This two-semester pedagogical study investigated the effectiveness of an approach to information and media literacy instruction for elementary preservice teachers. Participants were trained in and then used a systematic process of searching for, evaluating, and using journal articles and websites. Two-thirds of the Semester one participants were unsuccessful identifying relevant, high-quality journal articles and ½ inaccurately evaluated the quality of websites. After three opportunities for formative assessment were added to the instruction model in Semester two, participants proficiently evaluated websites and ¾ were able to find relevant journal articles. The results demonstrate the importance of formative assessment and the need to provide preservice teachers with information and media literacy training so they are better able to navigate and evaluate digital-age resources in order to expand their content mastery and teach their students 21 st century skills. This pedagogical study investigated the effectiveness of an approach to information and media literacy instruction for elementary preservice teachers. We, a teacher educator and education librarian team, were specifically concerned with preservice teachers' skill using Internet search engines and library subscription databases to locate, evaluate, and use relevant, appropriate, reliable, and authoritative resources. We trained the participants in a systematic research process of searching for, evaluating, and using information resources, specifically journal articles and websites, to increase their content knowledge. After completing the training, preservice teachers used the research process to complete a major assessment in a social studies curriculum and instructional methods course. Although we focused on two forms of media in the training, the information and media literacy skills they learned are transferable to other resources. We evaluated the effectiveness of our instructional approach over a 2-semester academic year by collecting data to explore the questions: How successful are preservice teachers in selecting and evaluating high-quality resources? How do preservice teachers' perceptions of their information and media literacy skills compare with their abilities to evaluate resource quality? What is the relationship between preservice teacher age and ability to evaluate resource quality?