Instructional tools

There are many sites that offer media literacy instructional tools. Choose one that meshes with your classroom goals and your personal style. Use our evaluation tool to examine the sites.

See what your colleagues had to say about some of the websites.

Above: Cross-curricular lesson plan template by Rich Mandl

Resources

Media literacy

• Start with metacognition: Understanding confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance is foundational to teaching media literacy. Teaching students how to recognize fake news is pointless unless they understand our strong, universal tendencies to focus on information that bolsters our existing beliefs and to engage in mental gymnastics to align our beliefs with our behavior.
• Confirmation bias
  • "What Is a Confirmation Bias?" (Article)
  • Video on confirmation bias: "Why Do our Brains Love Fake News?" (Sign into your LAUSD Google account before trying to view this video.) This is a kid-friendly video.
• Cognitive dissonance
  • "What Is Cognitive Dissonance" (Article)
  • Lesson: "Everything You Know Is Wrong 2: Beliefs and Behavior" (Annenberg Foundation)

Start the Day with Oatmeal

• To use The Oatmeal: "You're Not Going to Believe What I'm Going to Tell You" in your class, try this extending activity:
  • Ask students to choose ONE of the ideas presented and read the sources referenced beneath. (The links to the sources are under the comic frame which shows the statement).
    • You may have heard that George Washington had wooden teeth.
    • Napoleon Bonaparte was not short.
    • Thomas Crapper did not invent the flush toilet.
    • Houseflies live for about a month.
    • Humans don't explode in a vacuum.
    • There is zero evidence Jesus Christ was born on Dec. 25th.
    • The Pledge of Allegiance was written by a socialist.
    • Six of the seven justices who voted in favor of Roe v. Wade were Republican appointed.
  • Then, write how your ideas about the topic changed. Did the sources cited challenge your beliefs? Did you experience the "backfire effect"? Have you seen anyone experience the "backfire effect"?
  • Do you think knowing about the "backfire effect" will help when you are presented with information that challenges your ideas?

AllSides "Unlike regular news services, AllSides exposes bias and provides multiple angles on the same story so you can quickly get the full picture, not just one slant." Contact them at feedback@allsides.com to sign up. Free.

Center for Media Literacy Check the online store for free downloads:

• MediaLit Moments Activities (Free)
• MediaLit Moments: 27 Media Literacy Activities (Free)
• Teaching Democracy: A Media Literacy Approach (Free)
• Link to more free lesson materials: Global OnRamp

Checkology (You need to create an account)

"The News Literacy Project (NLP) is a nonpartisan national education nonprofit that works with educators and journalists to teach middle school and high school students how to sort fact from fiction in the digital age." NLP Mission Statement.

Each teacher may upgrade for free to a premium account with the code below.

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The free one can be done 1-many (whole class) while the premium version allows students to earn points and badges.

For information on how to create a class and add students, see the Getting Started Guide

Features: Four learning modules (thirteen lessons total)

• Module 1: Filtering News and Information (four lessons)
• Module 2: Exercising Civic Freedoms (three lessons)
• Module 3: Navigating Today's Information Landscape (three lessons)
• Module 4: How to Know What to Believe (three lessons)
• Online check tool for evaluating news or information

Factitious: Game to Identify Fake News

Play "Factitious" as a whole class. Give students time to play in small groups or individually. Factitious is a Tinder-like fake news identifying game devised by the American University JoLT team. The game uses articles gathered from the internet. See the About section to learn more.

Important concepts taught through the game:

• Examining the source
• Detecting parody
• Detecting "voice" (does the article sound objective?)
• Looking for attribution (naming the people quoted in the article)

PBS.org

PBS NewsHour Extra: "News for students and teacher resources 7-12 grade level." Video format. In the "Subject" tab, click on "Media Literacy."

Lesson Plan: How to Teach Your Students About Fake News (one 50-minute lesson with extension activities)

ReadWriteThink

Lesson: Hoax or No Hoax? Strategies for Online Comprehension and Evaluation

Aligned to California standards.

Strongly leans to website evaluation strategies and the identification of hoax websites.

Say "No" to Fake News ppt

Written by Laureen Keough, teacher librarian Manual Arts HS, retired. A succinct presentation on fake news with examples and student activities.

CRAP test: quick checklist for evaluation of sources.

Science

Climate change ---- Vaccines ---- Evolution ---- Darwinism ---- Flat-Earth ----Moon Landing ----etc.

• Resource folder - a small collection of sources
• Climate Change-
  • A look at the data from the National Climate Assessment website
  • Students can analyze the charts and graphs depicted in the Google Slides
  • Students can be encouraged to develop questions for further investigations.
  • Students can work in groups to dissect the sections found in the National Climate Assessment report.
    • Sample Collaborative Presentation from previous year