Teacher Commentary

When I first engage students in sourcing, I usually don’t explicitly use the language of sourcing. Instead, I establish the routine of identifying and discussing source information before reading each source. Doing so raises questions for students (i.e., from where did the author get their information?), helps them make connections across sources, and unearths some misconceptions students may have about sources. For example, someone might say the video is automatically credible because it’s the news. As time goes on, I add questions to our previewing routine to deepen students’ sourcing skills and students naturally tend to bring up more and more important issues over time. By the time I begin introducing the language of sourcing, students have already engaged in the practice so it is easy for them to understand.