• 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 dramatic photo is going viral with the caption "Flooding in our city today". How can you check it? → zoom in to see if it looks wet (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? A news report quotes five people who oppose a new park and nobody who supports it. What kind of bias is this? → no bias, just facts (yes, it is correct / no, it is not correct) → no, it is not correctPrompt: Look for words that judge rather than describe.
3. Is the proposed answer correct? A website's address looks almost like a famous newspaper's, but with one letter different. What should you suspect? → it may be an imitation site pretending to be the real one (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 photograph taken at a 1963 protest march (primary source / secondary source) → primary 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 / average the two numbers without explanation / check how each figure was measured and report the disagreement fairly / pick the number that supports your argument) → 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 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. You are researching the safety of an energy drink. Which source is most trustworthy? (a forum thread with anonymous comments / a report paid for by the drink's manufacturer / a peer-reviewed study by independent researchers / a blog by a fitness influencer) → a peer-reviewed study by independent researchersPrompt: 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 review of a new film (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.