Keywords are an important part of refining Internet searches; with so much information on the Internet, it is important to learn how to filter through in order to find pertinent information. It is especially important for middle school students to learn keyword searches before they start high school, where they will be expected to write research papers. Luckily, preparing a lesson plan to teach middle school students about the importance of keyword searching is relatively straightforward.
Instructions
Teaching Keyword Searches
- 1
Distribute to students a clear essay prompt. Be sure to be as specific as possible; for example, an effective prompt for this activity could be "George Washington at the Battle of Trenton," but not just "George Washington during the Revolutionary War."
2Look up the prompt using less effective keywords. Either as a class (if you have access to a projector) or with each student working independently (either in a computer lab at school or at home), use a search engine (e.g. Google or Yahoo!) to look up the prompt with less specific keywords. In the example of "George Washington at the Battle of Trenton," have students just look up "George Washington" or "Revolutionary War" and see how many results they get.
3Refine your search using proper keyword searches such as "Battle of Trenton" or "American Revolutionary War" and "December 1776." The visceral impact of so few websites to comb through illustrates how important using keywords can be when trying to find a website using a search engine.
