Source Evaluation | Information Literacy | Research Skills Workbook | Years 5–9

“Do your research” is meaningless if students can’t tell a real source from a fake one.

This 31-page workbook teaches Year 5–9 students how to evaluate online information sources, the skill most students are expected to have and few are explicitly taught.

It’s built around the CLEAR framework: Current, Legitimate author, Evidence provided, Accurate, Reason for writing.

What’s inside:

• The CLEAR framework explained: five questions students learn to ask of every source
• An academic integrity snapshot: referencing, plagiarism, and why source evaluation matters
• Two modelled examples: one strong source (the Civil Rights Act, National Archives) and one weak source (a climate conspiracy site), both fully annotated and analysed with CLEAR
• Four practice sources for students to annotate and apply CLEAR to themselves, covering science, history and technology topics
• Blank CLEAR framework templates for analysing further websites independently
• A full answer key with worked annotations and CLEAR analyses for every practice source

How students learn

Each source is examined two ways:

• Step 1: students annotate the website to identify key features, such as the author, date, statistics, references, persuasive language and advertising.
• Step 2: they use those annotations to complete a CLEAR framework table in full sentences, explaining whether the source is reliable and why.

The two modelled examples show exactly what strong and weak source evaluation looks like. The four practice sources let students apply the same approach independently, then check their reasoning against the answer key.

Perfect for:

• Research tasks in English, HASS, Science or any cross-curricular work
• Library lessons and teacher librarian programs
• Years 5 to 9 classrooms

Why it works

Source evaluation isn’t a skill students can guess at. The CLEAR framework gives them a structure, the modelled examples show what good and weak source evaluation looks like, and the four practice sources build the habit. By the end of the workbook, students have a vocabulary for credibility, bias and trustworthy information, and a process they can use for the rest of their school research life.

Made by a teacher librarian who understands the information landscape

Evaluating information sources isn’t a side topic for teacher librarians. It’s the entire job. Twelve-plus years of teaching kids how to find, sort and trust what they read has taught me one thing: students don’t need more information. They need the structure to know what to do with it.

Already tried the free CLEAR Framework starter?

If you’ve used the free CLEAR Framework introduction, this workbook is the full lesson: the same framework, with the modelled examples, four practice sources, blank templates and answer key built in. You’ll find the free starter in my Shareify store.

About Sarah

Made by Sarah Hodgson, teacher librarian, with 12+ years in primary classrooms (Prep to Year 6) as a classroom teacher, curriculum coordinator and teacher librarian. Information literacy is one of the quiet skills I care most about. It underpins how kids think, research and decide what to believe online.

I’ve done the thinking. You teach the lesson.