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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fighting Fake News

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Fake news. Alternative facts. Internet trolls. In an age of Newspeak, it's increasingly important to equip 21st century learners with the skills needed to determine the legitimacy of claims put forth on social media, in print, and in...
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Lesson Plan
The New York Times

Evaluating Sources in a ‘Post-Truth’ World: Ideas for Teaching and Learning about Fake News

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
The framers of the United States Constitution felt a free press was so essential to a democracy that they granted the press the protection it needed to hold the powerful to account in the First Amendment. Today, digital natives need to...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

How to Teach Your Students about Fake News

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What media literacy skills do people need to evaluate a news source? Scholars listen to and discuss an NPR story about how fake headlines often dupe young people and adults alike. Next, they study news stories, using a fact-checking...
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Lesson Plan
American Press Institute

Media Literacy: Where News Comes From

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What actually happens at a press conference? Make sense of the mayhem with a mock press conference activity designed to promote media literacy. Individuals participate as either members of the press or the governor's office to examine...
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Activity
News Literacy Project

News Goggles: Covering a Newsworthy Trial

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed
The trial of Derek Chauvin, former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd, is the focus of a lesson that asks pupils to compare how local, nationial, and international news organizations reported the testimony of...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Fake News — What's the Big Deal?

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
In a time of fake news and alternative facts, young people must have the ability to identify it and its role. Scholars watch a video of teens reflecting on the concept of fake news and the impact of sharing fake news stories. They then...
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Unit Plan
American Press Institute

Introductory News Literacy

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Aspiring journalists learn about media literacy, journalism, and the press. Units come complete with handouts, assignment rubrics, notes, and extension suggestions. Each unit also comes with a list of vocabulary words and learning...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Free Press Challenges Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The debate over the integrity of stories in media is not new. Young journalists analyze historical sources that reveal freedom of the press controversies and draw parallels to challenges freedom of the press faces today. 
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

The Press and the Presidency: Friend or Foe? How the President Is Portrayed

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
In theory, news reports should be fair and unbiased. Young journalists test this theory by selecting a current news story covered by various media outlets about the President of the United States. They then locate and analyze five...
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Activity
News Literacy Project

News Goggles: Identifying the News Source

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed
A 25-slide presentation teaches viewers how to identify the source of stories in newspapers and online news sites. The slides show how to locate the byline where either the reporter's name or the wire service that provided the story can...
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Activity
News Literacy Project

News Goggles: Tracking Developing Stories

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed
A 28-slide presentation introduces viewers to the process reports go through to track and verify developing news stories. Using the reports of the attacks at Atlanta, Georgia, massage parlors as an example, viewers are taught what to...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

When the News Media Make Mistakes

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Mistakes happen. When they happen in news reporting, be it in print or on the internet, journalism ethics requires that the errors be corrected. Young journalists use an Accuracy Checklist to track how news organizations post corrections...
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Activity
News Literacy Project

News Goggles: Chasing Scoops and Verifying Raw Information

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed
A 23-slide presentation teaches young media analysts how to identify a scoop or exclusive first report of a breaking story, how these reports become verified, and how subsequent reports in other news sources add information or refocus...
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Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Understanding Fake News

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Fake or fact? Learners must decide while looking at two published "news" stories. A reading about why fake news exists and a checklist on how to evaluate sources rounds out the activity. 
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Unit Plan
American Bar Association

News Literacy Model Curriculum in Social Studies

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars investigate news literacy in the twenty-first century. They use technology, legal decisions, writings, and digital privacy to analyze the topic. Using what they learned, a group assignment looks into both the challenges and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Information Overload: Looking at News

For Teachers 9th - 12th
How do events reported in mainstream newspapers, on television news, blog posts, and social network sites differ? Ask your class to investigate the way the same news item is presented in the many information sources available. Groups...
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Activity
News Literacy Project

News Goggles: Ad or News?

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed
Ever seen the labels "sponsored content," "native advertising," "advertorial," "paid post," "#ad," or "#sponsored?" If so, then you are looking at advertisements that are designed to appear as news stories. Learn how to tell the...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Is It News?

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Is it news or not? That is the question young journalists must consider in a lesson about newsworthiness. Class members watch a short video that details five key characteristics of quality, credible news. Individuals then use these tips...
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Website
News For Kids

News For Kids.net

For Students 3rd - 12th Standards
Media lovers read articles on a variety of current events with a website made especially for kids. The website is easy to navigate and includes sections about everything from science to sports.
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Lesson Plan
American Press Institute

Newspapers in Your Life: What’s News Where?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Big news isn't necessarily newsworthy everywhere! How do journalists decide what to cover with so much happening around them? A instructional activity on media literacy examines the factors that affect the media's choice of stories to...
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Activity
News Literacy Project

News Goggles: Quotes in News Reports

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed
To quote or paraphrase? That is the question examined by a 29-slide presentation on the importance of including direct quotes in news reporting.
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Covering a Catastrophe: Evaluating Disaster News

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists investigate the various ways to share news about a disaster and evaluate the pros and cons of each of these types of news. Individuals then select two different forms of media reports of a recent disaster. Using the...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

The Making of Fake News: A Case Study

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
"Fake News" (stories that are entirely fabricated/fictional) is the subject of a case study of the search for Jestin Coler, the creator of some of the most famous fake news stories. After reading NPR's investigative report, scholars...
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Unit Plan
Newspaper Association of America

The News

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists learn about topics such as newspaper ethics, parts of a newspaper, credible sources, and different types of articles. The lesson empowers individuals and gives them the capability to express their voices through the...

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