RADCAB: Unit Overview

The RADCAB model of information source evaluation was created and is wholly owned by Karen M. Christensson, a school library media specialist in the United States. I have used Ms. Christensson’s model as the basis for three lessons plans that I normally teach to my Grade 5 students. RADCAB is the best model for information source evaluation I have ever come across. It’s thorough but also kid-friendly! Every year I tell my Grade 5 students that RADCAB is the most important thing I will teach them all year. We introduce and discuss the model in Lesson 1, then apply the model to print sources in Lesson 2, and finally apply it to digital sources in Lesson 3. I believe that Ms. Christensson intended her work to be used in a digital setting, but I have found that it works well for all information sources. Students typically have no trouble learning the model but then struggle to apply it, so keep the practice coming! Evaluating information sources is an essential skill, and students need to have a basic idea of how to do it before they reach middle school. Order the posters and bookmarks – I always do and teachers have thanked me for this lesson content over and over. I cannot overemphasize the importance of these lessons – If you teach nothing else to your Grade 5 students all year, make sure you teach Ms. Christensson’s RADCAB model.