Taylor Hemphill

September 15, 2018

Media Literacy Activity; Take it or Leave It
Introduction: Begin by asking the students how they can tell if an online source they want to use
to receive information is actually a good source? In other words, what makes a source credible?
Then explain that there are 4 steps we can follow to decide whether or not a source is a good
source to use.
Step 1: Pull up https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abraham-Lincoln so that the students can
see the website. Scroll down to the bottom of the page where it says “external websites” and
click on it so that other website links shows up. While scrolling to the bottom explain to the
students that the first step in deciding if a source is credible and has correct information is to see
if they site other sources or websites and not just their own. Is there evidence that what they are
saying is true? This is called external verification. Have students look up their favorite superhero
and see if they can find a source that has external verification. Give them maybe 3 minutes.
Step 2: Next pull up https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/american-civil-war-
history so the students can see. Scroll to the bottom of the article to where it says “last updated”.
Tell the students that the next thing they should look for in an article is when it was published or
last updated. Websites that have been updated within the last 5 to 10 years are going to be more
reliable than one from 20 years ago because information changes. Have students find an article
or website about a topic of their choice that has been updated within the last 10 years.
Step 3: Keep the same website up for step 3. Explain that the next step in determining a quality
source is considering/acknowledging multiple perspectives. This means that a source is not just
giving one side of the story or opinions, but stating facts and both sides of a story.
Step 4: Now pull up http://www.ushistory.org/us/8b.asp and as you scroll through the page ask
the students to look for an author. They should not be able to find one. Explain that the 4th step to
finding a reliable and quality source is that it will have a reliable author and even better if there
are multiple authors. Share that this source might have some good information, however, without
an author we cannot determine if it is a reliable source.
After reviewing these four steps the students will complete the following activity:
 Take it, Leave it, or Possibly Use It? Use the 4 steps (external verification, recent, multiple
perspectives, and authors) and determine where each URL belongs. If the website has all four it
is a quality source and you “take it”. Put it under the thumbs up. If it only meets some of the
steps it can “possibly be used” and falls under an okay source. If it does not meet any of the
criteria “leave it” and put it under the trash can.

https://dash.harvard.edu/handl
e/1/2634148 https://www.footballhistory.org/

http://www.thekingcente
r.org/about-dr-king https://www.biography.co
m/people/martin-luther-
king-jr-9365086

https://www.washingtonpost.com/
news/retropolis/wp/2017/10/24/jf
k-assassination-conspiracy- https://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-
https://www.ducksters.com/geogr in-History/November-22-1963-
theories-the-grassy-knoll-umbrella-
aphy/us_states/utah_history.php Death-of-the-President.aspx
man-lbj-and-ted-cruzs-
dad/?utm_term=.b8dd197cba88
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am
erican_Revolution
https://www.thoughtco.com/trans
continental-railroad-facts-4151806