How do YOU as a 6th grader gather information?

As your ELA teacher that works on reading and writing, we many times will need to research something to read or write about.  So what do you use? Hopefully not this.....

Although the above are resources you may have used in the elementary school, as a 6th-grade student, you will be taught and then required to move past these two sites and start to evaluate the reliability of the sites that you are using. I will ask you to consider the 5 W's of website evaluation

1. Who: wrote the information

2. What: does the author say and is it different from other sites

3. When: was the site created or updated, is it CURRENT?

4. Where: does the information come from

5. Why: should I use THIS information

If you stop and think about the 5 W's in regards to Google and Wikipedia, you will not be able to answer the 5 W's with accuracy or ease.

Now I want you to consider Google, when you search for information about General Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg on Google, this is what you will find . . . 

The information that I will hear from students is 

1. I can only find where and when the battle happen

2. Two general's names

The reason this is what you find is that Google is not research or information site, but rather a search site.  A search site or search engine is used to guide you to find other sites that will contain the information that you are looking for.

Now many of you will say well then why can't I use Wikipedia which is the first site listed.  During your time in school, you will continue to develop an understanding of factual reporting is based on primary sources.  This is not how Wikipedia gathers the information that it posts.  Wikipedia is an openly based encyclopedia website that allows users, such as you and me, to update the information on the site. This means if I hold a strong belief that Wikipedia's statement that about 1,500 Union Soldiers died during Pickett's Charge is incorrect because my Great-Great Granddaddy said that only 1,000 Union Soldiers dies, I have the ability to change that information on Wikipedia. That is why it is not a reliable source for students to use.

When researching in my classroom, your place to start your research will be by going to our class Symbaloo Page, where you will find the search engines and websites that I recommend for you to use. 

The internet is full of information, it is your job to determine if the information you gather comes from a website that is factual.