Children's Social Studies
Website Review and Analysis
Assignment
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:
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 analyze:
Website Title |
Website Address |
Ben's Guide to U.S. Government |
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/ |
National 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 |
Rview 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 point) |
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) |
Comments:
Grade: