Whole Earth Curriculum WEC

Lesson 03 — Where Did That Information Come From?

Learners practice naming where a piece of information came from — a book, a grown-up, or a screen — and asking one question about it: who made it, how do they know, or is it new or old. They learn that information always comes from somewhere and from someone, and that asking is the first step of reading carefully.

D10 P4: Contextual & Ecological Awareness D10.S2 45 minutes Draft

Objectives

Essential question

Where did a piece of information come from, and what question can I ask about it?

informationsourcebookgrown-upscreenquestionwhohow

Materials

Standard materials

Low-tech / no-cost

Enriched / lab & device

Works in different contexts

Three sources of information — a book, a grown-up, and a screen — point to a child who asks a question. Each source is labeled. A speech bubble says: where did I learn this? Who made it? How do they know? Word labels carry the meaning so it prints in grayscale.
Three sources of information — a book, a grown-up, and a screen — point to a child who asks a question. Each source is labeled. A speech bubble says: where did I learn this? Who made it? How do they know? Word labels carry the meaning so it prints in grayscale.

Lesson 3 — Where Did That Information Come From?

Summary

Learners learn that every piece of information comes from somewhere — a book, a grown-up, or a screen — and from someone. They practice saying the source of a fact and asking one question about it: Who made it? How do they know? Is it new or old? They meet asking as a treasure, not a suspicion: it is how careful readers learn.

Objectives

  • Tell where a piece of information came from, such as a book, a grown-up, or a screen, and ask one question about it. (D10.S2.02.01)

Connection

Where did you learn that the sky is blue, or that a plant needs water to grow? Maybe a grown-up told you. Maybe you read it in a book. Maybe you saw it on a screen. Information always comes from somewhere and from someone. Knowing where it came from — and asking one question about it — is how we begin to read carefully, in every language and every place.

Materials

  • Source cards (book, grown-up, screen) and simple fact cards
  • Paper and crayons

Preparation

  • Prepare three source cards — a book, a grown-up, a screen — and several simple facts, each clearly from one source (a fact from a book, from a grown-up, from a screen).
  • Prepare the question starters: Who made it? How do they know? Is it new or old?
  • Set out paper and crayons.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). Build on Grade 1’s “who made it and for whom” and grow it into “where did it come from, and what do I ask?” Keep the tone warm — asking about a source is a treasure of a careful reader, never a rude challenge. Honor all sources equally: a grandmother’s spoken word, a printed book, and a screen can all carry true information, and all deserve a question. Hold the stance of the whole curriculum: question gently, never cynically. In places where it is not safe to question an adult, frame it as wondering together (see docs/contexts.md), and let learners write or drop questions into a “wonder box” instead of speaking them. Honor every body: a learner who is blind or has low vision can hear each fact and name its source by voice, and feel a book’s pages or a screen’s edge; a non-speaking learner points to the source card and to a question card to show the answer.

Procedure

  1. Gather (5 min). Where do you learn things? Name one place you learned something this week. Was it from a person, a book, or a screen?
  2. Meet the three sources (10 min). Look at the source cards: a book, a grown-up, a screen. Each one can give you information. For each, say one thing you could learn from it.
  3. Play “name the source” (10 min). Hear each fact card. Then say where it came from: “I learned this from a book.” “A grown-up told me this.” “I saw this on a screen.”
  4. Ask one question (10 min). Pick one fact. Ask one question about it: Who made this? How do they know? Is it new or old? A partner helps you answer if they can.
  5. Draw a fact and its source (8 min). Draw one fact you know, and draw or write where it came from — a book, a grown-up, or a screen. Add one question you would ask.
  6. Close (2 min). Information always comes from somewhere and someone. Naming the source and asking one question is how careful readers learn — everywhere, in every language.

Differentiation

  • Support: Match one fact to one source and ask one question together aloud, with the question card in front of you.
  • Blind/low vision: Hear each fact and name its source by voice; feel a book’s pages and a screen’s edge to tell them apart by touch.
  • Deaf/hard of hearing / non-speaking: Show the source with a sign, picture, or card; ask a question by pointing to a question card (Who? How? New or old?).
  • Motor differences: Point to the source card and to a question card; direct a partner’s hands to draw the fact while the learner chooses the source.
  • Extension: Tell how a grown-up might check a fact before telling you, and name one question you would ask a book.

Assessment

  • Formative (observation): Can the learner tell where one piece of information came from (a book, a grown-up, or a screen) and ask one question about it?

Home connection

At home, tell a grown-up one thing you learned this week and where it came from. Ask the grown-up: where did they learn the thing they know best, and what question would they ask about it?

Resources