Source Detective Skills

Overview

This lesson is lesson 2 of 6 in “Māori Spirituality and Faith Connections”. Students will learn a research methodology and apply source-evaluation steps to evidence about Māori spiritual traditions and Te Hāhi Mihinare connections, building skills needed for later analysis and writing.

Learning intentions

Students will be able to:

• WALT follow a clear research process to gather relevant evidence.
• WALT explain how reliability and authority of sources can be evaluated.
• WALT use a guided evidence table to sort evidence from documentary clips, online databases, and other references.
• WALT give a justification for whether evidence is suitable for Religious Studies analysis.

Success criteria

I can:

• create a focusing question and identify what evidence I still need.
• evaluate a source for authority, relevance, perspective, and reliability.
• record evidence accurately with enough source details to use later.
• explain how my evaluation affects the conclusions I can make.

Curriculum links

• AS90825 — Analyse a religious tradition(s) in Aotearoa New Zealand: preparing to break traditions into components and support conclusions with evidence.
• AS90827 — Analyse key beliefs of a religious tradition and a secular world view: preparing evidence that links beliefs to ultimate questions.
• National curriculum Religious Studies (Understanding Religion): build knowledge and understanding by investigating religion using reliable evidence.
• Key competencies: thinking (evaluating sources), communicating (explaining evidence choices), managing self (following steps), relating to others (collaborative inquiry).

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Hook (Inquiry stakes). Teacher shows a short documentary excerpt segment and asks one question on the board: “What counts as evidence here, and who might it be from?” Students jot two quick claims and underline which part of the clip they would treat as evidence.

2. 8–18 min · Mini-lesson (Methodology steps). Teacher models a simple research process: focusing question → evidence types → selection criteria → evaluation → notes for analysis. Students follow along on a class template and complete the focusing question for today’s task in pairs.

3. 18–30 min · Explicit modeling (Source evaluation “checklist”). Teacher thinks aloud using one prepared sample source (e.g., database entry summary or excerpt from a credible article) and applies an evaluation routine:

• Authority (who produced it, and within what tradition/institution?)
• Relevance (answers the focusing question?)
• Perspective (what viewpoint is included or missing?)
• Reliability (how consistent/traceable is the information?) Students score the sample source using a 1–3 scale and write one “because” sentence for each rating.

4. 30–48 min · Guided practice (Evidence table + teamwork). Teacher distributes two short extracts and one clip transcript excerpt (one stronger evidence source, one weaker or more biased). Students in groups of 2–3 complete an evidence table: evidence quote/idea, evaluation notes (authority/relevance/perspective/reliability), and a decision (Use / Use with caution / Not suitable).

5. 48–55 min · Collaborative moderation (Justify decisions). Teacher runs a structured “show your thinking” discussion: groups compare one decision and justify it using the checklist. Students respond to one peer question: “What would need to be true for you to trust this source more?”

6. 55–60 min · Exit ticket (Method + next step). Teacher collects an exit ticket with two prompts:

• “One evaluation factor that changed my decision was…”
• “Next research step: I need evidence about…” Students submit the ticket before leaving.

Resources

• Prepared short documentary clip segment (downloaded for offline use)
• Clip transcript excerpt (printed)
• Two short prepared source extracts (printed)
• Evidence table printable (1 per student)
• Source evaluation checklist printable
• Prepared online database screenshots or offline database access (no links in materials)
• Timeline/notes template for later lessons
• Highlighters and pens
• Device access for viewing database pages (if available), otherwise teacher-provided screenshots

Assessment

• Formative check: during mini-lesson, teacher reviews focusing questions for clarity and alignment to Māori spiritual traditions/Te Hāhi Mihinare connections.
• Formative check: guided practice evidence table—teacher uses a quick observation rubric (accuracy of recorded evidence and correctness of evaluation reasoning).
• Exit ticket: evaluates individual understanding of methodology and the ability to justify source suitability.

Differentiation

• Support: provide sentence starters for the evaluation “because” statements (e.g., “This source is authoritative because…”, “I need more evidence because…”).
• Support: colour-code the evidence table sections (Authority, Relevance, Perspective, Reliability) to reduce cognitive load.
• Extension: challenge students to propose one follow-up source type (e.g., primary voice from a recognised community authority vs. secondary academic analysis) that would strengthen their notes.
• EAL/SEN: offer a reduced set of evaluation descriptors (e.g., Authority + Relevance only) for the first extract, then add Perspective/Reliability once they complete the table.

Formatted hyperlinks note

No hyperlinks will be used in this lesson plan; students will use provided screenshots/extracts and teacher-managed access to resources.