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6th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 10 of 12

Check the Source

Credible sources, AI tools and citing

What your child practices

Children practice judging whether a source is credible and accurate, reading laterally, checking text and images made by technology such as chatbots, narrowing research questions and citing sources.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 6.W.7; 6.W.8 · research questions and judging whether a source is credible

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A credible source is written by someone who knows the topic and backs up claims.
  2. Read laterally: leave the page to see what other sources say about it.
  3. Chatbots and other tools can sound sure and still be wrong. Check their facts and cite your sources.

Example: What is lateral reading? Lateral means sideways. You go sideways to other sources to check one. Answer: leaving a page to see what other sources say about it

Check the Source in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 10 of 12 in 6th grade English Language Arts, after Text Forms & Features and before Media Techniques.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What is a citation?

    • a quotation from a poem
    • information that tells where you found a source
    • a summary of your opinion
    • a type of graph

  2. Question 2

    Which is the best way to narrow the topic “space”?

    • Planets and stars and more
    • All about the universe
    • How do astronauts exercise in space?
    • Space things

  3. Question 3

    Which author is most credible for an article about bird migration?

    • a person selling bird feeders
    • a scientist who studies birds
    • an anonymous commenter
    • an actor in a bird movie

  4. Question 4

    A photo online shows a shark swimming on a flooded highway. What should you do before sharing?

    • share it quickly
    • add a funny caption
    • assume it is real because it looks real
    • check whether reliable news sources confirm it

  5. Question 5

    What is lateral reading?

    • reading only the headings
    • leaving a page to see what other sources say about it
    • reading sideways
    • reading a page from top to bottom

  6. Question 6

    You paraphrase a fact from an encyclopedia. Do you still need to cite it?

    • yes, the idea came from that source
    • only if it is long
    • only if it is a quote
    • no, the words are yours now

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