Quick and Simple Debunking Exercise
Instructions for Instructor: Divide your class into two groups and assign an article to each group. Ask them to evaluate the articles using the questions provided in the page. After they are done with the first part of the exercise, ask each group to report the result of their evaluation and to compare both articles based on their findings and decide which one is authentic and reliable, and which one is unreliable and fake.
Compare these two articles about salmon:
Which one do you think is true? Why or why not? Use the questions below to evaluate the content of these two links.
- Type: What kind of content is this?
- Source: Who and what are the sources cited and why should I believe them?
- Evidence: What’s the evidence and how was it vetted?
- Interpretation: Is the main point of the piece proven by the evidence?
- Completeness: What’s missing?
- Knowledge: Am I learning every day what I need?
Read the article written by Tom Rosenstiel, from American Press Institute, to learn in detail how to use these 6 questions to evaluate these sources.
Checking a Claim Exercise
An exercise to practice thinking through checking a news item. Easy and fun to do! Try it! Use the checklist on the "How I Can Tell if a News Story is Fake" page to help you verify these claims.
Special thanks to Donovan Reinwald for helping me to create this exercise!
Is This Story Share-Worthy? Lesson Plan for Instructors
- Lesson PlanUse this lesson plan to create an activity for your students using an informational poster to gauge the value of a news story and decide whether it deserves to be linked, shared or retweeted.
