​Research at WMS

In these lessons, sixth graders are introduced to how we do source evaluation and research at WMS. The skills they learn here will help prepare them for all three years of middle school (and beyond)!

TRAC Practice activities

Play Check-it-or-Wreck-it with some websites!
For this activity, you will use the Check-it-or-Wreck-it score card you got in class to evaluate a website. You can choose either website. Circle the items on the scorecard that you see! (or don't see) on the website. There is a math problem at the bottom of the sheet. Add up your totals and do the math.
Website Choice #1:
Roman Military
Website Choice #2: DK Ancient Rome
Download the score card here.
check_it_or_wreck_it_2019_2020.pdf
File Size: 307 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
​Use TRAC to evaluate an eBook
For this activity, you are going to need to toggle back and forth between a Google Form and an eBook on JLG Digital. Use the eBook to answer the questions on the Google Form.

Step 1:

Follow THIS LINK TO GET TO THE GOOGLE FORM.

Step 2:

To open the eBook, ​click here. 
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  • You DO NOT need to log in.
  • Scroll down until you find the book ​​Amazons vs. Gladiators by Virginia Loh-Hagan. 
  • Click the READ button.
Watch this video to learn how to use the eBook for this lesson.
Click the "pop-out" button in the top right
​corner of the video if it will not load. 
Watch a video reviewing how to use databases
Click the "pop-out" button in the top right corner of the video if it will not load. 

Information Sources

The most common information sources for research are:
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Books
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Databases
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Websites

Evaluating Sources

Information sources: similarities and differences

Books

Trustworthy: Definitely - because a publisher is taking responsibility*
Relevant: Maybe - depending on your topic - use the index and table of contents to check.
Accessible: Maybe -  depending on the learner.
Current: Maybe - but once it's published, it can't be updated!

*This refers to professionally-published books.

databases

Trustworthy: definitely - because a publisher is taking responsibility.
Relevant: Maybe - depending on your topic - try different keywords to see.
Accessible: Probably - many different reading levels are offered.
Current: Probably - even if an article has been published, it can be updated because it's an online source.

websites

Trustworthy: Maybe - it depends on who is taking responsibility and this can be tricky to tell.
Relevant: Maybe - depending on your topic - try different keywords to see.
Accessible: Probably - many different reading levels are offered.
Current: Probably - websites can be updated at any time, so there's a good chance it will be (but not a guarantee).
What is TRAC Video
This is the video we watched in the first part of class. 
Click the "pop-out" button in the top right corner of the video if it will not load.