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6th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 10 of 17

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.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 6W6; 6W7 · 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 New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 10 of 17 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: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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

    Why should you look for the date on an article about technology?

    • dates are decoration
    • the date tells you the author
    • old articles are always better
    • technology information changes quickly

  2. Question 2

    What is lateral reading?

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

  3. Question 3

    A website has no author, no date and many spelling errors. What should you think?

    • it is the best source
    • it is a primary source
    • it may not be reliable
    • it must be accurate

  4. Question 4

    A video says a new drink makes kids smarter. It is posted by the drink company. What is the problem?

    • drinks cannot be sold
    • it is too short
    • the company benefits if you believe it
    • videos are always false

  5. Question 5

    Which source would be best for current weather warnings?

    • a post from a stranger
    • a national weather service website
    • a weather-themed game
    • a five-year-old blog

  6. Question 6

    Why can AI-made images be a problem in the news?

    • they are too small
    • they are always blurry
    • they can show events that never happened
    • they cannot be shared

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