Critical Thinking: Fake News: Media Literacy: Evaluate News Sources

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

This resource is designed for middle school students (grades 6-9) to equip them with the tools necessary to critically evaluate news sources they may encounter on a daily basis. It could be used before a research project or debate to ensure that students know how to evaluate the sources they come across. They need to be able to choose unbiased and factual articles to support their thesis.

Key Skills:

• Building reading comprehension strategies

• Enhancing life skills and media literacy

• Using critical thinking skills to evaluate sources for bias

This product includes: A 3 Page PDF that is ready to print!

• A simple and clear handout explaining five categories that can be used to assess the quality of an article:

  1. Author: Who are they? Are they an expert?

  2. Publisher: Who are they? Do they have a stake in what they are writing about?

  3. Sources: Are there sources, quotes, or expert opinions included?

  4. Facts: Does the author report only facts or include opinions?

  5. Bias: Can you identify bias in the article?

• A printable template for your students to assess the articles they are reading using these 5 categories

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