Not only should you use reliable sources when planning your lessons, but you will want your students to be able to locate reliable sources as well.  Reliable sources can include books, articles, and websites.  But how do you know if a source is reliable?  Here are a few questions you can ask yourself in order to determine if a source is reliable:

Who?

• Who is the author?
• What degrees or experience does the author have?
• Is the author an expert in that field?
• Is the author affiliated with a particular institution?

What?

• Is the article or journal scholarly/peer-reviewed?
  (Scholarly/peer-reviewed articles are written by experts in that field and then reviewed by other experts in that same field for validity, accuracy, and overall quality prior to being published.)
• Does the author cite his/her sources?
• If yes, are they credible sources?

When?

• When was the source published?
• Is currency important to your topic?

Why?

• Did the author publish this source with a particular agenda in mind?
• Based on the author's word choice and tone, does the author have any particular bias?

Here are two forms you can use to evaluate any resource, especially internet sources!