While publishing companies work hard to create quality nonfiction texts for our students, the Internet is also a valuable tool — when used effectively, that is!

When my students conducted research on a country from which their ancestors came to America, we found that many of the library books on this subject were outdated. For the most current information about population, government, etc., students must use the Internet. It is, however, more important than ever that students (and teachers) learn to evaluate websites. I love Kathy Schrock's "5 Ws of Website Evaluation" handout. 

Brent Vasicek, the Scholastic classroom advisor for grades 3–5, also wrote a great post titled "Danger on the Internet: A Lesson in Critical Thinking."  In it he includes some great lessons to help students distinguish the "real" from the "fake."