• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Checking claims online: lateral reading and tracing sources; Bias and loaded language in reporting). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Is the proposed answer correct? You strongly agree with a post and want to share it immediately. What's the wisest move? → pause and check it, because we are less careful with claims we already agree with (yes, it is correct / no, it is not correct) → yes, it is correctPrompt: Good checkers leave the page and see what other reliable sources say.
2. Is the proposed answer correct? Which phrase is the most NEUTRAL way to describe the same people? → demonstrators (yes, it is correct / no, it is not correct) → yes, it is correctPrompt: Look for words that judge rather than describe.
3. Is the proposed answer correct? A post says "A study proves X" but gives no link. What is the best next step? → ignore all studies (yes, it is correct / no, it is not correct) → no, it is not correctPrompt: Good checkers leave the page and see what other reliable sources say.

• Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
• Share the objective: Evaluating research sources: primary vs secondary, authority, purpose. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: For a research project, is this usually a primary or a secondary source? a photograph taken at a 1963 protest march
• Step 1: Primary sources are first-hand evidence; secondary sources interpret or summarise primary sources.
• Step 2: Created at the event itself.
• Step 3: So the answer is: primary source
• Answer: primary source
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. For a research project, is this usually a primary or a secondary source? a magazine article summarising several scientific studies (primary source / secondary source) → secondary sourcePrompt: Was it created at the time, by someone directly involved?
2. Read the question and choose. Two reliable sources disagree about a statistic. What is the best response? (leave out the topic / check how each figure was measured and report the disagreement fairly / pick the number that supports your argument / average the two numbers without explanation) → check how each figure was measured and report the disagreement fairlyPrompt: Think about authority (who made it), currency (when), purpose (why) and evidence (how).

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Read the question and choose. For a report on current smartphone use among teenagers, which source is LEAST useful? (a national survey from last year / a recent official statistics release / a survey from 2009 / a recent university study) → a survey from 2009Prompt: Think about authority (who made it), currency (when), purpose (why) and evidence (how).
2. For a research project, is this usually a primary or a secondary source? an encyclopedia entry about the politician (primary source / secondary source) → secondary sourcePrompt: Was it created at the time, by someone directly involved?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-11.