Students begin by accessing prior knowledge through an initial writing activity. Ensuing discussions, read-alouds, and the creation of a picture dictionary "take students to the moon," while further building their vocabulary. Students use an online Alphabet Organizer to complete a final writing activity, which they compare to the writing they did during the first session.

In this lesson, teachers scaffold student reading of websites that highlight science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. Then the teacher models a close reading with students, setting a purpose and asking text-dependent questions before, during, and after to help students find evidence, use inferencing skills, and peer edit.

Students are introduced to concepts of social justice, such as diversity, tolerance, equity, and equality, through a literary text, class discussions, and guided research. Students plan a service-learning project, then work in small groups using Photo Story software to produce a multimedia presentation designed to foster community support for the project. Students also use the ReadWriteThink.org Printing Press to create informational fliers about the project. The lesson concludes—and the service-learning project begins—with a showing of the Photo Story productions for parents and other community members.

This resource provides a lesson designed to assist learners with acquiring skills needed to differentiate between real and fictious, possibly malicious, websites. Students will evaluate hoax sites prior to outlining and designing one of their own. It is expected that this lesson will help students to better recognize trustworthy sites for online reading and research.