Compare and Contrast Electronic Text With Traditionally Printed Text

Student Objectives

Instruction & Activities

Extensions

Student Assessment/Reflections

 

STUDENT OBJECTIVES

Students will

• Navigate a website using electronic features including graphics, digitized speech, and video
  
  
• Demonstrate their understanding of how reading text on the Internet differs from reading a traditionally printed textbook
  
  
• Consider how they could integrate electronic textual aids into their own writing to support meaning
  
  

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Instruction & Activities

Part 1

1.	Convey a purpose for the lesson by explaining to students that they will be comparing and contrasting the way they gather information in textbooks and the way they gather information from the Internet. Depending upon the grade level, you may want to do a mini-lesson on compare and contrast.
2.	Ask students to take out a content area textbook, open to a specific chapter, and briefly skim the chapter. Tell students to independently make a list of the types of textual aids they use when reading. Depending upon students' grade level and experience with textual aids, you may need to define textual aids and review some examples (e.g., bold print, italicized words, pictures, graphs).
3.	As a group, discuss the textual aids that students listed and be sure everyone in the class understands the purpose of each aid, and how and why it is used in a text.

Part 2
This part can be done immediately after Part 1 if a computer lab is available, or it can be done throughout the day or week in pairs if computer access is limited.

1.	Explain to students that they will now examine how they read text on the Internet. Explain that this is a very important skill, and that there are some similarities and differences to how they read Internet text and how they read a printed textbook.
2.	Direct students to go to the bookmarked website Cow's Eye Dissection and click on "Step-by-Step: Dissecting a Cow's Eye." Click "Continue" and navigate the website by clicking on all of the hyperlinks (i.e., the red underlined words) and other icons. As they navigate the site, ask them to list the textual aids that they use while reading the information. During this examination of the website, they should also complete the Internet Workshop form.
3.	When all students have completed the Internet activity, bring the class together for an Internet Workshop using the format described in the online article Internet Workshop: Making Time for Literacy. Be sure to have the website projected during the Internet Workshop so that all students can follow the discussion. This session should focus on Specific information gathered while navigating the site (which will also allow you to check students' completion of the activity) A compare and contrast discussion between reading text from a traditionally printed textbook and reading Internet text An extension discussion on how writing Internet text may be similar to or different from writing traditionally printed text As you and your students participate in the Internet Workshop, illustrate and discuss how the electronic textual aids add meaning to the text. For example, why is it important to click on the linked terms or take the time to listen to the audio? How do these electronic components add meaning to the text and help the reader comprehend the information? Be sure to discuss the electronic components in relation to what students already know about textual aids in traditionally printed texts. Also, be sure to highlight the additional skills they need when interacting with text on the Internet. For example, books do not usually incorporate audio; however, many Internet sites do. Therefore, students need to hone their listening skills, in addition to their reading skills, when reading text on the Internet.

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EXTENSIONS

• Have students use the interactive Venn diagram on ReadWriteThink to compare and contrast the textual aids found in electronic texts with the textual aids found in traditionally printed texts.
  
  
• Assist students in creating an Internet textual aid form, which they can use when navigating websites for Internet research in other areas of the curriculum. The form will serve as a reminder of how to use the various electronic textual aids.
  
  
• Have students compare print newspapers to online news sites. Two lesson plans are available on the website New York Times on the Web: Learning Network:

1.	Black, White and Digitized All Over: Examining the Pros and Cons of Print Newspapers and Online News Sites
2.	From Printed Page to Home Page: Comparing On-Line Newspapers to Their Print Counterparts

• Ask students to write an essay about what they have learned throughout this process. They can use the online Compare & Contrast Map to plan and outline their papers.

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STUDENT ASSESSMENT/REFLECTIONS

• Successful completion of the Internet Workshop form
  
  
• Teacher observation and anecdotal notes based on the Internet Workshop (see Part 2)
  
  
• Student assessments might include:
  

1.	A PowerPoint presentation that demonstrates students' understanding of the comparison between electronic text and traditionally printed text. As part of the assignment, students select a website and a portion of printed text on the same topic. Using this lesson as a model, they demonstrate how the two sources of information are similar and different.
2.	Printout of interactive Venn diagram, which compares the textual aids found in traditionally printed texts with the textual aids found in electronic texts.

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