Have you heard of "A Google A Day"? I had not until just recently. A Google A Day is a fun daily trivia question that could easily be used as a morning wake up activity - or better yet as a fantastic tool for teaching students how to complete effective internet searches.
Just go to www.agoogleaday and read the question at the bottom of the page. Students can individually, or as a modeled lesson, use the search engine on the page to see if they can find the answer to the daily question. The search engine on the page filters out published answers so you get a spam-free experience. This activity can teach students how to select quality search words and to refine searches.
Once you and your students feel you have the correct answer to the question, hit the "show answer" button beside the question to check your work.
Extensions with A Google A Day are also easy. Once you have the answer, ask a handful of higher level questions. For example, if the answer was Benajamin Franklin, ask students what's the most interesting thing they learned about Benjamin Franklin during their search. Ask what's one question you would ask Benjamin Franklin if you met him. Or even have students write a letter to Benjamin Frankling asking about the daily trivia.
Check out A Google A Day...It's a fun way to spark curiosity and teach powerful internet search skills.
I think this would make a great warmup each time classes come to the computer lab, especially in our intermediate grade levels.
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