Current Events can be a tricky subject for both high school students and teachers; this kind of information can be hard to find.  All of us think that we’re pretty savvy when it comes to knowing what’s going on and yet, sometimes we can be caught off guard by what we don’t know about news and current events.  This is where The Inquiry Process can help.

With the assistance of a puppet construction worker, the film above, (now included in the QSLiN Fostering Literacies YouTube playlist), shows how The Inquiry Process can be used when applied to information-seeking activities related to current events. It demonstrates ways that apps and online tools can be used to plan a search for information on current events. The film also suggests news apps for finding information and debunking websites that can be used to evaluate that information.  Finally, it makes suggestions for presenting what has been found in an engaging and ethical way by using a variety of presentation and citation-generating apps and online tools.

Sharing this film will help teachers and students alike to begin using an inquiry process model to develop those much needed information literacy skills.  If teachers require other resources, theinquiryprocess.ca lists a number of useful tools and lesson plans by searching the keywords, current events. Among them are some great resources from PBS such as News Hour Extra which contains a page of handy lesson plans.

Information literacy is so important for citizens who want to participate in their society and need reliable and credible information to do so. Schools are the perfect place to promote information literacy, and library personnel can play an important role in giving teachers the support that they need.