But I Read It on the Internet!

Gr 3–5—Mr. Dickinson's students have opposing ideas on how to do proper research. Hunter relies on "true books" from the school library and Carmen believes that everything she reads on the Internet is true. Super librarian Mrs. Skorupski bounds in to save the day. She helps the fourth graders on their presidential fact-finding mission by teaching them how to evaluate and cite their resources, providing them with a terrific research tool, her "Website Evaluation Gizmo." The girls and boys record a number of the facts on a Know/Want to Know/Learn chart. Hunter and Carmen disagree over whether George Washington actually had wooden teeth. For homework, they are assigned the task of verifying the story. To Hunter's dismay, Mrs. Skorupski wants them to use Internet sources, no books. She advises him to visit the public library, where he and the librarian search the Internet for "George Washington" "wooden teeth" and then use Mrs. Skorupski's Gizmo to evaluate the website. At school the next day, Hunter is surprised when Carmen suddenly agrees with him. She changed her mind because thanks to her teacher she "knew how to make sure the Internet was right!" The cheerful illustrations of Hunter and his classmates perfectly capture their curiosity and eagerness to learn. Mrs. Skorupski, with her lesson-coordinated accessories and quirky cat-eye glasses, dances across the pages exuding energetic enthusiasm. Pair this fine addition to the series with Kathleen Fox and Lisa Downey's The Pirates of Plagiarism (Upstart, 2010) for a fun-filled lesson on information literacy.—Linda L. Walkins, Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, Boston, MA