• 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? A post says "A study proves X" but gives no link. What is the best next step? → share it so experts can check (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.
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? You find a website about a health claim. You've never heard of the organisation behind it. What should you do first? → open a new tab and search for what reliable sources say about that organisation (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.

• 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 diary written by a soldier during the First World War (primary source / secondary source) → primary sourcePrompt: Was it created at the time, by someone directly involved?
2. Read the question and choose. What does 'peer-reviewed' mean? (it is very popular / it was published online / it was written by students / other experts checked the research before it was published) → other experts checked the research before it was publishedPrompt: 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 8 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. A study on the benefits of a sugary cereal was funded by the cereal company. What should a careful researcher do? (only read the summary / ignore it completely, because funded studies are always false / note the conflict of interest and look for independent studies / treat it as the most reliable source) → note the conflict of interest and look for independent studiesPrompt: 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? a documentary about the 1963 protest that interviews historians (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.