The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells was never a big seller.  It sat on many a library shelf, never being checked out until the night of Oct. 30, 1938.  Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater hosted a radio broadcast that night that scared Americans half to death.  This was a frightening time in American history with World War II and Hitler’s army advancing through Europe.

The only way most people had to get their news was by newspaper and radio.  Although the actors announced at the beginning of their performance that this was a play, they did not mention the fact that it was a play again for almost 45 minutes.  Those tuning in after that disclaimer were convinced that aliens from Mars had, in fact, invaded the sleepy town of Grover’s Mill, New Jersey and other cities around the United States.

I love this story and the lesson that we can learn from this wide spread panic that struck the heart of our society.  Although we think we are smarter and more sophisticated because of all the technology at our fingertips, we can be just as easily fooled today.

I use this radio broadcast as an opener to a great lesson on evaluating websites.  The book, The Aliens are Coming by, Meghan McCarthy, is a wonderful recount of the War of the Worlds radio broadcast.

We read the book and listen to a portion of the broadcast (available on YouTube War of the Worlds Orson Welles ).  

We discuss how we “can’t possibly be fooled” today like people in 1938 were.  (Insert wink here)

I ask students to tell why they think we can’t be fooled.  Undoubtedly, one student will always say, “because we have the Internet”.  GOTCHA!  I love that answer.

The real fun begins here.  I have written a play about websites that everyone is falling for.  It is written as a news broadcast, similar to the War of the Worlds radio broadcast.  Here is the link to the play. Internet Safety Play.  I have included several links to spoof websites that are fun and great tools for teaching about reliable websites.  I have students play the different parts. You can also add props, if you have the time to create them.

Finally, I show a great video on how to determine if a website is a reliable source. Evaluating Websites Video.

If time permits, or as a lesson extender, give students a list of both known reliable and unreliable websites and have them evaluate them based on the criteria in the video.

ReadWriteThink.org also has great lesson plans with handouts for students to use to help them evaluate websites.  Is This a Hoax?

Links to some crazy websites:
Travels by Derek
Dog Island
Moon Land for Sale
The Mysterious Jackalope
Save the Tree Octopus
Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie

Reliable websites I like to use:
NASA
U.S. Department of the Treasury
U.S. Forest Service
Library of Congress
U.S. Coast Guard
University of Georgia