Information literacy is the ability to gather, evaluate, organize, and utilize information in a variety of formats. Teaching information literacy is a difficult task that often requires educators to think outside the box and outside their subject specialty. To make this process easier, The New York Public Library has handouts, lesson plans, and educator guides available through a robust collection of databases and print materials that are accessible with a library card. 

Apply for a Library Card

Before utilizing the Library’s resources, students and educators should apply for a library card to gain access to certain digital resources at home and in the classroom. 

The New York Public Library Card Application

Anyone who lives, works, attends school, or pays property taxes in New York State can apply for a library card online or at a branch library. Find your closest branch library here to apply in-person. 

The New York Public Library Educator Cards

Find out how to get an educator library card, which provides New York City educators with extended borrowing privileges.  

Digital Resources

While The New York Public Library provides access to hundreds of resources, many of which are available off site, there are a handful of databases that provide educators with guidance, lesson plans, and handouts that make crafting an instructional plan for information literacy even easier. 

Explora Elementary, Explora Middle School, & Explora High School

Explora has three different age bands available for use within your classroom: Explora Elementary, Explora Middle School, and Explora High School. These three separate resources look and feel the same, featuring a user-friendly interface that acts like a true academic database. 

In their special section just for educators, Explora highlights primary and secondary school worksheets that they have created featuring an information scavenger hunt, teaching kids how to find the information that they’re looking for. Guiding them how to navigate the site, find relevant information, and explore different topics, these worksheets are a wonderful way to begin exploring information literacy with your students.

Here are the worksheets for both elementary students and secondary students. 

Scholastic Teachables

Scholastic Teachables has a plethora of resources for educators of grades pre-K through grade 6. Though this database is wonderful for all subject areas, Scholastic provides access to worksheets, handouts, and more that will help children learn how to evaluate, synthesize, and organize information. 

After students complete the Explora scavenger hunt, you can encourage them to select a topic that interests them, and have them try out different graphic organizers for taking notes. Scholastic Teachables features a collection of essential graphic organizers for students, which can be adapted to meet the needs of any and all elementary students. Using these graphic organizers, students can test out what they learned in the previous exercise, as well as learn which graphic organizers are suitable for different topics and types of information. Graphic Organizers Essential Forms are available to download for free with a library card and pin number. 

Another great series of worksheets is Scholastic's Finding the Main Idea handouts for different grade levels. While this may seem primarily like a skill focused on literacy and language arts, it is fundamental to every subject area. 

TrueFlix

Though many educators focus on text literacy, showcasing how to read, evaluate, and understand different types of information is critical. TrueFlix has a category titled Information Literacy, featuring books on reading maps, diagrams, and more! Students will have fun engaging with maps and charts. 

BrainPOP Lesson Plans

The New York Public Library currently provides access to BrainPOP at home with a library card number and pin. BrainPOP has lessons on critical reasoning and internet searching. They even have a page on educator resources for research.

Supplemental Titles

Utilizing print materials in your lessons on information literacy is crucial, as students need to learn how to find information in different mediums. These titles are available to check out from NYPL and can supplement your lessons. 

• Learning About Media Literacy by Martha E.H. Rustad
• Sam Visits the School Library by Martha E.H. Rustad
• Sort It Out: Choosing Information by Claire Throp
• Who Said What? A Writer's Guide to Finding, Evaluating, Quoting, and Documenting Sources (and Avoiding Plagiarism) by Kayla Meyers
• Writing a Research Paper by Valerie Bodden

Though these titles above focus specifically on information literacy and the research process, you can search the catalog for nonfiction materials on a specific topic so that students can learn to take notes, evaluate sources, and compile information. 

Supplemental External Websites

Here are a few more resources to check out if you’re looking to incorporate information literacy lessons into your classroom:

• Be Internet Awesome with Google
• Information Fluency Continuum 
  • Framework & Anchor Standards
  • Assessments by Grade Level