Title of Unit

Curriculum
Area
Developed By

Understanding by Design Lesson Plan

Georgia Author
8th Grade
Study: Credible
Grade Level
Sources & Ethical
Use
English
Two lessons, 55 minutes
Time Frame
each
Emily Roediger

Stage 1: Identify Desired Results

Content Standards
Georgia Standards of Excellence
ELAGSE8W4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Gradespecific expectations for writing types are defined in Standards 13 above.)
ELAGSE8W5: With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and
strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new
approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. (Editing
for conventions should demonstrate command of Language Standards 13 up to and
including grade 8.)
ELAGSE8W6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing &
present the relationships between info and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and
collaborate with others.
ELAGSE8W7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related,
focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
ELAGSE8W8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources,
using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source;
and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding
plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
ELAGSE8SL2 Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and
formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social,
commercial, political) behind its presentation.

Understandings
Overarching Understanding

Essential Questions

Overarching Questions:
Students will understand what makes a
website source credible for academic
research.

Why is source credibility important for

academic research?

Students will understand why ethical

use of information is important for longterm academic development.

How can using information ethically, even

in 8th grade, prepare students for
scholarship in their future studies?
Topical Questions:

Related Misconceptions

All search terms are created

equal.
Academic databases provide the
same information as external
websites.
Quantity of information speaks to
website credibility.
Plagiarism is a victimless crime.

How is searching using an academic

database different from using a search
engine like Google?
What makes a web source credible?
How is the purpose of a website
determined?
How is an external website properly
documented for a bibliography?

Knowledge

Skills

Students will know

Students will be able to

The importance of using scholarly

language for search terms.
The difference between
researching with academic
databases and basic search
engines.
The identifiable elements of a
credible website.
How to cite a website using
appropriate MLA format.

Locate and evaluate sources using

both academic databases and
credible websites.
Explain why a website is credible for
academic research.
Document sources effectively using
MLA citation format.

Stage 2: Assessment Evidence

Performance Task Description
Students will successfully be able to locate resources for their
Georgia Authors research project and determine their credibility
Goal and accuracy. Students will be able to properly document
consulted sources on a working bibliography using proper MLA
citation.

Role
Audience
Situation
Product/
Performance

Under the guidance and instruction of the teacher and media

specialist, students will be responsible for evaluating three
websites for credibility and for creating a working bibliography of
sources for their Georgia Authors research project.
8th grade students
Students will work in a classroom environment with their schoolissued laptops.
Students will create a working bibliography of credible sources to
document their current research efforts.
AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner

1.1.4 Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer

questions.
1.1.5 Evaluate information found in selected sources on the basis
of accuracy, validity, appropriateness for needs, importance, and
social and cultural context.
1.4.2 Use interaction with and feedback from teachers and peers
to guide own inquiry process.
Standards 2.2.1 Demonstrate flexibility in the use of resources by adapting
information strategies to each specific resource and by seeking
additional resources when clear conclusions cannot be drawn.
2.3.3 Use valid information and reasoned conclusions to make
ethical decisions.
2.4.1 Determine how to act on information (accept, reject,
modify).
3.1.6 Use information and technology ethically and responsibly.
4.3.2 Recognize that resources are created for a variety of
purposes.

Stage 3: Learning Plan

Where are your
students headed?
Where have they
been? How will you
make sure the
students know where
they are going?

How will you hook

students at the
beginning of the unit?

Students have been tasked with a lengthy research

assignment during which they will investigate a chosen
author with Georgia ties. Students will be required to
produce several products throughout this project,
including a dinner invitation for the author, a multimedia
component of their choice, and a full-length research
paper. These two lessons will prepare students to be
successful in this project by equipping them with the
skills necessary to locate credible resources on their
author, organize their research notes in OneNote, and
produce a list of sources in correct MLA citation format.
The students will submit a minimum of three website
credibility worksheets as well as a working bibliography
of sources consulted.
The lesson will begin with a reflective discussion on the
7th grade Washington Reports, a notorious set of
assignments that all GWA 7th graders must complete.

Mention of the Washington Reports always elicits strong

reactions from students. The media specialist will
specifically ask students about the utility and applicability
of the skills learned during that project, prompting
students to approach their reflection from a
metacognitive perspective in terms of learning strategies.

What events will help

students experience
and explore the big
idea and questions in
the unit? How will you
equip them with
needed skills and
knowledge?

After the teacher reviews the main aspects of the

students new Georgia Authors research project at the
beginning of Lesson One, the media specialist will
prompt an honest discussion of why teachers ask
students to research and why these skills are important.
During Lesson One, the media specialist will walk
through several practice searches with students using
GWA academic databases using the provided Research
Pathfinder. Students will be prompted to form their own
search terms and keywords, take advantage of limiters
within results lists, and pull down useful articles into
OneNote. Students will also perform practice searches
with the media specialist using Google, discussing the
differences in results and related concerns. We will also
discuss the pros and cons of using both academic
databases and search engines.

How will you cause

students to reflect and
rethink? How will you
guide them in
rehearsing, revising,
and refining their
work?

During Lesson Two, the media specialist and teacher will

lead a discussion on why ethical use can help students
develop into lifelong scholars. Students will explore the
Why Do Students Plagiarize? infographic and reflect on
strategies to avoid plagiarism. Students will also practice
the manual citation of a webpage with the guidance of
the media specialist.
During Lesson One, students will be encouraged to
evaluate sites found using Google according to preset
criteria. The media specialist will lead students through a
practice evaluation and will discuss concerns specific to
public websites (as opposed to academic databases). The
media specialist will offer individualized feedback during
independent work time.

How will you help

students to exhibit
and self-evaluate their
growing skills,

During Lesson Two, the media specialist will review

credible website criteria with students as they work to
complete the manual citation of a website they have
deemed appropriate for their research project. Students
will be asked to reflect upon their choice of sources.
As students perform their research and work on their
bibliographies, they will be encouraged to ask
themselves the following questions for reflection: How do
I know when a website is credible? What are the

knowledge, and
understanding
throughout the unit?

benefits/drawbacks to using academic databases? What

are the benefits/drawbacks to using public websites? Why
is it important to document my sources? Why does
citation format matter?
How will you tailor and Students have already been given the freedom to choose
otherwise personalize
a Georgia author that piques their interest and with
the learning plan to
whose work they are comfortable. Students will be
optimize the
allowed to work at their own pace to complete the
engagement and
assessments of this unit, with due dates scheduled for
effectiveness of ALL
one week after the day of assignment. Students will be
students, without
able to approach the teacher and media specialist during
compromising the
class or outside of class for assistance and clarification.
goals of the unit?
How will you organize
Lesson One:
and sequence the
1. Class discussion on research skills and approaches to
learning activities to
research
optimize the
2. Practice searches in GWA academic databases
engagement and
3. Practice searches using Google
achievement of ALL
4. Group evaluation of a public website for credibility
students?
5. Independent student evaluation of website credibility
6. Creation of newspapers based on the students
selected African nation
Lesson Two:
1. Class discussion on the importance of ethical use
2. Exploration of why students plagiarize
3. Group manual citation of a credible website
4. Independent student manual citation of credible
website and begin work on bibliography
From: Wiggins, Grant and J. Mc Tighe. (1998). Understanding by Design, Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development.