Dr. Kimberly Rombach's Courses
 State University of New York College at Cortland
Childhood/Early Childhood
Spring 2006
 

EDU 647: Social Education in the Digital Age
Assignment: Website Review and Analysis
Assignment description and corresponding grading rubric:
Children's Social Studies Website Review and Analysis


There are millions of websites that have been published on the Internet. As social studies educators, it is essential that we know criteria for selecting websites that can serve as useful resources to enhance students' learning.

Assignment description: You are asked to select one children's social studies website from a compilation of sites (listed below) to thoroughly review AND analyze using predetermined criteria. Your review will consist of identifying the content that is included on the website while your analysis of the quality of the site will be completed using the criteria listed below. You are asked to write up your assignment as a report; you will present your report in small groups in class as you simultaneously show your analyzed website to others in your group. This assignment is 10 points of your overall course grade.

To identify the criteria to evaluate your website, please visit the following site (Cornell University's Library) at: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/webcrit.html
During your visit, please print out the 5 selected criteria so you can refer to it often throughout your analysis. A brief listing of the criteria illustrated on the above website is:
1. Accuracy of Web Documents
2. Authority of Web Documents
3. Objectivity of Web Documents
4. Currency of Web Documents
5. Coverage of the Web Documents
Please Note: If you have experience any difficulty with accessing the above page, please contact me so I can provide you with a hard copy of the necessary information.

Please choose one of the following websites to review and analyze:

Website Title

Website Address

Ben's Guide to U.S. Govnt.

http://bensguide.gpo.gov/

NASA: For Kids Only

http://kids.earth.nasa.gov

White House Kids

http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/

Kids Newsroom

http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/

Cultures on the Edge

http://www.culturesontheedge.com/

Family Traditions Folklore

http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/folklore/peter/index.html

History for Kids

http://www.historyforkids.org/

Community Club

http://teacher.scholastic.com/commclub/

The First Thanksgiving

http://teacher.scholastic.com/thanksgiving/

Kids Next Door

http://www.hud.gov/kids/index.html

Interactive Children's Atlas

http://www.childrensatlas.com/

Natl. Geographic for Kids

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/index.html

Xpeditions

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/hall/index.html

PBS History

http://www.pbs.org/history/

Underground Railroad

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/railroad/

Social Studies for Kids

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/

Children's Social Studies Website Review and Analysis Grading Rubric

 

Target

Acceptable

Unacceptable

Review of Website Contents

You thoroughly identified the website's content and identified the corresponding social studies strand (NCSS).
(4 points)

You adequately identified the website's content and identified the corresponding social studies strand (NCSS).
(3 points)

You minimally identified the website's content and identified the corresponding social studies strand (NCSS).
(2-0 points)

Analysis of Websites

You thoroughly commented on and provided examples for representing each of the five evaluation criteria (listed on pg. 1 of this document) to analyze the website.
(4 points)

You adequately commented on and provided examples for representing each of the five evaluation criteria (listed on pg. 1 of this document) to analyze the website.
(3 points)

You minimally commented on and provided examples for representing each of the five evaluation criteria (listed on pg. 1 of this document) to analyze the website.
(2-0 points)

Composition

Your assignment was written concisely and was free from grammatical and spelling errors.
(1 point)

Your assignment was written concisely and had minimal (1-2) grammatical and spelling errors that were not distracting to the reader.
(.5 point)

Your assignment was not written concisely and had grammatical and spelling errors that were distracting to the reader.
(0 point)

Oral Presentation

 

The oral presentation consisted of showing the website to your small group AND significantly elaborating with details from your report and analysis. (1 point)

The oral presentation consisted of showing the website to your small group AND adequately elaborating with details from your report and analysis.
(.5 point)

The oral presentation consisted of showing the website to your small group AND minimally elaborating with details from your report and analysis.
(0 point)