Researching Canadian Prime Ministers through the use of technology

Lesson Plan

Submitted by: Angie Silljer

Grade Level: Grade six

Class time required: 1 hour

Date Prepared: 2002-01-15

Rationale (goal):

·At the end of this lesson, students will have a better understanding of the internet as a research guide.Students should be able to navigate around the internet to explore different sites to find information on the above topic.

Instructional Objectives: 

·Division 2 C1 2.1 Access and retrieve appropriate information from the Internet by using a specific search path or from given uniform resource locations (URLs).

·Division 2 C1 2.2 Organize information gathered from the Internet, or an electronic source, by selecting and recording the data in logical files or categories; and by communicating effectively, through the appropriate forms, such as speeches, reports, and multimedia presentations, applying information technologies that serve particular audiences and purposes.

Materials/Equipment:

• Each student will have access to their own computer.
• Internet connection
• URLs and addresses for students to research

• First introduce the lesson with. Have a brainstorming session (10 minutes) about the various names of the Prime Ministers they may all ready know.
• Have students each pick a specific Prime Minister they want to research. 
• Then have students go over to the computer area. The students should already have basic knowledge of the computer from past experiences. If not go over the basics with them step by step. How to turn on a computer etc. Login in.
• Next, have the students find an internet connection (i.e. Internet explorer, Netscape). 
• Have the students go to the website www.nlc-bnc.ca/2/4/index-e.html this is a good website on Prime ministers. Have the students look for information about their specific Prime Minister.
• Hand out a sheet outlining specific questions like is the site credible? Does the author give his/her name ect. Have the students evaluate the website.
• Have students take notes with the information received in a notebook entitled “Prime Minister of Canada Research book”.
• Make sure to tell students to site all information received using a bibliography.
• If students cannot find the appropriate information they are looking for, direct them to another site on a different search engine.
• Leave about 5-10 minutes to save all work to appropriate files.

• After the students have saved all their work to the appropriate file or disk. Review with them what they just learned. Ask specific questions to see if they understand the lesson. 
• Ask how they accessed the website. Be specific.

• To evaluate the students understanding of the lesson, there will be a checklist outlining specific criterion they must follow. Ie) What Prime Minister did they choose? What Website did they use? Did they document their information in a book? 
• Have a group discussion on what they found easy, difficult.
• This lesson can be linked to other lesson plans in that it can be part of a bigger project such as researching a prime minister and then creating that Prime Minister out of clay. This will incorporate the element of Social Studies as well as Art. The students could also write an essay about the information on the Prime Minister of their choice after researching on the internet. A lot of ideas and themes can be incorporated into this one lesson.