Evaluating Internet Images/Content in My Class - How To?

I think it's hard for students to accept the misinformation out there on the web. They have to learn to read webpages on the Internet as critically as they would read a fiction novel. It's also a very hard topic to teach. If I taught older kids I would do a lesson in which they compare/contrast websites (.com, .edu., .org) in terms of publisher's purpose, message and accuracy of information. In class this week Beth and I created a website evaluation that could be used with K or 1st grade students. I will do it as a whole class, several times and focus on a new element of the checklist each time.

I have a lot of grade K-2 students. They are gullible (as most children are) – some more than others. They do not yet have very developed critical thinking skills. We have started a daily routine (part of calendar time) where we decide if a photo on the Internet is real or not real. Real vs. fantasy is a key concept for Kindergarten and we evaluate book characters all the time based on if they are real or made-up. I thought... why not do the same with images on the Net?

Students (even some adults) think that certain photos posted on the Internet are real. The photo my ESL class looked at yesterday (left) showed a lion riding on a horse. It looked real so every student believed it was real. I asked them why they thought it was real.

Not only was it engaging oral language practice but the activity forced students to defend their position and think critically . It became a good Kindergarten debate.

My students will analyze Net photos & content more this year now that I've been alerted to the way it will help students become more successful information users. I hope that this activity will teach young students to think critically. I believe that they will soon see that they need to use their background knowledge to draw conclusions about truth and falacy/misinformation. They need to be prepared at an early age... because it's all around them.