In-Class Activities

Activity #1

Part 1

Before you begin...

• Assign someone to be the notetaker for the group and take notes
• Assign someone to be the group speaker

As a group, compare and contrast the 2 different sources. You do not need to read the entire source. In fact, I don't want you to.  Notice that for Source #1, you only have few pages of the source, not the entire thing. Do you see any similarities between the two sources? What major differences do you notice? 

Some things to think about to help you: 

• Where and by who is the source published?
• Who are the authors? Are they credible? Why? 
• Physical format of the 2
• Length
• Audience- why is this important?
• Tone and Language

These are just a few things to consider when comparing. There are lots more! 

Part 2

Activity #2

Before you begin...

• Assign a group member to be the demonstrator. This person will be sharing their screen with the class later to show us how you accomplished your task. This should be someone different from the spokesperson and notetaker from the previous activity. 
• Assign another group member to be a spokesperson for the questions in your task. 

Each group has been assigned a task. Please read your task carefully. I asked you to find a specific type of source using a specific database for a purpose. To view your task, click on your group's link below. 

You will have about 5 minutes as a group to find something. Your group will share your screen and demonstrate how you located your source. 

Go Upstream

Going to the original story or source and fact check it yourself. You can do this when you find “reporting on reporting.” Click on the linked original source if available or try and find it in Google. For images, try using the reverse Google image search. 

Fact Checking Sites

See a list here of recommended fact-checking sites to investigate your claim.

Reading Laterally

Going outside of a source to evaluate its credibility. 

• Do a Google search to see what others are saying about the publisher. 
• Find out information about the creator or author of the content. 
• Are you finding other websites agree or disagree with your source? Are they reputable sources themselves?

Activity Directions:

You have been assigned a group. Click on the link below that corresponds to your group. The link will open a shared word document. You may need to login with your UWGB credentials to access.

As a group, you will need to evaluate your assigned website keeping the CAARP method in mind and by going through the questions in the worksheet. It may help to assign someone who will be responsible for filling out the worksheet as you discuss as a group. However, everyone needs to contribute. Your group will have roughly 5 minutes to fill out the worksheet.

Evaluating:

As you discuss and fill out the worksheet, keep in mind, you do not need to read the entire source. Skimming will suffice. This exercise is intended for you to focus on evaluating other factors outside of the content. The worksheet provides you will strategies for finding out information about your source, which I encourage you to do.

Worksheet:

As you fill out the worksheet, bullet points and quick notes will suffice. You do not need to write out a paragraph answer. The point of the worksheet is for you to be able to reference back to observations your group made when we come back as a large group and share with the class. 

Evaluating Sources Guide