Fake news is a hot topic right now ... but what is it? Intrepid young investigators track down the facts that separate journalistic mistakes and misinformation through reading, research, and discussion. Part three in a five-instructional activity series from iCivics teaches pupils the methods used to validate news content.

Concepts

news articles, news media, news reporting, media coverage, media bias, investigative journalism, journalism, journalism ethics, ethics, evaluating claims

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Have individuals pick a current event and research it to look for misleading coverage of the story
• Pull a few questions out of the lesson and create interesting whole-group discussions from them
  

Classroom Considerations

• Students will need their own computers and Internet access to complete the lesson
• Sign up for a free iCivics account to acquire resources for the activity

Pros

• The lesson is engaging and well-written
• Teacher's guide contains printables, answer keys, and a variety of options for changing the structure of the activities

Cons

• None

Common Core

RI.9-10.2 RI.11-12.2