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About these Resources

Tools and lessons  Jump to  How lessons are designed   What Offline teachers can do with Online Lessons on this page

Introduction: What will I find?

For the Teacher

Planning is essential for effectivley integrating these lessons in the classroom. The following resources will get you started:

For the Learner

The lessons were created for teachers to use with their students in a classroom situation. Lessons are split into the seven core concepts of information literacy, with a lesson for each essential skill that supports the concept. The core concepts for information literacy are Questioning, Identifying & collecting, Evaluating, Sensemaking, Reflecting & refining, Using the information, and Assessing the process & product. There are 30 lessons that have been created by teachers and library specialists affiliated with this AT&T/UCLA project. The area of copyright, plagiarism, and intellectual property (listed under Using the information) features the best lessons on the Internet that were already created by talented individuals. Sometimes it is best not to reinvent the wheel.

In addition, seven lessons were created to support media and visual literacy by educators in those fields. They complement the lessons created for information literacy and include these topics:

Images as Persuasion
Evaluating Websites
Framing and Point of View
Locating Images
Scanning for Visual Details
Structural Comparisons
The Function of Images in Text

How Lessons are Designed

Subject matter

These lessons were developed so students of all ages, studying any subject, could benefit from them. Teachers are able to insert content specific examples from the area they are currently addressing in class.

Grade Level

There is a chart showing recommended grade levels for the different information literacy lessons. Some lessons, even though recommended for younger students may also be useful for older students. The language of the lessons is consistent throughout.

If your school or district is trying to implement information literacy standards, use the grade level chart to begin the discussion of which skills to present in specific grades.

Time allotment

You are the best judge of how long the lessons will take, and whether you want to complete a lesson in one day, or spread it over two days. From our lesson reviewers, we have had recommendations that lower grades have lessons split over two or three days.

Online and Offline

The Online designation indicates the lesson includes a demonstration on a computer with Internet access. Offline means no Internet access is needed. All of the lessons listed as online lessons are able to be completed without a computer with Internet access in the classroom. This just takes a little more preparation time by the teacher, either by booking a nearby computer lab or doing the research off campus and printing out results.

If online access is not available to the teacher on campus, find a computer with Internet access and a printer. Next, take the time to adjust the font size of your browser. All text in the HTML (language of the webpage) should become larger. Graphics will not increase in size.

Now, visit the websites used in the lesson and print out the pages you will use in the classroom to illustrate the concepts of the lessons. You could make a copy of each for students, or create a transparency and use an overhead projector during the lesson so all students can see the pages.

For student assignments that require time online, you can make copies of examples and have the students work from the examples.


Link to UCLA Initiative website
This page was last updated April 11, 2002
Thispage was created to support the AT&T/UCLA Initiatives for 21st Century Literacies.