turn in your work

Go back to the library blog.
Put your mouse over Research Tools Digital Citizenship Google Search
Strategies Activity
Click on the green link: Upload your work here on the Googledoc sheet.
Type your name and paste a URL to your elink page as well.

Kathleen Yan and Stephanie Vande Kraats 2017

ABCs of Website Evaluation Name:______________________________ block _____

A Assess the URL (domain name, extension)

B Browse the website (dates, photos, grammar, ads, comments)

C- Check credentials (author, publisher, organization, claims)

Kathleen Yan and Stephanie Vande Kraats 2017