Quebec Competencies Chart - Break the Fake Lesson Plan: Verifying information online

Author: Matthew Johnson, Director of Education, MediaSmarts
Level: Grades 6-9
Lesson Length: 1.5 hours, plus time for the evaluation/assessment task
Subject Area: English language Arts, Visual Arts, Ethics and Religious Culture
Lesson Link: https://mediasmarts.ca/teacher-resources/break-fake-lesson-plan-verifying-information-online

Description: In this lesson, students participate in a workshop that teaches them four quick, easy steps to verify online information. After practicing these four steps they create a public service announcement aimed at teaching one of these steps and spreading the message that it is necessary for everyone to fact-check information we see online every time we are going to share it or act on it.

Cross-curricular Competencies

To use information
To solve problems
To exercise critical judgement
To use creativity
To adopt effective work methods
To use information and communication technologies (ICT)
To cooperate with others
To communicate appropriately

Broad Areas of Learning

Media Literacy
Health and Well-Being
Environmental Awareness and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities
Citizenship and Community Life

This lesson satisfies the following Competencies from the Quebec Education Program:

English Language Arts

To Read and Listen to Literary, Popular and Information-Based Texts

To use a response process when reading and listening to literary, popular, and information-based texts
To construct her/his own view of the world through reading and listening to literary, popular and information-based texts
To construct a profile of self as reader
To self-evaluate her/his reading development
To construct meaning by applying appropriate reading strategies

To Write Self-expressive, Narrative and Information-based Texts

To integrate her/his knowledge of texts into own writing
To self-evaluate her/his writing development
To follow a process when writing
To use writing as a system for communicating and constructing meaning

To Represent Her/His Literacy in Different Media

To apply appropriate strategies for constructing meaning
To self-evaluate her/his development as a viewer and producer of media texts
To follow a process to respond to media texts
To construct her/his own view of the world through the media
To follow a production process in order to communicate for specific purposes to a specified audience

To Use Language to Communicate and Learn

To use language (talk) to communicate information, experiences and point of view
To use language (talk) for learning and thinking

Visual Arts

To produce media works in the visual arts

To use creative ideas inspired by a stimulus for creation of media works
To share his/her experience of media creation
To use transforming gestures and elements of visual arts language according to the message and the intended viewer
To organize the elements that he/she has chosen, depending on the message and the intended viewer
To finalize his/her media creation

Ethics and Religious Culture

Reflects on ethical questions

Identifies a situation from an ethical point of view

Describes a situation and puts it into context

Evaluates options or possible actions

Suggests possible actions
Looks for the effects of certain actions on oneself, others or the situation

Examines several cultural, moral, religious, scientific or social references

Finds several references present in different points of view
Looks for the role played by these references
Considers other references

Engages in dialogue

Organizes his/her thinking

Identifies the subject of dialogue
Makes connections between prior knowledge and new knowledge
Takes stock of his/her reflections

Develops a point of view

Uses his/her resources and available information
Recognizes the existence of different ways of perceiving the subject of dialogue
Expresses his/her way of perceiving the subject of dialogue
Reflects on his/her process

Interacts with others

Expresses his/her preferences, feelings or ideas
Participates in developing the rules for engaging in dialogue
Expresses his/her point of view and listens to others' views