Toss It or Keep It 
A Web Quest

Brooklyn Park Middle School Media Center
Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion

Introduction

This is an opportunity! An opportunity for you to have a say about what kinds of resources are in your media center. Yes, the media specialist will listen to your suggestions - if you can convince her of your choices. You are already an expert at picking out print magazines for yourself. You recommend the good magazines and exciting articles to your friends. You tell them which ones are lousy. Now is your chance to do the same thing with magazines on the internet. Just as you carefully select your print magazines, we will learn together how to review and select the best internet magazines for your media center web site.

Task
 

Your media specialist wants to know what online magazines you would like as links in your media center web site. To take advantage of this opportunity, you will learn how to evaluate an internet site.  You will evaluate an online magazine.  Then you will  “write to persuade”  using a wordprocessor. Your writing product will be a document that will include your persuasive arguments and graphics and text samples from the online magazine of your choice. Your class will use a spreadsheet to tally the magazine choices of all the classes that participate so that the media specialist can make the necessary changes to the media web site.

Process

 

Activity #1 : Evaluate What?

The purpose of this activity is for you to determine what to evaluate in a web site. Read all the steps of the activity before we begin. Picture in your mind what we will be doing. 1. As a class we will spend  a few minutes looking at the same magazine web site. As you browse through the web  site think about what is good about it, what could be different or better, or what is useless or a bother. 2. We will use the brainstorming activity think-pair-share to create a list of characteristics about web sites that you might evaluate.  3. As you are paired with a partner, decide who will be note-taker on the overhead transparency sheet.  You will  have two minutes to think, share and list things/characteristics to evaluate in a web site.  4. After 2 minutes you will be told to make a group of four. Again select a note-taker and select a leader who will maintain order in the group.  5. After 2 minutes you will be told to make a group of eight. Select a note-taker and leader of this group.  6. After 2 minutes, each group will select someone to present their list of things/characteristics to be evaluated in a web site. Presenters will use the class overhead projector.   Top | Activity #1 | Activity #2 | Activity #3 | Activity #4 | Activity #5 | Activity #6 Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion

Activity #2 : Expert Advice!

The purpose of this activity is find out what the experts say about evaluating web sites. Read all the steps of the activity before we begin. Picture in your mind what we will be doing.   1. The class will be divided into groups of  7-9 students. 2. Each person in the group will get an index card with a word on it. Take it with you to a computer. 3. If you do not know what the word is, look it up in a dictionary.  4. Everyone should go to this web site: Web Page Evaluation 5. Match the word on your card to a topic on the Web Page Evaluation site. Your word will be one of the headings. 6. Read what the experts say about your evaluation word. Think about what they mean. Prepare to tell your group about your word. You can put a few notes on your word card if you want.  7. Time to join your group. The person with the #1 on the card will be team leader. The team leader should ask each person in the group to explain what their word means. If you are unsure of what your word has to do with evaluation, you can ask the whole group to go back and read about your word. Ask for volunteers from your group to help explain it.   Top | Activity #1 | Activity #2 | Activity #3 | Activity #4 | Activity #5 | Activity #6 Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion

Activity #3 : Look 'em Over

The purpose of this activity is to become familiar with a wide selection of online magazines. Read all the steps of the activity before you begin. Picture in your mind what you will be doing.   1. You may work  at the computer by yourself or with a partner for this activity. 2. Use the Hotlist of Online Magazines . There are three sets of online magazines on the Hotlist. Take turns selecting from the different sets as you browse. Select and skim through the magazines. Listen for the time signal to change magazine links -  about 2 minutes. 3. You are not doing a thorough evaluation at this time. But you should be thinking about which one magazine you would like to evaluate in detail. At the end of the browsing time, make a decision as to which magazine you will evaluate in detail.   Top | Activity #1 | Activity #2 | Activity #3 | Activity #4 | Activity #5 | Activity #6 Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion

0Activity #4 : On Your Own!

The purpose of this activity is for you to evaluate a magazine web site. Read all the steps of the activity before you begin. Picture in your mind what you will be doing.   1. Go to the Online Magazine Hotlist and select ONE magazine to evaluate in detail. (If someone else chooses the same magazine as you, you may review the site together if you both want to. 2. Thoughtfully explore the various links on the magazine site. Think about the evaluation criteria from activities #1 and #2. Spend time thinking about what is good and not good about this site for middle school students. Take notes about what you evaluate. Keep your notes. 3. After you have become very familiar with this site, go to the Evaluation Center . Follow the directions on that web page to complete the Speed-o’-Light Website Evaluation. And... *** In question #1 also type your name. *** At the end, Do Not choose Submit or Undo. From the Menu bar, select Print when you are finished. Top | Activity #1 | Activity #2 | Activity #3 | Activity #4 | Activity #5 | Activity #6 Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion

Activity #5 : Really Get Organized!

The purpose of this activity is to use a graphic organizer to prepare for your “writing to persuade”. Read all the steps of the activity before you begin. Picture in your mind what you will be doing. 1. Select an organizer:  a. get a copy of the three column Power Writing graphic from the supply table,  or  b. you can use a graphic organizer program (e.g. Inspiration) on the computer. 2. You will need to develop 3 reasons  (P2) to keep or not keep the online magazine you reviewed. You need to give at least two examples (P3) to support each reason.  3. Use the notes you took in Activity  #4  and your Speed-o’-Light Website Evaluation printout to guide the construction of your graphic organizer.   Top | Activity #1 | Activity #2 | Activity #3 | Activity #4 | Activity #5 | Activity #6 Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion

Activity #6 : Persuasive Power!

The purpose of this activity is to write to persuade the media specialist to keep, or not keep, an online magazine as a link on our media center web site. Read all the steps of the activity before you begin. Picture in your mind what you will be doing.   1. Look at the grading rubric. Let it be a guide for what you do. 2. Use your completed graphic organizer and the Power Writing strategy to write to persuade. Use a wordprocessor and save your work in your class folder. 3. After your writing is complete, add graphic examples from the magazine site to support what you wrote. Extend your writing even more if you have not already explained why the graphics are there. 4. After your writing/graphic product is complete, print it. Crosscheck your work again with the grading rubric. Turn it in to the media specialist. 5. Go to the media class computer folder and locate the document named: Spreadsheet Tally. For the online magazine that you decided should be a link on the media web page, add a number to the box on the grid that corresponds to both your class and the magazine. If you decided a magazine should not be kept on the list, subtract a number from that box.     Top | Activity #1 | Activity #2 | Activity #3 | Activity #4 | Activity #5 | Activity #6 Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion

Resources

Go to Hotlist: Online Magazines to select magazine sites to review.

What the experts say about Web Page Evaluation

The Evaluation Center  Speed-o'-Light evaluation check sheet.

Additional  web site evaluation tools.

Power Writing explanation and Signal Words

Personal copy of the grading rubric.

Print Magazines at BPMS

Dictionaries from the Reference Area

Supply table: working copies of Power Writing graphic organizers

Computer based graphic organizer (e.g. Inspiration)

Spreadsheet Tally document

Evaluation

The following rubric will be used to evaluate your end product. You can use it to guide your work. Compare your work to the requirements in each block. Use the chart to help you revise and improve your work.

Click here to make a copy of the rubric for yourself.

Conclusion
 

You have the ability to evaluate the resources you choose to use. You have the power to be persuasive. Look for opportunities to use these skills.