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9th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 10 of 14

Research & Credibility

Peer review, AI output and synthesis

What your child practices

Students practice effective research questions, peer review, conflicting sources, sampling, lateral reading, checking AI output for invented sources, and citing and synthesizing evidence honestly.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 9-10W6; 9-10W7; 9-10R8 · research questions, conflicting sources, credibility and citing

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Use peer-reviewed sources when you can, and ask who funded a study.
  2. Read laterally: check what other reliable sources say. AI tools can invent sources and facts.
  3. Correlation is not causation: two things happening together doesn’t prove one causes the other.

Example: Ice cream sales and sunburns both rise in summer. Does ice cream cause sunburns? They happen at the same time. Both are caused by something else: hot, sunny weather. Answer: No: correlation does not prove causation.

Research & Credibility in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 10 of 14 in 9th grade English Language Arts, after Form & Composing and before Proofreading.

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

    What is the difference between correlation and causation?

    • two things happening together does not prove one causes the other
    • causation is a type of chart
    • correlation always proves cause
    • they mean the same

  2. Question 2

    What is a correction policy, and why does it matter?

    • a spelling checker
    • a list of ads
    • a privacy notice
    • a promise to fix errors openly, which shows accountability

  3. Question 3

    What does it mean to synthesize sources in an essay?

    • quote every sentence
    • list sources
    • summarize one source
    • combine ideas from several sources to support your own argument

  4. Question 4

    Which question best evaluates a source's purpose?

    • Is it trying to inform, persuade, entertain or sell?
    • Is it on page one?
    • How many pages does it have?
    • Is it printed in color?

  5. Question 5

    Which in-text citation style shows where a quote came from?

    • (Lee 42)
    • (I think so)
    • (see the internet)
    • (page)

  6. Question 6

    What is a research gap?

    • a typo
    • a missing page
    • a question that existing sources have not answered
    • an empty notebook

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