Activities

toc  =**Lesson Ideas**=
 * Below are different activities you can do in Wikipedia with some linked to examples. This page is unlocked, so please add ideas as you see fit:**

Create an article
. . . in Wikipedia that doesn't currently exist, for example, [|I started this one]. Create an account and read [|this] and [|this] for tips.

Adopt a Wikipage
. . . that already exists and monitor changes to the article. Students can register with Wikipedia and then find articles to put on their watch list. Every time some one adds something, they can fact check it, check it for bias, make sure the citation is correct, etc. They can also make corrections in the article. For example, [|Tim Kaine] is the current governor, so why not watch this article since it gets revised a lot. Another example is [|posted here], where an ESL teacher has her students edit Wikipedia articles. You can see some examples on her [|bio page in Wikipedia].

Collaborative Writing
. . . have students work together or even pair students from different states to create or edit Wikipedia articles. This teaches writing skills, peer review, editing, revising, research skills, and responsibility. [|A study] was done on this type of activity with college students.

Platform Research
. . . is a great way for students to understand how Wikipedia articles are made, which makes them more cautious as they should be, and allows them to add content. This comes from "Wikipedia: Friend or Foe" where the teacher had his students examine Abraham Lincoln and they noticed that the two years it took Lincoln to fire General George McClellan was not discussed. So they did the research and [|added it to Wikipedia].

Foreign Language Wikis
. . . there are over 90 languages in the Wikipedia world. If you teach Spanish, French, Italian, whatever, had kids use it for practice. For example, have students read the [|Spanish version] of the article on Super Bowl XLIII. Have them read both the [|English] and the Spanish version, are they the same, is info missing on one page?

Use the Citations
. . . that are [|provided]. Using Wikipedia as a starting point is the best way to use Wikipedia. Find a related article and then use the citations, hyperlinks, footnotes, and any other reference the article points to for your own research.

Citations Needed
. . . fixes are [|everywhere in Wikipedia]. Why not have students find these and then find the correct citation for the statement. Maybe the statement is an error and they can correct it with the right citation.

Discussion Tab
. . . is a great way for students to read about the [|history] of the article. Why were some facts included, why were others left out? For example, here is [|Barack Obama's Discussion] tab.

Controversial Topics
. . . are a great way to get students to understand difficult issues. They can read what [|Wikipedia] has to say, and the discussion tab, and then read a mainstream article on the issue.

Cliffs Notes
. . . aren't the best way for students to read a book, but reading the Wikipedia article can help students understand the book more and also give them links to additional, deeper content. For example, if students are reading [|Animal Farm], they can get links to the Spanish Civil War, to people who characters in the story were modeled after, and even learn about censorship.

Up its Status
. . . Wikipedia articles are ranked from [|Featured] to [|Good] articles. The [|full list] of criteria is here, and it goes down to a "C." Have students read an article that can be improved and work as a team or individual to improve it.

Lists
. . . are another great place for students to start research. Wikipedia has 1000s of articles that are just lists. Some good, like the list of [|Presidents of the United States], to more obscure like a [|List of World Fairs]. There entire [|list of lists is here].

Trends
. . . is a Wikipedia tool that lets you see what's [|popular] on Wikipedia at that given time. At the time of this writing, Buddy Holly was popular because it was the anniversary of his death.

Create