News you can use
Online news is one of the hardest things to verify. Sometimes early reports that turn out not to be true still circulate on the Internet, and people may spread false reports for commercial or malicious reasons, or even just for “fun.”
Break the Fake: Make Your Own Custom Search Engine
To make a custom search engine you will need to be logged in to a Google account. (If you don’t already have one, go to accounts.google.com to sign up.) You don’t have to be logged in to Google to use it. As well, anyone can use a custom search engine once it’s been created, so a whole class can use search engines made with a single account.
Printable activities for younger children
These printable activity sheets introduce basic media literacy skills and concepts and are suitable for use in homes, schools and libraries. They can be completed independently, but children will learn more if you discuss the activities with them. Younger children may need help reading the instructions and completing some activities.
Information Sorting
This is the second lesson in the Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum series, though it can also be delivered independently. In it, students are introduced to the idea of using information sorting to determine whether sources are worth their attention and then to do critical close readings of those that are. After learning and identifying the differences and similarities between the two steps, they learn the characteristics of a reliable source and make a list of companion texts that can be used to determine if a source has those characteristics. After practicing that process, they learn some examples of critical close reading skills and use a possibility grid to do a close reading of a news article. Finally they plan, carry out, and reflect on an information sorting process to make sure they are getting a full and accurate picture of the news story’s topic.