In our Media Literacy unit, first grade students are have the opportunity to do a supervised search on reliable resources. The resources we looked at were Dictionary.com, and Wikipedia. We talked about their believability and sources. Students were then able to look up information on a topic of interest and find a reputable source. One student went home to research our chicken eggs that we are hatching and found out the breed, noting that he found the information on Wikipedia, so he was "almost" sure that it was correct. Students have also been exposed to pre-viewed sites with ads and talk about what those ads are trying to get them to buy or do. We discussed how the ads can also help you tell if it is a reputable website. They work on this in a whole group setting, and small groups when I have enough adult monitors.
Our students are embracing the knowledge of what makes a reputable web site and one that can actually be used as a research tool. They have started referring to sites as being "OK for research."
