Presentation: Evaluating Religious Websites

Slide 1 of 7 · Settling starter · RE · Year 9

3 minutes

Evaluating religious websites: 3 pages, 1 is reliable

You have a worksheet and a stimulus sheet with 3 website extracts about the Five Pillars of Islam. One is a national Muslim organisation’s education page, one is an anonymous blog and one is a shop. Today you score all 3 against the same 6 criteria, correct the 4 false statements, and recommend 1 page to a Year 7 pupil.

While the register is called: write your name, class and date on your worksheet, then read the small print in grey above each of the 3 extracts, the lines that say who wrote it and when.

Starter question: Which of the 3 pages tells you the least about who wrote it?

DCF: Producing → Evaluating and improving digital content Paper lesson · we judge the websites, never the faith

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Hand out: one worksheet and one stimulus sheet (Three websites on the Five Pillars of Islam) per pupil. The lesson runs on paper. If computers are available, pupils may log on later to compare Website A with the official sites listed at the foot of the stimulus sheet, for example the Muslim Council of Britain at mcb.org.uk. Websites A, B and C themselves are invented and are not real pages. Website B contains deliberate errors so pupils have something to catch; you will read the corrections out on the last slide.

Say aloud: “Name, class and date at the top. While I take the register, read only the grey small print above each extract: who wrote it, when, and how to contact them. Decide which page tells you least about its author.”

Starter answer: Website B. Its author is just “Admin”, it has no date anywhere, no sources and no corrections policy. Website C is nearly as bad (“our team”, no date), but it does say what it is: a “Sponsored guide” from a shop. Website A has a named education officer with a job title, a review date, stated funding, a postal address and a phone number.

Slide 2 of 7 · Today’s brief and key words · RE · Year 9

3 minutes

Your brief: score the pages, fix the errors, recommend one

You will score each page 0, 1 or 2 on 6 criteria and quote evidence for every low score, correct the 4 factual errors on Website B using Website A, and write 100 to 150 words recommending 1 page to a Year 7 pupil. One ground rule: we criticise the website, never the believer. A careless webpage is the webpage’s fault.

Criterion

A test you apply to every page in the same way, such as “a named author with a stated role”. Score 0 for not there, 1 for partly, 2 for fully.

Checkable

A claim is checkable when it is precise enough to test, like “2.5% of qualifying wealth”. “Facing east” with no source is not.

Step 1: read all 3 extracts, including the small print

Read Website A, Website B and Website C on the stimulus sheet in silence. Read the grey small print above each one about the author and the date. As you read, underline anything that tells you who wrote the page, when, why, and whether you could check what it says.

Website A: a national Muslim organisation’s education page · Website B: “World Religions Explained”, a blog · Website C: “Festival Boxes Direct”, an online shop.

Do not fill the grid yet. Just read and underline.

Step 1 on your worksheet · 8 minutes, in silence Underline who, when, why and anything with a number in it

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Say aloud: “8 minutes of silent reading. All 3 extracts, and the grey small print above each one. Underline anything that says who wrote it, when, why they wrote it, and any number you could check. Do not start the grid yet.”

Walk the room: the lines pupils skim past and should underline are, on A, “named education officer, with a job title”, “Reviewed: date shown”, “a postal address and a phone number”, “2.5%”, “29 or 30 days”, “dawn until sunset”, “once in their lifetime”; on B, “Admin”, “no date anywhere”, “Sources: none”, “Comments are open and unmoderated”; on C, “our team”, “Sponsored guide”, “£34.99, was £49.99”, “We are not affiliated with any mosque or religious organisation”, “Prices correct at time of going to press”.

Slide 4 of 7 · Step 2: the evaluation grid · RE · Year 9

15 minutes

Step 2: score all 3 pages on the evaluation grid

Score each criterion 0, 1 or 2 for A, B and C, then write the evidence that earned your lowest score. Row 1 is on the board: copy it, then do the other 5 rows and the total out of 12.

Criterion	A	B	C	Evidence for your lowest score
A named author with a stated role	2	0	0	B is signed “Admin” and C says “our team”. Neither is a person you could ask a question.

Step 2 on your worksheet · 15 minutes Every low score needs a quotation from the page

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Say aloud: “Row 1 is on the board. Copy it. Then score the other 5 rows yourself: 0 means not there at all, 1 means partly, 2 means fully. For each row, quote the words from the page that earned the lowest score. Add up each column out of 12.”

Quick check, secure grid: A scores 2 on every row, 12 out of 12. B scores 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1 out of 12. C scores 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2 out of 12. Row 2, date: B has no date anywhere; C says “prices correct at time of going to press”, which dates the prices, not the facts. Row 3, written by people of that faith: C states “We are not affiliated with any mosque or religious organisation.” Row 4, purpose: C is labelled “Sponsored guide” and every third paragraph is a product; B gets 1 because it is not selling but its open unmoderated comments mean it is partly there for arguments. Row 5, checkable: A gives 2.5% of qualifying wealth, a lunar month of 29 or 30 days, dawn to sunset; B says “facing east” and “forty days” with no source. Row 6, contact: A gives a postal address and phone number; B has no corrections policy; C has a shop contact form, which is not the same thing. Accept a point either way on B row 4 and C rows 5 and 6 if the evidence is quoted.

Slide 5 of 7 · Steps 3 and 4: corrections, then the recommendation · RE · Year 9

15 minutes

Step 3 & Step 4: correct Website B, then recommend a page

Step 3 (8 min): Website B makes 4 statements that are simply wrong. Quote each one, then write the accurate version using Website A. Row 1 is on the board. Step 4 (7 min): write 100 to 150 words to a Year 7 pupil: name the page you recommend, give 2 reasons from your grid, and warn them about 1 specific problem with each of the other 2 pages.

What Website B says	What is actually the case
“praying, which Muslims do three times a day facing east”	Muslims are required to pray five times a day, at times that follow dawn, midday, afternoon, sunset and night. Prayer faces the Ka’bah in Makkah, the direction called the qibla, which from Wales is roughly south-east, not east.

Steps 3 and 4 on your worksheet · 15 minutes Use Website A as your source for every correction

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Say aloud: “Correction 1 is on the board: copy it. Find the other 3 wrong statements in Website B, quote them, and write the accurate version using Website A. Then write your recommendation: name 1 page, 2 reasons from your grid, and 1 specific problem with each of the other 2.”

Quick check, the 4 corrections: (1) “three times a day facing east”: five times a day, facing Makkah, roughly south-east from Wales. (2) “Zakat, which means giving ten per cent of your income to the mosque”: Zakat is normally 2.5% of qualifying savings and wealth above a minimum threshold, once a year, given to people in need, not to the building. (3) “Muslims fast for forty days, and Ramadan is always in March… They cannot eat at all for the whole period”: Ramadan is one lunar month of 29 or 30 days, moves about 11 days earlier each year so it can fall in any season, and the fast runs from dawn until sunset each day and is broken every evening. (4) “Every Muslim has to travel to Makkah every single year”: Hajj is expected once in a lifetime, and only of those physically and financially able.

Walk the room, the recommendation: a secure answer recommends Website A (12 out of 12; named author and review date; checkable figures such as 2.5%, 29 or 30 days, dawn until sunset; written by a Muslim organisation). It warns that B is signed “Admin”, has no date and gets 4 facts wrong, including the number of daily prayers, and that C is a “Sponsored guide” that admits it is not affiliated with any mosque and exists to sell a £34.99 box, even though its line about dawn to sunset and iftar is correct.

Slide 6 of 7 · Self and partner check · RE · Year 9

3 minutes

Swap with your partner and check against the success criteria

Tick each success criterion your partner’s work meets. Add 1 criterion they missed. Then swap back and correct 1 thing.

I judge each page on author, date, purpose and checkability, not on how nice it looks.
I quote evidence from the page for every low score I give.
I correct all 4 of Website B’s factual errors accurately, using the reliable page as my source.
I explain why a page that is selling something is a weak source even when parts of it are true.
My recommendation names 1 specific weakness in each rejected page, not a general complaint.

3 minutes · partner check Finished early? 60 words: why is “partly correct and selling a hamper” still a bad source?

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Say aloud: “Swap worksheets. Tick the criteria your partner has met. If a low score has no quotation beside it, write ‘quote it’. If a correction has no number in it, write ‘figure?’. Swap back and fix 1 thing.”

Extension answers: Website C is dangerous precisely because it is partly true: the true parts (dawn to sunset, iftar) buy trust for the rest, and a page selling a £34.99 box chooses which facts help the sale. A usable footer for Website B would give a named author, their role, the date reviewed, and a way to report an error. The 3 questions to ask of any page about a faith: who wrote it and what is their role, when was it written or reviewed, and is it written by or with people of that faith rather than to sell or provoke.

Slide 7 of 7 · Plenary review · RE · Year 9

3 minutes

The corrections read aloud, then quick-check answers before handing in

Round the room: 4 pupils each read 1 correction from the table aloud so nobody leaves believing Website B. Then check these answers.

Question	Correct answer
How many times a day are Muslims required to pray?	Five, not three. Website B got the most basic fact on the page wrong.
How long is Ramadan, and when does the daily fast run?	One lunar month of 29 or 30 days, fasting from dawn until sunset each day. It moves about 11 days earlier each year.
Which page do you recommend, and what scored it 12 out of 12?	Website A: a named author and review date, written by a Muslim organisation, and figures precise enough to check.

Check your name and class are on your worksheet Worksheets in · stimulus sheets can stay with the pupil