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Use the new Internet Library for Adult Learners
 
Intro Activity 1: Intro to firstfind.info. Intro Activity 2: Using an Online Dictionary. Activity 1: Exploring firstfind.info Activity 2: Web Site Reviews Activity 3: Answering Questions Culminating Activity Writing to firstfind.info Intro Activity 1: Intro to firstfind.info. In this activity, the teacher gives a demonstration of how to use firstfind.info.  Ask
students to go to http://www.firstfind.info.
Read the introduction to your students or have them read it silently.
Ask students to click on “Enter the firstfind.info library”
Review the list of subject areas. You might want to have students print
out the list. You can write the list of topics on the board if you like.
Ask students to tell you what they would expect to find in each area. 
Ask students to suggest a subjects area for the group to review
Guide students through an exploration of the subject: “click here…click
here…click here…” Read sections of what’s on the screen
or ask them to read sections to the group. Share your thought process with
them as you look through the sites: “Hmmmm… ‘jobs’ sounds
interesting…let’s click here…what other topics are here?…this
one sounds good…” etc…
Go deep into the site. Use the “back” button to get back out.
Explain what you are doing and why as you go along. 
Keep on touring the sight, but ask students to give suggestions of where
to click. Ask them for subjects, questions, and comments. 
To review, ask students to write what they think of firstfind.info and how
to class got introduced to it through this activity. Intro Activity 2: Using an Online Dictionary.
Ask students to enter the firstfind library and click on the dictionary
button.It
is easier to learn how to use the dictionary if you start with words the
students know. Ask students to suggest words that they know already to see
how the dictionary works.Enter
the suggested words and talk students through using the dictionary.
Then ask for some words they are not sure of the meaning or spelling of.
You can also suggest difficult words if students have problems coming up
with suggestions.
Ask students to look up the unknown words in the dictionary. If you want
to use the dictionary for spelling, you can’t write the words on the
blackboard. Have students spell them the best that they can. Some or all
of your students should be able to find them as the dictionary searches.
Talk about the dictionary’s definitions. The firstfind dictionary is
pretty straightforward, but sometimes dictionary definitions are hard to
understand. Activity 1: Exploring firstfind.info Tell
students they have 10 minutes to freely explore firstfind.info and to find
one Web site that they like. Offer
several different ways they can record sites they like such as writing down
the URL, using the back button, bookmarking. Tell students they have to
pick a way to get back to the site they liked the best.Move
around the room and talk to students about what they are finding. Good questions
to ask can be simple: “What is this?” “What do you think
of this?,” “Show me something you liked or did not like.”
At the end of the ten minutes, each student brings the site they liked up
on their screen.Have
each student take a clean sheet of paper and write the URL of the site and
the name of the site.Underneath
the URL they wrote, each student should write a note to the class about
why they picked the site they chose. What do they like about it? What did
they learn from it?
For the rest of the class, the students should move from computer to computer
in an orderly fashion, reviewing the site on each computer and writing a
response on the sheet. Give students a set amount of time at each site.
Only take a few minutes to view each site and write the response. Make sure
each student has the screen back to the URL written at the top of the page
before moving on. This should be a very active and fast-moving activity.
Remind students to check that the URL in the address box is the same as
the one written on the page. As students move around the room, remind them
to read all the comments on the sheet. They can respond to all the written
remarks. 
Have students circulate for about half an hour. Then have each student go
back to their original computer to read the list of responses. 
Ask each student to take another look at the site after reading the remarks
and write a final remark to sum it all up.Activity 2: Web Site Reviews
Using the response sheets from Activity One and their own opinions, ask
students to answer a couple of questions about the site they chose:
Ask students to pick out two of three comments from the response sheet to
use as quotes about the site. Give an example to show how you can excerpt
from a comment—that you don’t have to use all of it.Ask
students to write a review of their site using the answers to the questions
above and at least one quote about the site.
Put all the reviews together on a bulletin board, in a booklet, or online
if your class has a Web site. Activity 3: Answering Questions
Have each group write down three questions that they are interested in answering.
Move around the room and review the questions. If a question is too general,
encourage students to get a little more specific. If a question is too superficial,
push them to go deeper. Turn “yes or no” questions into “why”
or “how” questions. For example, “Can I get a job as a bus
driver?” can become “What qualifications are needed to become
a bus driver?”
Allow each group time to explore their questions, taking notes, and discussing
what they have found. Encourage students to note any interesting information
they find that may not be an answer to their questions. Ask
each group to present the most interesting or helpful question and answer
they found. Culminating Activity: Writing to firstfind.info
Have a group discussion about firstfind
After the discussion, have students fill in the firstfind feedback form:
“Did you find what you were looking for?”Before
you send in the feedback, ask for any volunteers to read their feedback
to the group.
Send the feedback into firstfind.info. 
Deeper Research: If you’ve done the lessons in this unit, you’ve probably been all over and across many curricula. firstfind can help you and your students go deeper into other areas.
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