Critical Thinking: Fake News: Let's Move Beyond the Catch Phrase and Critically Evaluate News Sources

This assignment helps your students become thoughtful consumers of news media.

Fake News?

Let’s move beyond the catch phrase and learn how to critically evaluate news sources.

It includes:

- a handout that clearly explains 5 categories used to assess news articles (author, publisher, sources, facts, bias) 1) Author and Date: Is the author listed?

• Is the author a journalist or an expert in the field they are writing about?

• How recently was this information written? Is it up-to-date?

• 2) Publisher:

• Who publishes the website or paper?

• Does this organization have some kind of interest in the material they are writing about?

• 3) Sources:
  Does the author provide sources of data or quotations?

• Are there footnotes or references listed?
  Can you verify this information somewhere else?

• 4) Facts:

• Does the author stick to reporting objective facts?

• If they do report opinions, do they use a balanced approach that represents both sides?

• 5) Bias:

• Does the author try to influence your opinion? A good news source should be as unbiased as possible.

- a graphic organizer for your students to use when assessing their own article

Great to use before independent research projects or debates! Help your students evaluate the sources they will encounter to determine if they are appropriate to use for their research.

Grades to Use With:

This lesson is designed for the middle grades (6-9) or could be useful in a high school special education classroom.

Standards:

CCSSRI.5.7

Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.

CCSSRI.6.10

By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

If you enjoy this critical thinking assignment, check out some others from my store:

Critical Thinking: Income Inequality: What Kind of Society do You Want to Live in?

Critical Thinking: Debate with Yourself: Debate Prompts

Math in the Media: Thinking Critically and Finding Errors

Correlation Does Not Equal Causation: Scientific Method and Critical Thinking Lesson

A total of 3 pages:

Title Page

Handout with Key Terms

Graphic Organizer for Students to Use