Course Title: Middle School Information Technology Literacy
Course Description:
Middle school library programs work within curriculum areas using flexible scheduling. Middle schools use a team approach enabling the library information specialist to teach in a truly integrated fashion. The library information specialist works cooperatively with the technology assistant to demonstrate to students how technology and the world of information strategies and libraries go hand in hand.
Enduring Understandings:
Students will develop an enduring understanding that knowledge is gained by seeking information from diverse sources, contexts, disciplines and cultures.
Students will develop an enduring understanding that informed decisions are derived by critically evaluating information.
Students will develop an enduring understanding that information is used accurately, creatively, and ethically to share knowledge and to participate productively as members of our democratic society.
Students will develop an enduring understanding that the appreciation of literature and other creative expressions lead to aesthetic growth and the development of personal interests.
Students will develop an enduring understanding that libraries provide equitable access to information and resources that encourage independent, life-long users and producers of ideas.
Essential Questions:
What types of sources should be used when seeking information?
What steps should be taken in order to make an informed decision?
What features of a source should be evaluated when determining its appropriateness?
How can others' work be used in conjunction with your own?
How can reading affect our everyday life?
What steps should be taken to ensure your safety in an online environmnet?
How does a library enhance our democratic ideals?
Course Academic Vocabulary:
Acceptable use | Ethical use | Paraphrase | Thesis statement |
| Access points | Fact | Opinion | Validity |
| Authority | Genre | Parenthetical citation | Vetted |
| Bias | Internet | Periodical | Visual literacy |
| Bibliography | Keyword | Plagiarism | Works cited |
| Censorship | Literary elements | Point of view | |
| Cite-Citation | Literature appreciation | Quotation | |
| Cloud Computing | Medium | Relevance | |
| Collaboration | Multimedia | Research | |
| Copyright | Objectivity | Summarize | |
Course Academic Materials:
The middle school library program provides a resource-rich environment that empowers students to become effective users of information and technologies, foster a love of reading, and prepare students for a productive role in a global society. These resources include but are not limited to fiction and nofiction print resources, online databases, digital reference resources, video and audio resources, Web 2.0 tools, the online classroom, and interactive video conferencing.
Course Units / Topics of Study:
Within each of the three grade levels, the following units are embedded within various curricular areas:
