Georgia 7.T.C.2.d

ELA7th GradeAuthors & Speakers

The Standard

Use credible sources to research the answers to questions on academic and individual topics of interes. (C)

Georgia's K-12 English Language Arts Standards · Texts (T) · Context

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students turn a focused question into a short research plan. They locate trustworthy print or digital sources, gather relevant evidence, and use it to answer the question.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can explain why a source is trustworthy by examining its author, publisher, date, evidence, and purpose. The student records accurate notes, cites sources, and combines information into a clear answer.
Common Misconceptions: Students may trust the first search result, a polished website, or any .org address without checking the author and publisher. They may copy sentences, collect unrelated facts, or treat opinion as evidence.
How to Assess It: Give students two short webpages about the same topic, with the author, publisher, and date shown. Ask them to choose the more credible source and justify their choice with two details.

Lesson moves

Set out four printed source cards, and have pairs rank them by credibility using the author, date, evidence, and publisher.
Ask students to write: Which source would you trust for a report on sleep, and what details shaped your choice?
Play Source Detective, where teams earn points for spotting missing authors, old dates, unsupported claims, biased language, and weak evidence.
Research a claim from a viral post, then compare it with a government, university, or established news source and report any differences.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 7.T.C.2.d, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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