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